Player Watch: Pierre-Emile Højbjerg

[Deleted member 29446]

I'll stick by what I wrote. His past performances have been stellar and his 1st half performance vs Villa was a shocking drop in quality compared to his previous outings. It's not silly language, if there's applicable context.

Anyone bar Lloris was awful in the first half. So you can literally say that about everyone else. PEH was still better than Bentancur in that half btw and overall, but you aren't calling him "shocking".

Alli Gold ratings had PEH on a 9 (Bentancur 7) only Lloris and Son got better.

This is still the thread you choose though. Agendas and all that.

 

[ralphs bald spot]

The problem at Villa in the first half wasn't Hojoberg it was that as side we didn't deal with their intensity and agression - we couldn't get the ball players on the ball couldn't dictate the tempo at all and when we attempted to the slow the tempo it all became a bit overly safe and easy to press - the ball ended up continually coming back at us

Moving forward sides will try to do that more against Tottenham - Gerrard had obviously thought about it and though the referee was fairly lenient with some of the tackling its something we will come up against more and need to find some different answers as a side .

 

[EQP]

Anyone bar Lloris was awful in the first half. So you can literally say that about everyone else. PEH was still better than Bentancur in that half btw and overall, but you aren't calling him "shocking".

Alli Gold ratings had PEH on a 9 (Bentancur 7) only Lloris and Son got better.

This is still the thread you choose though. Agendas and all that.

Ahhhh, here we go again. There's a search function that's allows posters to see what other posters have written about players. I suggest you have a look at my PEH posts in here before accusing me of an agenda. Im tired of you picking the posts where criticize him in HIS THREAD and overlook the times I praise him and defend him.

There is no agenda on my part, but you're so emotionally invested in him because he's Danish, that you always perceive any and all criticism as agenda driven attacks. It's dumb, unfounded and really adds nothing to the conversation.

 

[Deleted member 29446]

Ahhhh, here we go again. There's a search function that's allows posters to see what other posters have written about players. I suggest you have a look at my PEH posts in here before accusing me of an agenda. Im tired of you picking the posts where criticize him in HIS THREAD and overlook the times I praise him and defend him.

There is no agenda on my part, but you're so emotionally invested in him because he's Danish, that you always perceive any and all criticism as agenda driven attacks. It's dumb, unfounded and really adds nothing to the conversation.

I'm simply questioning the use of the word "shocking" in PEH when he was one of our best players - again. Like I said there was literally 8 others players you can have a go at but you choose him. To be fair that seems rather dumb..

This is what you wrote in Bentancur thread if we're doing the search-thingy:

Like many of our players yesterday, he found his groove in the 2nd half. Rodrigo was pretty much faultless after what I'm guessing was a blunt half-time assessment from Conte and his coaching staff.

 

[EQP]

@WhiteDane Please show me where I have PEH agenda? These are all posts in this thread, that I shared about PEH.

I think he's tired, honestly. Last season, he was one of our best players with Son and Kane. We just need CM cover/competition in January to help keep him motivated and to give him the occasional break.

He needed a break, obviously not while suffering from COVID but he's been playing a ton of football without any time off. Will be good for him to rest. Also, it's equally important that we have competition for him. Seeing Winks play as well as he did can only motivate PEH to do better ( especially with his passing ). We need a strong squad and competitive if we plan on managing these next months.

He needs competition in order for him to up his game and be more consistent. He featured a ton for us these past seasons because he was our most consistent CM and his performances faltered because we were guilty of overplaying him. Don't think we should get rid of him, we just need additional options so all players can go into games as close to peak fitness as possible.

The difference between what Skipp offers vs what PEH offers is staggering. I don't think Pierrs should start with or ahead of Skipp anymore. Doesn't mean I want him gone as we do need back-up but he's really being overtaken in terms of presence and output by Winks and Skipp.

Not going to blame him for the draw bu there is a vast difference in how the team plays when Skipp is on the field and when PEH is on the field. Skipp has begun to play forward passes quicker and looks to have a clear idea of what is happening ahead of him at all times. PEH tends to receive, slow down play, scan for options and then take action.

352 needs to happen. Something like

Hugo
Romero - Dier - Davies

Emerson ---------- Reguillon
Skipp

PEH - GLC

Kane - Son​

PEH showed today that he's better further up the field where he has a knack of winning the ball with ease. Have a more creative passer by him so he can lay the ball off and he can even ghost in to score.

Really good game today. Stopped a lot of Leicester's play and was vital to us scoring our winning goals. Keep it up PEH.

I believe CM3 setup would to suit PEH. He doesn't have the composure or press-resistance for the 6 role but does a better job higher up the pitch, where he can press players, close space and join in the attack. It was his pass that setup Kane's first goal against Brighton. Unless he asks to leave, I don't see the point of getting rid of him. He doesn't need to play every game to help the team.

Romero, Hugo and Bentancur all played extremely well.

I'd add that a 3 man CM with those two plus PEH would be the best setup for the team moving forward. PEH is probably the best presser in the attacking 3rd. The amount of assists/chances he's created by simply closing down passing lanes and winning the ball off opponents higher up the pitch is staggering. Rodrigo at the base of the 3 ensures we have a composed CM/DM who can dictate play and handle a press. Skipp and PEH ahead of him to help with both phases of play and prevent any overloads in the middle of the park.

Bentancur
Skipp - PEH​

Impressive today. The amount of tackles and interceptions shows what he brings to the team. Also, another classy assist for him.

Agreed. Good passing, effective pressing and did a phenomenal job with Bentancur of controlling the midfield and dictating play.

Not sure if this has been updated yet, but probably jumped ahead of Thiago Silva as far as passes.

View attachment 107603

He should fight Kane for not scoring a goal from his lovely chipped pass.

PEH and Bentancur seemed to have formed a symbiotic relationship, even off the pitch. Here you can see PEH gearing up to give Rodrigo a post-game haircut.

Friends, I present to you an overreaction.

He was good before the international break and his introduction in the Rennes games was the only reason we walked away with a draw and not a drubbing.

Let us all be entirely honest. If we take PEH out of our current team, we're a worse team. Not saying he should get a pass for having an awful game but some posters only seem to be interested in comparing him to past Spurs players without appreciating the fact that our current team is miles away from that Poch era of dominating CM/DM's that we took for granted. It's clear to me that how Nuno is deploying him ( or rather, Nuno's reticence to actually position CM's in the midfield ) severely impacted how PEH performed. I mean look at Carragher's breakdown of how we setup vs Arsenal. We would have needed prime Kante and Wanyama to cover all that open space.

​

One of his strongest attributes is winning the ball higher up the pitch and making the right pass to create a goal scoring opportunity. Even a 352 would allow PEH to flourish. Here's a not so fun stat, PEH had more assists in the league last season than GLC and Ndombele combined ?

Hugo

Tanganga -- Romero -- Rodon
Royal-----------------------------------------Reguillon
Skipp

PEH-GLC

Kane - Son​

Like I was saying about PEH skillset....

One of his best game all season and very little praise given to him in this thread. If I go back 2-3 pages, I'll see posts suggesting that he never feature for us again He's not a DM, he's more of a box-to-box CM with great ability to win the ball higher up the pitch and also help by organizing and directing his teammates.

We're definitely seeing his skillset being put to good use as a box-2-box CM who presses higher up the pitch.

We definitely need more competition for PEH and Skipp in the CM position. PEH's passing has been increasing poor these last couple games. He isn't as press-resistant as say Ndombele and it shows when the opposition players pounce on him in tight spaces, he tends to just clear the ball or make the wrong pass. Still, can be a valuable squad member moving forward but the likes of Kessie/Brozovic etc would definitely step in and take his place as a starter.

I think he's tired, honestly. Last season, he was one of our best players with Son and Kane. We just need CM cover/competition in January to help keep him motivated and to give him the occasional break.

 

[curlacious]

Jeez, now I worry every time I see a player thread bump that it's a 'season-ending' injury

 

[EQP]

I'm simply questioning the use of the word "shocking" in PEH when he was one of our best players - again. Like I said there was literally 8 others players you can have a go at but you choose him. To be fair that seems rather dumb..

This is what you wrote in Bentancur thread if we're doing the search-thingy:

Now who's pushing an agenda? You've taken one post to try and use as proof that I have an agenda. Luckily, I just shared my most recent PEH posts, so you can see that I've spent more time defending and praising PEH than actually criticizing him. Wonder if you'll be honest and apologize for being wrong about me.

 

[DJS]

Anyone bar Lloris was awful in the first half. So you can literally say that about everyone else. PEH was still better than Bentancur in that half btw and overall, but you aren't calling him "shocking".

Alli Gold ratings had PEH on a 9 (Bentancur 7) only Lloris and Son got better.

This is still the thread you choose though. Agendas and all that.

I think the word agenda should be banned in spurs chat as really boring and lazy how often people use it.

I don’t agree with your opinion, therefore you must have an agenda!

 

[Deleted member 29446]

Now who's pushing an agenda? You've taken one post to try and use as proof that I have an agenda. Luckily, I just shared my most recent PEH posts, so you can see that I've spent more time defending and praising PEH than actually criticizing him. Wonder if you'll be honest and apologize for being wrong about me.

Agenda might be the wrong word-choice but it's the only one that makes sense for calling a player shocking, when he clearly wasn't. If he was shocking in that half I wouldn't hear the words coming of our your mouth for the others players btw..

 

[EQP]

Look at all this "agenda" @WhiteDane I mean, if you look read these posts, it's almost as if I actually like PEH and praise him for the impact he's had on the team and look forward to his improvement.....scary stuff.

That to me is the exciting bit of this signing. Having a disciplined CDM to help GLC and especially Ndombele ( I pray he doesn't leave) express themselves on the field will definitely transform our midfield.

He is so disruptive. Can't wait to see him, GLC and Ndombele after the international break.

No disrespect to Southampton but he's probably gone up a level for us now that he's surrounded by quality players and a very successful manager. In one of his interviews, he said that he's the type of player who will look to make others around him better and it looks like he's gotten better as well.

But Mourinho plays him a lone DM role. Make no sense to say he's not fit to cover the CM role as he's being tasked with playing the DM role, which IMO is the more difficult position. Also, this is the same Mourinho who has gone on record saying that Sissoko is not the type of CM he trusts to play in a typical CM midfield but he plays him regardless. At least with Winks you get a solid ball carrier, some progressive passing (depending on what his instructions are) and good ball retention.

Hope he can stay fit for the rest of the season.

TBF, Jose's coaching and the fact that he's playing with better quality players had made him improve.

Jose speaking about PEH and how he'll end up as a coach.

I owe him an apology as I kept giving Toby credit for a lot of PEH's headed clearances. I did not know he had so many headed clearances.

I would wait it at-least 4 more seasons before crowning him your favourite spurs player. We tend to have terrible luck with DM's at our club. Sandro, Palacios, Wanyama and Parker all started well and for one or more reasons all completely broke down and struggled to reclaim their form. I hope this doesn't happen to PEH but I would need more seasons of these types of performances.

Perfect. Hopefully Jose gave him 3 days off and will work on getting him prepped for the Palace and Liverpool games.

Pre-injury Wanyama and PEH and we're winning the league by 12 points.

His profile is the type of player we should focus on in our scouting. Incredibly consistent and is self-driven to improve and improve those around him. We would be way worse off without him and I hate to think of what will happen if he gets injured.

 

[EQP]

Agenda might be the wrong word-choice but it's the only one that makes sense for calling a player shocking, when he clearly wasn't. If he was shocking in that half I wouldn't hear the words coming of our your mouth for the others players btw..

So you've resorted to arguing semantics instead of the actual fact that he was poor in the 1st half? You're not even saying he wasn't poor in that 1st half, you're saying that everyone else was, so PEH should be absolved of any criticism ( even though he was the only one I saw backing out a very winnable 50/50 challenge and the only who overplayed the ball, lost it to the opposition and then dragged that same player down in a dangerous position and earned a yellow card in that 1st half...very shocking stuff ) I've literally shared all my posts in this thread about PEH and they prove that I actually defend and praise him 80-90% of the time, I wonder why you never quote my positive PEH posts or accuse me of liking him and writing too many complimentary posts about him? Maybe you have an agenda....

 

[Deleted member 29446]

So you've resorted to arguing semantics instead of the actual fact that he was poor in the 1st half? You're not even saying he wasn't poor in that 1st half, you're saying that everyone else was, so PEH should be absolved of any criticism ( even though he was the only one I saw backing out a very winnable 50/50 challenge and the only who overplayed the ball, lost it to the opposition and then dragged that same player down in a dangerous position and earned a yellow card in that 1st half...very shocking stuff ) I've literally shared all my posts in this thread about PEH and they prove that I actually defend and praise him 80-90% of the time, I wonder why you never quote my positive PEH posts or accuse me of liking him and writing too many complimentary posts about him? Maybe you have an agenda....

I you read my post I'm saying everyone was bad in that half, including PEH. Just find it odd the use of "shocking".

But keep twisting and turning the point I was trying to make.

 

[Timberwolf]

I feel like we need PEH to come into this thread and pull @WhiteDane and @SlumDilla apart.

 

[EQP]

I you read my post I'm saying everyone was bad in that half, including PEH. Just find it odd the use of "shocking".

But keep twisting and turning the point I was trying to make.

Your were hurt/angered that I used the word "shocking" to describe PEHs 1st half performance because you were under the faulty impression that I dislike PEH and have an agenda against him.

I have easily disproved any notions of agenda but you're still focused on the fact I used the word shocking ( which I explained had to do with 2 specific moments in the 1st half where PEHs decisions and execution of those decisions was "shocking") in my post.

So again, you're just arguing semantics. I could have easily written " poor, bad, disappointing, ineffective " etc and you would have still taken the same stance to defend him by saying " bu bu but but, everyone else had a bad game, why are you picking on PEH? YOU HAVE AN AGENDA!!"

 

[Deleted member 29446]

Your were hurt/angered that I used the word "shocking" to describe PEHs 1st half performance because you were under the faulty impression that I dislike PEH and have an agenda against him.

I have easily disproved any notions of agenda but you're still focused on the fact I used the word shocking ( which I explained had to do with 2 specific moments in the 1st half where PEHs decisions and execution of those decisions was "shocking") in my post.

So again, you're just arguing semantics. I could have easily written " poor, bad, disappointing, ineffective " etc and you would have still taken the same stance to defend him by saying " bu bu but but, everyone else had a bad game, why are you picking on PEH? YOU HAVE AN AGENDA!!"

Why would I have defended him if you said he was poor, when I just said he was?

I'll leave you to it..

 

[Deleted member 29446]

I feel like we need PEH to come into this thread and pull @WhiteDane and @SlumDilla apart.

 

[EQP]

I feel like we need PEH to come into this thread and pull @WhiteDane and @SlumDilla apart.

I'm done with it. He's not capable of having an honest conversation or arguing in good faith. It's accusations of agenda, then it's "agenda was the wrong word but you're missing and twisting what I was saying" when in reality he just wants to verbally spar with anyone who doesn't always praise PEH.

 

[Timberwolf]

 

[EQP]

You know what, I actually liked Pierre but thanks to a certain poster, I will be joining the anti-PEH coalition starting today.

That's means:

1. Baseless accusations and inaccurate body language assessments
2. Agenda spewed drivel
3. Overlooking any of his good performances or impact
4. Always adding him to players I'd like to see sold off
5. Misspelling his name, often.

Looking forward to taking on this new challenge and unlike Pire Emieel Holjdberg, I won't back out.

 

[ohtottenham!]

Think a lot of this discord that's going on has its root in our lack of midfield options. Plenty of reasons for that, some but not all are simply unfortunate like Skipp's injury, but those discussions will take us into other threads.

Think PEH has been a stalwart, a warrior in CM for us, and we've really needed that. Think his contribution is being overlooked by some in terms of what he gives this team and has done for a long time.

No problem with constructive criticism but the player himself has given everything he has for Spurs and Conte. We have Lo Celso and Ndombele out on loan, and Skipp injured for who knows how long! Hojbjerg's doing everything that's asked of him and more imo.