Role of Holtby

[Lawrence]

After seeing Eriksen's brilliant debut, what do you all think Holtby's role lies?

Of course there will be rotation, but i cannot help but think from yesterday's evidence that erikson is of a diff class.

Maybe like some of you say, Holtby will fight for the deeper midfield positions with Dembele and Paulinho instead. Pity as i think given time, he can grow into the role. But now it seems, less chance for him. Maybe against weaker opposition?

Thoughts?

 

[DaSpurs]

He'll still get plenty of game time I think. But it is clear Eriksen established himself as the clear cut first choice CAM.

 

[Tottenham_God]

After seeing Eriksen's brilliant debut, what do you all think Holtby's role lies?

Of course there will be rotation, but i cannot help but think from yesterday's evidence that erikson is of a diff class.

Maybe like some of you say, Holtby will fight for the deeper midfield positions with Dembele and Paulinho instead. Pity as i think given time, he can grow into the role. But now it seems, less chance for him. Maybe against weaker opposition?

Thoughts?

Long season, loads of games, injuries, loss of form, tactics.

He will play and I'm confident once he gets a run of games, he will be close to emulating Eriksens performance v Norwich.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

We need a squad of quality, so we need Holtby. He will start on Thursday I'm sure.

 

[onthetwo]

I totally agree but you could say the same for a lot of our players now....Sandro, Capoue, Dembele, Paulinho all competing for two slots in centre midfield. Hopefully it means we can be more competitive in the cups, an FA Cup win for instance is LONG overdue!

 

[Flashspur]

well Lewis needs to rise to the occasion - Christian put on a master class and its only his first game

 

[Flashspur]

AVB was very pointed in his remarks that he felt that lack of squad depth was the major issue last season and why it went into clusterfuck mode towards the end - he has said we bought a lot of players to ensure it would not happen again and competition is the thing that keeps players sharp as well

 

[Lawrence]

I think all agree it is a squad game but will there be a big drop in creativity if holtby replaces eriksen? Eriksen seems to be great at one touch football, laying on passes, but holtby seems to run with ball more, no?

I thought dembele and holtby was more similar in the way they carried the ball yesterday.

 

[Misfit]

After seeing Eriksen's brilliant debut, what do you all think Holtby's role lies?

Of course there will be rotation, but i cannot help but think from yesterday's evidence that erikson is of a diff class.

Maybe like some of you say, Holtby will fight for the deeper midfield positions with Dembele and Paulinho instead. Pity as i think given time, he can grow into the role. But now it seems, less chance for him. Maybe against weaker opposition?

Thoughts?

I said this exact thing in another thread. That's where his future lies, imo. Not a sitting CM of course but a deeper playmaker. He's creative and has an eye for goal but much more of a Paul or Dembele type - I guess he's drawn deper as you see more of the ball there - and not Eriksen or Siggy for example who are more inclined to sit nearer the edge of the box.

He's also a tenacious little so-and-so which helps in the middle.

In the immediate term he might well see plenty enough games at CAM or maybe out wide on the left to drift in etc.

 

[Shanks]

AVB seems to be producing competition for places - and with players young enough to fight, rather than sulking about it, gives us better performances.

It's a standard management technique, and I'm sure it'll do us well - bear in mind, we are going to compete in four competitions, we will need Holtby a lot, and given that run of games, he'll improve (he's coming back from injury remember).

Two cracking players we have there.

 

[Ironskullll]

Long season, loads of games, injuries, loss of form, tactics.

He will play and I'm confident once he gets a run of games, he will be close to emulating Eriksens performance v Norwich.

I think that that is in the very nature of the game nowadays. Ambitious clubs just have to have options allowing for sustained injuries to key players. Whether or not you're in the team depends so much on the luck if the draw with injuries, and it's obviously so unpredictable. There will be those squad players, such as Friedel, who are very much just that, but there will be others such as Holtby, who, IMHO could nail down a first team position, but of course it depends on the strength of the options and what happens on the injury front, both to the player and to the options. Certain areas might seem to present great strength in depth but as we've seen time and again, those areas also seem to be the ones where injuries happen most. I think he'll get a chance for a sustained run in the team sooner or later, and that it's only then that we'll get the real measure of him.

 

[talkshowhost86]

Chelsea have Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Schurrle, Van Ginkel, De Bruyne and Willian, but I suspect their fans aren't overly concerned about how to use them all.

It's a squad game these days and Holtby will hopefully be a massive part of that.

 

[marion52]

Games are coming thick and fast in the next few weeks and I'm sure we'll see AVB mix and match the team in the various competitions. With all these options we are not an injury away from disaster.
Maybe AVB doesn't really know how best to fit Holtby but I'm sure he will play a big part.

 

[TheGreenLily]

After seeing Eriksen's brilliant debut, what do you all think Holtby's role lies?

Of course there will be rotation, but i cannot help but think from yesterday's evidence that erikson is of a diff class.

Maybe like some of you say, Holtby will fight for the deeper midfield positions with Dembele and Paulinho instead. Pity as i think given time, he can grow into the role. But now it seems, less chance for him. Maybe against weaker opposition?

Thoughts?

Competition and rotation with Erikson. The only two creative players we have got, who are not wingers.

 

[TheGreenLily]

AVB seems to be producing competition for places - and with players young enough to fight, rather than sulking about it, gives us better performances.

It's a standard management technique, and I'm sure it'll do us well - bear in mind, we are going to compete in four competitions, we will need Holtby a lot, and given that run of games, he'll improve (he's coming back from injury remember).

Two cracking players we have there.

This is what I love about AVB taking all competitions seriously, including the League cup. I really can see us getting a lot of silverware over the next few season if we keep developing as we are and we will most certainly need players like Holtby, learning and fighting for places.

The one thing Holtby has for sure over Erikson, is that he is a little bulldog on top of being creative, so he can provide a bit creativity in the team against against the hard hitters like Stoke without weakening the midfield.

 

[TheGreenLily]

I said this exact thing in another thread. That's where his future lies, imo. Not a sitting CM of course but a deeper playmaker. He's creative and has an eye for goal but much more of a Paul or Dembele type - I guess he's drawn deper as you see more of the ball there - and not Eriksen or Siggy for example who are more inclined to sit nearer the edge of the box.

He's also a tenacious little so-and-so which helps in the middle.

In the immediate term he might well see plenty enough games at CAM or maybe out wide on the left to drift in etc.

I don't think he will, he is competition with Erikison as creative midfielder and bulldog'ish one at that, very useful against the likes of Stoke.

 

[Damian99]

I like Lewis Holtby.

 

[THOWIG]

Didn't one of the ITK's in the summer say that Villas Boas saw Holtby as a number 6 rather than a 10?

 

[sweyid]

He has played pretty much all over the midfield in the Bundesliga. As DM, as CM, as CAM and as a winger. Centrally is where he is best imo, either as the #10 or as the more attacking player in a midfield 2 beside a DM. Having played in so many different positions may in some ways have hindered his developement, sort of like I believe United are wasting Phil Jones by not giving him a proper role.​

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His biggest strength is that he can run around all bloody day. His engine is never ending. He wins balls, iniates play and can pick a pass. He's not silky smooth like Modric, Özil, Eriksen, Kagawa, Mata and players of that ilk, but a more gritty player with a huge range of skills. His control of the ball is however excellent, he's got a very sweet left foot and good vision. He's not the fastest runner out there, but his engine is, as I mentioned, seemingly unending. He is so engaged and passioned too, which is a huge thing in my book.​

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What didn't impress me in the few appearances he made last season was that he tried too much. He tried to play in all his positions at once and ended up running around like a headless chicken at times. His game against Norwich last season was more of an indication of what he's capable of than the other games he played.​

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He will play second fiddle to Eriksen, but he will get plenty of game time with the cups, EL and PL giving us a lot of games and with our squad depth we'll be able to rotate and compete very well. Having three players in the creative mid role (Eriksen, Holtby, Sigurdsson) is pretty amazing.​

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I'm convinced Holtby will play a part this season and in many seasons to come. Very useful player.​

 

[newbie]

I think Holtby will be needed to break teams down he can play alongside one of the holding mids.