Son Heung-min has said the Tottenham players have been speaking among themselves about Sunday’s North London Derby and how they need to respond after the “unacceptable” performance against Newcastle.
Arsenal have played three times since Spurs’ abject display at St. James’ Park with Ange Postecoglou’s side having the weekend off thanks to Manchester City’s participation in the FA Cup semi-finals. That means Tottenham have had 15 days in which to prepare themselves fully for the arrival of the Gunners to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this weekend.
“We’re working hard. We had a massive week to prepare for this big game and we’re feeling great,” said Son. “Obviously it’s a game everyone is looking forward to. It’s a big derby and we know what it means for the team and the club and also for the fans. So we’re going to prepare well and play our style of game.
“So they’re working really hard to bounce back. It will be a really good game to bounce back and obviously the motivation will be even higher than in other games so I think we’ve got to just work hard until the game and do our style of play. Then there’s no doubt we can bounce back.”
In Son, Spurs have a skipper who knows how to score a north London derby goal. The South Korean star netted twice at the Emirates Stadium in the 2-2 draw earlier in the season and in all has scored six goals and laid on two assists against the Gunners in the Premier League over the years.
“I’m always the type of guy with full confidence going into the games, believing in myself. Every single game is the same mindset,” said the 31-year-old. “It doesn’t motivate me even more because it’s Arsenal. Every single game is big for me and a chance to show how impressive I can be.
“It’s not important who scores the goals or that I scored six goals previously in this game. I just need to be ready for the biggest game of the season.”
Tottenham will have a big say in how the Premier League title race shakes up as they play Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City within their remaining six matches.
“I think it will be a good test for our team. Obviously we’re very young and we’re still a little bit inexperienced because we’re building a team with a young side with new experiences,” said Son. “Some of them are in their first season in the Premier League. So look, we can test ourselves against one of the biggest teams in Europe and the Premier League, but also in the world.
“So I think it’s very important the way we play. Stick to our play, stick to our game. I think it’s a very, very good test. As I said, it’s against one of the best teams in the world so it’s perfect [for us]. You want to always have good competition and you always want to face the best teams in the world.”
