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Lewis Holtby from Rumour to Done Deal

Cavehillspur

Cavehillspur

Well-Known Member
Jan 28, 2011
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Freunds comments are very encouraging, sounds like a deal is all but struck barring the formalities, especially this bit
“If I talk too much about him now, it will seem as though he is already a Spurs player. It is too much now but if it happens, you can ask me everything about him. I know a lot about him.”
 
Lufti

Lufti

Well-Known Member
Jan 3, 2013
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New Freund quotes in -

Steffen Freund, Tottenham’s assistant head coach, follows the game in his home country closely and believes that Holtby would adapt quickly to football in England:

“For Lewis it would not be a problem because he is half-English and loves the Premier League,” Freund is quoted by The Evening Standard as saying. “I know him, he is the captain of the German Under-21 team and will lead them at the European Championship in Israel next summer.
“He is out of contract at the age of 22. I don’t think I have to say any more. I don’t know him well but what I can say is that he is a really good player.
“If I talk too much about him now, it will seem as though he is already a Spurs player. It is too much now but if it happens, you can ask me everything about him. I know a lot about him.”

Sounds encouraging. It seems as though AVB and the coaches want him but now it's up to Levy and Holtby to agree on a deal.
 
PlayerX

PlayerX

?
Jan 27, 2011
79
708
mpickard2087 said:
I'm not making a judgement on this guy, but it has been in the press for months about Holtby's contract situation and that Arsenal and Liverpool were interested.
Click to expand...

Agreed, first window I have been aware of him so lets wait and see if he knows his stuff.
 
Yid121

Yid121

Well-Known Member
Aug 9, 2008
3,467
3,146
Lufti said:
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You're welcome :)​
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Of course, Tottenham are the best team in England to watch without doubt, haven't missed a game in years. If I was to compare Holtby and Sigurdsson I would say Holtby is probably a lot more rugged and isn't afraid to do the 'dirty work' ie tracking back, putting in a challenge and doing his defensive duties. Holtby is able to play further back where as I would say Sigurdsson only really thrives in advanced positions. They're both good passers of the ball and that's probably their best attributes but I can see Holtby fitting into Spurs' lineup better than Sigurdsson has so far despite the fact he hasn't got premier league experience.​
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As someone else said, Holtby is perhaps more of a replacement for Parker, so though players like Parker and Sigurdsson will hopefully welcome the competition, it'll be difficult for them to get in the starting line up ahead of Lewis I would think - he is German under 21 captain after all :D​
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I just hope Freund's German connections will help see the deal through and though he hasn't coached Holtby directly I'm sure he's well aware of his talents, and apparantly Freund even said regarding Holtby - "By all means we are a club with great interest".​
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The biggest competition for his signatures I would imagine would be Everton because of his well publicised support of them but they're yet to make an offer I believe! :)​
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As for his wage, I don't think he rejected our €50,000 offer because he wanted more money. Schalke fans have been expecting him to depart at some point as he was quoted as saying that he wanted to play in England as soon as he was good enough and his progress has been very fast so this isn't a surprise. It's why I didn't get him on the back of my shirt but hopefully maybe I can get him on a Spurs one instead! :)​
But anyway, given that Sigurdsson is on around £70,000, I think Holtby would probably sign for around this much too to keep away other interested clubs​
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At the moment though we have Sandro, Parker and Dembele who all act as our holding midfielders, we really need a more advanced midfielder who can replace VDV. Dempsey and Sigurdsson have not proved that they can. Will Holtby be able to? Can he score 10+ goals a season, can he pick a pass and influence a game in the hole behind the striker? Is he the heartbeat of Schalke do all their attacks come through him?

I guess if he signs at the end of the season he could end up being a replacement for Parker. But through FIFA I thought he was a pacey player good at dribbling who operate on the left wing or at attacking mid. I guess with his rugged style he will be fine in the premiership, which is good to hear. Is he seen as one of the biggest prospects in German football?

To be honest he smells of an Everton player: versatile, hardworking, good all-round player and cheap.

Thanks.
 
Lufti

Lufti

Well-Known Member
Jan 3, 2013
7,994
16,635
Yid121 said:
At the moment though we have Sandro, Parker and Dembele who all act as our holding midfielders, we really need a more advanced midfielder who can replace VDV. Dempsey and Sigurdsson have not proved that they can. Will Holtby be able to? Can he score 10+ goals a season, can he pick a pass and influence a game in the hole behind the striker? Is he the heartbeat of Schalke do all their attacks come through him?

I guess if he signs at the end of the season he could end up being a replacement for Parker. But through FIFA I thought he was a pacey player good at dribbling who operate on the left wing or at attacking mid. I guess with his rugged style he will be fine in the premiership, which is good to hear. Is he seen as one of the biggest prospects in German football?

To be honest he smells of an Everton player, versatile, good all-round player and cheap.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

It's true, Sandro, Parker and Dembele are all good holding midfielders but Holtby can offer something a bit different. Sandro and Parker are both very good defensively but they are not great in the final third. Holtby has the defensive side to his game but is also very adept at playing through balls and seeing the pass which perhaps the rest of the team doesn't. Also, should Holtby play in the holding midfield role, it would allow Dembele to play further forward.

Though he prefers the defensive midfield side, he can also play in the offensive midfield role. Since we lost Raul in the summer Holtby has played behind Huntelaar in the 'number 10' role and has thrived. Though I don't always like doing this, I will give you some stats :)

(In the Bundesliga this season only)

17 games played, 1 on as sub, 11 taken off before the end of the match (1279 minutes)

862 touches, 2 yellow card, 27 fouls, 22 times fouled.

3 goals, 2 headers, 1 left foot, 5 assists.

23 shots on goal, 53 chances created.

628 passes, 82.2% pass completion.

14 crosses, 21.4% completion rating (doesn't take corners)

344 tackles won, 45.9% success rating.

Aerial challenges won 60, 30% success rating (he is only 176 cm tall though)

284 challenges won, 49.3% success rating.

Stats don't tell everything but hopefully this has helped. He also has 3 assists in the Champions League this year and helped us to finish top of the group ahead of Arsenal.

His style is as I have said a rugged midfielder, a work horse, but he's also intelligent and often has the key to open up defences. Don't forget, Modric scored very little and didn't actually have many assists to his name but he was a great player. Holtby is probably the replacement for him that Tottenham didn't sign in the summer(assuming Moutinho was the attempted replacement), so though he wont be scoring A LOT of goals he will chip in with goals and quite a few assists.

He is one of the biggest prospects in Germany but the only problem is that there are a lot of big prospects. If he plays AMC then he has to get ahead of Özil, Kroos, and Götze, while is he plays DM he has to get ahead of Schweinsteiger, Khedira, L. Bender and again, Kroos so it is tough for him. But he will captain the German under 21s in the next tournament and it is expected that Germany will do very well if not win the whole thing!


Also, yes, he is quite a typical Everton player as you pointed out, but I can see him loving it at the lane! Klinsmann, Freund, Ziege and now Holtby. :)

He is versatile though, here's him practically playing as the goalkeeper and stopping us conceding in injury time.

 
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