Son Heung-min has admitted that he struggles to see the ball at times during a game because of the face mask he is currently wearing. Sustaining a fracture around his left eye in Tottenham's 2-1 Champions League win away at Marseille at the start of November, the 30-year-old had to undergo surgery a few days later to stabilise the fracture.
Wearing a protective mask ever since, there was one moment in the first half of the New Year's Day defeat against Aston Villa when the attacker threw his mask to the ground after losing possession and went without it for the rest of the game. Sporting it once again in the midweek win over Crystal Palace, although he did temporarily discard it after his goal, Son has opened up the troubles he has had with the mask.
"Obviously it's not the same as when I play without the mask," he admitted. "My vision is still OK but when the ball is coming to me, it's sometimes annoying because I can't see the ball because of the mask. It's not really bothering me but it's not the best.
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"Against Villa I was really frustrated because I received the ball and then suddenly I lost the ball because I couldn't see it. I was just angry. If I'm alone, obviously I would play without the mask but my parents, my family, my friends, watching back in South Korea are all worried. Obviously it's a risk if someone hits me again."
His family and friends are clearly still concerned about the player taking a knock to the face during a game, which in turn led to a conversation over dinner about him playing the vast majority of the Villa encounter without his mask.
"No, obviously they didn't say you should wear it or whatever but we were having dinner and they said, 'umm what happened with the mask?' Obviously they're worried," added the forward.
"And also the physios and doctors said after the Villa game 'it's your decision but we recommend you should still be wearing the mask because the risk is still high because it's still just seven weeks since the operation'."
Wednesday's 4-0 triumph over Crystal Palace saw Son end a barren run in front of goal for the Lilywhites as he netted his sixth goal of the campaign. An extremely strange season for the player going on how well he finished last term to win the Premier League Golden Boot, his strike at Selhurst Park was a weight off his shoulders.
"Frustrated is the wrong word," he said. "To be honest, first of all I felt a bit sorry for the team, my teammates, the fans because the expectation is obviously higher than what I've been doing. It was obviously like a weight on my shoulders going away.
"I'm grateful that first of all we won the game. That's the most important thing. It's a really difficult place to get three points here, so I'm really happy to win this game."
Antonio Conte and all Tottenham fans will be hoping Son's goal is a turning point for the player as the team need to get some consistency back in their game if they want to secure another Champions League finish. It may have come at the perfect time with the north London derby against Arsenal on the horizon.
"The Arsenal game is still a bit far off. We have a very important game obviously against Portsmouth, I just want to focus on that," explained Tottenham's No.7. "The north London derby is special meaning for the players and the fans. We didn't perform well when we played there so we have big homework to do. We'll get ready for the Portsmouth game first but then we'll get ready for that game."
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