Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has forgiven Spurs star Son Heung-min for Asian Cup final moment.
What moment is Ange Postecoglou referencing?
The Australian manager is referring back to the Asian Cup final in 2015, when as manager of the Australian National Team, he faced off against the Son-led South Korea.
The game was a classic, and in the 92nd minute, with Australia leading 1-0 and on the brink of securing the trophy, the then Bayer Leverkusen player was played in and fired South Korea level.
The game went into extra time, and a lone goal from Australian James Troisi won the match for Postecoglou and his side, whilst Son is still yet to win the tournament, but he will have the chance to do so this season with the tournament taking place from January-Feburary 2024.
Eight years on from that memorable final, The Australian manager is set to coach the South Korean goalscorer and has jokingly revealed that he had forgiven him for that late equaliser in a fan Q&A on the Tottenham Hotspur official YouTube channel.
The new manager was asked a question by the Spurs official South Korean supporters club about his personal relationship with the late great Ferenc Puskas, and before answering the question he said:
"First thing is I also have a relationship with Sonny, because he scored against me for Korea in the Asian Cup final. We were one minute away from winning it and Sonny scored the equaliser. Then we got him in extra time, so I've already said to him, he's forgiven for that."
Where will Son Heung-min play under Postecoglou?
Postecoglou is expected to bring the biggest overhaul to Tottenham tactically since the arrival of Jose Mourinho back in 2019.
Spurs have mainly deployed a back three in recent seasons, however, the Australian could be set to play his preferred set-up of 4-3-3 that he showcased at Celtic.
Not only does this change directly impact the defenders, but the forwards at Spurs could also benefit from this change in setup, with the addition of a third midfielder opening up a wider range of possibilities in the attacking phase of play.
At the moment, it looks like Son will play in his preferred role, the left-hand side of a front three, with Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevski the most likely to join him in completing that front three.
Postecoglou has shown at Celtic that he has the ability to unlock the potential in wingers, with Al Ittihad's newest signing Jota being the finest example of this. Last season the Portuguese winger enjoyed the finest season of his young career, scoring 11 and assisting 11 in 33 appearances, earning himself a WhoScored average rating of 7.48 which was the highest in the entire Bhoys squad.
Son had a disappointing campaign last time out by his usual high standards, scoring only 10 goals in 36 games which was his second-lowest goal return in his Spurs career. In previous years under Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho when employed as an inside forward, the South Korean produced his two best seasons, with 23 goals and 17 goals respectively.
Should Son manage to return to his previous high standards, Postecoglou could help further unlock the quality of the 30-year-old in the clubs quest to return to the top four.