Son Heung-min has told Tottenham to stick with head coach Antonio Conte's methods because he's a winner who “always wants more, more, more.”
Golden Boot winner last season, Son has gone back to drawing blanks after breaking his drought with a 14-minute hat-trick from the bench against Leicester last month.
And Spurs have failed to score in open play in their last four away games – Harry Kane's penalty at Arsenal was their only joy on the road since August – leading to criticism of Conte's innate caution. The fiery Italian launched a robust defence of his record before the goalless Champions League draw with Eintracht Frankfurt, bristling that he can “teach football to many people.”
And Son insisted it was important to persevere with Conte's blueprint after he delivered a top-four finish against the odds. The South Korea striker said: “It's important - last season nobody believed we would be here right now, nobody believed we'd be in the Champions League. The gaffer always wants more, more, more - and as a player I want to follow his way, or you know what's coming.
"If we don't follow him, then you know you'll struggle. We have to follow - there is no option because he's a winner and I think we have to sacrifice and do the hard things.”
Conte cut an agitated figure on the touchline in Frankfurt as Tottenham spurned a hatful of chances to leave their Champions League progress in the balance.
But Spurs, who go to in-form Brighton on Saturday, are still third in the Premier League and second in a tight Champions League Group D – hardly a crisis, although it doesn't help when the resurgent neighbours are top of the table.
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Son revealed: “We're human, we're all emotional. Sometimes after the game we're all happy and sometimes we're all angry or frustrated. The gaffer is more passionate - if we win, he's like the happiest guy in the world. But if the performance is not good and he's not happy, he's the first one blaming himself and wanting to improve.
"As a team, as a great group, we have to stick together in these tough games. I think these criticisms are because the expectations are higher. We need to do much better than we did but I'm still believing that we can.
“Individually I always want to do better. I've never been happy with my performance because I always want to do better things, amazing things but it doesn't always happen like that. I'm always watching [back] my games to see what I can do, what I can improve. We've had two really tough games this week but this season is still long, so it's not an issue. It's all in your mind and we need to move on, even with these kind of tough games.”
Spurs have not won away in Europe since February 2021, and last season they did not even manage a scalp on their travels in the Thursday Night Conference.
If Conte's instincts are accurate, and qualification for the Champions League knockout phase goes down to their last group match in Marseille, Tottenham will need to find a cutting edge the next time they venture beyond Calais.
