Tottenham captain Son Heung-min on Spurs this season, contract renewal, Bentancur's heart felt apology and tomorrows Europa match ahead of the game against Qarabag FK
25/09/2024
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Ground
25/09/2024
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Ground
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00:00One of the very few left from the Champions League Finals squad,
00:04how determined are you to captain Tottenham to a European trophy?
00:09Yeah, it's a dream. There's no hiding about this.
00:12And so I think that's what we work for.
00:14Obviously, we're looking for another big competition that everybody wants to win.
00:21Yeah, it's going to be a tough, tough competition.
00:24A lot of games and a lot of travelling, which makes it even harder.
00:28So we just got to be ready and take it seriously, the competition,
00:32because it's a massive competition.
00:35I know you mentioned it in the fans forum, but you talk about it being a competition.
00:37It's expanded even more in terms of games.
00:40It's a lot of travelling for all of you.
00:41You yourself, South Korea and back.
00:45Do you worry about not being looked after?
00:47And do you think we're in danger of maybe losing the quality in our matches?
00:52Yeah, I think a lot of players came out and said the right things.
00:56And I think it was very important for someone to actually come up and say the right things.
01:03Sometimes players are the main guys who have to say something.
01:12And yeah, it's definitely a lot of games.
01:14And as a football fan or as someone who loves football,
01:20you want to see the quality of the game, not as many games as possible.
01:24And you don't want to see people or players struggling with injuries,
01:28which nobody wants to see.
01:31And yeah, I think it's definitely a lot of games, a lot of travelling,
01:35which we have to look after ourselves, which is sometimes also very hard.
01:43And sometimes mentally, physically, you're not ready, even not ready.
01:48And then you're going into the pitch,
01:50obviously the risk of injury is massive.
01:54So yeah, we are not robots.
01:56So I think we just definitely have to look after that and reduce the game.
02:00Definitely. And we can play better quality of game.
02:04It's definitely, I think this should be the aim.
02:08If you play too many games, we're all saying play too many games.
02:11First of all, last year Spurs only played 40 games
02:14because they were knocked out early in the League Cup and the FA Cup.
02:18But what tournaments do players not want to play in then?
02:21Because if I said to you, you want to play in the League Cup,
02:23chance to win that first time in 20 years for Spurs, you'd say, yeah.
02:27Same with the FA Cup, obviously Premier League, Europe, internationals.
02:31I mean, you want to play in everything anyway, don't you?
02:33Yeah, but don't get me wrong. We love playing football.
02:35That's clear because that's why we work to be here.
02:39But do you know how much we are travelling and how much we are playing games?
02:43That's not only just about the games.
02:47That preparing mentally, physically, I think it's a lot of work.
02:51And I think the programme was adding even more games.
02:57And for example, like City games, they play on Sunday and Tuesday.
03:01This was not even flexible.
03:04So it could move probably for the guys to play Wednesday instead of Tuesday.
03:10But it's not fixable.
03:12So we are not flexible.
03:14I think this is what we are talking about.
03:16It's normal that everybody gets injured and there's a high risk of injury.
03:23I think it's not fair, I would say.
03:25And also I think Roderick would say the right thing.
03:30We play maybe 50, 60 games and not more than 70 games.
03:35I think this is not fair.
03:37So if there are more games, and this is a personal question,
03:40I'll tell you that, it's a personal question.
03:43If there are too many games, and there are only going to be more added,
03:46would you be in favour of going on strike?
03:48Because that's the only way players are putting their view forward.
03:52No, I mean, you want to go to the final and play a lot of games.
03:56That's a different scenario.
03:59But what I want to say is that the platform, for example,
04:04we are talking about the Champions League,
04:05you change the platform to play even more games.
04:09And I think this is not right to look after the players.
04:13That's what we are talking about.
04:16And what we can do is we definitely can change about it,
04:20and we can definitely go in a good way
04:25that people can look after the players.
04:30Sonny, I know Ange spoke about this topic last night,
04:33and so did Daniel Levy.
04:35So it feels like everyone at the club is on the same page
04:38when it comes to too many games.
04:40What's the solution if it's not a strike?
04:43Whose responsibility do you think it is?
04:46It's not definitely players.
04:48It's not the players?
04:49Not the players.
04:51When the fixture comes, the player has to play,
04:53the players have to be on the pitch.
04:57There's a lot going on, you know.
05:00UEFA and also international football, FIFA,
05:04and everybody has to take this really seriously.
05:08It's not just random, like only a few players came out,
05:14it's way too many games.
05:16What we want to see, as I said before,
05:18I think what we want to see is the quality of the game.
05:21You want to see high quality of games
05:24and top games with top players.
05:28So I think this should be the aim.
05:30Obviously, injury sometimes comes also with less games,
05:33but with the possibility of a lot of travelling,
05:38a lot of games, it will be higher than when you play less games.
05:47Hi, Sonny.
05:49You're a legend of this club, you've been here for a long, long time,
05:53but we believe that you have...
05:56At the moment, your contract is up at the end of the season.
05:58We think you've got an option for another year.
06:00Can you clarify what the situation is?
06:02Will you be signing a new contract, or has it been triggered already?
06:06Yeah, we haven't talked anything yet,
06:08so I think I said in the fan forum, it was very clear for me,
06:13it's just like I'm very focused for this season.
06:15At this age, every second is like a goal, you know?
06:23So for this season, we are in a lot of competition.
06:28It feels like I'm taking even more care about this,
06:34and just as I say, I think I'm just fully focused on this situation,
06:38and this year, I just want to win something that everybody in this club,
06:43and these players, and all around that deserves,
06:48and that's what I'm working for.
06:50In the future, you never know what's going to happen,
06:54but I will make sure that I give everything for this club,
06:58because it's been almost 10 years that I give everything,
07:02so yeah, we'll see what happens.
07:05I still have a contract with the club, which is mainly a very important thing,
07:10and then I just want to give everything that I have until my contract.
07:16You mentioned 10 years at the club.
07:18You're now the captain, you're one of the older players.
07:20There's a lot of younger players, teenagers that have come in now.
07:24I just wondered, what's the difference compared to when you were their age,
07:28with the younger players of today?
07:32I think when you're a younger player, when you are young,
07:36you don't realise how massively that takes their responsibility,
07:41but when you're a mainly older player, when you're on the squad,
07:47and then you see the young lads, and you just want to help them.
07:51You know what it means in the Premier League, or playing in these big clubs,
07:56and it changes so much in 10 years' time.
08:01I just want to be good friends, good team-mates,
08:08and just showing that I'm doing the right things on and off the pitch.
08:12It takes a lot of responsibility, but it's a joy,
08:18and we have some unbelievable players,
08:21but mainly 10 years has just gone way too fast,
08:26which sometimes makes me a little bit sad.
08:29But, yeah, what can I say?
08:32Just do the right things, be a good example,
08:36a good example to every young player, to be a top professional.
08:42Hi, Sonny. I was going to ask you about one of those young players, actually, Mikey Moore.
08:45The fans are hoping to maybe see a bit of him tomorrow night.
08:48First off, how good can he be if he keeps working hard?
08:52And also, as his captain and a fellow winger,
08:56do you play a little role in mentoring him and things like that?
08:59Yeah, he's a fantastic boy, and obviously, when he's coming from academy,
09:07as a club, you look after him even more.
09:12Everybody is just so welcoming and looking after him,
09:15and so do I, because he's such a lovely kid,
09:18and working hard every single day, coming with the first team at that age,
09:23it's not easy.
09:25Sometimes you're very shy, but he's showing a good personality
09:29and working hard, which is very important to me.
09:32And when you see the young players working hard in the first team,
09:37you just want to help him.
09:41When I was young, and now who's coaching in Manchester United,
09:47Rufus Anisaroy was helping me a lot in Hamburg.
09:51Now I want to be that guy as well,
09:55having him around me and just talking to him,
09:58because we're playing in a similar position,
10:00if I can help him a little bit with advice, I'm always open to it.
10:06Mikey is also coming to me most of the time and asking questions,
10:10which is very fun and a joy to talk to him.
10:14He's a fantastic boy, and I'm definitely sure he can be a fantastic player.
10:21There's no doubt, because he has such amazing quality.
10:25But as we always say, as young players,
10:29let's not put too much pressure on his shoulders,
10:32just let's enjoy how he develops improvement every single day,
10:37every single season.
10:39As a fan, as a supporter, we should just enjoy watching him,
10:43and he will be, I think, one of the top players.
10:48I spoke to Deki Kudasevsky a couple of months back.
10:51He said he's had to really adapt his game as a winger.
10:54Obviously, he's now playing more in the midfield,
10:56but as a winger, he had to adapt to play the Ange-Postokoglou system.
10:59Have you found that?
11:00Because it's a very kind of high and wide winger he likes,
11:03but obviously you, like Deki, like to cut inside as much as you can as well.
11:07No, I think it's all about the manager system,
11:11and you just also have to adapt, which is very, very important.
11:14But it doesn't mean that I have to stay all the time in the wide area.
11:18In the last game, I was cutting inside to make these inside runs,
11:23and when Dom comes in a deep position,
11:29when he tracks the centre-backs out of the position,
11:31then I'll make these space runs.
11:32And I think it's all about depending on the situation.
11:36But Deki is the kind of guy who wants to be in the middle more,
11:41that he can handle the ball really well with the back of the opponent.
11:45And I think that's his game, and he's just enjoying it now.
11:51He's at the moment having a great season.
11:54What everybody is not talking about is that Deki's work rate is unbelievable,
12:01that he's everywhere on the pitch.
12:04But I think people have never seen that.
12:07But Deki works really hard.
12:11I think it's so hard when I see all the data,
12:15and sometimes I get shocked.
12:17So it feels like he never stops running.
12:20So I think players all appreciate what he does,
12:24and with the ball, with the quality that he has,
12:27there is no doubt that he can do every position.
12:31As a manager, I think he can put himself anywhere,
12:36that he does the right thing for what he asks for.
12:40So there is no doubt what he does, and he's doing amazing at the moment.
12:45We'll just have one question from Jay.
12:47Thank you. Hi, Son.
12:49I just wanted to ask you about your relationship with Rodrigo Bentancur
12:52after what happened in the summer,
12:54and just for your reaction now that he's been charged by the FA, if that's OK.
12:58Yeah, to be fair, at the moment, I'm from the FA, the processor.
13:02That's why I can't say much about it,
13:04but I love Rodrigo a bit.
13:07I love him. I love him.
13:09We had a lot of good memories.
13:12We started playing together when he joined,
13:15and, you know, he knew he apologized straight afterwards,
13:22you know, when we had a holiday.
13:25I was at home, and I didn't even realize
13:28what was going on, and he just sent me a long text message
13:31that you could feel that it was coming from his heart, you know?
13:35And afterwards, when he came back to the training ground for the pre-season,
13:41he just felt really sorry, and he almost cried when he said he apologized
13:47in public and also personally as well.
13:50But he felt like he felt really sorry.
13:55We're all human, we make mistakes, which we learn from it.
13:58But I love Rodrigo a bit, and I love him.
14:02I love him, and he knows he made a mistake.
14:05But I have no problem at all, which is we move on as a team-mate, as a friend,
14:12and also as a brother, we move on together.
14:14And, yeah, I hope...
14:19Yeah, I just have to wait for the FA's process,
14:23but I can't say much.
14:25One thing I can say is that I love Rodrigo, so there's nothing more to say.
14:32Right, thank you very much.
14:36Well done.
14:37Good luck.