Son Heung-min and Harry Kane disagree over Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou.
Son Heung-min and Harry Kane have both worked with Ange Postecoglou, but only one of them voted for the Tottenham manager to win The Best FIFA Men’s Coach award. Pep Guardiola picked up the accolade on Monday evening after his treble-winning exploits with Manchester City last season.
Postecoglou was included alongside Guardiola, Luciano Spalletti, Simone Inzaghi and Xavi on the initial five-manager shortlist. Son, who has waxed lyrical about the ex-Celtic boss since his arrival in north London, voted him in first place.
Despite working with Postecoglou for several weeks before moving to Bayern Munich in the summer, Kane only placed him in third, behind Guardiola and Spalletti. The England captain has never played for any of the other four managers on the shortlist.
He came close to joining up with Guardiola at City in 2021 before Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy pinned him with a massive £200million price tag to effectively kill the deal.
Guardiola was widely expected to claim The Best FIFA Men’s Coach award following last season’s Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup triumph with City. He beat Spalletti and Inzaghi to the top prize after the shortlist was whittled down to three.
Lionel Messi and Aitana Bonmati were the other big winners on the night, picking up the Men’s Player and Women’s Player awards. Kane fought his way out of Tottenham in the summer but still spoke glowingly about Postecoglou’s impact when reflecting on his former club’s electric start to the season in October – even if he and Son evidently disagree on whether the Spurs boss belongs at the top of the pile.
“Spurs are doing pretty well,” he said. “It’s great to see. The manager is doing great for them with the way they’re playing, the fans are right behind the team and it’s definitely what they needed after the last few years.
“As the manager said, there’s no reason why the fans shouldn’t be excited and happy with the way things are going. Hopefully, they can continue. There is no team in the Premier League I want to win other than Tottenham.”
Son, who has excelled in attack since Kane’s departure, is gelling particularly well with Postecoglou’s management style. “It’s crazy actually the way he speaks,” the South Korean told Men in Blazers. “The way he talks is fantastic as a human being, as a coach, it’s nothing more than that.
“It’s amazing. I’m 31 years old, I learned many things before and I felt as a human that I had enough, but then since he arrived I feel like ‘Wow! I’m still a child’. The way he speaks, I feel like my heart is bouncing. I just want to go out and play for him and play for the club. It feels like he’s just part of my family.”
