Son Heung-min has been backed to rediscover his best form by incoming South Korea coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who believes a difficult situation at Tottenham has hampered the attacker.
Son has endured a poor season with Spurs, scoring just five Premier League goals after sharing the Golden Boot with Mohamed Salah last term, and his troubles have carried onto the international stage.
The forward wore a protective mask at last year's World Cup after suffering a fractured eye socket ahead of the tournament, where he failed to net in four appearances.
Son produced another ineffective performance as Spurs exited the Champions League against Milan on Wednesday, leaving the future of boss Antonio Conte in serious doubt.
His new international coach, however, retains faith in Son's ability to bounce back, saying: "I'm a big fan of Sonny. There's no doubt. He had a very difficult World Cup because he was not 100 per cent healthy.
"Obviously I saw all the games and I felt for him, but I think this is a normal period and every player goes through little up and downs. Also, the situation at Tottenham is sometimes not so easy.
"I hope that I'm going to see him in two weeks and he comes with a smile and is hungry for the national team."
Klinsmann was named as Paulo Bento's successor last month, with the Portuguese coach stepping down after a 4-1 defeat to Brazil in the last 16 at the World Cup.
Asked how he would approach the role at his unveiling on Thursday, the former Germany international said: "Obviously, my personal background was a striker, so I always love to attack, and that means I’d rather win a game 4-3 than 1-0.
"But at the end of the day, I think a coach always has to adapt his approach and his philosophy to the people around him, mainly the players.
"So based on who you have as players and what capabilities your team has, you need to adapt that philosophy to your approach."
South Korea will face South American opposition in their first two outings under Klinsmann, with Colombia and Uruguay their opponents for friendlies later this month.
Juventus without Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik for Atalanta trip
Juventus will have to deal with a depleted attack when they travel to Atalanta on Sunday as both Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik have been ruled out by injury.
Vlahovic, who has scored four times in Juve’s opening six Serie A games, has a back issue, while Milik, who got the winner against Lecce last time out, has a calf problem.
“Unfortunately both Dusan Vlahovic and Arek Milik won’t be available tomorrow,” boss Massimiliano Allegri told a press conference.
“Dusan has a back problem. This week he trained, but then yesterday he was in too much pain and had to stop. He tried to grit his teeth to be there, but it’s better to give him time off to recover.
“Arek, however, felt pain in his calf after Lecce and since then it’s been a delicate situation, so we preferred to rest him so that he can return to the team on Tuesday.”
Allegri, whose side’s last away game resulted in a 4-2 defeat at Sassuolo, warned his players to expect a hard-fought encounter against Atalanta, who are on a three-match winning run in all competitions.
The hosts trail third-placed Juve by just a single point, while the last three meetings between the sides have ended in draws.
Allegri said: “Usually the matches against Atalanta are all very tight.
“Atalanta are in good form, they haven’t lost or conceded a goal at home yet. You have to prepare for the match in the best possible way, with great attention to detail while keeping up a good rhythm.
“We won a direct clash against Lazio, now we have another one against a team that play in a completely different way and are more physical and more aggressive.”
And Allegri wants nothing less than total commitment from his side.
He added: “Clearly the championship doesn’t end tomorrow, but tomorrow is one of those matches where you have to give everything if you want to bring home a result.
“We don’t have to look at the rankings now, even if staying in the top four would help us have greater self-esteem and allow us to work with more peace of mind.
“We must continue to work, knowing that our goal is to get into the top four so we can play in the Champions League next year. There is enthusiasm in the group and, above all, a desire to improve.”
Marco Silva hails ‘quality’ of Chelsea duo Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez
Fulham boss Marco Silva talked up “quality” Chelsea midfield pair Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez ahead of the west London derby at Craven Cottage.
Chelsea broke the British transfer record twice this year, signing Fernandez from Benfica for a reported £106.8million in January before beating Liverpool to confirm the transfer of Caicedo from Brighton for £115m in August.
Silva spoke on how the pair’s price-tags reflect their ability and expects them to bring the fight to Harrison Reed and Joao Palhinha on Monday.
“Enzo joined in January and Caicedo in the summer as well,” Silva said. “They’re quality. We are talking about two players they almost spent £250 million on.
“This speaks about the quality and about how much they wanted them in their squad.
“Plus (Conor) Gallagher in the midfield, they have the quality, the energy, they have the organisation to create a very good fight with our midfield line and I think it will be a very good fight because they have that quality.”
Alex Iwobi’s second-half strike during Wednesday’s Carabao Cup third round 2-1 victory over Norwich was his first Fulham goal since his reported £22million move from Everton on deadline day.
Silva, who also signed Iwobi as Everton manager in 2019, spoke on the Nigeria international’s versatility and what he offers to his squad.
“It was very good (Iwobi’s performance against Norwich),” Silva added.
“He’s a player I know really well, he knows the Premier League so well and he’s mature. He has the quality, can play in many different positions and is a player that will give us the quality that we need in certain parts of the game.
“He provides that extra energy as well. It was good for him to score on his first game in a Fulham shirt and I want to see more of him.
“He’s going to be a really important player for us and I am pleased for him for starting his first game.”
From Chelsea’s starting XI during their 2-1 loss at Fulham in January, Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah are the only remaining players at the club.
Silva said: “They are different and we are different as well. I think the game is going to be completely different. We can have a look for some things, but it will be different. They have a different manager.”
Ange Postecoglou had a love of Liverpool as a youngster but says ‘things change’
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has acknowledged Liverpool’s trophy-laden era during the 1970s’ and 1980s’ planted the seeds for him to become a manager.
Postecoglou has made no secret of his childhood love for Liverpool and recalled on several occasions how he used to watch matches in the early hours of the morning in Australia with his dad Jim.
Kenny Dalglish was an early hero for the 58-year-old and he believes watching the teams of Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley win European Cups helped shape his pathway to a coaching career that has seen him manage across the globe.
“I was just consumed by football,” Postecoglou reflected ahead of Saturday’s visit of Liverpool.
“I’ve said before, it wasn’t just playing the game. My infatuation was with all the game, I wanted to read about it all and yeah I was fascinated by the culture at a club like Liverpool.
“The Boot Room, Shankly, Paisley, and Ronnie Moran, all those guys because I just loved reading about it. Just as I was interested reading about Sir Alex (Ferguson) or Jock Stein.
“It seemed that even at a young age I had a real fascination with managers and people of influence within the game because I loved the game.
“We all as kids have something we love and takes us away from the world we were in and that was my world. I just loved reading about the history of football clubs and the great people within them.
“Certainly Liverpool at the time there was always a unique story there about this mythical boot room where all the magic happened. For me it was almost like reading fairytales all the time.
“Obviously that has an influence, yeah it does because that’s where all the seeds are planted, my love for the game.”
Dalglish would have been the Liverpool player on Postecoglou’s wall as a child, but he was quick to point out that is no longer the case.
He added: “I was mad about Kenny Dalglish. Everything was about Dalglish for me, whether that was Celtic or Liverpool. I was a mad Kenny fan.
“It was just about that time when I was what 12, 13 and you know we look for heroes in our lives. He was it for me, scoring in European Cup finals and the way he played.
“Like any kid, I had the posters up on my wall, so Liverpool was my team, but you grow up, things change. I used to love Happy Days back then too, but I don’t have pictures of the Fonz on my wall today either!”
Postecoglou has plenty of respect for this current Liverpool team and their manager Jurgen Klopp, who will pose a huge test to the Australian’s lengthy unbeaten home record in league matches.
You have to go back to 2020, when Postecoglou was in charge of Yokohama, for the last time he lost a home league fixture – when Kashima won in the J1 League.
A dramatic stoppage-time turnaround against Sheffield United a fortnight ago made it 50 home league matches without defeat for the former Celtic boss, but he knows Liverpool will test that run.
“Over those 50 games I’ve had some big tests, I’ve had some good teams, to be fair,” Postecoglou admitted.
“I put a lot of stock in home form because that’s the time where you can give your supporters, who you know are going to be the majority in the stadium, that feeling you want to give them, of experiencing their team winning a game of football.
“I put a lot of stock in that. It’s 50 games against all types of opposition, different types of circumstances.
“There would have been games in there where we were down to 10 men, there would have been games where we would have been down. Well, two weeks ago in the 95th minute.
“There are always tests to go for that long. I’ve probably been lucky along the way too.”
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