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Harry Kane's success means Son Heung-min not receiving praise he deserves, says Mauricio Pochettino
Mauricio Pochettino has said the brilliance of Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has prevented winger Son Heung-min from receiving the plaudits he deserves this season.
The Tottenham manager compared Son to a player at Real Madrid or Barcelona whose quality is often overlooked because of the goalscoring exploits of Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.
Son, who this season became the highest-scoring Asian player in Premier League history, has scored five goals and created three others in his last seven games for Tottenham, having notched an impressive 21 goals last season.
“It’s like a player next to Messi or Ronaldo who deserves a lot of credit,” said Pochettino. “When you are next to Harry Kane, who scores and scores and all that he achieves, it is normal that the focus is more on Kane or on Messi or Ronaldo than Son.”
Son struggled in his first season as a Tottenham player after joining the club from Bayer Leverkusen in August 2015, but has since developed into one of Pochettino’s most trusted attacking players.
“He arrived without any pre-season with us,” said Pochettino. “Always it is tough for players who arrive at the last moment. It is a very tough period to adapt and to build confidence.
“He is so important for us. He is scoring a lot of goals and he is very consistent in training and in his performances. It’s true that maybe he does not get the headlines of Harry and other players but it is good to recognise him. He is a great guy and a very good professional. He is always there and he scores a lot of goals.”
The pressure on Son to continue his run of form may be heightened by the potential absence of Kane from Tuesday's meeting with Swansea at the Liberty Stadium. Pochettino revealed last week that Kane has been suffering from illness and was a doubt for the game, in which he could become the first player in Premier League history to score three consecutive hat-tricks.
Swansea, meanwhile, are likely to be buoyed by their late victory over Watford on Saturday in new manager Carlos Carvalhal’s first match in charge. Tuesday's meeting is Carvalhal’s first game at the Liberty Stadium, and Swansea will be hoping they can rediscover the defensive solidity that helped them to a 0-0 draw against Tottenham at Wembley earlier this season.