Well he is a starting player. For various reasons, he took part in more of our games last season than any other Spurs player. So that shows how important he is BOTH to the first team AND the squad as a whole. IMO he was the best of the bunch that plays behind Kane last season.. and was playing well whilst others struggled. It was only toward the last month or so of last season that he tailed off and others such as Dele and Eriksen started upping their game in the final couple of months.
Of course he is important. I would even say very important. But after Moura's addition I would not say "essential".
And regardless of number the games he participated, playing time in our front players were -
3979 minutes (3761 in EPL&CL) - Eriksen
3953 minutes (3680) Kane 273
3790 minutes (3408) Alli 382
3379 minutes (2737) Son 642
(and if we talk about all around, then Super Jan played 4286 minutes last season).
And I seriously believe that this year the proportions are even bit clearer due to Moura's addition this season.
I like Son. He offers energy, he has positive influence on the squad. He has one hell of a shot in his foot. He is fast. But at the same time when I think about how painful would it be to replace some players, he is nowhere near as irreplacable than Kane (well obv) or Eriksen (I know some take a piss at him right now, but fook me, this is some short memory - last year when he missed some games we were headless on attacking department). I am saying that we could find another AM who could pitch in with 12 goals and 6 assists over EPL season. We could not replace Kane or Eriksen. I don't understand why some ppl take this as personal insult...