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Player Watch: Pierre-Emile Højbjerg

mil1lion

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May 7, 2004
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He's attainable, premier league ready and we don't have any defensive midfielders now that Dier is a centre back. It makes a lot of sense to me. The only question is who to let go of because we're getting crowded in centre midfield. I would take a look at Ndombele in the remaining games and if he can work as hard as Sissoko I would sell Sissoko. If not sell Ndombele and use the extra money on other areas.
 

mr ashley

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Jan 27, 2011
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He's attainable, premier league ready and we don't have any defensive midfielders now that Dier is a centre back. It makes a lot of sense to me. The only question is who to let go of because we're getting crowded in centre midfield. I would take a look at Ndombele in the remaining games and if he can work as hard as Sissoko I would sell Sissoko. If not sell Ndombele and use the extra money on other areas.
There’s definitely an issue with our continued recruitment of players in the ‘8’ role. Winks, Sissoko, ndombele, lo celso, Gedson. Would be less of an issue if we played with 3 in midfield, but our current formation doesn’t really play to these players strengths. Out of that group, Sissoko has to be the one we sell. He’s got all the physical attributes to play cdm (or rb as some suggest). But no football brain. That’s in direct contrast to Hojbjerg, as his football brain seems to be his biggest attribute. I’d get rid of Gedson and Winks before I got rid of Ndombele too. His strengths outweigh his weaknesses in my opinion
 

brasil_spur

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Aug 25, 2006
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He's attainable, premier league ready and we don't have any defensive midfielders now that Dier is a centre back. It makes a lot of sense to me. The only question is who to let go of because we're getting crowded in centre midfield. I would take a look at Ndombele in the remaining games and if he can work as hard as Sissoko I would sell Sissoko. If not sell Ndombele and use the extra money on other areas.

We'll never get our massive outlay on Ndombele back so if the choice is between these two then i'd prefer we cash in Sissoko - although i'm not sure we'd get all that much for him in the current market.
 

Hoopspur

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Jun 28, 2012
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We'll never get our massive outlay on Ndombele back so if the choice is between these two then i'd prefer we cash in Sissoko - although i'm not sure we'd get all that much for him in the current market.
Remember how adverse to risk our chairman is. I would be very, very surprised if Ndombele costs anywhere near the touted £55m. Probably performance related etc. We'll find it was nowhere near that imo. Bit like Giovani actually who was less than thought.
 

DiVaio

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May 27, 2020
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Remember how adverse to risk our chairman is. I would be very, very surprised if Ndombele costs anywhere near the touted £55m. Probably performance related etc. We'll find it was nowhere near that imo. Bit like Giovani actually who was less than thought.
60m eur + 10m in bonus. Official information from Lyon...
 

arunspurs

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Aug 31, 2012
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He looks really average in this. I’m sorry

Quite a few passes going astray. His whole body shape when he is making a pass and his general technique is average very easy to read and a distinct element of pondering what to do when he gets some time

makes some interceptions but generally scuffing them away rather than doing anything productive with them

I’m open minded to any transfer but he would be a step down on many of the DMs we have had over the years

This is not a youtube, cut copy paste compilation of 1 season into 4 minutes, giving a false view.
When seeing a match only compilation, please dont lose the perspective. You are watching a 90 min cup game, where passes are going to go astray - even for the best of midfielders. No one claimed he is world class. Point of the video is to see matchup of what he did on the day.
On the day, he controlled the midfield, with Southampton having far more possession than Spurs, shots, corners in most metrics...
And when they were losing, at 87th minute, was able to create a chance to draw the game.

He is certainly not a step down on Winks - And I like Winks. You put Winks in the Southampton XI, he will do no better or worse than Hojbjerg in handling the leadership or the role. Only difference is Winks has had numerous chances and having had the luck to play with some extremely good attacking players.
 

arunspurs

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Aug 31, 2012
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At this juncture, i would be asking if he a significant upgrade over Sissoko? In the Man U game he seemed to be playing that DM role, and as far as i could tell, he played a good game. At times he reminded me of Wanyama in his prime. So, is PEH a better DM than Sissoko? I'm not sure.

Most Spurs fans as well as non-Spurs fans literally abused & ridiculed Sissoko for first 2 years at Spurs- most of them unwarranted. Sissoko started playing well at 29. So, not sure if he is a right yardstick to measure against.
Best quality of Hojbjerg is his reading of his game. His positioning, anticipation and ability read play and block/intercept is top notch. Its not those qualities which sticks out in a youtube compilation. He is not a midfield strong man like Wanyama but he can be quite physical.
If bought, IMO, he will be perfect for us - not too defensive not too adventurous or inconsistent. He will give 7/10 every game - if anyone expecting he is a Modric - no he is not that.

At 24 years, there is simply no other CM in PL, who has the age on his side, with his qualities & come with a relatively low price tag.
 

brasil_spur

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Aug 25, 2006
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Remember how adverse to risk our chairman is. I would be very, very surprised if Ndombele costs anywhere near the touted £55m. Probably performance related etc. We'll find it was nowhere near that imo. Bit like Giovani actually who was less than thought.

Even if we assume some of the €60m was based on number of performances or some other stat that he hasn't yet achieved with us, he's cost us at least €40-50m - which we will never get for him right now.
 

gavspur

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Jun 24, 2004
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Having watched a few vids of him, I notice that he rarely goes to ground when challenging, which is a sign (in my eyes) of a good defender. In that it means it’s not a last ditch effort to win the ball, and therefore he’s already in the right place to nick it and shield it. He also shows for the ball in CM quite a bit, and is directing others around him. Good range of passing too, being able to win the ball and turn defence in to attack at the flip of a coin. All these attributes are key skills that we have been lacking in our midfield. I’d be delighted to have him here, a lot of these kind of players don’t get the recognition for the role they play - it’s not flashy, it’s not goals scored, but blimey do we need this kind of player in our midfield.
 

brendanb50

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Jul 21, 2005
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Having watched a few vids of him, I notice that he rarely goes to ground when challenging, which is a sign (in my eyes) of a good defender. In that it means it’s not a last ditch effort to win the ball, and therefore he’s already in the right place to nick it and shield it. He also shows for the ball in CM quite a bit, and is directing others around him. Good range of passing too, being able to win the ball and turn defence in to attack at the flip of a coin. All these attributes are key skills that we have been lacking in our midfield. I’d be delighted to have him here, a lot of these kind of players don’t get the recognition for the role they play - it’s not flashy, it’s not goals scored, but blimey do we need this kind of player in our midfield.

I've not seen enough to concur in regards to PEH but i absolutely agree with this point.

We have creative options, great dribblers and some energy - what we need is some water carrying in there; someone who does the uninspiring work - breaks up play, maintains shape, moves the ball on.

We don't need a DM or anchor in that midfield to do anything spectacular, that's what GLC and TN are for. We don't need energy, we have Winks and Sissoko. We don't need goals from this player (although it never hurts), we have options in attack. We need a player which frees up all of the aforementioned options to do what they do best. Competent, capable, tidy. I know that's not very exciting but it will allow us to play with more robust shape and utilise our quality better.
 

WiganSpur

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Aug 31, 2012
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Sissoko is at best a makeshift solution IMO. He doesn't have the best positional sense, isn't great at receiving the ball under pressure or on the half-turn, and his poor passing technique would likely lead to a number of chances for the opposition. He's able to compensate for those faults through sheer athleticism, determination and work rate, but for me we need a true modern No. 6 if we want to get back to competing for trophies.

Whether Hojbjerg is good enough to take us up a level I'm not sure, but I'd rather not rely on a square peg for yet another season. It's long past time to properly replace Wanyama.
Aren't we better just properly replacing him though? Signing players because they're cheap can be a false economy. He looks OK, nothing great. If he's going to cost any more than £25m then we might as well go all out on some of the more suited players on the continent (Sangare, Zakaria, Luis, Laimer etc). I even think Phillips from Leeds has more of the characteristics we should be looking for.

We have to make sure he's right in 90% of aspects, or it's just going to be another average squad player we need to shift 2/3 years down the line.
 

brendanb50

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Jul 21, 2005
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Aren't we better just properly replacing him though? Signing players because they're cheap can be a false economy. He looks OK, nothing great. If he's going to cost any more than £25m then we might as well go all out on some of the more suited players on the continent (Sangare, Zakaria, Luis, Laimer etc). I even think Phillips from Leeds has more of the characteristics we should be looking for.

We have to make sure he's right in 90% of aspects, or it's just going to be another average squad player we need to shift 2/3 years down the line.

Boils down to money.

I agree, this is a key area and worth getting the best option for but this is a challenging time and money is tight (likely a Levy mantra!).

If one of those guys is first choice, i'd hope we explore options but as a plan B, PEH is relatively low risk - EPL proven, age on his side, decent value due to his contract. If in 2/3 years he's no longer usable for us, getting similar money for him isn't ridiculous, injuries etc. aside.

For me, if the better options aren't there, having someone who ticks 3/4 of the boxes still makes sense if we want to get more from other players on the pitch in the next couple of seasons.
 

dontcallme

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Mar 18, 2005
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Would he be a good example of a Moneyball signing?
Probably a fair analysis. Hearing different analysis's of his ability.

He seems to have the skill-set we require. If we want to be better defensively then we need to hold onto the ball better. Hojbjerg, Winks and Lo Celso will be able to do this.

I definitely like the idea of him as an option but would hope we would look to other options too.
 

brasil_spur

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Aug 25, 2006
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Aren't we better just properly replacing him though? Signing players because they're cheap can be a false economy. He looks OK, nothing great. If he's going to cost any more than £25m then we might as well go all out on some of the more suited players on the continent (Sangare, Zakaria, Luis, Laimer etc). I even think Phillips from Leeds has more of the characteristics we should be looking for.

We have to make sure he's right in 90% of aspects, or it's just going to be another average squad player we need to shift 2/3 years down the line.

I'm not sure that any of those players provide any more certainty that PEH and the fact that they are not prem proven is a concern as well.
 

thelak

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
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This is not a youtube, cut copy paste compilation of 1 season into 4 minutes, giving a false view.
When seeing a match only compilation, please dont lose the perspective. You are watching a 90 min cup game, where passes are going to go astray - even for the best of midfielders. No one claimed he is world class. Point of the video is to see matchup of what he did on the day.
On the day, he controlled the midfield, with Southampton having far more possession than Spurs, shots, corners in most metrics...
And when they were losing, at 87th minute, was able to create a chance to draw the game.

He is certainly not a step down on Winks - And I like Winks. You put Winks in the Southampton XI, he will do no better or worse than Hojbjerg in handling the leadership or the role. Only difference is Winks has had numerous chances and having had the luck to play with some extremely good attacking players.

is he a step up on Winks - yes

would he be a solid signing - probably

To me it’s all relative and a question of where our ambitions now are as a team though and whethrt

Not the only way to judge a player course but not someone our recent rivals would be looking at
 

arunspurs

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Aug 31, 2012
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is he a step up on Winks - yes

would he be a solid signing - probably

To me it’s all relative and a question of where our ambitions now are as a team though and whethrt

Not the only way to judge a player course but not someone our recent rivals would be looking at

We don't have money at the moment - so let's just say ambition to really spend & improve is not there. So, we can only buy who is in our range.
 

freeeki

Arsehole.
Aug 5, 2008
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is he a step up on Winks - yes

would he be a solid signing - probably

To me it’s all relative and a question of where our ambitions now are as a team though and whethrt

Not the only way to judge a player course but not someone our recent rivals would be looking at

I can remember people leveling exactly this kind of criticism at Klopp for signing Wijnaldum, Shaqiri and Robertson because they’d come from Newcastle, Stoke and a relegated Hull respectively.

Didn’t work out too badly, in hindsight.
 

mr ashley

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Jan 27, 2011
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I can remember people leveling exactly this kind of criticism at Klopp for signing Wijnaldum, Shaqiri and Robertson because they’d come from Newcastle, Stoke and a relegated Hull respectively.

Didn’t work out too badly, in hindsight.
Watching the first two games back, the only other PL ready player in that position that could be interesting (and available in a trade) might be Yves Bissouma at Brighton. More of an Ndidi type.
But would be interesting to see what the stats say
 
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