Tottenham Hotspur captain Heung-min Son has come under fire from Gary Neville following Spurs’ humbling 6-3 defeat to Liverpool at home yesterday.
While many Tottenham players faced scrutiny for their performances, Neville singled out Son for failing to effectively press Trent Alexander-Arnold, which he believes allowed Liverpool’s right-back to dominate the game and exploit Spurs’ defensive vulnerabilities.
The Reds opened the scoring in the 23rd minute when Luis Diaz headed in Alexander-Arnold’s pinpoint cross. Alexis Mac Allister doubled Liverpool’s lead 13 minutes later with a close-range header following poor Spurs defending.
Tottenham briefly rallied when James Maddison scored a stunning curling effort in the 41st minute after Dejan Kulusevski dispossessed Mac Allister. However, Dominik Szoboszlai restored Liverpool’s two-goal advantage before halftime with a clinical finish on the counter.
In the second half, Mohamed Salah scored twice in quick succession, making it 5-1 for Liverpool. Spurs showed some resilience as Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke pulled two goals back, but Diaz’s late strike sealed the emphatic victory for the visitors.
Gary Neville singles out Heung-min Son
On The Gary Neville Podcast, the Manchester United legend highlighted Son’s tactical errors, particularly his decision-making when pressing Alexander-Arnold.
He said:
“They had some experienced players up top, I think Son was one of the worst actually and I love him to bits, world-class player.”
“But some of his actual decisions to actually leave Trent Alexander-Arnold, go and press Joe Gomez or go somewhere else and then leave that space for Trent Alexander-Arnold to go into was just nonsensical, it was just mind-boggling really.”
It was not just the players who came into criticism. Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara also voiced his frustrations, directing his rant at club chairman Daniel Levy for the state of the squad. Posting on social media, O’Hara called for urgent reinforcements, highlighting Spurs’ lack of depth and the defensive struggles of Ange Postecoglou’s injury-hit side.
While Jamie Carragher accused Arne Slot of successfully playing mind-games with Ange Postecoglou before the game which helped them dominate against Spurs.
