Tottenham head coach Antonio Conte has insisted that Heung-min Son is not undroppable, with last season’s Premier League Golden Boot winner still yet to score this year.
Son was in fine form last season and he topped the Premier League’s goalscoring charts by finishing the campaign with 23 goals.
The South Korean, however, has struggled this year and is still yet to find the net after eight games in all competitions.
Conte has previously said it would be “crazy” to drop the forward but, after adding Richarlison to his attacking ranks, the Italian has changed his tune.
“There are no players that are undroppable. This has to be very clear. There are no players that are undroppable,” Conte said.
“Because if I tell this, it’s only to try to help my players and to try to avoid injuries, to try to have players at the top of their form and to have a good performance.
“If I am telling this it is only to protect my players and to give them the possibility to be, in every moment, at the top.
“Then you know very well you can play one game well, another you can score, another not, but my task is to try to protect my players and to protect the team. Also to find the right way to have a result.
“Don’t forgot sometimes when you don’t start with certain players, it means during the game you have this player with the possibility to use him during the game.
“But I repeat if we want to play these four competitions, and especially I repeat the Champions League because it is different to play Europa League or Conference League.
“Europa League and Conference League can give you the possibility in the group stages to make rotations and then also if you drop a bit the quality of the starting XI, maybe you can win the game.
“In the Champions League they are always massive games and for this reason I need to have all my players available.
“I need all my players available for rotation to be in every moment ready when I call them to play and to play well for the team, for the club, for the fans, for everybody.”
