Antonio Conte praises Son Heung-min in new documentary

Son Heung-min, left, and Antonio Conte at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on May 1. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Antonio Conte is the star of his own documentary, "Antonio Conte: 202 Days," released on the club's new Spursplay streaming service on Tuesday.

The documentary chronicles Conte's first 202 days with Spurs, from the moment the new head coach joined the struggling London club in November 2021 to the end of the season when Tottenham took fourth place, rejoining the Champions League for the first time in two years. The end of the season also saw Spurs forward Son Heung-min win the Premier League Golden Boot, a huge achievement for the player and the club.

In the documentary, Conte discusses his experience working with Son and what kind of player he is. Tottenham Hotspur shared a clip on Twitter on Monday showing some of Conte's comments on the Korean star.

“For every manager, if you want to win, you need players of great talent,” Conte said. “Sonny impressed me for the commitment, for the attitude, for the behavior — he is a really good guy.

“But I think many people don’t know the man, the person that you find in Sonny. He always has a smile on his face. For sure he is a positive person. He is an important player for Tottenham. Every manager dreams of having this type of talent in your hands.”

Conte's relationship with Son over his six months with Tottenham last season clearly benefited the Korean player.

Conte's arrival with Spurs in November essentially forced the club to reinvent itself. It was a rocky road, with Spurs appearing to fall apart at the start of this year and Conte infamously confronting the team after a harrowing loss to Burnley in February and threatening to leave.

But after weathering that storm, Spurs became far more productive and Son clearly benefited from the focus and drive of the new manager, scoring 14 of his 23 goals for the Premier League season after that Burnley loss.

Conte has regularly made his opinion of Son clear. In December last year, just six weeks after he took the helm at Spurs, Conte called Son a "world-class player," describing him as a pleasure to coach and one of the top players in the league. Five months later, Son's Golden Boot clearly proved Conte was right.

Conte and the squad will be heading to Korea within the next week where they will reconnect with Son to play two exhibition games — against Team K League on July 13 and Sevilla on July 16.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]