ottenham forward Heung-min Son has admitted he felt increased “attention and pressure” this season as holder of the Golden Boot but says he does not want to make excuses for falling below “the top level”.
Son scored a 100th Premier League goal with a magnificent trademark strike in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Brighton, offering a timely reminder of his enduring quality in the midst of an underwhelming campaign.
The South Korean shared last season’s Premier League Golden Boot with Mohamed Salah after scoring 23 times but has found the net in just five matches this term, although he did bag a superb hat-trick from the bench against Leicester in September.
Son insists he loves playing under pressure but suggested the increased expectation has played a part in his downturn.
“Look, if I want to make excuses for the way I’ve played, I can find lots of them, but I’m not the type of guy who goes around making excuses and saying, ‘That was not the real me’,” Son said. “It happened, you move on, and I accept I was not at the top level.
“Last season was fantastic and to win the Golden Boot was a magical moment which gave me amazing confidence.
“Coming into the new season, everyone was saying, ‘Sonny’s got the Golden Boot’ and expecting me to have another amazing run, but sometimes it’s not that simple because you get more attention and more pressure – which I love.
“This is the reason we play, because I love this pressure, and it means I’m not the perfect player. I can still improve at my age, and the last eight games will be very important for me and the team.”
Son was also involved in Harry Kane’s winner against the Seagulls and says his improved performance was down to his position in Cristian Stellini’s side and the space afforded by the visitors’ defensive line.
“It was more a case of position and being able to make the runs I like – Brighton played quite a high line, which gave me space to run in behind,” he said. “But I still want to be in a consistent way, a better way, and although scoring is important I want to help the team in as many ways as I can.
“We’ve had a tough few weeks, losing leads at Southampton before the international break and at Everton, where we conceded last-minute goals.
“We don’t need to talk too much about learning and improving because we all know where we made mistakes and we should have taken more responsibility to take three points from those games and not just hoping we would get three points for free.
“Although we had to suffer to get the win, we had to fight to the last minute and the last seconds, and this time we did it.”
He added: “It was a great to bring up my 100 in the Premier League, but the most important thing was to take three points. Brighton have been playing amazingly, creating chances and we knew they were right behind us in the table so it was a massive win.”
