Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min has spoken out about a memorable “telling off” by his former manager Jose Mourinho that left him “very upset” in front of his team-mates.
The South Korean striker, a key figure for Tottenham since 2015, shared the incident during an interview with EAFC.
Son, who was named club captain after Hugo Lloris’ move to LAFC last summer, recalled how Mourinho’s outburst during a match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium deeply affected him.
Jose Mourinho’s shocking outburst
Son explained that Mourinho harshly criticised him in front of the entire squad during a match. “Once Mourinho told me off during a match.
[He said] “I don’t think you want to play against a team like Burnley or Stoke (playing hard) in front of all the players and I was very upset about that, I’m not even 18 or 19 to be treated like that,” Son said.
Despite being shocked by the incident, Son later received an apology from Mourinho via text message.
The message read: “I know you understand that I didn’t mean to attack you and hurt you, but I need to make sure that the other players are not lazy and I need to prove it by reprimanding the best player on the team, and for me, that player is you.” This explanation helped Son understand the situation and feel better.
Son has been a standout performer for Spurs, scoring 162 goals in 408 games. He next appears in action on August 10 in a pre-season friendly against Bayern Munich under new manager Ange Postecoglou. Tottenham’s 2024-25 season begins on August 19 against newly promoted Leicester City.
