Still time for Son and Spurs to end poor season on a high

Tottenham Hotspur's South Korean striker Son Heung-Min runs with the ball during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Sunday. AFP-Yonhap

It is a busy and crucial April for Tottenham Hotspur and Son Heung-min. If it all goes well, then the narrative around a troubled season may change and a first major trophy may be within reach for the Korean captain.

He could use some good news. Recent results in qualification for the 2026 World Cup with the national team have not been great with three draws in a row against weaker opponents. The Taeguk Warriors should make it to an 11th successive tournament regardless, but it is not going smoothly.

It has added to a general air of gloom that has been hanging around Korean soccer for a while. There has been a lot of criticism of Korea Football Association (KFA) boss Chung Mong-gyu for his leadership since 2013. The hiring and firing of national team coaches has been a particular problem but there are others such as the poor state of playing surfaces up and down the country. Results in the Asian Champions League haven’t been great either.

So a trophy for Son would be no bad thing for the fans, the player and his club. Despite playing at the highest levels of European soccer for over a decade and being one of the faces of the English Premier League, Son has won nothing. He deserves something for all the magnificent performances, goals and memories he has produced over the years.

His future at the club is uncertain. At 32, soon to be 33, there is no getting away from the fact that his best days are behind him, as a player at least. It hasn’t been his best season but then the same can be said for the club which has been struggling in the bottom half of the league for the last few months. The future of coach Ange Postecoglou is also uncertain. It could well be that if Tottenham exit the Europa League at the quarterfinal stage, then the Australian manager won’t be around for the start of next season,

It all depends on what happens in Europe's second tier cup competition. Spurs will take on Eintracht Frankfurt over the two legs. The first game takes place in London on April 10, the second a week later in Germany.

As a contest, it is hard to call. Tottenham is nothing if not unpredictable. Victory means a place in the last four and then the trophy really is within reach. Then a poor season becomes something special. Winning the tournament also brings a place in the biggest tournament of all next season, the UEFA Champions League. It feels like a long time since Spurs reached the final of that competition, back in 2019, losing to Liverpool.

Lifting that piece of silverware as captain would be a fitting end to Son’s career with the London club. It would be the biggest night in Tottenham’s history for at least 40 years. It remains to be seen if these are Son’s last few weeks with the club he has been with since the summer of 2015 but if they are, there is a chance to end on the highest of notes.