Hugo Lloris explains how Son Heung-min assists Tottenham in the midst of the Antonio Conte verdict
Hugo Lloris has praised his Tottenham colleague, Son Heung-min, despite his current struggles.
The South Korean, who won the Premier League Golden Boot for scoring the most goals in the previous season, has failed to score in his first five games this season.
Wednesday evening against West Ham, the 30-year-old would have scored the opening goal at the London Stadium had Thilo Kehrer not put Harry Kane’s cross into his own net.
Son continued on the field for the full 90 minutes, coming near with a deflected shot that just cleared the crossbar, but his quest for his first goal of 2022/23 continues.
Despite his present struggles in the final third, Spurs captain Lloris is optimistic that things will eventually turn in his favor.
The Frenchman has also lauded the club’s No. 7 for the significant defensive contributions he is making.
“He’s still looking for his first goal, he’s an offensive player. They need the confidence and the confident they get only by scoring goals,” said the World Cup winner.
“We cannot forget the work he has done. He’s completely involved. Without the ball he’s making a lot of runs to help the defence and offensively it’s going to come for sure because he’s a top player with a top mentality. Also it’s a busy period and we need to make sure everybody is ready to help the team.”
West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen came close to scoring the game-winning goal in stoppage time, after Tomas Soucek’s low shot had nullified the Hammers’ advantage.
The World Cup champion opened up on the squad’s performance at the London Stadium by describing what the team could have done better.
Well today we tried to respect our identity, the way the manager demands us to play,” said the experienced shot-stopper. “At some point, we took a bit of risk, especially at 1-1 but that’s the way we want to play and we need to carry on.
“I think in the first half we controlled the game very well, obviously we lost a few balls in the middle of the pitch and we know the speed they have, they went on counter-attack. But in the second half they pressed higher and we could have managed the ball better, especially we could have used the space better in behind their defence. Because when you play from the back you try to attack them as much as you can and in two or three passes you try to go forward.
“Again, the opponent deserves credit. They’re a tough opponent and it’s a tough place to deal with. We have to move on, keeping positive spirit. Because we’re still unbeaten. The way I reflect about the game is the way we all think. We want to win every game but we cannot control everything and we need to get what we deserve today and carry on our job.
“We cannot forget also that they had one or two chances to score. If we lose this game, it makes things very bad so let’s continue this positive run.”
Lloris believes that if they had pressed harder for a second goal in the first half, the outcome would have been different.
“As I said, we could have lost the game at the end, the two chances. Obviously as I said, we start every game to win but then there’s an opponent and it’s the Premier League. We’re still unbeaten,” he claimed.
“To get one point here is good, it’s not bad even if our expectation is to come here to win. I believe in the first half if we pushed a bit more, we controlled so well the game, if we pushed a bit more we could have pushed to get a second goal. But it’s part of the game.
“The season is very long and also we have to learn from the past. When you can’t win, like today in the second half at 1-1, you don’t lose. It’s still one point.”
Hugo Lloris explains how Son Heung-min assists Tottenham in the midst of the Antonio Conte verdict
