Heung-Min Son’s injury has re-echoed the need for a restructuring of football fixtures to protect players’ wellbeing and fitness.
The Tottenham Hotspur captain went off injured in the 70th minute during his side’s Europa League tie against Qarabag due to apparent muscle discomfort.
The injury came a few days after he became the latest big football name to speak against the current football schedule.
Speaking with Sky Sports, Son said a congested football schedule puts the players at an increasing risk of being injured frequently.
He went further to highlight the mental and physical toll that preparation for these games takes on the players. According to him, the current schedule makes it hard for constant high-quality games due to the enormous amount of games per season.
“Players are the main guys to have to say something and it’s definitely a lot of games. As a football fan you want to see a quality game, not as many games as possible, and you don’t want to see people or players struggling with injuries, which nobody wants to see.
“We are not robots, so I think we just definitely have to look after that and definitely reduce the games and can play a better quality of game. I think this should be the aim,” he said.
Heung-Min Son is not the only footballer that has spoken out about congested schedules in football. Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City has also voiced his concern.
Premier League managers such as Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta have also lent their voices calling on football governing bodies to revisit football fixtures.
While the severity of Heung-Min Son’s injury is still unknown, Tottenham fans would be hoping the star picks up fitness quick ahead of their crunch tie against Manchester United on Saturday, September 28, 2024.
Son Heung-Min’s Injury history
Son spent 108 days on the sidelines in the last four seasons, suffering six different injuries during that period.
Throughout his career, the winger has spent 378 days out injured, missing out on 60 games during that period.
Tottenham Hotspur fans would however be hoping he could replicate his fitness record from last season, when he went uninjured throughout the campaign.
Son Heung-Min Tottenham Career
Son Heung-Min signed with Tottenham Hotspur on 28 August 2015 after previous spells with Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburger SV.
He joined the club as the most expensive Asian footballer for £22 million.
Son made his debut on September 13, 2015 against Sunderland. Four days later, he scored his first two goals for the team in a 3-1 win against Qarabag FK in his UEFA Europa League debut for the team. He ended his first season in England with 8 strikes across 40 appearances in all competitions.
On 20 July 2018, Son signed a new five-year deal extending his contract with Tottenham until 2023. He scored his 50th goal in all competitions for Spurs during the 2018-19 season. It was a solo strike against Chelsea in a 3-1 win, a strike that also earned him the November Premier League goal of the month.
He also scored three times over two legs against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal, to help propel his team into the competitions semi-final for the first time since 1962.
His strike also saw him the highest-scoring Asian in the tournament with 12 goals.
The 2021-22 season saw him win his first and only Premier League Golden Boot, finishing as joint top scorer with Liverpool’s Mohammed Salah on 23 goals and becoming the first Asian to do so.
Overall the 31-year-old has scored 164 times in 415 appearances across all competitions for Spurs. Unfortunately, the star has won no silverware so far with the team, a Champions League final defeat against Liverpool being the closest he has come to doing so.
Emergence as captain following Harry Kane’s exit
Following the departure of Tottenham legends Harry Kane and Hugo Lloris, Son was next on line for the Tottenham Hotspur captaincy role.
He was announced as the new captain on August 12, 2023. The North Korean has so far led with his performance on the pitch. He finished as the team’s top scorer last season, scoring 17 times in 36 games across all competitions.
