- Aug 13, 2005
- 46,682
- 104,959
He's ok, but not then ideal answer. He is not a natural DM and plays for one of the defensively worst teams in the league. Interception stats don't always that offers defensive solidity. Even so, he is an intelligent player with a good engine, and might be able to develop and improve in a better team, (though his ego is the size of a planet!).
For what it's worth, he splits a lot of opinions in Southampton circles. Like he is essentially seen like a grafter, solid, but not exceptional, also most see his ball retention as pretty poor (and passing stats in the 70%ish area is really really bad for someone who is meant to primarily be a defensive player) and I think that's fair. Also, for what it's worth a lot of them point out that all of their midfielders have good ball winning stats, because they play in such a way that it promotes a midfield where the ball is won a lot. So those stats might be slightly misleading.
He might offer us something useful, but I don't see it as more than an opportunistic cheap buy of someone who can do be a part of the tam. For someone not home grown there is much better out there. If we are really going for lower PL defensive midfielders I wouldn't put Hojbjerg ahead of, say, Billing form Bournemouth.
From the Southampton fans I know they don’t really think he’s anything special. I tend to trust those people who watch him regularly over stats etc. Plus in our games against them he’s never stood out to me as a player who’s caused us problems or done that much. I’m not convinced.