Harry Winks - Leicester City

DJS said:

For me when all fit and fresh Winks and Ndombele is a no-brained.

Sissoko is also a valuable option and provides strength in the middle but Winks and Ndombele are different class and provide a lot more flexibility.

Also, must be remembered with both of them that they are both still young and developing, Winks has also been unfortunate that his flow has been disrupted by injuries but he is oddly underrated by some in these here parts.

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Primativ said:

I can't believe he's being compared to Modric and Carrick. Talk about OTT.

It's taken me a while to get onboard with Winks, and I'm not there yet.

As many have said, he is too risk averse with his passing. He doesn't offer much defensively either. He literally just stands in the middle and passes the ball sideways and backwards. What I ask people is this..is that seriously the most we expect a CM to offer at Spurs? A player merely there to pass sideways and backwards?!

Against Villa his passing was so slow, even when he spread the play out wide, they were slow lofted balls which took an age to reach the man and gave Villa players loads of time to close down the man receiving the pass.

Modric and Carrick were far more adventurous passers so I am sorry I just cannot see the comparison. They also passed the ball with zip and verve when needed. If someone can point me to a video of Wink's adventurous passes over his career to date I'd love to see it. I'm guessing there isn't one?

I do love his heart and effort but I still see a bit of 2019 Scott Parker about him to be honest. I honestly think we need someone with better vision in that position. Maybe GLC will play that role as the deep lying playmaker? I doubt it but who knows.

Winks has potential but for me he still doesn't grab the game by the scruff of the neck and make things happen.

It seems many fans of his just say he's there to recycle the ball, I just don't think that is enough nowadays. You need to do that and much more. Off the ball he leaves spaces, can leave the defence exposed too. Our CBs really suffer from a lack of protection when he plays.

He's a very neat and tidy player, but it's easy to not give the ball away if all you do is 5 yard passes sideways and back.

Disclaimer - I'm not saying I don't rate Winks or want him dropped, but I'm yet to be convinced he is the answer in that position. I'm seeing clear limitations in his game, but I remain open minded.

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MK Yid said:

Absolutely loved Modric and Carrick and often had arguments with people that didn't see it in them.
Difference is they moved the ball around intelligently, quickly and always thinking forward to drive us on.

It is the last bit that Winks is missing, as his stock play is to pass backwards or sideways to our centre backs or full backs and let them deal with it, and why at the moment he is our weakest link in the team, well maybe apart from Right Back situation,
Our play slowed down dramatically last season (even compared sometimes to AVB in the boredom stakes at times), he is the main reason for that.

Nice guy, home grown, Committed, but nowhere near the class, or influence of a Modric or Carrick when they were with us.

Whether criticized for poor defence, or not going forward, not assisting or scoring, people that defend him, just come up with well that isn't his job, but never come up what his job really is, apart from recycling possession, sorry need a hell of a lot more than just recycling possession.
Other teams fans see him as our weakest player, and I have to agree (well Right Back is still an issue)

Instead of criticizing our fans saying they can't believe they don't see it in Winks, maybe remove the home-grown spectacles and ask yourself,
What does he really bring to the team ?
Should he be doing a lot more ?
Why did we only start attacking in the Champions League Final after he was taken off after 75 minutes (0 shots in 75 minutes, 11 in last 15 ?) Could ask that question about Saturday, and a lot more occasions by the way.
Is his regular inclusion last season (previously Dier/Dembele was main midfield) possibly one of the (if not the main) reasons why our attacking play curtailed massively, and our defence was exposed and conceded over 50% more goals.
Would we not be better playing a player in that position that adds to the defence or attacking side of our game, or preferably both ?
Would he get into any other of our peers teams, would they play a player who contributes not much more apart from making himself available to receive a pass and then passing to our defenders?

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Shadydan said:

*Sigh* Who compared him to Carrick or Modric?

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nicdic said:

Still can't believe how many don't see it with Winks.

I guess the same was true of Carrick and Modric.

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Primativ said:

That is an indirect comparison. Basically suggesting that people who don't see what he brings were the same about Modric and Carrick. It's totally wrong. Carrick and Modric oozed class from the get go basically. Both went on to have absolutely huge careers winning everything in sight in multipel title winning sides.


Winks isn't in the same league as those two, and he won't ever be, I'm sure of it. He just doesn't possess the talent of either of them. Any manager would and did build their team around Modric and Carrick. Do you think we would even build the team around Winks at Spurs? We are debating whether he should even be in the side.

I question what people see in Winks that they saw in those obscenely gifted CMs. It's completely rose tinted specs. He's more Scott Parker than Modric/Carrick.

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Tottenham_God said:

Scott Parker was a quality footballer to be fair

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Clive Wilson said:

But when Lo Celso settles and a big IF Eriksen stays then would 5 of the 6 below not be better for should win games in some order behind Kane?

Ndombele, Lo Celso, Eriksen, Moura, Alli, Son with Winks and Sissoko missing out.

In tougher games I'd play 4 of the above with Winks, Sissoko, Dier or Wanyama.

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Primativ said:

That is an indirect comparison. Basically suggesting that people who don't see what he brings were the same about Modric and Carrick. It's totally wrong. Carrick and Modric oozed class from the get go basically. Both went on to have absolutely huge careers winning everything in sight in multipel title winning sides.


Winks isn't in the same league as those two, and he won't ever be, I'm sure of it. He just doesn't possess the talent of either of them. Any manager would and did build their team around Modric and Carrick. Do you think we would even build the team around Winks at Spurs? We are debating whether he should even be in the side.

I question what people see in Winks that they saw in those obscenely gifted CMs. It's completely rose tinted specs. He's more Scott Parker than Modric/Carrick

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nicdic said:

Still can't believe how many don't see it with Winks.

I guess the same was true of Carrick and Modric.

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DJS said:

Personally I would have though Lo Celso would play further up in attacking three with Eriksen and we still need two box to box specialists behind them?

Can’t see Ndombele and Lo Celso as the two tbh.

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swarvsta said:

We signed Carrick when he was 23 and he was still FAR from being the player he became.

Winks is also on 23 and basically at the same stage of his career.

It amazes me that people don’t realise how long it takes players to fully develop.

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joelstinton14 said:

It quite disheartening to see people say all he does is pass sideways or backwards, which is far from the truth. The amount of times he picks the ball up and drives past players is actually *quite* a lot, his job is to keep the team ticking over which he does really well. He was by far (Aside from KWP) the most positive player in the first half against Villa, it wasn't him that was the issue, it was the lack of movement from the players in front of him that gave him little option to deal with. Time and time again In the champions league he has dominated the midfield against top quality opposition, just doing what he does, simple passing, playing between the lines and running the game.

I'm sure some people would say Iniesta is a poor player for how he plays the game, which is far from the truth.

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joelstinton14 said:

It quite disheartening to see people say all he does is pass sideways or backwards, which is far from the truth. The amount of times he picks the ball up and drives past players is actually *quite* a lot, his job is to keep the team ticking over which he does really well. He was by far (Aside from KWP) the most positive player in the first half against Villa, it wasn't him that was the issue, it was the lack of movement from the players in front of him that gave him little option to deal with. Time and time again In the champions league he has dominated the midfield against top quality opposition, just doing what he does, simple passing, playing between the lines and running the game.

I'm sure some people would say Iniesta is a poor player for how he plays the game, which is far from the truth.

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Gassin's finest said:

Bit of revisionism going on here.

There were plenty of critics of Modric, saying he didn't get enough goals/assists, whilst completely missing his game.

Carrick took a season before people realised that he was an anchor player, and not Frank Lampard.

The allusion is that critics of Winks are making similar in style criticisms... that people said similar things about those players back in the day. And believe me they did.

No one has made a direct comparison between Winks and Modric/Carrick.

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Styopa said:

I like Winks but he has a long way to go before being seriously compared to those two. They were obviously exceptional and it was no surprise when they got massive moves.

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