Player Watch: Pierre-Emile Højbjerg

[mr ashley]

I agree with the sentiment but have to add that if we'd have signed Grealish I don't think we'd have signed Lo Celso, and given the choice I'd pick Gio.

If we’d have signed Grealish we may have been less reliant on Eriksen last season, which might have got him out the door sooner. Lo Celso replaced Eriksen.
Or maybe we’d have spent the money on Dybala instead?

 

[dtxspurs]

I agree with the sentiment but have to add that if we'd have signed Grealish I don't think we'd have signed Lo Celso, and given the choice I'd pick Gio.

I know it is sacrilegious to say anything bad about Gio but I'm not sure one is convincingly better than the other.

 

[septicsac]

I like PEH, think he would be a sensible signing.

 

[Spursmatty87]

I agree good not great but that’s not a bad thing plus think he does have leadership qualities that we need

 

[Hoopspur]

Different formations, not everyone always will be fit and he could play as winger/midfielder. He will be fine

In my opinion Dele has to be seen as a permanent fixture in the team (injuries/suspensions allowing) or not at all. Having seen the type of character he is then I think he will demand a first team place. He is now losing his golden boy place in the England team and there is a definite chance that could happen at Spurs. Next season is very important and a crossroads. Don’t get me wrong I am a Dele fan but he used to play off the left, coincidently where Son was effective and now maybe also Bergwijn. Formations showing no Dele show that his position is In jeopardy.

As an aside I thought he did struggle more when Son got better and better and almost demanded the same position they both played in on the left.

*Sorry, don’t mean to hijack the thread.

 

[AJW]

Starts for Southampton against Norwich

 

[spursfan77]

Let’s see if he can change my mind on him.

Based on the first half he’s no better than what we have. I’d rather give skipp a go.

 

[Japhet]

In my opinion Dele has to be seen as a permanent fixture in the team (injuries/suspensions allowing) or not at all. Having seen the type of character he is then I think he will demand a first team place. He is now losing his golden boy place in the England team and there is a definite chance that could happen at Spurs. Next season is very important and a crossroads. Don’t get me wrong I am a Dele fan but he used to play off the left, coincidently where Son was effective and now maybe also Bergwijn. Formations showing no Dele show that his position is In jeopardy.

As an aside I thought he did struggle more when Son got better and better and almost demanded the same position they both played in on the left.

*Sorry, don’t mean to hijack the thread.

Quite a conundrum really. IMO our midfield suffers when he plays off the front 3 and we struggle to get hold of the ball. He's competing directly with Son on the left, gets a bit lost on the right and loses the ball too easily for a CM spot. Much as I like him, if we could swap him for a top quality DM I'd have to give it some serious thought.

 

[mr ashley]

Let’s see if he can change my mind on him.

Based on the first half he’s no better than what we have. I’d rather give skipp a go.

To be fair, only David Luiz could make that much impact in under 45 mins

 

[eppingyid]

This was in the bbc match thread

Posted at 18:1318:13
Hojbjerg off to Spurs?
Norwich 0-0 Southampton

Conor McNamara
BBC Radio 5 live commentator
There is talk of a falling out between Southampton midfielder Pierre Emile Hojbjerg and manager Ralph Hasenhuttl, with a move to Tottenham apparently at advanced stages.

Article Reactions

 

[dtxspurs]

I saw him do one sprint back while Norwich were on the break and he got into a position to actually block a pass. Immediately knew he'd be better than Winks.

 

[he is you know!]

Better 2nd half from him. One good interception leading to a break, forced a loss of posession leading to 2nd goal.

Quicker over the ground than I realised.

 

[mr ashley]

Let’s see if he can change my mind on him.

Based on the first half he’s no better than what we have. I’d rather give skipp a go.

Winks starts tonight. Let’s see if he can break up the play as well. I’ve been impressed with Hojbjergs positioning and reading of the game. And the fact that, straight after getting whacked in the face, he went and fouled the player to return the favour. No problem with adding a bit of that to this team

 

[bbunc]

Quite a conundrum really. IMO our midfield suffers when he plays off the front 3 and we struggle to get hold of the ball. He's competing directly with Son on the left, gets a bit lost on the right and loses the ball too easily for a CM spot. Much as I like him, if we could swap him for a top quality DM I'd have to give it some serious thought.

Right there with you. I think we could probably turn him into Zakaria plus Eze and potentially even most of Aarons/Bogle and I think that makes us quite a bit better as an overall squad.

 

[spursfan77]

Winks starts tonight. Let’s see if he can break up the play as well. I’ve been impressed with Hojbjergs positioning and reading of the game. And the fact that, straight after getting whacked in the face, he went and fouled the player to return the favour. No problem with adding a bit of that to this team

If it means he comes and replaces sissoko in that team that starts tonight then I’m keen!

 

[GetSpurredOn]

Winks and Sissoko have been pretty quiet. Probably the busiest of the 4 CM’s on show tonight has been McTominay, and that’s without being flash. He’s just had an ability to get in and win a lot of second balls, the quickly move the ball, not flash, but very effectively functional. If that’s what Hojberg could bring to us, I think it would allow others to play much more freely.
Not every signing has to be a superstar, some players just make teams tick by knitting things together subtly.

 

[rawhide]

Winks and Sissoko have been pretty quiet. Probably the busiest of the 4 CM’s on show tonight has been McTominay, and that’s without being flash. He’s just had an ability to get in and win a lot of second balls, the quickly move the ball, not flash, but very effectively functional. If that’s what Hojberg could bring to us, I think it would allow others to play much more freely.
Not every signing has to be a superstar, some players just make teams tick by knitting things together subtly.

They weren’t quiet, they were anonymous. I don’t recall seeing Sissoko either with the ball or making a tackle anywhere near the middle, only at RB. Winks only got on the ball after the penalty.

All this means is either we will improve with a dedicated DM, or it’s a complete waste of time because we don’t play the position correctly.

 

[Goobers]

It looked like a bona fida 4-2-2-2 last night beloved of some of the Italian managers in the 90s. With that in mind I think a player like PEH that can keep the ball moving as well as hunting for the ball and winning it back in the centre of the park with good skill and distribution would work very nicely.

 

[SamR]

Already been said, but most of our signings from Southampton have turned out well. I'm all for buying PL proven players for the limited spending windows ahead. I'd probably let winks move on now...shame but time for us to show that ruthlessness.

 

[arunspurs]

The quote from the Pep is good to listen to...but the inference made in the end in the podcast - dont agree to it...
There is only so much a defensive midfielder in a relegation threatened team can do. So, judging Hojbjerg based on his Southampton days may not necessarily give us the full range of the player he is or can be .

And more & more I watch Winks, his performance is going down - he was incredible 2 yrs ago -when we were playing against Madrid. While he is getting more games nowadays with less injuries, he doesn't seem to make the impact either defensively or offensively. Hojbjerg ahead of Winks -I can certainly see that