Tottenham: Son believes in Conte’s training methods

“Brutal, isn’t it?” Son Heung-Min has not forgotten the grueling training sessions of Tottenham’s preparation in his Seoul. Not even now that Spurs are back in England and all that hard work has turned into 4-1 over Southampton in the first 2022-23 Premier League match. The one in which the Londoners want to go back to winning, in which all the intense preparation to which Antonio Conte has submitted his must turn into results. “I think to win you have to train harder than the others, and that’s definitely what we did,” said Son, who made his debut with an assist.

Preparation

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Son seems perfect for the Conte system, the one where hard work is the first thing. “I only know one word: work – repeated the coach on the eve of the season debut -. I don’t know where we can go, but I know that through work we can improve”.

It is the same philosophy with which the striker who scored 23 goals in the Premier League last year grew up: first the almost military teachings of his father to transform him into a successful player, then the discipline of Pochettino just landed at Tottenham, fundamental for its explosion, and then the 3 weeks spent with the marines in South Korea, reduced military service due to sporting merits earned on the field by magic for that motherland that adores it so much that it has transformed the Tottenham stadium into a Little Korea every time he plays.

The Conte-Ventrone method, however, did not seem like a joke to him either, especially when in that brutal training at 30 degrees and humidity out of control in Seoul, he collapsed to the ground exhausted by the 30 laps of the field, which are mandatory even for those who like he had just put on his shoes after the holidays. “We trained a lot in the pre-season – he says, with eyes that light up almost as if the memory of fatigue suddenly started to hurt again -. It was brutal, but it’s also the only time you can train hard. , because when the season starts you focus on the matches and not on the physical aspect. We needed to prepare ourselves, even in that very hard but certainly useful way, because I think we trained more than the others. Now that the season has started and that the matches become what everyone focuses on, the thing that matters is to keep improving, to work hard on the pitch to see where we can get. ”

squad

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Son seems perfect for Conte as well for how he puts the team first. Even if he is one of the spearheads, one of the jewels in Antonio’s crown together with Kane, who with Southampton ended with cramps but who is another in love with the unique training methods of the Italian coach who made him find the love for Tottenham who asked to leave a year ago. Son points out that the 3 points with Southampton are important. “Although normally when the team scores 4 goals you would expect at least one to be mine or Harry’s – he says with a smile and his hand resting on the gray trolley that drags in the belly of Tottenham Stadium -. I think it’s a good sign that they are not served, because it is important to have many options in attack because the good of the team is more important than individual statistics. ” This team in first place also applies to Richarlison, the Brazilian striker who Tottenham took for 70 million euros and who missed the first through suspension. “It’s nice to have internal competition – says Son -. In the 4 weeks I trained he showed that he is an incredible player: I can’t wait to play with him.”

system

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There is another aspect in which Son seems to be the perfect expression of the Conte philosophy: when he talks about the strength, true or presumed, of Tottenham 2022-23. The 61,732 fans who filled the stadium against Southampton, many with his number 7 shirt on their back, expect this to be a good year to win, for this team to be the best ever that Son has been a part of. “I do not know and it is not important – he says after finding in his personal dictionary the best way to express his concept in English -. The team can be strong as long as you want, but alone it is not enough to be successful. It is important to have great players, and we have them, but the unique way we play, the way we train, means that you must first understand the system to make the team stronger. Talent alone is not enough to be successful: trophies are won with work “. Son speaks, with his smile and his education. But he seems to hear Conte. It is also for this reason that in 7 months the Italian coach managed to transform a team that seemed in disarray into the fourth force of the Premier League, with a place in the Champions League to be treasured. And it is also with the stars at his side that he hopes to make her even better. To obtain, through that hard work that Son and Kane talk about in chorus, those victories that Tottenham have been waiting for for some time.