Player Watch Player Watch: Oliver Skipp

[TEESSIDE1]

Skipp was alright, some good moments some not so good but he’s performing relatively as expected given he’s an average to good player at best. Likewise with Davies (unforced errors aside)… outside of the odd one off worldie performances these sort of players have a ceiling that isn’t of the required standard for a top 4/6 club. It’s not their fault but at the same time it’s the clubs responsibility to make sure the squad has enough depth in quality so that we’re not reliant on having to play too many squad players who lack the required skill set at the same time. It was a bloody miracle that we hung on yesterday, mostly thanks to Vicario as circa half of the players on the pitch at the end weren’t of the required standard. A better side would have punished us.

 

[Nebby]

Skipp and Sarr totally dominated Everton in the midfield first half. Just don’t understand the hate.

 

[djhotspur]

Skipp and Sarr totally dominated Everton in the midfield first half. Just don’t understand the hate.

They definitely didn’t. We controlled things for 20 minutes then it was all Everton first half

 

[Nebby]

They definitely didn’t. We controlled things for 20 minutes then it was all Everton first half

I guess we were at different games.

 

[DannyNZ]

He's tries really hard but he doesn't have the football intelligence to play in there. He gave the ball away in an insane position on the 92/93 minute. Just can't do that

Not to mention the two times early in the game where he lost possession and Everton had two dangerous attacks as a result. Tries hard but just not quite enough mobility to be a top 6 and his possession game is just adequate. Can’t fault his attitude but if we want to progress he is an obvious opportunity.

 

[Armstrong_11]

Personally... Skip is a decent player... Not a first choice... Neither a rotation. But a backup, someone to add dept to the team.

I think this greatest value is his home grown status.

I think he can still improve. Maybe working on this physical strength so he can better hold on to the ball.

 

[Mr Pink]

They definitely didn’t. We controlled things for 20 minutes then it was all Everton first half

Everton came into more after 30 minutes, overall we had the better of the first half.

Second half was theirs though.

 

[Gilzeanking]

It was a bloody miracle that we hung on yesterday, mostly thanks to Vicario as circa half of the players on the pitch at the end weren’t of the required standard. A better side would have punished us.

Yes and the other thing going on in that final stage was we appeared to be knackered.

How has this come about ? Presumably there is so much effort in playing the Ange style that towards the end we wilt.

We seemed to lose from winning position a fair amount. Maybe Ange, still adapting to ridiculous Prem physicality, needs to address the issue and plan the 5 subs' introduction. Endurance training too..

 

[wakefieldyid]

Yes and the other thing going on in that final stage was we appeared to be knackered.

How has this come about ? Presumably there is so much effort in playing the Ange style that towards the end we wilt.

We seemed to lose from winning position a fair amount. Maybe Ange, still adapting to ridiculous Prem physicality, needs to address the issue and plan the 5 subs' introduction. Endurance training too..

This is an obvious consequence of the lack of depth in the squad. We're forced to squeeze too much from the starting 11 because of the inevitable step down in quality when we bring players off the bench. Endurance training in mid-season won't work because the players will just be knackered.

 

[HildoSpur]

Yes and the other thing going on in that final stage was we appeared to be knackered.

How has this come about ? Presumably there is so much effort in playing the Ange style that towards the end we wilt.

We seemed to lose from winning position a fair amount. Maybe Ange, still adapting to ridiculous Prem physicality, needs to address the issue and plan the 5 subs' introduction. Endurance training too..

From what I can see many of our players can only sustain 65-75 mins of the intensity demanded by our play style. Ange recognises this and will usually sub a few of them off around this time. The injuries and suspensions have really hurt us in this regard as we aren't able to substitute them with comparable quality. This is why signings like Gallagher make a lot of sense because he is full of energy and can play a couple of different positions. This is I presume what they will look for in recruitment going forward, that and good technical ability of course.

 

[guy]

I thought he played some very nice passes, the most progressive I've seen from him, in tight spaces too.

The whole team completely lost control though after 20mins

 

[bubble07]

Our 5 CMs should be these

Bentancur
Bissouma
Sarr
Madison
Kulusevski

We should sell Hojberg Skipp GLC (maybe 50mil total?) and buy 1 more CM in the Sarr box to box role that gets goals

 

[smallsnc]

Yes and the other thing going on in that final stage was we appeared to be knackered.

How has this come about ? Presumably there is so much effort in playing the Ange style that towards the end we wilt.

We seemed to lose from winning position a fair amount. Maybe Ange, still adapting to ridiculous Prem physicality, needs to address the issue and plan the 5 subs' introduction. Endurance training too..

Our squad is razor thin right now. Instead of having 5 decent subs to use, they are starting and playing 90 or players below them are being brought on. Under these conditions I expect the quality to drop in the 2nd half.

 

[Gilzeanking]

Our squad is razor thin right now. Instead of having 5 decent subs to use, they are starting and playing 90 or players below them are being brought on. Under these conditions I expect the quality to drop in the 2nd half.

Agreed, but regardless of quality, the subs should have enough energy to ensure we aren't wildly open
when defending a one goal lead in the last few minutes.

I am just speculating on ways to avoid that happening again. I love Ange's style of football and Ange, but its situations like that that lead some to see Ange as naive.

He abandoned an Ange's style of football centrepiece (always playing out from the back) so would it be so tragic if in this situation he prioritised a well staffed defence rather than accept 3 vs 2 situations as part of his Ange.ball purity ?

 

[Locotoro]

Here's an interesting question.

Is Skipp better than Winks?

 

[Mr Pink]

Here's an interesting question.

Is Skipp better than Winks?

Off the ball...yes

On the ball...no

 

[EQP]

Here's an interesting question.

Is Skipp better than Winks?

Defensively, yes. Passing, technique and game intelligence, Winks is better.

What they do have in common is that both Winks and Skipp started their 1st team careers really positively and after their respective injuries, struggled to get back to that same level.

For Winks, it meant leaving Spurs to thrive at Leicester. Maybe that something similar happens to Skipp and he manages to get back to pre-injury performances at another club.

 

[Locotoro]

I only ask the question because we were mostly satisfied with idea of winks leaving and Skipp coming into the squad to replace him.

Personally, I'm happy to keep Skipp but I think he needs more coaching and more direction. He can play the 6 but he'll play it differently to Bissouma. He can play the 8 but he'll play it differently to Sarr or Bentancur. I think he needs to focus on what he's good at.

 

[Nebby]

If Winks had never played for Spurs before, his performances for Leicester would have caught the eye.

 

[stevespurs]

Let’s support Skippy, he’s just getting his first starts for such a long time, in a new system. I think he could adapt his game. He has done multiple times already throughout youth and then senior football career.

Biss gave the ball away twice in the same position, that lead to a goal. Let’s see what Skippy can bring over this next 6 weeks…..we don’t have much choice tbf.