The first snub was met with eyebrow-raising bemusement; the second with flush-faced indignation; the third seemingly with outright, vein-popping fury.
Son Heung-min scored as many goals against Aston Villa in April as he has had rejections from the Professional Footballers’ Association in the past three weeks. First came his omission from the PFA Fan’s Player of the Year, then from the Players’ equivalent, and most brutal of all, from the Premier League Team of the Year.
And Tottenham supporters are not happy about it. Even fans of other clubs have expressed indignation on behalf of Spurs’ smiling assassin. Social media conspiracy theorists are out in force.
Robbie Keane even took time out of his Soccer Aid preparations to declare his “shock” and “disappointment” at Son’s absence. “What he’s done and to not even get mentioned is incredible,” he said with a rueful shake of the head. “I think he’s the most underrated player in the Premier League. He could play for any team in the world, any manager would take him in a heartbeat.”
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Statistically, he was more productive this season than in 2020-21, when he was included in the PFA Team of the Year. And his input was far more meaningful too, given Spurs ascended three positions in the league table, trading the ignominy of Europa Conference League football for the cachet of the Champions League.
So if the cold hard numbers indicate that Son should have at least been nominated for the best player awards and most certainly named in the best team, what explanations can be given for why he was not?
Maybe it’s a matter of timing. Votes are cast before the end of the season, rather than after it – which can skew things. i understands that voting for this year’s awards closed at midnight on 8 May. If votes were submitted early, Son’s purple patch was too late; 52 per cent of his goals were scored from 20 March onwards. If they were submitted as an afterthought bang on the deadline, it would have been in the context of what looked – at the time – to be a flagging Champions League chase.
It could be a question of tactical voting. It seems implausible that in the midst of Liverpool’s quadruple bid, Salah or Sadio Mane – the two wingers selected in the Team of the Year – would have had sufficient time, energy or interest to implore teammates to avoid selecting Son so as to boost their own chances of inclusion. But who knows? Maybe they teamed up to hand out leaflets with anti-Son propaganda in the changing rooms at Melwood.
Salah, though, it should be pointed out given this hypothetical scenario, did congratulate Son via Twitter for winning the Golden Boot.
Perhaps players simply aren’t that bothered, which would help explain why these things often resemble glorified popularity contests: the ones with the most Instagram followers tend to win – Cristiano Ronaldo, who was named in the Team of the Year, has 452m followers to Son’s modest 7.1m.
Players are also not allowed to vote for their club colleagues but can choose international team-mates, which probably helps those from countries that are well represented in English football. Less so for South Koreans, given only two – Son and Wolves’ Hwang Hee-Chan – played in the top-flight in 2021-22.
It seems a shame if that is the case. Receiving recognition from peers presumably means more than it does from supporters given the shared experiences and sacrifices made that link elite footballers from across the globe. Upon being named PFA Player of the Year for the second time, Salah tweeted: “There is no greater honour than winning an award that my colleagues voted on. I am very grateful to all of you!”
And each year, there is at least one who breaks rank to express their annoyance. Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte used three emojis to express his displeasure – a facepalm, man shrugging and a face blowing a kiss – alongside the classic Jose Mourinho GIF: “I prefer not to speak, if I speak I’m in trouble.”
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— Aymeric Laporte (@Laporte) June 10, 2022????????
But ultimately, while Son will have cause to feel hard done by at having his achievements glossed over, does it really matter? Individual awards in team sports that are voted on are at their core, almost completely pointless and the processes that underpin them are generally unfit for purpose. That Son is apparently not among the six best players in the Premier League last season based on his performances, makes a mockery of the award and dilutes its importance.
As for Son, he is universally adored by his team-mates, Antonio Conte and Spurs fans alike. His mates went to near farcical lengths to help him in his Golden Boot quest during the 5-0 trouncing of Norwich on the final day. Dejan Kulusevski missed an open goal in remarkable fashion by trying to tee Son up for a tap-in on the goal-line instead.
Son played a significant role in helping Tottenham achieve their primary objective by securing a top-four finish and capped it by winning his first-ever Golden Boot, becoming the first South Korean and Asian player to do so in a major European league in the process. In the grand scheme of things, those twin feats are of far greater significance.
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