Pierre-Emile Højbjerg

[Jurgen the German]

It’s rarely aimed at the right player though.

It’s not about the weakest player, it’s about who isn’t doing their job, for us in recent years I’d argue the issue was more the likes of Kane and Son not keeping their end up than players like Royal, Richie and PEH.

Kane and Son can’t do a lot more than score 20-30 goals every season and chip in with 10+ assists. We need more players of that quality, not the likes of Richie and Royal. The top teams in world football aren’t stacked with players of the quality of Richie, Royal and PEH.

 

[Yiddo]

Glad he is going, he is so frustrating to watch, constantly walking back, shouting at the ref and moaning. People overrate him on here because he looks like he is passionate and pops up now and then with a goal or assist. I wish him well for the future but i’m not his biggest fan.

 

[Kandi1977]

I don't see loan mentioned anywhere. I thought it was a straight up sale.

Its from that Ben Jacobs tweet, about 10 posts up

Does seem a bit early in the window though to have to resign ourselves to there being no better option than a loan.

It's a loan with obligation to buy. It's basically the same as selling him now, only that they get to postpone the payment by a year, usually leading to the total fee being higher.
Same as you getting a one year extension on your mortgage, and only pay interest for a year.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Yeah I don't get this idea of a spacegoat. There's always going to be a player who is the weakest element of any side and obviously the correct course of action is to address your weakest aspect to improve your side. Otherwise what's the point exactly? Just keep players because we like their personalities even if they aren't able to deliver what we need on the pitch and let's be clear everyone our players have NOT delivered. We have no titles, no cups, not even semis recently so yes the team does need improving.

People talk about the players being too nice but it's our bloody fans who are soft. They fall in love with mediocre players and can't bare to move them on or improve upon them.

Yep. And we’re also not allowed to be unhappy or underwhelmed with individual signings like Werner because we can only judge on the entire window as a whole. So in other words if we sign another forward and Werner is purely a backup then it’s a good signing. Nothing wrong with that logic tbh but the season starts in less than a month. The preseason has already started and we haven’t signed another forward. So if we don’t sign another forward does that mean Werner is a good signing or a bad signing?

 

[SteveAWOL]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1815147189464707537

 

[3DSpur]

4 years of service have come and gone, feels a lot longer.

 

[Gutter Boy]

4 years of service have come and gone, feels a lot longer.

So many parallels between Hojbjerg and Biden - someone that was sadly needed 4 years ago but was never a great choice and never won the hearts, even of their supporters. And someone who has been rapidly being found to be out of their depth in recent months, so is making way today. .

 

[greatwhitenorf]

Glad he is going, he is so frustrating to watch, constantly walking back, shouting at the ref and moaning. People overrate him on here because he looks like he is passionate and pops up now and then with a goal or assist. I wish him well for the future but i’m not his biggest fan.

Think he's gonna cope well without you, boychuk. Just like he has already.

 

[greatwhitenorf]

So many parallels between Hojbjerg and Biden - someone that was sadly needed 4 years ago but was never a great choice and never won the hearts, even of their supporters. And someone who has been rapidly being found to be out of their depth in recent months, so is making way today. .

Hah! That's pulling a slender thread through a mazy set of holes but credit for the effort.

Biden used decency and marital fidelity to put the studs into Trump's shin in 2020 and for that we should all be grateful. Hojbjerg put the oomph into our training and gameday mentality - at a very appropriate time - and for that we should all be grateful.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Glad he is going, he is so frustrating to watch, constantly walking back, shouting at the ref and moaning. People overrate him on here because he looks like he is passionate and pops up now and then with a goal or assist. I wish him well for the future but i’m not his biggest fan.

It is the right time for him to move on from both his and the club's perspectives. I feel that many people underrate him on here because they don't look past him doing a lot of pointing and showing a bit of passion, when, in reality, he typically always does a good job, carries out the manager's instructions and pops up with goals and assists despite typically playing a relatively deep role.

 

[Grays_1890]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1815147189464707537

Seems the right club and likely the right level of football for him to go out on. Don't hate the bloke but time and need for better quality has come here.

 

[harr1984]

Yeah I don't get this idea of a spacegoat. There's always going to be a player who is the weakest element of any side and obviously the correct course of action is to address your weakest aspect to improve your side. Otherwise what's the point exactly? Just keep players because we like their personalities even if they aren't able to deliver what we need on the pitch and let's be clear everyone our players have NOT delivered. We have no titles, no cups, not even semis recently so yes the team does need improving.

People talk about the players being too nice but it's our bloody fans who are soft. They fall in love with mediocre players and can't bare to move them on or improve upon them.

It's not about the guys quality that is the question when it comes to him being a spacegoat. It's the fact that when we concede goals, the match threads will be littered by the usual suspects making it out to be Hojbergs fault, when in fact it's not at all or as is often the case there are several players at fault. Or this narrative some have built that all he does is point and shout, if anyone honestly believes that he got selected week in week out for 2-3 seasons when that's all he was contributing, well it's shall we say a little bit silly.

Wanting a better player than him is fine, and not spacegoating but he was also a decent performer for the club and his attitude throughout was something certain members of the squad will have done well to mirror....

 

[Bishop]

It's not about the guys quality that is the question when it comes to him being a spacegoat. It's the fact that when we concede goals, the match threads will be littered by the usual suspects making it out to be Hojbergs fault, when in fact it's not at all or as is often the case there are several players at fault. Or this narrative some have built that all he does is point and shout, if anyone honestly believes that he got selected week in week out for 2-3 seasons when that's all he was contributing, well it's shall we say a little bit silly.

Wanting a better player than him is fine, and not spacegoating but he was also a decent performer for the club and his attitude throughout was something certain members of the squad will have done well to mirror....

I hear that and my post was more in general than about Hojberg in particular as I think he was a decent player and by no means the source of all our ills. I generally don't think any one player change makes that significant a difference overall but I do believe in improving your weakest element continually. I don't believe you ever settle and think your squad is good enough. None of the successful or winning teams do this. You always have to try to improve, even in the smallest areas.

I do get what you're saying re people purely blaming Hojberg or any other player for a specific problem or issue. It's usually more systemic than a singular player.

 

[spurspinter1]

So many parallels between Hojbjerg and Biden - someone that was sadly needed 4 years ago but was never a great choice and never won the hearts, even of their supporters. And someone who has been rapidly being found to be out of their depth in recent months, so is making way today. .

How has PEH been out of his depth in the last few months? Looked good at the Euros and was often required in the latter stages of last season - He was just about as inconsistent as anyone else in our midfield.

Either way it looks a decent move for him and the club. I still think we need a reliable experienced head coming in, nobody's describing Biss as reliable, Bentancur may reliably throw racist remarks around or bottles but rarely turns up on the pitch.

There's so much young talent in that area and I love that, but if we really want to improve on last season in terms of league position and cup performance I still think we need a proper beast in there. If things are not going swimmingly well I don't want to see folks laying in to Gray / Bergvall / Sarr, but imo they'll benefit from having a been there done it character who can show them how it's done.

 

[harr1984]

How has PEH been out of his depth in the last few months? Looked good at the Euros and was often required in the latter stages of last season - He was just about as inconsistent as anyone else in our midfield.

Either way it looks a decent move for him and the club. I still think we need a reliable experienced head coming in, nobody's describing Biss as reliable, Bentancur may reliably throw racist remarks around or bottles but rarely turns up on the pitch.

There's so much young talent in that area and I love that, but if we really want to improve on last season in terms of league position and cup performance I still think we need a proper beast in there. If things are not going swimmingly well I don't want to see folks laying in to Gray / Bergvall / Sarr, but imo they'll benefit from having a been there done it character who can show them how it's done.

This is a key area we still need to upgrade IMO. I honestly think Gray is going to be ridiculously good there given time, but appreciate you can't ask too much too soon of him. Sarr is great, but also can't expect him to be relied upon consistently at his age as talented as he is. As you say Biss and Bentancur have to date looked like typical Spurs players - consistently inconsistent. If just one of them put in consistent 8/10+ performances that we have seen them do on occasions then that would make a huge difference. But I'm not holding my breath, and expect us to invest in this area and would expect/hope it to be a more established player than the Gray/Sarr profile....

 

[spurspinter1]

This is a key area we still need to upgrade IMO. I honestly think Gray is going to be ridiculously good there given time, but appreciate you can't ask too much too soon of him. Sarr is great, but also can't expect him to be relied upon consistently at his age as talented as he is. As you say Biss and Bentancur have to date looked like typical Spurs players - consistently inconsistent. If just one of them put in consistent 8/10+ performances that we have seen them do on occasions then that would make a huge difference. But I'm not holding my breath, and expect us to invest in this area and would expect/hope it to be a more established player than the Gray/Sarr profile....

My issue is I don't exactly know who to go out and buy. It's a vaguely controversial one but I still reckon Romero could absolutely crush it as the most defensive of the 3 in midfield, but it's speculation as we haven't seen it happen (apart from when he generally just goes wherever he fancies a on a marauding run). There might be more gettable targets at CB as opposed to CM, although I've no idea how the market is.

Seems like a big ask to expect Skipp to suddenly step up, on paper I don't see how the new signings fit in and look a real competitive team at the top level. Folks won't like the comparison but Arsenal going out and getting Rice because they needed that level of player, plus having the likes of Jorginho around so big experience as well...

Back to PEH, it's fair that people that aren't a fan will be happy he's gone and to get some usable funds in but I do see a gap in the squad that Gray may eventually fill and exceed. The expectations for him to do that hitting the ground running is a tad much (as ever I'd love to proved wrong!)

 

[Bedfordspurs]

How has PEH been out of his depth in the last few months? Looked good at the Euros and was often required in the latter stages of last season - He was just about as inconsistent as anyone else in our midfield.

Either way it looks a decent move for him and the club. I still think we need a reliable experienced head coming in, nobody's describing Biss as reliable, Bentancur may reliably throw racist remarks around or bottles but rarely turns up on the pitch.

There's so much young talent in that area and I love that, but if we really want to improve on last season in terms of league position and cup performance I still think we need a proper beast in there. If things are not going swimmingly well I don't want to see folks laying in to Gray / Bergvall / Sarr, but imo they'll benefit from having a been there done it character who can show them how it's done.

Looked excellent in the euros so even better IMO than you say
We have an odd fan base TBF who just hang baggage on certain players

 

[Bedfordspurs]

My issue is I don't exactly know who to go out and buy. It's a vaguely controversial one but I still reckon Romero could absolutely crush it as the most defensive of the 3 in midfield, but it's speculation as we haven't seen it happen (apart from when he generally just goes wherever he fancies a on a marauding run). There might be more gettable targets at CB as opposed to CM, although I've no idea how the market is.

Seems like a big ask to expect Skipp to suddenly step up, on paper I don't see how the new signings fit in and look a real competitive team at the top level. Folks won't like the comparison but Arsenal going out and getting Rice because they needed that level of player, plus having the likes of Jorginho around so big experience as well...

Back to PEH, it's fair that people that aren't a fan will be happy he's gone and to get some usable funds in but I do see a gap in the squad that Gray may eventually fill and exceed. The expectations for him to do that hitting the ground running is a tad much (as ever I'd love to proved wrong!)

I think Gray could step in now and suit us better than what PEH does
That’s not a slight on Hojberg but his style of game isn’t what we play now
Grays, IMO, does. He is a forward thinking passer and better form what I saw last year at retaining the ball

 

[spurspinter1]

I think Gray could step in now and suit us better than what PEH does
That’s not a slight on Hojberg but his style of game isn’t what we play now
Grays, IMO, does. He is a forward thinking passer and better form what I saw last year at retaining the ball

I'm fairly sure he'll see plenty of game time and have a positive impact but PEH came on and steadied the ship a bunch of times, the experience helps even if he's not some absolute world class machine. Do we expect Gray to come in and stabilize Biss or Bentancur if they're having off days? He's a kid who has played a season in the championship and was reportedly picking up the cones after the training sessions - It's hardly a bad thing to be young, eager and helpful but alongside the right kind of player. Also Gray isn't diminutive like Modric but he's not exactly a unit either.

I get the feeling that we do actually want to be challenging for stuff (not just a title push in mid September) and obviously Ange is happy to have young players who are suited to his game but I don't see the likes of Gray / Bergvall solving the woes of the 2nd half of last season, hence why I find it odd if people are thinking we're done in midfield as if we have proven options / combinations of players to mount a real challenge. The proof will be if we sign anymore players I guess, a circle jerk about beating QPR and Hearts is all good fun but there's definitely work to be done imo.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I'm fairly sure he'll see plenty of game time and have a positive impact but PEH came on and steadied the ship a bunch of times, the experience helps even if he's not some absolute world class machine. Do we expect Gray to come in and stabilize Biss or Bentancur if they're having off days? He's a kid who has played a season in the championship and was reportedly picking up the cones after the training sessions - It's hardly a bad thing to be young, eager and helpful but alongside the right kind of player. Also Gray isn't diminutive like Modric but he's not exactly a unit either.

I get the feeling that we do actually want to be challenging for stuff (not just a title push in mid September) and obviously Ange is happy to have young players who are suited to his game but I don't see the likes of Gray / Bergvall solving the woes of the 2nd half of last season, hence why I find it odd if people are thinking we're done in midfield as if we have proven options / combinations of players to mount a real challenge. The proof will be if we sign anymore players I guess, a circle jerk about beating QPR and Hearts is all good fun but there's definitely work to be done imo.

There is always work to be done
And I think gray has the smarts to do what you describe. I think he will shock some people

PEH was a great finisher of games for us. Not so good as a starter in this set up. That’s partly his intelligence and partly his technical side. But I’m hoping ange isn’t looking for finishers and more starters

We will see more on the tour I think

I also think there are a lot of moving parts that are going to change in the next 2/3 weeks

I’ve just done a post in the preseason thread about the amount of players we have to manage and it’s quite scary