Postecoglou backs Son and says even Salah would struggle at Spurs

Manager points to lack of creativity in team as reason for South Korean's poor form

- David Hytner

Ange Postecoglou has backed Son Heung-min to rediscover his best form and suggested even Mohamed Salah would struggle in the current Tottenham team.

Son, who has seen Spurs trigger their one-year option on his contract to tie him down until the summer of 2026, goes into tonight's Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at home to Liverpool with an unforgiving spotlight on his performances.

The club captain's numbers are down this season - seven goals and six assists from 23 appearances. Salah, meanwhile, has an astonishing 21 goals and 17 assists in 27 games for Liverpool.

Postecoglou wanted to highlight the context, which takes in Spurs's troubles and how Liverpool have streaked clear in the Premier League and Champions League tables. Spurs, who remain mired in a selection crisis, have won three of 14 matches, the nadir being the 6-3 home defeat by Liverpool in the league on 22 December.

"People need to have a little bit of context," Postecoglou said. "Mo is a world-class player but if you put him in our team now I'm not sure he'll have that same level of performance because of the situation we're in as a group.

"You need a team that's in good form, creating opportunities, playing on the front foot, having a really solid foundation of a defence that is cohesive. None of these things exist at the moment [at Spurs]. We're relying on individual moments.