Harry Winks - Leicester City

[Danny1]

Another poor performance I thought. Second half was better but that’s because we were on top so he had little pressure on him. I find that if anyone puts an ounce of pressure on then he cracks and hurries his passes away. He hasn’t got the ability of ndombele to turn the player and use his body to create that bit of space.

Good honest squad player but that is it for me.

 

[Joely]

Think his days as a starter are numbered. Can't be too long until Ndombele comes in for him and Winks drops down to a squad player and rightly so.

 

[rsmith]

I rate Winks highly, but Newdembele is different gravy. If we can have a player as good as Winks as a squad player, then the future is bright.

 

[Dirtysanchez6]

I got slated on here a few weeks ago for having a go and winks ! You know what though the thing is with time the truth always comes out and again and other awful performance the guy is bang average ! What exactly was that pathetic attempt of a tackle in the build up to their first goal never mind his tracking for the corner

 

[TheVoiceofReason]

He's far from bang average, but he is totally one dimensional at the moment. Time for him to start showing the courage to push forward, make incisive forward passes, and not totally lose his head whenever he makes a few mistakes.

 

[coys200]

Honestly love the guy. But if we want to be a top top team he’s just not good enough. The major problem is he’s ok as a 6 or an 8 but not great at either. Just not physically built to be a great 6 in the modern game and also doesn’t really have a great long pass. As an 8 he’s ok but offers very little creativity or as a goal threat. Coming up to 24 hard to see there’s a great deal of improvement left. Decent squad player but that’s it.

 

[thelak]

I like Winks

but his best work for us came when he was being brought on a sub to keep things ticking over in the later stages of a game. That’s a pretty valuable role still for an elite team having someone that can keep possession in the last 20minutes

would be happy if that is how he is more regularly used going forward

 

[Hakkz]

Honestly love the guy. But if we want to be a top top team he’s just not good enough. The major problem is he’s ok as a 6 or an 8 but not great at either. Just not physically built to be a great 6 in the modern game and also doesn’t really have a great long pass. As an 8 he’s ok but offers very little creativity or as a goal threat. Coming up to 24 hard to see there’s a great deal of improvement left. Decent squad player but that’s it.

And that's why we should try to keep him as long as possible. He shouldn't be an automatic starter however.

 

[DJS]

He isn’t bang average.

Hes not playing so well at the moment and personally Ndombele would start over him for me but
people forget how good he was previously (especially in champions league matches).

Just because someone is going through a poor form period people on here are so quick to write off - look how many said Aurier was rubbish and look how he’s doing at present (admittedly we still don’t know which Aurier will turn up next game but hey ho!).

There is a lot of psychology involved in football as well now, getting the players mindset right so they have the confidence to play to their best ability.

 

[Wheeler Dealer]

I not sure where you categorise Winks. He's not a destroyer, nor a creator or a dribbler and not a goal threat.

 

[dagraham]

I not sure where you categorise Winks. He's not a destroyer, nor a creator or a dribbler and not a goal threat.

Yeah ultimately I think this is the problem.

 

[yankspurs]

I not sure where you categorise Winks. He's not a destroyer, nor a creator or a dribbler and not a goal threat.

He’s meant to keep the ball moving. When he cant do that and cant make a pass, you have to pull him off because he will make huge errors that might lead to goals. He’s a squad player and not much more. He just isnt up to it at this level.

 

[Havre]

I not sure where you categorise Winks. He's not a destroyer, nor a creator or a dribbler and not a goal threat.

Could say the same about quite a few good players. I would be more than happy if Winks turned into Wijnaldum (obviously he used to be a goal threat in his younger days, but hardly is any longer).

I don't know what to make of Winks at the moment. The optimist in me gives him some credit for that second half. Obviously he himself understood how utter ¤"%# he was in the first. He picked himself up and at least played decently in the second. Not bad. The pessimist in me can't really forget how poor he was in the first.

All in all I still think there is a player there. And I think he would benefit greatly having someone like N'Dombele next to him. Someone that can pass the ball better than Dier or Sissoko.

 

[Timberwolf]

I like Winks and think he's useful, but I don't think it's a complete coincidence that our massive downturn in form coincided with him and Sissoko becoming our no.1 CM partnership.

While he's mobile and metronomic in his passing, neither the offensive nor the defensive side of his game are really good enough for a team aspiring for silverware, and I think he should be a rotational option behind Ndombele and a dedicated DM, rather than a guaranteed starter.

 

[Primativ]

He isn’t bang average.

Hes not playing so well at the moment and personally Ndombele would start over him for me but
people forget how good he was previously (especially in champions league matches).

Sorry but this is again over exaggerating how good he was previously. I can count his stand out PL performances on one hand. He's never had a sustained period of form for Spurs when he's been really good. Feel free to show me this period of time? You can't....

He is still dining out on putting a decent performance in against Madrid a couple of years ago, and the way people went on, it's like he scored a hat trick in that game and set up 2 goals. He wasn't even MOM that day. I checked the stats back and Winks played zero key passes that game, as a comparison Eriksen made 5, all of Madrid's midfield registered at least 1, Isco made 5.

Winks pass accuracy was above average, but it was still 5 yard passes. He gets lauded for doing a very straight forward job when it comes to comparisons against top midfielders, and that is keeping the ball but even that he is overrated at. His use of the ball is poor when asked to pass longer than 5 yards. Additionally he is incredibly poor when he gets pressed. I've seen it time and time again when we play Man City and Liverpool. Klopp and Pep I bet were delighted when they saw our teamsheet with Winks in CM, even Pep remarked players like him are ten to the dozen in Spain, that says it all. He wouldn't get close to getting selected in the Liverpool or City sides, and that is the benchmark.

This fallacy about Winks needs to end. He isn't good enough. He has no outstanding attributes that make him worthy of playing as a starting CM at Spurs. Sure, a squad option is fine but that's it. He is 24 and showing no obvious signs of improvement. I'm sick of seeing him play games for Spurs as I know what is coming. Yes occasionally he puts in a 7 out of 10 performance against someone, but it's the exception not the norm.

I want Spurs to have a really strong CM and for that, Winks needs to be nowhere near it. If we aspire to have a crap CM like Man United, sure lets keep picking Winks. If we want to progress, he needs to be dropped.

 

[Primativ]

All in all I still think there is a player there. And I think he would benefit greatly having someone like N'Dombele next to him. Someone that can pass the ball better than Dier or Sissoko.

But then we don't have a DM? This is the thing, people say let's play Winks next to Ndombele without realising it leaves us playing without a DM. Sure, Winks can get stuck in occasionally and sometimes wins the ball, but he isn't a proper DM and up against decent sides we will get punished. He doesn't offer anywhere near enough to get picked period.

 

[Havre]

I like Winks and think he's useful, but I don't think it's a complete coincidence that our massive downturn in form coincided with him and Sissoko becoming our no.1 CM partnership.

While he's mobile and metronomic in his passing, neither the offensive nor the defensive side of his game are really good enough for a team aspiring for silverware, and I think he should be a rotational option behind Ndombele and a dedicated DM, rather than a guaranteed starter.

I think that is a very simplified way of looking at things. Winks started 17 games in the PL last season.

I think that is the biggest problem for Winks. He is 23, but he has never really played a full season anywhere as a senior player. The two seasons before he started 8 and 9 games in the league. Not sure how anyone can be expected to reach their full potential that way (obviously partly down to injuries and partly down to Pochettino's funny way of developing players the last couple of seasons - KWP being another example of the Pochettino magic).

 

[Timberwolf]

I think that is a very simplified way of looking at things. Winks started 17 games in the PL last season.

I think that is the biggest problem for Winks. He is 23, but he has never really played a full season anywhere as a senior player. The two seasons before he started 8 and 9 games in the league. Not sure how anyone can be expected to reach their full potential that way (obviously partly down to injuries and partly down to Pochettino's funny way of developing players the last couple of seasons - KWP being another example of the Pochettino magic).

That's fair - it's definitely an oversimplification - but I certainly think it was a contributing factor. We went from having Dembele - a genuine world class talent - in midfield, who had a ridiculous combination of strength, close control and ball retention, to Winks, who, while tidy, has nowhere near the physical presence or mercurial genius of The Moose. That's not Winks' fault of course, but I think we need a better, more well rounded, first team option than him if we want to win anything.

Also, I presume the majority of those 17 starts were in the 2nd half of the season when we were dogshit?

 

[Haddock]

People on here used to say stuff like: "If Winks were Spanish or if his name was Winksinho, he'd be looked upon as a 100m talent". The following statement is probably more true: If Winks wasn't an academy player and if he played for say Bournemouth, all of us would be utterly underwhelmed if he were our new CM signing.

He's a good squad player and it's important to have players that have come through the academy and that knows and loves the club. But in the end football, as any sport, is based on results and performance, and looking at the options we have at CM in Ndombele, Lo Celso and Sissoko, they all surpass him by quite some margin at the moment.

 

[DJS]

Sorry but this is again over exaggerating how good he was previously. I can count his stand out PL performances on one hand. He's never had a sustained period of form for Spurs when he's been really good. Feel free to show me this period of time? You can't....

He is still dining out on putting a decent performance in against Madrid a couple of years ago, and the way people went on, it's like he scored a hat trick in that game and set up 2 goals. He wasn't even MOM that day. I checked the stats back and Winks played zero key passes that game, as a comparison Eriksen made 5, all of Madrid's midfield registered at least 1, Isco made 5.

Winks pass accuracy was above average, but it was still 5 yard passes. He gets lauded for doing a very straight forward job when it comes to comparisons against top midfielders, and that is keeping the ball but even that he is overrated at. His use of the ball is poor when asked to pass longer than 5 yards. Additionally he is incredibly poor when he gets pressed. I've seen it time and time again when we play Man City and Liverpool. Klopp and Pep I bet were delighted when they saw our teamsheet with Winks in CM, even Pep remarked players like him are ten to the dozen in Spain, that says it all. He wouldn't get close to getting selected in the Liverpool or City sides, and that is the benchmark.

This fallacy about Winks needs to end. He isn't good enough. He has no outstanding attributes that make him worthy of playing as a starting CM at Spurs. Sure, a squad option is fine but that's it. He is 24 and showing no obvious signs of improvement. I'm sick of seeing him play games for Spurs as I know what is coming. Yes occasionally he puts in a 7 out of 10 performance against someone, but it's the exception not the norm.

I want Spurs to have a really strong CM and for that, Winks needs to be nowhere near it. If we aspire to have a crap CM like Man United, sure lets keep picking Winks. If we want to progress, he needs to be dropped.

I don’t get why you spend so much of your energy in this thread telling us all constantly how shit you think Winks is? You’ve kinda made your point a large number of times? ?‍