LAST week we published an article highlighting the contrasting fortunes of Richarlison (£4.1m) and Son Heung-min (£5.5m).
The gist being, the Brazilian had made the most of limited minutes while the South Korean superstar had been unusually blunt.
And so we’d like to take partial credit for the mother of all turnarounds that took place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday night – nothing works quite like a jinx.
Son emphatically responded to being dropped from the starting line-up when he came off the bench to score a 13-minute hat-trick and condemn Leicester to a 6-2 humiliation.
Having gone eight games without a goal prior to the Foxes’ visit to north London, last season’s joint Golden Boot winner had mustered just seven Dream Team points, a bitterly disappointing return for the significant chunk of gaffers backing him throughout.
But 13.7% of managers had their faith repaid with a whopping 28-point haul in Game Week 7.
At this early stage of the season, such a performance can propel an asset up the rankings and that’s exactly what has happened with Tottenham’s No7.
Suddenly Son is the joint-seventh best forward in the game – his overall tally of 35 points is matched by Marcus Rashford (£4m) and Gabriel Martinelli (£3.3m).
Harking back to our ill-timed article last week, we did mention that Son’s barren streak was unlikely to be a long one, citing his mightily impressive and consistent record in recent years.
But a 13-minute hat-trick represents a comeback of alarming efficiency and therefore one that changes the Dream Team landscape considerably.
Those who may have planned to transfer the 30-year-old out of their XI during the international break will surely now think again.
Granted, he won’t have the luxury of facing Leicester’s disorganised defence again for a few months but when in-form he’s capable of taking points off any team.
Let’s not forget his final tally of 243 points last season was only bettered by Harry Kane (£7.3m) and Mohamed Salah (£7.7m) among assets in his position.
Spurs’ first fixture after the international break is a trip to the Emirates for a massive north London derby.
The fixture always feels significant but this edition is specially poised as Antonio Conte’s would go top of the table with a win while the Gunners would only need a draw to retain top spot, though they would then risk being leapfrogged by Manchester City on the Sunday.
Following the trip to their rivals, Spurs play Eintracht Frankfurt (twice), Brighton, Everton, Man United, Newcastle, Sporting CP and Bournemouth in what will be a busy October.
From Conte’s viewpoint, it would be a very helpful time for Son to rediscover the form that has earned him his reputation as a prolific goalscorer.
Dream Team managers may remember from the back end of last season that Son’s points flow very freely once he’s on a hot streak – no player could hang with him in the last two months of 2021/22.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
