Captain Son Heung-min is “good to go” for Tottenham vs West Ham after missing three games through a hamstring injury, manager Ange Postecoglou has said.
Fellow forward Richarlison, who has been out for almost two months, is also “back in the group” for the visit of the Hammers on Saturday (3pm BST), when Spurs will attempt to return to winning ways following a 3-2 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion.
Richarlison missed seven of Tottenham’s final 13 games of the 2023-24 season, featuring for more than 10 minutes in three of them.
Locked and loaded for a London derby 🔒 pic.twitter.com/tl57z0jUIt
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 18, 2024
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Richarlison injury: ‘Looking good’
“We’ve taken our time with him and we have taken time to build his fitness base up,” Postecoglou said of the Brazil international.
“He has worked hard, trimmed down and looks lean now. We’ve tried to use it like a pre-season for him on an individual basis to not only recover from his injury and get his fitness base up, [but] we [also] don’t want to keep going through this cycle of him coming back and breaking down.
“He is looking good, working hard and has missed playing. He’s an infectious guy and it’s good to have him back in this group.”
Tuchel ‘fantastic’, says Postecoglou
A day in the life with Sonny! 🎬🔥 pic.twitter.com/sBiWr5NTrM
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 18, 2024
Postecoglou was suitably deflated after Spurs’ five-match winning run in all competitions ended in calamitous fashion at Brighton on October 6.
Spurs led 2-0 at half-time, only to concede three goals in 19 minutes on their way to a 3-2 defeat that has left them ninth in the table, on 10 points.
The Australia manager between 2013 and 2017 had praise for the FA’s appointment of Thomas Tuchel but suggested he would not be keen to coach the Three Lions one day.
“He’s got a fantastic record in knockout football,” Postecoglou said of Tuchel, calling the German a “fantastic manager”.
“They have great players and it’s an exciting appointment. I enjoyed international football but at the end of it, I wanted to get back into the day-in, day-out.
“I wouldn’t coach the Australian national team again because I have done that. There is a lot of responsibility: you have a whole nation expecting in that position.”
