Player Watch: Pierre-Emile Højbjerg

[sihills]

Guardiola saw something in him because of his reading of the game. You never know what a 17 year old is going to become. He was right though, his reading of the game is right up there. He is technically limited though and the fact you fail to recognise that is concerning. His balance, agility, first touch and ball control while dribbling and turning with the ball is really not very good at all, he’s not a very well coordinated player, he’s incredibly stiff compared to top level midfielders. This is my opinion formed over the course of 2 years. When he first arrived I loved him because what we had before him in Winks and Sissoko was so bad but I’ve realised over time how limited he is. He might be good enough to keep us in the top 4 if clubs below us don’t strengthen but United are looking at players like Frenkie De Jong etc.. you can’t honestly tell me you think he’s in that class?

As I played at a higher level than you does that mean my opinion counts more than yours? Describing him as technically limited is bizarre. He is by no means the most technical player but he is not in my opinion technically limited in anyway. Technically limited players don't come up with the assist he did against France. I don't think anyone is arguing he is a world class/generational talent but he is a very very good central midfielder and unless we spend an absolute bomb we will not find better!

 

[dontcallme]

Technically everyone is limited.

 

[dudu]

Guardiola saw something in him because of his reading of the game. You never know what a 17 year old is going to become. He was right though, his reading of the game is right up there. He is technically limited though and the fact you fail to recognise that is concerning. His balance, agility, first touch and ball control while dribbling and turning with the ball is really not very good at all, he’s not a very well coordinated player, he’s incredibly stiff compared to top level midfielders. This is my opinion formed over the course of 2 years. When he first arrived I loved him because what we had before him in Winks and Sissoko was so bad but I’ve realised over time how limited he is. He might be good enough to keep us in the top 4 if clubs below us don’t strengthen but United are looking at players like Frenkie De Jong etc.. you can’t honestly tell me you think he’s in that class?

Pure hyperbole.

"Not very good at all"

"Technically limited"

Honestly I feel this is the problem with most football fans. Anything below the top 2% of footballers and fans refer to players as shit, and poor and technically limited.

PEH may not be as technically gifted as some of the top, top CMs out there but that doesn't make him a limited footballer. He is technically gifted in many ways many other footballers are not.

 

[C1w8]

Just been reading this debate back and forth I think for the most part (certainly the last couple of pages) people are getting a little too defensive. Calling hoijberg technically limited does not equate to calling him a terrible player.

Personally i love hoijberg, think hes been great for the team in this run in and further back also, and brings all the qualities people have mentioned, but also that he is stiff compared to the upper echleon of dominant midfielders, does struggle with turning, runs very upright.

But overall hes been a great signing (certainly compared to some other higher fee midfielders weve bought!) and I would expect him to be here next season and to have a good season at that.

 

[PhC]

Just been reading this debate back and forth I think for the most part (certainly the last couple of pages) people are getting a little too defensive. Calling hoijberg technically limited does not equate to calling him a terrible player.

Personally i love hoijberg, think hes been great for the team in this run in and further back also, and brings all the qualities people have mentioned, but also that he is stiff compared to the upper echleon of dominant midfielders, does struggle with turning, runs very upright.

But overall hes been a great signing (certainly compared to some other higher fee midfielders weve bought!) and I would expect him to be here next season and to have a good season at that.

It’s a matter of the words used to describe him vs how ppl describe other players. It seems certain players just get judged unfairly harshly. When you call a player “technically limited” I hear “not good enough technically at this level”. If ppl mean it literally - that he has an upper limit technically - then it applies to anyone and gets meaningless.

So, here’s what I think. Hojbjerg has a broad set of high quality skills and can play as both cdm and cm for Spurs. Together with Betancour/Skipp he has the quality required to improve us - IF we upgrade in other positions and get players who like Son and Kane have near world class core competencies suiting Contes style. Perisic is a great example.
PEH has weaknesses like most players, but overall he is the high quality reliable central cog that every top team needs.

 

[Frozen_Waffles]

I was actually thinking more Nicky Butt.

Just catching up on this thread after a while but did you just compare peh to Nicky butt?

 

[dontcallme]

Just catching up on this thread after a while but did you just compare peh to Nicky butt?

No.

 

[EastUpperDK82]

Goal Højbjerg vs Austria ?

 

[jpascavitz]

Goal Højbjerg vs Austria ?

Guy is class.. already 5 recoveries, 1 tackle, 1 interception, and 1 block too. Keep him fresh all season and we'll see his best all year

 

[BorjeSpurs]

 

[Marty]

Starts the attack, pass out wide and storms into the box for a controlled finish. Top man.

 

[EastUpperDK82]

Højbjerg is running the show again for Denmark... impressive energy and confidence.

 

[TPdYID]

Convinced that the people who don’t rate him have never played football.

…but do play Fifa, lots and lots of Fifa.

 

[McFlash]

Meh, I like the lad and hope he's an important cog for the team next season.
I'm actually quite surprised how much he seems to divide opinion but in that, he reminds me a little bit of Carrick, who we had plenty of people on here not rating until he left.

And no, before anyone gets carried away, I'm not comparing them as players, just the reactions they receive from some sections of the support

 

[13VanDerBale13]

Always goes under the radar in terms of performances & consistency

 

[PCozzie]

Great finish.

Also did you notice Eriksen when they went to celebrate? I used a PHD level lip reading tool and apparently he said to PEH "I'm signing, tell Bents to fuck off, daddy's coming home."

 

[Strikeb4ck]

Always goes under the radar in terms of performances & consistency

Yep. People are not willing to respect the contributions he makes. Great example is the game against Leicester, all the plaudits go to Stevie for the goals at the end but both of those happen because of PEH.

 

[Timberwolf]

Boring answer but I kind of think everyone in this thread is kind of right about him. He's both underrated and overrated by fans at the same time, weirdly.

He's a really important player and offers so much to the team as a whole: character, commitment, positional awareness, tackling, interceptions and, on his day, he can pick a nice pass and nick a goal too. It's not that easy to find a player that has all of these traits and I think they sometimes go underappreciated.

The idea that he's a top-tier technical player though....not buying that. I think @Flobadob's comments on his technique are pretty fair, and if you watch the midfielders at City, Chelsea, Madrid, Liverpool, Bayern, etc and they pretty much all have better natural ball control and technique than Hojbjerg...some of them significantly. His passing, beyond the simple stuff, is also pretty inconsistent. Not bad by any means, but inconsistent.

That doesn't mean he's a bad player or we need to kick him straight out of the team as he offers so many other qualities, but I think it's fine to accept he has certain limitations. And long term, if we truly want to compete with the very top teams over the next few years then I think we need to hold ourselves to the same standards and trying to figure out where we can make marginal gains in the squad, which could mean making Hojbjerg taking on more of a squad role.

 

[ajspurs]

Boring answer but I kind of think everyone in this thread is kind of right about him. He's both underrated and overrated by fans at the same time, weirdly.

He's a really important player and offers so much to the team as a whole: character, commitment, positional awareness, tackling, interceptions and, on his day, he can pick a nice pass and nick a goal too. It's not that easy to find a player that has all of these traits and I think they sometimes go underappreciated.

The idea that he's a top-tier technical player though....not buying that. I think @Flobadob's comments on his technique are pretty fair, and if you watch the midfielders at City, Chelsea, Madrid, Liverpool, Bayern, etc and they pretty much all have better natural ball control and technique than Hojbjerg...some of them significantly. His passing, beyond the simple stuff, is also pretty inconsistent. Not bad by any means, but inconsistent.

That doesn't mean he's a bad player or we need to kick him straight out of the team as he offers so many other qualities, but I think it's fine to accept he has certain limitations. And long term, if we truly want to compete with the very top teams over the next few years then I think we need to hold ourselves to the same standards and trying to figure out where we can make marginal gains in the squad, which could mean making Hojbjerg taking on more of a squad role.

I think it's more so that he can possibly be overrated a touch in response to him being underrated and that can probably be because it can come across as a lack of recognition for just what he has and does do for us. I can't say I've personally seen him get more initial praise from the fanbase than I think he should be getting.

For me it's the amount of criticism he gets from some fans that I find a surprise. It's similar to with Davies, I think he's been fantastic, one of the players of the season for us but I still think we should look for better for next season and the same goes for Hojbjerg too but it can (at least to me) feel like Hojbjerg can be shitted on a bit to get this point across.

 

[Timberwolf]

I think it's more so that he can possibly be overrated a touch in response to him being underrated and that can probably be because it can come across as a lack of recognition for just what he has and does do for us. I can't say I've personally seen him get more initial praise from the fanbase than I think he should be getting.

For me it's the amount of criticism he gets from some fans that I find a surprise. It's similar to with Davies, I think he's been fantastic, one of the players of the season for us but I still think we should look for better for next season and the same goes for Hojbjerg too but it can (at least to me) feel like Hojbjerg can be shitted on a bit to get this point across.

Yeah that's a good point. When there's a player that everyone thinks is shite everyone piles on and it's fine, but criticism of limitations in a player that still has a lot of good qualities can mean people take it the wrong way and get defensive.

100% agree re: Davies and Hojbjerg.