Player Watch Player Watch: Oliver Skipp

[rossdapep]

Him and Sarr are the only positives from tonight.

Emerson too.

Skippy showed tonight how tactically aware he is. Was nearly always in the right place to receive, recover loose passes and block routes.

Imagine him, Bentancur and Sarr/Bissouma in a 3, I think it has HUGE potential.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

Emerson too.

Skippy showed tonight how tactically aware he is. Was nearly always in the right place to receive, recover loose passes and block routes.

Imagine him, Bentancur and Sarr/Bissouma in a 3, I think it has HUGE potential.

Skippy is my vote for "Most likely to be a Manager in the future"

 

[Flobadob]

Emerson too.

Skippy showed tonight how tactically aware he is. Was nearly always in the right place to receive, recover loose passes and block routes.

Imagine him, Bentancur and Sarr/Bissouma in a 3, I think it has HUGE potential.

Skipp at the base of a Skipp, Bentancur and Sarr midfield in the future is a very very good future prospect for us. I’ve said it in another thread but we have a lot of young talent that need only time, minutes and consistent fitness to be top players, the talent is there in 7-8 players 23 or under for us and add in Bentancur, Romero, Bissouma and Richarlison who are mid 20’s and the future is definitely bright, it will just take time whether that be under Conte or Poch (who I hope for if we don’t stick with Conte)

 

[Japhet]

Emerson too.

Skippy showed tonight how tactically aware he is. Was nearly always in the right place to receive, recover loose passes and block routes.

Imagine him, Bentancur and Sarr/Bissouma in a 3, I think it has HUGE potential.

I thought Skipp and Sarr did exceptionally well last night under the circumstances. The only caveat I'd add though is that AC, unlike just about every other opponent we've faced, didn't set up with a numerical advantage in midfield. I have no idea why not since it's the 'go to' template to give us a hard time. The proof or the pudding will be when they're getting bypassed and can't get any sort of a foothold (almost certainly in our next EPL game).

 

[Flobadob]

I thought Skipp and Sarr did exceptionally well last night under the circumstances. The only caveat I'd add though is that AC, unlike just about every other opponent we've faced, didn't set up with a numerical advantage in midfield. I have no idea why not since it's the 'go to' template to give us a hard time. The proof or the pudding will be when they're getting bypassed and can't get any sort of a foothold (almost certainly in our next EPL game).

When you play two players that actually have a burst of pace in the midfield it becomes a lot harder for teams to dominate them. I’ve been saying this for ages. We need two top athlete’s in that CM2 for it to work. Bentancur is when he’s fully fit but Hojbjerg certainly isn’t

 

[Japhet]

When you play two players that actually have a burst of pace in the midfield it becomes a lot harder for teams to dominate them. I’ve been saying this for ages. We need two top athlete’s in that CM2 for it to work. Bentancur is when he’s fully fit but Hojbjerg certainly isn’t

Absolutely. We've had a whole list of managers who seem to prefer a pivot midfield, but we haven't had the players to implement it since peak Wanyama/Dembele days. In addition, 3 in CM now seems to be the preferred setup for most teams, not least because it puts a pivot setup under severe pressure. As you say, pace and incredible work rate are absolutely essential to have any sort of success, and Skipp and Sarr have a lot more pace and mobility than Hojbjerg.

 

[Flobadob]

Absolutely. We've had a whole list of managers who seem to prefer a pivot midfield, but we haven't had the players to implement it since peak Wanyama/Dembele days. In addition, 3 in CM now seems to be the preferred setup for most teams, not least because it puts a pivot setup under severe pressure. As you say, pace and incredible work rate are absolutely essential to have any sort of success, and Skipp and Sarr have a lot more pace and mobility than Hojbjerg.

That’s it. Just as many teams played 3 in midfield when we had Dembele and Wanyama in a 2 but they were so physically elite as athlete’s that they were able to manage. We 100% need to work to get Bissouma, Skipp or Sarr in next to Bentancur long term for the CM2 to work or if Conte is adamant on Hojbjerg we need to switch to a 3 to get the best out of him

 

[chrisd2k]

That’s it. Just as many teams played 3 in midfield when we had Dembele and Wanyama in a 2 but they were so physically elite as athlete’s that they were able to manage. We 100% need to work to get Bissouma, Skipp or Sarr in next to Bentancur long term for the CM2 to work or if Conte is adamant on Hojbjerg we need to switch to a 3 to get the best out of him

2 doesn't work in CM in 2023. It would be fine if other players moved into that area to assist but everyone just stands around in their position. When Son does drop in it's like watching a gazelle running from a lioness, you know they are going to get caught, and in this case get tackled in a dangerous area

 

[DJS]

Imagine people wanting Skipp loaned or saying he wasn’t good enough lol ??

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

2 doesn't work in CM in 2023. It would be fine if other players moved into that area to assist but everyone just stands around in their position. When Son does drop in it's like watching a gazelle running from a lioness, you know they are going to get caught, and in this case get tackled in a dangerous area

What we want is a 4-2-3-1 shape or 4-3-3.

If we go 4-2-3-1, we have a CAM who can drop in and become the third midfielder, providing the link to attack, this prevents us from being outnumbered. In the 4-3-3 we'd want 3 all round strong CM's, one or two of which have the capability of linking to the attack.

At the moment we basically play with 2 completely isolated CMs, with no player to link with in attack.

 

[Sophos151]

That’s it. Just as many teams played 3 in midfield when we had Dembele and Wanyama in a 2 but they were so physically elite as athlete’s that they were able to manage. We 100% need to work to get Bissouma, Skipp or Sarr in next to Bentancur long term for the CM2 to work or if Conte is adamant on Hojbjerg we need to switch to a 3 to get the best out of him

It’s not just down to the two players in the middle, though. If you put peak Dembele and Wanyama into our midfield this year, they wouldn’t dominate like they did in 2017.

Vertonghen and Dier both pushed up into midfield in Poch’s 3-4-1-2, while Eriksen constantly dropped into midfield to receive the ball. Dele did the same, albeit less frequently. That meant that we could often have four or five players in that midfield area at once, giving us the numbers to play through our opponents.

We don’t get that in Conte’s system. Romero occasionally pushes forward, but he’s fit less than half of the time. Davies gets forward pretty well in fairness, but generally once we’re in the final third, rather than in early buildup. And of course, rather than Eriksen and sometimes Dele dropping in we keep Son and Kulusevski wide.

 

[McFlash]

Hopefully, this will start to put paid to the "he's a defensive and backwards player" myth.
He's been working on improving his attacking play since his Norwich days and people seem to have forgotten how good he was for us before his groin issues.
Happy to see him returning to form and he's got a big future.

 

[Flobadob]

Imagine people wanting Skipp loaned or saying he wasn’t good enough lol ??

It’s all the people that never watched him play England youth or out on loan for Norwich. He was always in the top 3 best players on the pitch for England U21’s, played amazingly for Norwich and he even showed for almost 4 months last season how good he is. He’s always been a really talented player. 3 of the best coaches of the last decade have all said he is a huge talent as well, been baffling how people have still bashed him tbh

 

[Flobadob]

It’s not just down to the two players in the middle, though. If you put peak Dembele and Wanyama into our midfield this year, they wouldn’t dominate like they did in 2017.

Vertonghen and Dier both pushed up into midfield in Poch’s 3-4-1-2, while Eriksen constantly dropped into midfield to receive the ball. Dele did the same, albeit less frequently. That meant that we could often have four or five players in that midfield area at once, giving us the numbers to play through our opponents.

We don’t get that in Conte’s system. Romero occasionally pushes forward, but he’s fit less than half of the time. Davies gets forward pretty well in fairness, but generally once we’re in the final third, rather than in early buildup. And of course, rather than Eriksen and sometimes Dele dropping in we keep Son and Kulusevski wide.

Back in the Dembele and Wanyama days the only midfield that even stood a chance against them was peak Kante and Matic. There’s not a single pair of DM’s in the league anywhere near peak Kante and Matic levels right now. Partey and Xhaka are the best pair in the league right now and they wouldn’t stand a chance. If we had Dembele and Wanyama right now they would do absolutely fine as a 2

 

[DJS]

It’s all the people that never watched him play England youth or out on loan for Norwich. He was always in the top 3 best players on the pitch for England U21’s, played amazingly for Norwich and he even showed for almost 4 months last season how good he is. He’s always been a really talented player. 3 of the best coaches of the last decade have all said he is a huge talent as well, been baffling how people have still bashed him tbh

It was just shocking how quickly fans were like Winks mark 2 etc.

(and I still think Winks would have been better if not for that ankle issue he has, probably not as good as Skipp).

You gotta give players at least a season before judging them, not writing off as shit as soon as they’ve played a couple of games after injury!

 

[GMI]

A nice artlicle on Skipp (and Sarr) in the Guardian today (David Hytner)

Model student Skipp passes Tottenham test in Champions League

Pape Matar Sarr also shines in narrow defeat at San Siro that hinted at bright futures for young Spurs midfielders

www.theguardian.com

 

[Cochise]

I think we know what Hojbjerg can do, so the idea of blooding these two right now is very appealing. It at least detracts from the cracks somewhat.

 

[HildoSpur]

Did well today again. I've absolutely no concerns about playing him which is a great position to be in.

 

[Chris Finch]

Few games back from a long injury and showing his great potential again

 

[Tucker]

Really pleased to see him playing so well. He knows what it means to play for Spurs.