Player Watch: Pierre-Emile Højbjerg

[H-SF]

Appreciate the ITK but I cannot see a Winks leaving. I’m sure Mourinho values him highly as a member of the squad (he’s started the majority of games since he joined lol) and Winks isn’t a specialised 6 so Højbjerg joining isn’t the end for him at all. If he could develop as an 8 he could form a pivot with Højbjerg. Maybe Jose will try it. Moreover he’s a Spurs boy, loves the club and is homegrown. I feel he’d have to be forced out the door and that’s not happening.

 

[mr ashley]

I guess the only counter to this is who you'd rather want coming on in the last 20 - 30 min of the game. As neither Sissoko or Winks should start for our aspirations, i'd probably be more swayed bringing on Sissoko because he is frustrating for anyone with his power and difficulty to get past especially when the opposition is a little leggy, he would at least add that real physical presence and discipline that Jose craves. Whereas Winks adds what? Some tidy 5 yard passes. Maybe he will be better next to a DM, i'm just not so sure.

As i've said before, i'd be rubbing my hands if i was a CM lining up against Winks, much more than Sissoko. If Winks played at West Ham, would any of us be speaking highly about him in any regard, unlikely.

But in essence, neither should be starters so it's not too big a debate.

I guess the counter argument is who would you rather bring on in a game where you’re already 1-0 up, and need to close out by keeping the ball?
Because I’m damn sure I wouldn’t want to bring on Sissoko in that situation. He doesn’t want the ball.
This doesn’t take away from my disappointment at how slowly Winks is learning the Art of a defensive midfielder (body shape in the tackle, approach to press etc). He must be showing something for Poch to shoehorn him into the team, and for Jose to stick with him. But he is far too easy for teams to play through when he’s the deepest.
If he’s twigged that Hojbjerg signing will impact his minutes, that does lean towards a 433, because there’s no way Jose drops Lo Celso, and would also need to find space for either dele or Ndombele. Which gives Winks a bench chance. He’s very similar to gundogan - could easily play 20 games a season, just not all the big ones.
If he doesn’t want to be part of that, then I guess there’s little we can do.
It would be a huge shame to lose him, but he’d start at every team from arsenal ( ugh) downwards

Best thing to do would be to sell Sissoko (or convert him into the RB we’ve been looking for)

 

[nedley]

He’s not a bad player he’s just not good enough for a top 4/6 club.

Against Sheff Utd and Palace we had 4 attackers on the pitch... 4 quality players yet due to the deadly duo’s negativity our 4 attacking players didn’t get a sniff. With a front for our Son, Bergwijn, Moura and Kane we should be destroying the likes of Sheff U and Palace.

We’ve four Rolls Royce’s up top and 2 Vauxhall Corsa’s in central midfield lol

Do you think that maybe from a tactical standpoint, Wink's and Sissokos roles aren't to make risky passes and that the 4 Rolls Royce’s are to create alot more themselves. Or that the plays are made to utilise Aurier down the right.

You saying Winks should be making through balls left, right and centre is like saying Davies should be more positive by running down the wing.

Yes Wink's hasn't been at his best this season but neither has Kane. Everybody has been well below par.

Winks has already proved himself with us. I'm not saying he's our future, hell I'd love us to buy a host of CMs to push and challenge but to say he's not good enough is nonsense.

Was Darren Fletcher not good enough for Fergie? He got the same flack from Utd fans incapable of understanding his role in the squad.

 

[nedley]

Nonsense.

He played a big part in us finishing in the top 4 numerous times.

@TEESSIDE1 Why is that funny?

 

[Japhet]

He’s not a bad player he’s just not good enough for a top 4/6 club.

Against Sheff Utd and Palace we had 4 attackers on the pitch... 4 quality players yet due to the deadly duo’s negativity our 4 attacking players didn’t get a sniff. With a front for our Son, Bergwijn, Moura and Kane we should be destroying the likes of Sheff U and Palace.

We’ve four Rolls Royce’s up top and 2 Vauxhall Corsa’s in central midfield lol

You've answered your own question there. We had 4 up front that left Winks and Sissoko chasing shadows in midfield. Once Mourinho eventually twigged that we needed 3 in CM the whole thing looked more stable and we started getting much better performances. It's not Winks fault he's been continually shoved into a role that isn't his natural game. He's an 8, not a 6.

 

[nedley]

2018/19 we only had 2 fit central midfielders for the majority of the season - Winks and Sissoko. Likewise in 2019/20 Lo Celso was unavailable for months and Ndombele has been doing a fast food crawl for the entire season. We’ve been reliant on Winks and Sissoko because we’ve had no alternatives. Don’t kid yourself by believing they’re playing on merit.

Where did we finish in 2018/19?

4th wasnt it. Winks and Sissoko our only 2 CMs?

Yeah not good enough for a top 6 side?

 

[nedley]

You've answered your own question there. We had 4 up front that left Winks and Sissoko chasing shadows in midfield. Once Mourinho eventually twigged that we needed 3 in CM the whole thing looked more stable and we started getting much better performances. It's not Winks fault he's been continually shoved into a role that isn't his natural game. He's an 8, not a 6.

People won't get it.

 

[EQP]

Also, Winks is worried about this signing and what it means for his position. It’s a possibility he will be leaving

Thanks for the info! Funnily enough, Winks should be looking forward to us getting PEH. It means more opportunities to show Jose his passing range, close control and box-to-box runs from deep.

 

[Cavehillspur]

100 pages..... Announce Hojbjerg!

 

[C0YS]

I guess the counter argument is who would you rather bring on in a game where you’re already 1-0 up, and need to close out by keeping the ball?
Because I’m damn sure I wouldn’t want to bring on Sissoko in that situation. He doesn’t want the ball.
This doesn’t take away from my disappointment at how slowly Winks is learning the Art of a defensive midfielder (body shape in the tackle, approach to press etc). He must be showing something for Poch to shoehorn him into the team, and for Jose to stick with him. But he is far too easy for teams to play through when he’s the deepest.
If he’s twigged that Hojbjerg signing will impact his minutes, that does lean towards a 433, because there’s no way Jose drops Lo Celso, and would also need to find space for either dele or Ndombele. Which gives Winks a bench chance. He’s very similar to gundogan - could easily play 20 games a season, just not all the big ones.
If he doesn’t want to be part of that, then I guess there’s little we can do.
It would be a huge shame to lose him, but he’d start at every team from arsenal ( ugh) downwards

Best thing to do would be to sell Sissoko (or convert him into the RB we’ve been looking for)

If we are successful we should be playing almost 60 games a season +injuries, and players will always be in rotation and competition with each other.

I guess I don't really think about who is going to be the xi, but rather who will be the 18 or so players likely to play a significant part of the season. We need two players who can play n.6 to improve. The players who could play there are likely to see significant game time. Who will start? It's up for grabs, with every position.

It might well be next season we will be playing with Winks and Sissoko two, but that they will be pushed and mature into better performances because they might be better rested or through competition. Ideally both would stay, as they both have something to offer. Unfortunately, because of money it might well be worth selling one of them were a good offer to come in. But I hope not.

 

[SpursSince1980]

Really not sure what that says about Winks' mindset, that he'd immediately see PEH as a threat to his position and therefore wants to leave, versus fighting for a place. Or, assuming that he can't play alongside PEH. That seems a smidge like an over-reaction if true. Besides, I always thought he was Lillywhite through-and-through. So, I don't really understand why he'd be looking to leave based on one incoming player.

 

[snakehipsspurs]

I don’t understand the Winks leaving thing. This is not a new story, it’s been clear PEH has been coming for a while. So the idea Winks or his agent hasn’t talked with the club already to figure out where he fits in the future of our midfield seems unlikely.

But if he has had those talks and been told he doesn’t fit in, then maybe I understand. But the club put him in promotional videos today talking about how much he loves the club. Doesn’t strike me as a player keen to leave. Or at least I hope not!

 

[Dirtysanchez6]

People saying about Jose rating winks.... does he really though ? I mean what other options has he had instead of him ? None! So no one really knows exactly what Jose thinks of winks and also sissoko for that matter! Jose making hojbjerg his main target does tell us he isn’t happy with that area of the park though

 

[Cochise]

Winks' issue is that he's still not good enough to play as a #6 by himself, which is why he has Sissoko next to him. He would be better with a real #6 next to him, but we already have better #8 options in GLC and N'Dombele.

I disagree with the talk of him not being quick, he's got quite a good burst of pace. His passing is safe, he needs to do more things like in the Madrid game at Wembley where he was putting the ball in front of players, not to their feet. It's something quite small, but it makes a massive difference compared to the floated chips into players standing still.

I hope he sticks around, but he needs to become a safe passing, defensively sound #6 or a more progressive #8. Right now he's neither and that will not net him many minutes.

 

[Dashy]

It looks like PEH wants to move to us. Jose wants him. In the last year of his contract so a reasonable fee.

It's got deadline day written all over it.

 

[St José Dominguez]

Not sure why he’d assume he’s losing his place. Until Ndombele pulls his finger out Winks is likely Hojbjerg partner in CM. Feel a bit like we’ve never really seen Winks for what he could be, Wanyama got injured, Dier declined in DM and Dembele was in and out. It’s always seemed to be Winks on his own or partnered by Sissoko.
I’m not sure it would be anything but would be kinda interesting to see how he performed alongside Hojbjerg.

 

[Ionman34]

He also gave Sissoko a new contract. But a pandemic has happened since then that shut down the sport for 3 months. We’ve taken a £200m hit and our debt spiraled due to it. The global economy which still hadnt fully recovered from 2008 took another massive downturn. Couple that with the fact we have an aging squad now and have to get younger, we have to go for younger players with re sale value.

Why?

Getting the right players to get us back into the CL makes more sense than buying players for resale value.

Who have we chosen to sell in recent years who we bought young? Walker we never chose to sell, Eriksen we wanted to keep. Son's value has increased significantly but we're not looking to move him on.

It's a bit of a fallacy this idea that Levy buys young players to move on when their value increases, yet it's peddled on here continually.

 

[C0YS]

People saying about Jose rating winks.... does he really though ? I mean what other options has he had instead of him ? None! So no one really knows exactly what Jose thinks of winks and also sissoko for that matter! Jose making hojbjerg his main target does tell us he isn’t happy with that area of the park though

I think we clearly need another central midfielder. Even if winks and Sissoko had a perfect amazing season, we would still need another one. Particularly because Dier has reconverted to a CB we need another midfielder. If one of Sissoko and Winks goes we would probably need two central midfielders. Thats kind of how building a team works.

I think Jose clearly does rate winks, otherwise something would have happened in january, or we would be seeing different partnerships, which were available. We have four/five central established central midfielders at this club. Winks got more time then all of them. He did have other options.

 

[C0YS]

Why?

Getting the right players to get us back into the CL makes more sense than buying players for resale value.

Who have we chosen to sell in recent years who we bought young? Walker we never chose to sell, Eriksen we wanted to keep. Son's value has increased significantly but we're not looking to move him on.

It's a bit of a fallacy this idea that Levy buys young players to move on when their value increases, yet it's peddled on here continually.

And what if we fail?


We did choose to sell Walker. I'm sure he wanted to leave, but lets not pretend we weren't more than happy to accommodate him leaving. But, it's not about choosing or not, it's about selling for a good price, should they leave, maximise investment either by performances or sales.

Bought young and sold for a profit? More than you think. Yes, Eriksen, Walker, Trippier, Wimmer, Chadli and Falque are recent examples. It could be argued that the last three of those players were bought specifically with understanding that we could make value on them rather than turning them into first teamers.

 

[Cochise]

I'll be honest, the idea of signing a player like Brozovic would be a good idea. You could use the guy either alongside someone like PEH or instead of whilst being able to use two from Dele, N'Dombele and GLC.

In my mind that is what I would like Winks to evolve into. That description is more accurate for Skipp though, if he continues to develop along his current path.