Gazza
Nick Barmby
helps the early bird get the worm… what’s his mrs look like?
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Pierre-Emile Højbjerg
- Thread starter JerusalemMan
- Start date
helps the early bird get the worm… what’s his mrs look like?
braineclipse
Willie Hall
Thought he was another one that put in a good performance against Southampton, but perhaps taken a bit for granted?
Will be interesting to see how the fight for those central midfield starting roles goes this season. I know there will be rotation and all that, but I think all four will want to be starting the big games. May be that this is the year where Hojbjerg loses out, but I'm not sure.
Will be interesting to see how the fight for those central midfield starting roles goes this season. I know there will be rotation and all that, but I think all four will want to be starting the big games. May be that this is the year where Hojbjerg loses out, but I'm not sure.
papaspur
Kasey Keller
It's great because he's going to feel that fire behind him, can't afford to get complacent (goes for any player now, hopefully even Kane). So whoever it is that ends up starting a match, I think we can all feel pretty confident.
He put in some incisive forward passes, a great long ball over the top for Son in the first half and it was a great ball by him to Royal for Kulus’ goal. He has done this plenty of times but often gets ignored because it’s Hojberg…..
braineclipse
Willie Hall
Some good touches too, not spectacular, but good and effective. Involved in some of our good ball progression moves too iirc.
All while, along with Bentancur, playing two against three in central midfield and making it look like we had the extra man on there rather than them. That's not all on the central midfielders of course z but definitely did a good job.
Jurgen the German
Tommy Harmer
I said quite a few times last season that he reminds me of when we signed Palacios, did a very important job for us that we needed but kind of outgrew him and needed a more progressive passer. I still feel that, but I do like Hojbjerg and hope he’s here for many years to come. I think the whole captain thing is overblown among football fans but I do feel he would be a good captain.
I truly think a lot of people underestimate his passing. I thought it was just as good as Bentancur’s at the weekend. And detailed stats from fbref suggest it was very good last season:
braineclipse
Willie Hall
I broadly agree.
I do think he can look a bit clumsy at times, not great under pressure, ends up playing it safe more often than not. Now that's absolutely fine.
I think he's as good as Bentancur at mid range and longer forward passes. Bentancur better at making quick passes under pressure and in tight spots. But there's not a ton in it imo.
I think an impression persists to some extent from when we under Mourinho and Nuno gave our central midfielders very difficult conditions on the ball. Now under Conte it's better and he looks better as a result.
Neither player is top level on the ball, Bentancur a bit better under pressure (difficult to judge by stats, just my opinion). Both definitely good enough for this system the vast majority of the time. With added quality and creativity from our wing backs (new signings and improvements) their shortcomings should be even less of an issue.
In terms of passing I don't think Bissouma is better than either of them. Us signing Bissouma is a pretty clear sign that Conte thinks that's good enough. We need defensive ability, discipline, positioning more in those roles than we need top level passing stuff.
I think Hojbjerg will continue to be very important for us. But having 4 good options for those roles is very good, and imo necessary. Time will tell who becomes preferred in the biggest games. I'm not going to bet against Hojbjerg.
Jurgen the German
Tommy Harmer
He’s an ok passer. I agree with @brainclipse and that it remains to be seen who will be first choice. My guess ultimately would be Bentancur and Bissouma but form will dictate that.
metalgear
Nayim
Great everywhere except assists and xg... Reminds me of Winks. One of our CMs has got to contribute more to attack. Especially as there are 3 CBs behind those two and all the players at the base of the team defensive.
Interest in Zaniolo tells me that Conte wants someone who can carry the ball through the midfield. We've seem him try with Moura but Zaniolo is more physical and probably gets the team going opposed to Moura's totally random moves.
Perhaps that's the increased penetration that we lack through the centre that Conte desperately wants to break down teams that sit deep, as an alternative to Hojbergs predictable but still excellent passing.
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JerusalemMan
Johnny Morrison
If Bentancur and Bissouma can develop a partnership then that may be less of an issue.
Our cb's seem to be getting in the box now too. Add our wbs. We have a lot of attacking players in the team.
Bedfordspurs
Martin Peters
TBF i did see both CMs supporting the attacking 3 with runs but they weren’t needed
metalgear
Nayim
running with the ball is different from being there supporting the attack and waiting for the ball. when a dribbler progress is made past one defender another needs to come forward and step out of formation which creates space behind him. i.e. one person commits two defenders.
braineclipse
Willie Hall
If Winks could defend as well as Hojbjerg he'd not be on his way out and would have started regularly over the last years.
3 attackers, attacking wing backs. That's 5 players, usually what (top) teams look for.
We have wide full backs in Romero, Davies and now Lenglet that join in the attack and are rather good at it. Those wide centre backs and the central midfielders to me have a fairly similar attacking freedom. Join in when it makes sense and doesn't leave unnecessary gaps. That's fine.
I think our central midfielders offer reasonable end product (assists, goals). We need players there that are at a very high level defensively. Finding players that have that and better end product is really difficult. Their job on the ball is mainly ball progression and ball retention. They're all quite good at that. Again, better would be better, but finding that and very good defensively is a tough ask.
Not only high level defensively BTW. Specifically good defensively in a midfield two. Ability to cover space, positioning, decision making, tackling and aggression.
Zaniolo or someone like him may be an option if we play a midfield three. Perhaps towards the end of games where we need a goal in one of those two deep roles. I really don't think we'll start him in a midfield two for many games at all if we sign him. Us signing Bissouma tells us what Conte needs for those roles and it isn't end product.
papaspur
Kasey Keller
I thought he was very good yesterday, and obviously scoring a goal doesn't hurt either. Seems like he's been playing at the standard he was at when he first arrived here, and since we actually have a squad now, he can be rotated and kept fresh so he can continue to put in good performances.
Well if casemiro is worth £60m at 30, negotiations can start at £90m.
