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Harry Winks - Leicester City

nedley

John Duncan's Love Child
Jul 28, 2006
13,942
28,069
When Winks grabs the game and dribbles at defences and midfields I honestly think the rest of the team wake up and the opposition get nervous, I think he needs to do more of it TBH

I don't know if it's a tactical instruction from the sideline that dictates when he's allowed to go forward or a confidence or mental thing, quite often it's been 45 mins before he bursts into life. PSV felt like his most complete 90 minutes so far. I didn't see the Palace game.

Tonight I reckon he was asked to fufill a more conservative role imo. Sancho, Deli, Lingaard having the licence to dovetail and cause havoc infront of him.
 

nedley

John Duncan's Love Child
Jul 28, 2006
13,942
28,069
I do wish he'd shoot more. I have no idea why he cut back onto his left on that chance. More than capable of hitting the target with a clean strike.
 

allpaths

Well-Known Member
Oct 31, 2014
3,174
8,381
One thing about him I find interesting - when was the last top six academy product to gather so much hype from his own club's fans but next to nothing outside that bubble?
Has Winks gotten that much hype from Spurs fans, id say we've been more quietly confident to on the fense about him.

To answer your question, I'd say either Jesse Lingaard or our own Kane fit your criteria. However I'd argue both of those lads didnt come up with much hype from their own respective fanbases either.
 

ljinko888

Well-Known Member
May 17, 2016
2,080
5,376
Has Winks gotten that much hype from Spurs fans, id say we've been more quietly confident to on the fense about him.

To answer your question, I'd say either Jesse Lingaard or our own Kane fit your criteria. However I'd argue both of those lads didnt come up with much hype from their own respective fanbases either.

Disagree with that to be honest. A lot of Spurs fans I see on here and twitter hype him up as the solution to ours and England's midfield problems. The guy to build the midfield around.

But in terms of opposition and neutral fans I think he gets vastly undersold. I raise the point only because when he has good games like last season against Madrid home and away, Dortmund away, Liverpool home - these performances didn't really get much attention. I get the feeling a lot of non-Spurs fans don't know what he offers because there is this image of him being an up and comer rather than someone who is closer to 100 Spurs games than 50 games.

So there is this weird scenario where Spurs fans want him in the team every week but neutrals are surprised he plays for England. That's just what I gather from my experience.
 

coys200

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2017
8,436
17,403
I think all my doubts about him are gone in regard to being good enough. But just what levels he will reach I have no idea. But comforting to know he is a solid CM option for us one less to buy.
 

allpaths

Well-Known Member
Oct 31, 2014
3,174
8,381
Disagree with that to be honest. A lot of Spurs fans I see on here and twitter hype him up as the solution to ours and England's midfield problems. The guy to build the midfield around.

But in terms of opposition and neutral fans I think he gets vastly undersold. I raise the point only because when he has good games like last season against Madrid home and away, Dortmund away, Liverpool home - these performances didn't really get much attention. I get the feeling a lot of non-Spurs fans don't know what he offers because there is this image of him being an up and comer rather than someone who is closer to 100 Spurs games than 50 games.

So there is this weird scenario where Spurs fans want him in the team every week but neutrals are surprised he plays for England. That's just what I gather from my experience.
I discount any sort of footie talk on twitter as there isnt a lot of room for nuance and a lot of group think.

This is just 1st hand expierence but Ive equally seen spurs fans rate him and those who arent convinced.
 

wadewill

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2005
3,159
10,446
I think he is a beautiful footballer, he has a brain and a touch. Could be a real
Star, things have to fall in place but I really think we could have the best all round midfielder England have had since Gerrard
 

glospur

Well-Known Member
May 19, 2015
2,608
9,806
Disagree with that to be honest. A lot of Spurs fans I see on here and twitter hype him up as the solution to ours and England's midfield problems. The guy to build the midfield around.

But in terms of opposition and neutral fans I think he gets vastly undersold. I raise the point only because when he has good games like last season against Madrid home and away, Dortmund away, Liverpool home - these performances didn't really get much attention. I get the feeling a lot of non-Spurs fans don't know what he offers because there is this image of him being an up and comer rather than someone who is closer to 100 Spurs games than 50 games.

So there is this weird scenario where Spurs fans want him in the team every week but neutrals are surprised he plays for England. That's just what I gather from my experience.
I think the reason for that is that it's easy to get excited by the likes of Dele in the past or Sancho now because they do outstanding things, be it bits of skill, assists, or goals. it's easy to get excited by that sort of stuff.

Appreciating, or even understanding, Winks' qualities takes a far more discerning football fan, of which there are few, particularly on Twitter.
 

SpursSince1980

Well-Known Member
Jan 23, 2011
4,732
14,443
I think all my doubts about him are gone in regard to being good enough. But just what levels he will reach I have no idea. But comforting to know he is a solid CM option for us one less to buy.
He is the future of our midfield. We should build around him. Not convinced Dier is a long term future solution for our midfield. But i doubt he'll ever move to the back now. He's clearly believes he's a top class DM. Arguably Winks is better than him at this stage.
 

Shadydan

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2012
38,247
104,143
I think all my doubts about him are gone in regard to being good enough. But just what levels he will reach I have no idea. But comforting to know he is a solid CM option for us one less to buy.

Yeah but it only takes a couple of average performances before the experts come out again and say he's not good enough again so just hold your horses okay
 

ardiles

Well-Known Member
Nov 24, 2006
13,228
40,308
One thing about him I find interesting - when was the last top six academy product to gather so much hype from his own club's fans but next to nothing outside that bubble?

Mark noble?
Well, their fans think that they are a top four side.
 

Ron Burgundy

SC Supporter
Jun 19, 2008
7,705
23,267
I think he is a beautiful footballer, he has a brain and a touch. Could be a real
Star, things have to fall in place but I really think we could have the best all round midfielder England have had since Gerrard

For me that's over the top. I think he's a very neat player with plenty of potential, but when you look at his game I think he's still got a fair way to go. Think about what he is vs. what he isn't: let's start with the latter:

He's not:
- an attacking midfielder IMO
- the kind to create lots of chances/assists...or at least the stats so far suggest that
- going to score lots of goals
- a unit to win headers, tackles etc.

So what is it that he's there for? For me, he is/has:
- tenacious and fairly quick
- a player with a good touch
- who generally has a good footballing brain
- passing is good and sensible, but not exceptional or particularly incisive
- good movement

When I look at that, crudely, it feels like he's one of two sitting midfielders (alongside a more robust, more focused DM), or one of three (where he alongside one more attacking and one less attacking). An over simplification perhaps, but that's how I see it.

So given the above, you'd want him to really be the one that keeps things ticking over, wins possession, maintains possession and lays the platform for the more attacking players. He needs to own the middle of the pitch basically.

My observation, and arguably main criticism would be that too often this year, as a midfield unit (of which he's been a part) we've struggled to get a hold of the midfield, even against some fairly average opposition.

Now clearly (a) it's not all his fault - there are other issues with our CM and attack (b) he has plenty of headroom to improve (c) as a unit we're not performing that well (d) there are times when he has played very well. But, bearing in mind he's coming up to 23, to making statements like the above, he'd need to be performing at a notably higher level.

I'm encouraged by his development, and he's clearly a good premier league player - for any player to come through a youth team and be able to say that is a massive deal, he's worth a lot of money - but I'd stop short of some of the more punchy statements for now...or at least until he's shown a bit more consistency
 

coys200

Well-Known Member
May 22, 2017
8,436
17,403
Ridiculous to mention him alongside Gerrard unless he suddenly starts banging some goals in. Gerrard was a 1 in 4 goal scorer. Currently Winks looks likes he’s gonna pass out anytime he gets anywhere near the goal. Completely different players. Carrick is a much better comparison. For me he can do the job Jorginho does. A deep laying CM that sets the tempo, but can also break lines every now and again.
 

philip

Well-Known Member
Jan 4, 2009
1,347
2,490
Ridiculous to mention him alongside Gerrard unless he suddenly starts banging some goals in. Gerrard was a 1 in 4 goal scorer. Currently Winks looks likes he’s gonna pass out anytime he gets anywhere near the goal. Completely different players. Carrick is a much better comparison. For me he can do the job Jorginho does. A deep laying CM that sets the tempo, but can also break lines every now and again.
Agree. Or possibly a Modric style playmaker.
 

DJS

A hoonter must hoont
Dec 9, 2006
31,261
21,760
Different player to Gerrard who was more of an attacking midfielder (plus Gerrard was really a top top midfielder).

Winks will be a beautiful engine room midfield who you’d play behind the likes of Gerrard to give them the platform to perform.

Fingers crossed Winks stays fit and carries on his development and in future along with Skipp forms our midfield engine room!
 

Teemu

Pretty fly for a Tanguy
Jan 12, 2006
3,499
5,406
For me that's over the top. I think he's a very neat player with plenty of potential, but when you look at his game I think he's still got a fair way to go. Think about what he is vs. what he isn't: let's start with the latter:

He's not:
- an attacking midfielder IMO
- the kind to create lots of chances/assists...or at least the stats so far suggest that
- going to score lots of goals
- a unit to win headers, tackles etc.

So what is it that he's there for? For me, he is/has:
- tenacious and fairly quick
- a player with a good touch
- who generally has a good footballing brain
- passing is good and sensible, but not exceptional or particularly incisive
- good movement

Completely agree. And based on the above, he's definitely the new Luka Modric...or Tom Carroll. :cautious:

Joking aside though, had a shaky start to the season when he was coming back from injury but he's looked very good in the last few games.
 

fridgemagnet

Well-Known Member
Jan 18, 2009
2,410
2,864
Agree. Or possibly a Modric style playmaker.

I'm not sure, Modric range of passes and accuracy is ridiculous plus his quickness of thought. I still don't think there's a player out there that can consistently pass a ball with the outside of the foot as well as Luka especially those cross field ones with just the right weight on them for the runner (you know the ones I mean)

He has the tenacity of Luka in his tackling, tracking back and recovery tackling. Given the lack of Luka Modders in this world and that we never properly replaced him I'll take a Modric Lite if Harry can get near that, it's a lofty goal to strive for.
 

wrd

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2014
13,603
58,005
I'm still quite surprised to see a lot of people on this forum don't rate him very highly, maybe I have a thing for midfielders like winks who can transition play and keep things ticking. I think a lot of people focus too much on actual assists but I don't see too many deep lying midfielders racking up large assists numbers.
 

Flashspur

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2012
6,882
9,068
He is a CM playmaker or MF fulcrum. Not a lot of those around. Certainly not a lot of English players. I think he is going to be top class. Give him time.
 
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