Everyone knows that Son Heung-min had more goal contributions in the Premier League than any other Tottenham Hotspur player last season. And yet knowing full well that Son was going to leave the club on a high note as a Europa League champion and ride off into the sunset to Los Angeles in MLS, Spurs still never adequately replaced him or even signed anyone on that left wing.
Son's overall quality, goals, and, yes, assists have been sorely missed by Tottenham. There is no pretending that Spurs were ever going to replace a legend that quickly, but the void left by Son has been so profound and immediate that it is just as gaping as the one yet to be filled by the departure of Harry Kane the year before to Bayern Munich.
Because it's not just the goals that Spurs are missing with Son's departure to LAFC. Tottenham are also missing his overall style of play, explosiveness, and willingness and intelligence as a runner to stretch the entire defense, changing the entire tactical board and the complexion of the game.
Tottenham can't get forward
Tottenham have played a staggering four through balls in the Premier League this season. Four. That statistic may not jump out to everyone as being as abhorrent as it truly is, so it requires a bit of context. The other top clubs in the Premier League have nearly 10 times that number. Comparable clubs like rivals Arsenal and familiar foes Manchester United and Aston Villa are at 38, 31, and 28 through balls played this season.
So Spurs aren't just trailing the biggest clubs in the Premier League, but they are also trailing clubs they should be comfortably beating in the table in terms of playing through balls. That's a sign that Tottenham are, as everyone can clearly see on the pitch, struggling to stretch the field and get any real forward play going in their attack.
Not having a field stretcher with the speed to burn, the willingness to run forward, and the smarts to beat the line at the right time is a huge, huge loss. And the fact that nobody has filled in to step the void is both embarrassing and entirely predictable when looking at the personnel Tottenham have now rather unwisely assembled to fill out what is a quite obviously underwhelming and cumbersome attack. Four through passes in 10 games is beyond abysmal, especially when the league average of 18.5 is nearly five times what Spurs have.