Son Heung-min joked that Cristian Romero has still not responded to his text about the players huddling closer to the travelling Spurs fans ahead of their opening game of the season at Burnley.
Son has quickly put his imprint on the side after being handed the captain’s armband by Ange Postecoglou.
Some reports over the past few weeks have revealed that many at the club did not necessarily see the South Korean as a leader beforehand and have been surprised by how he has stepped up to the role since being handed the responsibility (Football.London).
One of the 31-year-old’s first ideas was to have the pre-match huddle in front of the travelling away fans rather than closer to the centre circle at the Gtech Community Stadium ahead of Tottenham’s season opener.
The forward explained his thinking behind the decision, admitting that he wanted to bridge the gap between the players and the fans.
(Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Son said at the fan forum held at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium: “I was just thinking about creating a special connection because there felt a little bit of distance between us and the fans, depending on the results.
“It was a tough year that the fans didn’t expect, and also the players didn’t expect, so it was obviously the first game of the season so I just messaged Madders and Cuti to say ‘let’s do the huddle in front of our fans and make us a little bit closer.
“So the connection could be that little bit closer and we would feel closer together. Obviously, over 90 minutes or 100 minutes, you need that big support. We want to dominate every game but in some minutes in games we’re going to suffer and in those times we need big support.
“So that’s why I thought it was a good idea at the start of the season, let’s go together. Obviously, on the pitch, it’s our job but we can be a whole package, everyone doing it together. Whether you have a good time or bad time you have to stick together.”
Cristian Romero needs to check his texts more often
However, the Spurs captain admitted that Romero was not as quick in responding to his text as James Maddison was.
Son added: “That’s why I made the decision and Madders responded straight away and said ‘good idea, let’s do that’, and Cuti…. well Cuti I’m still awaiting his response”, which was met with laughter by the crowd.
The forward continued: “It’s fine though. We were running over to the fans and Cuti was looking me as if to say ‘What’s going on?’.
“It was all good though and after that everyone understood what it meant to the fans. We’ve got a good connection to each other and I think we should keep this until the end of the season because it’s very important for the players as well as the fans.”
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This ability to insert some humour into the discussion shows that Son is really growing into the leadership role and is feeling more confident about himself. This is not the sort of thing that the 31-year-old often did previously.
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