Son Heung-min continues to challenge the scoring champion even in bad conditions.
[골닷컴] Reporter Kang Dong-hoon = Son Heung-min lacks the opportunity to shoot, and the competition for the scorer continues despite the unfavorable conditions without penalty kicks.
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Son Heung-min is scoring 13 goals and 8 assists in the league with his best performance this season. It is ranked 3rd in the Premier League’s most attacking points and 4th in the scoring rankings. In particular, in the first 13 games of the season, he scored 11 goals and 4 assists, joining the scoring competition, and domestic soccer fans raised expectations for Son Heung-min’s grand record.
However, as time passes, Son Heung-min’s goals are decreasing. In fact, Son Heung-min scored only two goals in the past 12 games. There are still more than 10 games left, and the gap with the players in the previous rankings is not large, but in terms of the overall trend, it is gradually falling behind in the scoring competition.
The biggest reason Son Heung-min’s scoring declined was due to the fact that he had too few shooting opportunities. This season, Son Heung-min had all 47 shots. Compared to Mohamed Salah (80), Bruno Fernandez (85), and Harry Kane (87), which are ranked from 1st to 3rd in the scoring ranking, it is a markedly small number. However, he scored 13 goals, which is 27.6% in terms of goal-to-shooter ratio. This is higher than Salah (21.2%), Bruno (17.6%), and Kane (16%).
It’s not just the percentage of goals scored against shooting. Son Heung-min also shows efficiency in expected scores (statistics that calculate expected scores through shooting points and situations). Son Heung-min scored only 8.42 goals this season, but scored about 5 goals more than that. On the other hand, Sala and Bruno scored only about three more goals than expected, and Kane had about two more goals.
It is even more surprising that Son Heung-min does not even score a penalty kick. Salah (6 goals), Bruno (8 goals), and Kane (3 goals) are the exclusive kickers for each team, with penalty scoring a part of them, but Son Heung-min scored entirely in open play. Son Heung-min maintained a high-purity scoring power even under more unfavorable conditions than the players in the scoring competition.
However, as manager Mourinho’s defensive tactics and teammates’ sluggishness overlap, Son Heung-min’s strengths are not being displayed. If more shots were attempted, the score would naturally increase, but Son Heung-min had a long time to struggle alone in the front and couldn’t get the chance to shoot. Even in this situation, only two goals are left until the league’s most goals scored in one season, and Son Heung-min, who challenges the top scorer, has no choice but to evaluate as great.
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Of course, you cannot judge everything simply by statistics. However, even though Son Heung-min maintains a high score compared to shooting, it is necessary to consider the fact that the shooting opportunity itself is clearly small. In the remainder of the game, tactical changes to take more shot opportunities and help from colleagues are required. In order for Son Heung-min to escape from bad conditions and continue to challenge the top scorer.