Holtby - First Impressions?

[double0]

I think once his settled and importantly up to speed we'll see much more from Holtby we must remember he is still a young chap.

I also think he needs to trim down a stone or half a stone...not saying his fat, just a bit to bulky muscular. Abit less bulk and more lean muscle for the position his playing.

 

[Lufti]

interesting, but why do you feel he had to come now? would he not have benefited from playing more games for Schalke, and playing champions league games rather than sitting on our bench. Of course he is getting better used to AVB and team mates in this time but he could've done that in the summer, shape of the first team and our very formation may change again if AVB gets his number one guy

Well apart from having an extra player who can come on, as you say he gets settled in to a new country and new team mates, and gets used to the system. Yes, he could have learnt it in the summer, but it's not the same as having to put it in to practice against other premiership teams when you come off the bench or get the odd start. As I said before, the whole team was poor at the start of the season when they had to get used to AVB's system and they had the whole summer to learn it. Putting in to practice against top opposition takes time - Sigurdsson and Dembele struggled with this too for a while

 

[Blake Griffin]

stupid fans are stupid. what can you say?

 

[guiltyparty]

Funniest thing I've ever read, some of this stuff

He was the bloody messiah after two games, now he's not good enough?

Seriously, knee-jerkers need their fucking knees broken

 

[Misfit]

Very glad he's here early. He's taking a few months to settle in but rather now than the start of next season. He'll be like a new signing come August/Sept but with none of the adjustments needed. He'll get a few more starts before season's end, and plenty of sub appearances. Training with the squad etc.

We'll have more new signings needing to settle in the summer. Getting Holtby settled now, considering the pivotal position he will be asked to play, is only a positive. We saw what happens when you have half a dozen new players all arriving and being plonked into the first team quickly. Disjointed performances. We saw it after every window from '04-'08 after all. Hardly surprising.

 

[Dan Yeats]

Yeah, that was strange. He's actually pretty quick and had the second best fitness of all the players at Schalke so something was definitely up. He seemed to be the most tired player at the end despite playing less than most. I suspect a slight training injury midweek or something, because it was unusual.

Hmm.

• Talented young lad.
• Big wages.
• Just moved to London.

...Loses form a bit, and looking more tired than he should.​

Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Lufti]

Hmm.

• Talented young lad.
• Big wages.
• Just moved to London.

...Loses form a bit, and looking more tired than he should.​

Hope I'm wrong.

Yeah but he's German, being efficient is more important than having fun.

 

[chinaman]

No, he HAD to come now. I'm a Schalke fan and let me tell you, he looks like a completely different player to how he played at Schalke. In Holtby's first game when he came off the bench against Norwich everyone said how fantastic he was and how he kept playing nice passes first time which created chances. This is exactly how he played at Schalke and he did this after only one training session at Tottenham. Again, in his second game against West Brom he played well and this was after only a few training sessions at Tottenham - he still looked like the Holtby of Schalke. Since then, he seems to have got slightly worse with each performance, and looks more unrecognisable from his time at Schalke. In case you haven't already gathered what I'm getting at, it seems like AVB is trying to get him used to the Tottenham system or trying to change in his game in some manner and so far he isn't used to it. At the moment whatever instructions he's following or game he's trying to play isn't working and it doesn't suit him, but hopefully over time this will change, because at the moment he looks a bit like a fish out of water. Personally I have always preferred him in the DM position and I think if he gets a start there we'll see him looking more comfortable and see the better side of him. Time will tell. But he had to come in now so he's ready for next season - judging by our poor start to the season, Sigurdsson only just coming good, and even Dembele going though a similar thing where he started well, went through a bad patch and is coming again now, it seems it takes players a while to adjust to AVB's system.

Thanks for the info. Perhaps he should be the replacement for Parker, who I think is now past his best by date.

 

[markiespurs]

Holtby is clearly still settling in at the club and into English football, so now, or for the rest of the season, isn't the right time to judge him.

Personally, I quite like the fact that we got Holtby in early and giving him time to settle in and adjust, I personally think we will see the massive benefit of this at the start of next season

 

[SteveH]

Holtby is clearly still settling in at the club and into English football, so now, or for the rest of the season, isn't the right time to judge him.

Personally, I quite like the fact that we got Holtby in early and giving him time to settle in and adjust, I personally think we will see the massive benefit of this at the start of next season

I'm not convinced - he looks so shaky.

He was so good in his debut.......lets see....

 

[Buckoxx]

Still believe he can be our Modric/VdV replacement, watched a few Schalke games and his creative play is brilliant, all he's done recently is had a dip in form. This could be due to several reasons, even if he doesn't cut it (which he 95% will) we got him for 1.5m(iirc?) it's not as if we were breaking the bank for the Germany u21 Captain

 

[thetallaghttiger]

Don't expect Holtby to play a major part in our remaining games, maybe a handful of starts depending on our Europa progress and if we badly need to rotate, but otherwise, expect him to mostly play coming off the bench in our games left.

Needs to channel that initial burst of energy of being fired up and keen to run around and impress everyone - watching him lately, he seems eager to make an impact but just goes around fouling the opposition, and running into positions where he loses the ball or just gives it away stupidly - what we've wanted from him is just to calm down, keep the ball and pick the easy pass, make good movement to get the ball and keep it moving.

Key thing for him for next season is firstly, get through the summer - he'll be with the German U21's so if he can get through that injury free, and secondly have a decent tournament, then he could be in top shape for next season. He'll presumably link up a bit later in pre-season than the majority of our squad, but still, general match fitness shouldn't be too much of an issue hopefully, so a few weeks of training with everyone will hopefully settle him down, improve him and let us see the talent that he clearly has.

Potential to be a MASSIVE player for us next season

 

[Lufti]

Don't expect Holtby to play a major part in our remaining games, maybe a handful of starts depending on our Europa progress and if we badly need to rotate, but otherwise, expect him to mostly play coming off the bench in our games left.

Needs to channel that initial burst of energy of being fired up and keen to run around and impress everyone - watching him lately, he seems eager to make an impact but just goes around fouling the opposition, and running into positions where he loses the ball or just gives it away stupidly - what we've wanted from him is just to calm down, keep the ball and pick the easy pass, make good movement to get the ball and keep it moving.

Key thing for him for next season is firstly, get through the summer - he'll be with the German U21's so if he can get through that injury free, and secondly have a decent tournament, then he could be in top shape for next season. He'll presumably link up a bit later in pre-season than the majority of our squad, but still, general match fitness shouldn't be too much of an issue hopefully, so a few weeks of training with everyone will hopefully settle him down, improve him and let us see the talent that he clearly has.

Potential to be a MASSIVE player for us next season

Completely agree. Saying that I still think Bale - Holtby - Lennon should be the attacking trio. Or even Bale - Sigurdsson - Lennon with Dembele and Holtby behind (though Parker will be needed against Chelski and Citeh as he is very good defensively even though he's like a ballerina with the ball). To be honest, I know Bale has been scoring all our goals etc, but I still think our team would be more balanced with a natural central playmaker, especially as Sig and Holtby aren't great out wide.

 

[Naj 1]

Reminds me a bit of Boetang when he first arrived... German Under 21 Star with huge potential. For me, he loses the ball too easily but unlike Boetang, he shows a lot more passion and comitment to the cause. Hope we give the boy a chance or we could be seeing him line up for a club like AC in a few years and be thinking...."what if...?"

 

[thetallaghttiger]

Saying that I still think Bale - Holtby - Lennon should be the attacking trio. Or even Bale - Sigurdsson - Lennon with Dembele and Holtby behind (though Parker will be needed against Chelski and Citeh as he is very good defensively even though he's like a ballerina with the ball). To be honest, I know Bale has been scoring all our goals etc, but I still think our team would be more balanced with a natural central playmaker, especially as Sig and Holtby aren't great out wide.

In an ideal world, I'd love to see this too, but Holtby's current form compared to that of Sigurdsson, isn't up to scratch. To be honest, even the Clint has shown he works harder than Holtby when he plays and has a greater goalscoring record! Bale in the middle works brilliantly at the moment as he just keeps on scoring!

So Holtby is behind both Clint/Siggy for me, so until he settles down and shows some good form, for now he's not the answer. This will change rapidly though if we get to the semi-finals of the Europa though as AVB will have to rotate 3-6 players at times for some matches if we pick up the two extra games (never mind a third extra one if we get to the final of the Europa..... NOT TO GET AHEAD OF OURSELVES!)

Reminds me a bit of Boetang when he first arrived... German Under 21 Star with huge potential. For me, he loses the ball too easily but unlike Boetang, he shows a lot more passion and comitment to the cause. Hope we give the boy a chance or we could be seeing him line up for a club like AC in a few years and be thinking...."what if...?"

Agree with this too, hadn't thought about it, but there are some similarities there with Boateng - obviously Holtby is not as much of a nutjob as him though!!! THANK GOD!

 

[Kingellesar]

I like him to be honest, I thought he came on and did fairly well against Swansea, got back and helped out Parker and Dembele and also broke forward when Defoe and Bale went on runs. He needs more game time in his natural position but I think he has settled ok and will prove to be an important player for us.

He looks like a strong little fucker too, not easy to push off the ball and willing to chase.

 

[sbrustad]

Like several others have said I think he could do well in a CM role sort of like Modric did. Him and Dembélé would be awesome together at home vs weaker sides.

He's got a great first touch and doesn't spend unnecessary time on the ball the way Parker tends to do. Obviously Parker is better defensively, but like I said it's something I'd like to see us try against weak opposition.

 

[Gbspurs]

Like several others have said I think he could do well in a CM role sort of like Modric did. Him and Dembélé would be awesome together at home vs weaker sides.

He's got a great first touch and doesn't spend unnecessary time on the ball the way Parker tends to do. Obviously Parker is better defensively, but like I said it's something I'd like to see us try against weak opposition.

I suspect the same, which would see him in rotation with Sandro. I'm not sure with Bales new playing position we could see all 3 of them unfortunately. Going to be a good player for us definitely and great to have options like him an Siggy.

 

[Lufti]

In an ideal world, I'd love to see this too, but Holtby's current form compared to that of Sigurdsson, isn't up to scratch. To be honest, even the Clint has shown he works harder than Holtby when he plays and has a greater goalscoring record! Bale in the middle works brilliantly at the moment as he just keeps on scoring!

So Holtby is behind both Clint/Siggy for me, so until he settles down and shows some good form, for now he's not the answer. This will change rapidly though if we get to the semi-finals of the Europa though as AVB will have to rotate 3-6 players at times for some matches if we pick up the two extra games (never mind a third extra one if we get to the final of the Europa..... NOT TO GET AHEAD OF OURSELVES!)

What?!

 

[fridgemagnet]

Whenever i've seen him play, more so in home games he seems to be trying too hard still shows some great touches, i'm actually pleased we got him in early to allow him to settle.

I do wish some so called fans would remember that we have some very young players who they are too keen to right off too quickly (Walker for example) and get dogs abuse (because that helps )