Ange Postecoglou backed Tottenham forward Heung-Min Son and praised his leadership after he was involved in an altercation with some of his South Korea team-mates while on international duty.
Son injured his finger during row with team-mates the day before their Asian Cup semi-final defeat to Jordan.
The 31-year-old has since returned to Tottenham, setting up Brennan Johnson’s late winner against Brighton last week in his first game back, and Postecoglou defended his captain’s leadership when quizzed about the incident.
“I don’t know all the details and kind of don’t want to know because it is an internal matter but what I know of the story is Sonny showing leadership,” he said.
“That’s what leadership is all about. Leadership is not about being popular and trying to make everybody happy, it’s about when you see something that you don’t feel is right then you stand up for it because it’s the best thing for the group. I see that in Sonny.
“Sometimes people are mistaken about Sonny because he’s such a positive guy who whenever you see him is smiling and everyone has a real affection for him – but he wants to win.
“He doesn’t like standards slipping and I’ve seen him do that around here. If something is not right he will say it. Sometimes it is not the popular thing to do.
“Sometimes that puts you in the firing line with the playing group, and with coaches or the club. But as a leader if you think this is the right thing to do then you should go strongly on it.”
