Pierre-Emile Højbjerg

[ricky2tricky4city]

Doherty was sound IMO
GHod forward well and had no brain farts in defence which is highly unusual for a RB at out club
PEH was IMO our hardest worker, not that it says much as hard work is a minimum, but at least the effort was there
What I will say is I’ve read constantly about his ball recoveries but his stats on other key defensive areas were inferior to his team mates. Allan for example won the most tackles in Italy for 2 seasons on the spin. Maybe the use of certain stats makes players look different to what they are. I’d argue for anyone that we expect to play DM (maybe the club doesn’t see PEH playing that role), the key metrics are simple defensive ones

The problem with him not playing DM is that it throws into more confusion what position/formation the other midfielders will be playing.?

Edit: too add...I thought what we was looking for was a DM....and now it appears we haven't bought one

 

[Bedfordspurs]

The problem with him not playing DM is that it throws into more confusion what position/formation the other midfielders will be playing.?

I agree
If he isn’t a DM... then he isn’t good enough to play anywhere else. All i heard constantly last season was our woes would be fixed with a DM, but I said at the time we had to fix the full backs. I thought we looked ok ish defensively again and created the better chances, with the issue being we didn’t show the urgency in our own creativity and also showed no aggression all game.
For the league we need Sanchez plus one other as even though IMO Toby and Dier are possibly better defenders than him, both look better playing with him than they do together and Tanganga isn’t fit yet.
I’d love a left back that can run and pass as Davies is being asked to do a half way house which means no creativity at all down the left... and less with no left footed CB
If we’re playing winks and PEH the right sided attacker (Moura yesterday) has to be given freedom to attack. The counter Dele also it scored from was from him doing just that

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

I agree
If he isn’t a DM... then he isn’t good enough to play anywhere else. All i heard constantly last season was our woes would be fixed with a DM, but I said at the time we had to fix the full backs. I thought we looked ok ish defensively again and created the better chances, with the issue being we didn’t show the urgency in our own creativity and also showed no aggression all game.
For the league we need Sanchez plus one other as even though IMO Toby and Dier are possibly better defenders than him, both look better playing with him than they do together and Tanganga isn’t fit yet.
I’d love a left back that can run and pass as Davies is being asked to do a half way house which means no creativity at all down the left... and less with no left footed CB
If we’re playing winks and PEH the right sided attacker (Moura yesterday) has to be given freedom to attack. The counter Dele also it scored from was from him doing just that

Agreed. We need to head towards the balance Walker/Rose gave us. Think you could be right about Sanchez (although I'm not 100% convinced by him individually yet) .
The problem with Moura is he is not a team player, I don't mean work rate (faultless) but interplay. He could have a free role but wouldn't use it to the teams attacking benefit.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Agreed. We need to head towards the balance Walker/Rose gave us. Think you could be right about Sanchez (although I'm not 400% convinced by him individually yet) .
The problem with Moura is he is not a team player, I don't mean work rate (faultless) but interplay. He could have a free role but wouldn't use it to the teams attacking benefit.

I wouldn’t start Moura but Jose likes him
I also wouldn’t start Dier but again Jose likes him
Personally I’d get a left back in who can attack and go 4-3-3 with tubby and Lo celso in that 3 with another player (the other Cms appear to be much of a muchness) and have a 3 in front of son, Kane and Bergwein
What I really like about Bergwein is he doesn’t lose the ball when he passes which sounds basic but it’s key to keep momentum up

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

I wouldn’t start Moura but Jose likes him
I also wouldn’t start Dier but again Jose likes him
Personally I’d get a left back in who can attack and go 4-3-3 with tubby and Lo celso in that 3 with another player (the other Cms appear to be much of a muchness) and have a 3 in front of son, Kane and Bergwein
What I really like about Bergwein is he doesn’t lose the ball when he passes which sounds basic but it’s key to keep momentum up

100% agree. Jose will always like the commited, do as instructed, die for the team sorts (which is ok, all teams need those types) but we need a mix. Bergwijn has the awareness when to pass or go it alone..a great quality (a quality not actually in abundance in our team).

Ironically in the 433 system Dier could return to what he did when he dropped back between Jan and Toby as a DM ....but perhaps those days have passed?

 

[StephenH]

I wouldn’t start Moura but Jose likes him
I also wouldn’t start Dier but again Jose likes him
Personally I’d get a left back in who can attack and go 4-3-3 with tubby and Lo celso in that 3 with another player (the other Cms appear to be much of a muchness) and have a 3 in front of son, Kane and Bergwein
What I really like about Bergwein is he doesn’t lose the ball when he passes which sounds basic but it’s key to keep momentum up

Spooky how much I agree with you

 

[Bedfordspurs]

400% agree. Jose will always like the commited, do as instructed, die for the team sorts (which is ok, all teams need those types) but we need a mix. Bergwijn has the awareness when to pass or go it alone..a great quality (a quality not actually in abundance in our team).

Ironically in the 433 system Dier could return to what he did when he dropped back between Jan and Toby as a DM ....but perhaps those days have passed?

They have passed for Dier IMO
He won’t do that and I still assume we brought PEH for that

 

[MKSpur]

I wouldn’t start Moura but Jose likes him
I also wouldn’t start Dier but again Jose likes him
Personally I’d get a left back in who can attack and go 4-3-3 with tubby and Lo celso in that 3 with another player (the other Cms appear to be much of a muchness) and have a 3 in front of son, Kane and Bergwein
What I really like about Bergwein is he doesn’t lose the ball when he passes which sounds basic but it’s key to keep momentum up

Echoes many of my sentiments. Moura like Lamela
does better defensively and presses well rather than creates opportunities, so they’re more effective against bigger teams and they also both look better off the bench when the game is stretched as they are quite one dimensional in their attacking play. Bergwijn needs to prove he can get more involved in the game but looks more capable technically.
Yesterday the attacking players didn’t probe enough but still think we had the better self made situations to get ahead. Our less technical players gave the ball away when they should be capable of executing simple low risk passes, but we can’t have 3 players all doing this in CM.
It did feel like the belief disappeared by replacing Dele with Sissoko, especially after going 1-0 down. From Jol’s time onward we’ve always at least had a go when losing at home, which is a major concern in our recent defeats.
We need to bounce back in the same way we did from the Sheffield United performance, but it does feel like our strategy means we have to take one of the few chances we create whilst expecting the team to be able to defend more than our opponents.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Echoes many of my sentiments. Moura like Lamela
does better defensively and presses well rather than creates opportunities, so they’re more effective against bigger teams and they also both look better off the bench when the game is stretched as they are quite one dimensional in their attacking play. Bergwijn needs to prove he can get more involved in the game but looks more capable technically.
Yesterday the attacking players didn’t probe enough but still think we had the better self made situations to get ahead. Our less technical players gave the ball away when they should be capable of executing simple low risk passes, but we can’t have 3 players all doing this in CM.
It did feel like the belief disappeared by replacing Dele with Sissoko, especially after going 1-0 down. From Jol’s time onward we’ve always at least had a go when losing at home, which is a major concern in our recent defeats.
We need to bounce back in the same way we did from the Sheffield United performance, but it does feel like our strategy means we have to take one of the few chances we create whilst expecting the team to be able to defend more than our opponents.

MOTD did a decent analysis and the gap between the midfield and attack was vast and worst in the season one half
I think Jose made a mistake in that sub. It hurt the team as dele was probing and Everton did have to del with him. Once he went off it frees up Allan to do what he can do really well (he was great). Managers make mistakes and that’s was a biggy for me
I do wonder who had COVID and of that affected any players energy or availability too

 

[Grays_1890]

The problem with him not playing DM is that it throws into more confusion what position/formation the other midfielders will be playing.?

Edit: too add...I thought what we was looking for was a DM....and now it appears we haven't bought one

If he is not a DM then why the hell did we sign him? He has zero quality on the ball, at least as a DM he is passable as a poundland Robbie Savage

 

[Diamond Lights]

think Hojberg is getting a bit too much stick. He wasn't THAT bad in my view, i mean, did Winks do more or less yesterday? to me, he did far less.

Ultimately the balance was way off in the middle.

 

[Kandi1977]

think Hojberg is getting a bit too much stick. He wasn't THAT bad in my view, i mean, did Winks do more or less yesterday? to me, he did far less.

Ultimately the balance was way off in the middle.

Winks is so boring it's borderline criminal. His first instinct when receiving the ball, no matter where he is, is to look for a pass to the CB'S. EVERY SINGLE TIME! He's about as creative and offensively thinking as a pile of bricks.

 

[Diamond Lights]

Winks is so boring it's borderline criminal. His first instinct when receiving the ball, no matter where he is, is to look for a pass to the CB'S. EVERY SINGLE TIME! He's about as creative and offensively thinking as a pile of bricks.

I like Winks, but wouldn't get into most Top 8 teams in the league First XI.

 

[metalgear]

Winks good for closing out games by retaining possession and boring the spectators of the opposition into silence. Good option to have, just not when we're looking for a goal.

But it was a poor debut by PEH... Hope its because of a lack of fitness and lack of familiarity with the team.

Sent from my SM-G985F using glory-glory.co.uk mobile app

 

[harr1984]

Winks good for closing out games by retaining possession and boring the spectators of the opposition into silence. Good option to have, just not when we're looking for a goal.

But it was a poor debut by PEH... Hope its because of a lack of fitness and lack of familiarity with the team.

Sent from my SM-G985F using glory-glory.co.uk mobile app

Its unfair to judge him when he hasnt got a complimentary midfield partner - Im waiting to see how he fairs when paired with Lo Cleso and/or N'Dombele, I imagine that will be a far better fit.....

 

[Mosquito_Coasting]

There was a stat on Sky that no-one regained the ball more than Højbjerg last season. I guess he’s a roaming, destroying kind of DM.

 

[elltrev]

There was a stat on Sky that no-one regained the ball more than Højbjerg last season. I guess he’s a roaming, destroying kind of DM.

Nah this stat is misleading - it’s based on ‘ball recoveries’, which just means picking up an uncontested loose ball. When you look at his number of tackles (or pressures, if you value those stats) they’re pretty average.

(I can only think he got loads of ball recoveries due to Southampton playing a pressing game and forcing loose long balls)

From everything I’ve seen so far, including today vs Plovdiv, personally I think his tackling actually looks quite brick (albeit he tries and is tenacious)

 

[elltrev]

Just because recording clips on my phone and posting them here is my new thing: here's what feels to me like a representative example of Hojbjerg's defensive weakness - lots of tenacity, but not much speed or tackling ability:

 

[glorygloryeze]

Just because recording clips on my phone and posting them here is my new thing: here's what feels to me like a representative example of Hojbjerg's defensive weakness - lots of tenacity, but not much speed or tackling ability:

Goodness me...can someone, ANYONE post some better representation clips from today? Please..

 

[tw12yid]

Was looking on the spurs shop see if a Bale shirt was available to buy yet. I notice that Højbjerg is not on there. Strange.