Antonio Conte revealed his thoughts on Son Heung-min's slow start to the season for Tottenham when he spoke to the media ahead of Spurs' trip to the City Ground on Sunday. The Lilywhites have won two and drawn one of their opening three matches, but the South Korean is yet to score.
There was an improved display from the 30-year-old against Wolves, with his corner being flicked on by Ivan Perisic and then knocked into the net by Harry Kane. However, Son hasn't been at his imperious best.
The attacker shared the golden boot award with Mohamed Salah last season and went from strength to strength, with his personal achievements and his on-field relationship with the England captain. However, these high expectations haven't been met in the first few games of the new campaign.
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The criticism of his slow start if anything, reiterate his quality and how much of a valued member of the team Son is. The South Korea international may not be making the impact supporters expect, but it is only three games into the season and he still has an influence on the game.
Son has already had nine shots and produced 17 crosses in his three appearances. The one verdict the 30-year-old is likely to care about most, is Conte's.
The Italian was asked about his start to the season when he spoke to the media on Friday and didn't seem worried at all. "You know very well that we are talking about a really important player for me and for the club," Conte admitted.
"For sure, I think Sonny in the last three games he had chances to score but there is moment but lucky or unlucky. No problem with Sonny's performance, his attitude and commitment is always very high. Happy about his performance and I don't see any problem with him.
"For sure, when you're a striker you like to score and when you score and win, you're happy. But at the same time we always have to put the club winning before the interests of ever single player. But it's not a problem," he added.
"He's an important player, last season he scored 23 goals...No problem. No. I'm sure when he goes to score he will gain the right confidence."
This reiterates the importance Son holds to the Tottenham squad and although the 53-year-old can admit he missed opportunities, he also reiterates that he doesn't see anything to worry about. All the South Korean can now do is continue working hard and he will hopefully get back to his best soon, starting on Sunday.
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