Ange Postecoglou admits Tottenham have made mistake with Son Heung-min injury | OneFootball

Tottenham fans were surprised when manager Ange Postecoglou revealed just a couple of days before the do-or-die tilt at the Deutsche Bank Park against Eintracht Frankfurt that star man Son Heung-min would be unable to play in the second leg of the Europa League quarterfinals with an injury.

Son didn't start in the preceding debacle over the weekend against Wolves, but that was seen more as an opportunity for young loan signing Mathys Tel, rather than any injury to Son. But Postecoglou later added that Son had been dealing with an injury for more time than that, stating Tottenham finally decided to rest him because he wasn't getting better.

Cynically, I and others wondered, amidst a backdrop of transfer rumors and a very disappointing campaign, if this was a concocted story from Postecoglou and if Tottenham were attempting to phase the Premier League legend out of the starting lineup in preparation for a summer sale to Saudi Arabia.

Son Heung-min should have been rested sooner

While that may still be the case on some level, it does seem like Son's injury is real. Before Monday's tough matchup against surprise package Nottingham Forest, manager Ange Postecoglou gave more information about Son's injury, via Football.London's Alasdair Gold:

"Not really sure, something he's been dealing with for a while and we got to a point where it wasn't improving and it was deteriorating. So it's a good time to give him a bit of a rest."

That sounds well and all, but it raises the question as to why Son wasn't held out sooner. If he's been dealing with discomfort and a knock for "a while", then why was he playing regularly and allowed to struggle for that timeframe before the manager and club finally stepped in? I get that athletes, especially high-performing ones, always want to play and are willing to play through pain, but we could all see that Son wasn't playing anywhere near his usual standard lately.

Mathys Tel could have gotten more chances

If Son was playing through an injury that long, it's a serious problem and shows a lack of foresight or leadership by Tottenham and Postecoglou to have allowed that situation to fester. It took minutes away from a young player like Mathys Tel who needs that chance to show himself, and a healthy Tel is much better than an injured Son.

And certainly, the decision did Son no favors either, as it made him look bad at a critical point in the season in which his future at Tottenham is on the line due to sour performances. Son didn't need that bad film due to an injury shrouding his perception, and fan perception does end up mattering when transfer rumors are whispered. This is another case of poor decision-making by Postecoglou.