LAFC coach to manage Son Heung-min's workload amid condensed schedule

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, July 22 (Yonhap) -- Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) head coach Marc Dos Santos said Wednesday he will begin managing the workload of the team's South Korean superstar Son Heung-min, with a jam-packed schedule on the horizon this summer.

In a press conference on the eve of LAFC's match against Real Salt Lake at home, head coach Dos Santos noted his side will play eight matches in August, including Major League Soccer (MLS) regular-season contests and Leagues Cup games.

"We are going to face a very condensed schedule, and our conversation, not only with Sonny but other key players, is that we have to manage (their minutes)," Dos Santos said. "We could take a player out to start thinking about the next game. There will be moments sometimes when players start already with the plan of taking them off at a certain minute to think about the next game. All these little things are also the work of player, coach, performance team to make sure that we stay as fresh as we can during the condensed period that we are going to have."

Dos Santos' comments come after Son scored his first MLS goal of the season against LA Galaxy last Friday. He had gone goalless in 13 previous league matches, with his only two goals this season having come at the Concacaf Champions Cup tournament.

Son, who turned 34 earlier this month, has good history against Real Salt Lake. He recorded his first MLS hat trick in his first match against them on Sept. 17 last year, and then picked up a goal and two assists just four days later.

Dos Santos said he broached the topic first with Son.

"I brought it up to him because the players always tell you that they are good, they are ready and they could play every game. But the graphic you see in a condensed period ... you see players peaking and then after an X amount of always playing, you see their graphic coming down. The players understand what we are doing with them and Sonny understands, of course."