Player Watch: Pierre-Emile Højbjerg

[CoopsieDeadpool]

I stand corrected

New shoes?

 

[Deleted member 29446]

Both have a lot more talent than Hojbjerg, so no to that one. Absolutely no way Hojbjerg has been better than Bentancur man ? Skipp’s been injured for months, so he’s not really fair game in any current debate, if he’s fit next season and shows the same form as early this season, I’d have him in the team over Hojbjerg though, no question. Our team fell apart every time Skipp wasn’t in it, until Bentancur arrived

Talent isn't everything, just look at Ndombele. Bentancur has a good start but has since dipped a bit and Højbjerg has been the better player.. I read he was carrying an injury though, so fingers crossed he can get to the same level as when he arrived.

Skipp has still played 18 games this season, didn't look the better than PEH in these games. Just have a look back in this thread, the discussion has already been done. Not sure why people think being injured and missed, suddenly makes you a better player than you were, lol.

Our team feel apart when Skipp wasn't fit? Lol. Do you think that was because of Skipp or because of Winks, like really? How is it going now with Bentancur?

Look I could go 12 rounds, but I have had enough..

Let us just see who plays next season shall we

 

[Flobadob]

Talent isn't everything, just look at Ndombele. Bentancur has a good start but has since dipped a bit and Højbjerg has been the better player.. I read he was carrying an injury though, so fingers crossed he can get to the same level as when he arrived.

Skipp has still played 18 games this season, didn't look the better than PEH in these games. Just have a look back in this thread, the discussion has already been done. Not sure why people think being injured and missed, suddenly makes you a better player than you were, lol.

Our team feel apart when Skipp wasn't fit? Lol. Do you think that was because of Skipp or because of Winks, like really? How is it going now with Bentancur?

Look I could go 12 rounds, but I have had enough..

Let us just see who plays next season shall we

Talent isn’t everything but you do need it in abundance to compete at the top level. The top level is players like Kante, Kovacic, Jorginho, Fabinho, Thiago, Rodri, KDB, Bernardo Silva etc.. if you believe Hojbjerg is anywhere near that class then you must have discovered some new super drug because you’re high as fuck lol.

I thought Skipp was comfortably better than Hojbjerg when they were both starting but again it’s opinions. If you said to me keep one of the two that would be the easiest decision of all time, Skipp’s ceiling is huge and he’s already a better player at 21 in my opinion. He’s got a future competing at the top level, PEH absolutely hasn’t. The top level in my mind is competing for PL titles, FA Cups and CL titles with the players I mentioned above and he’s nowhere near that level.

It was probably a mixture of both, but you can’t tell me Hojbjerg didn’t look just as absolutely useless in those matches as Winks did. Both of them were a disgrace.

It’s an easy “lets see” to suggest when Skipp will likely not be straight in contention to start after having surgery and recovering over the summer. However I’ll take any bet that Skipp will be the one in the team out of the two if we are ever lifting any trophies.

You can come 12 rounds if you like? I don’t give really care man, it’s football opinions and I think you’re biased towards your countryman, it’s fairly obvious. As am I towards a young English Tottenham academy player, I’ve probably watched every single youth match footage for England and Tottenham that there is available on the net of him, so I feel well qualified to talk about how good a player he is. Every manager he’s played under raves about him and says he’s going to the top. Poch rated him extremely highly, Mourinho has said he’s a future Tottenham captain and Conte has said he’s a huge prospect and is going to the top. Winks was hype, this guy is not hype and he has it all to go to the top of the game and he won’t find Hojbjerg there with him, of that I’m certain

 

[N'Obody]

Absolutely love this guy. Put some respect on my guy Hojbjerg name. He works hard and is a proper Conte CM. His work goes unnoticed as he does alot of the dirty work others won't do, so that the attacking players can look good.

Of course he can be upgraded, but he isn't the main issue in the team currently. If we sign another CM, then it will only raise the level of all the CMs as they will have to compete with each other for a position. Which is only healthy to have.

 

[Deleted member 29446]

Talent isn’t everything but you do need it in abundance to compete at the top level. The top level is players like Kante, Kovacic, Jorginho, Fabinho, Thiago, Rodri, KDB, Bernardo Silva etc.. if you believe Hojbjerg is anywhere near that class then you must have discovered some new super drug because you’re high as fuck lol.

I thought Skipp was comfortably better than Hojbjerg when they were both starting but again it’s opinions. If you said to me keep one of the two that would be the easiest decision of all time, Skipp’s ceiling is huge and he’s already a better player at 21 in my opinion. He’s got a future competing at the top level, PEH absolutely hasn’t. The top level in my mind is competing for PL titles, FA Cups and CL titles with the players I mentioned above and he’s nowhere near that level.

It was probably a mixture of both, but you can’t tell me Hojbjerg didn’t look just as absolutely useless in those matches as Winks did. Both of them were a disgrace.

It’s an easy “lets see” to suggest when Skipp will likely not be straight in contention to start after having surgery and recovering over the summer. However I’ll take any bet that Skipp will be the one in the team out of the two if we are ever lifting any trophies.

You can come 12 rounds if you like? I don’t give really care man, it’s football opinions and I think you’re biased towards your countryman, it’s fairly obvious. As am I towards a young English Tottenham academy player, I’ve probably watched every single youth match footage for England and Tottenham that there is available on the net of him, so I feel well qualified to talk about how good a player he is. Every manager he’s played under raves about him and says he’s going to the top. Poch rated him extremely highly, Mourinho has said he’s a future Tottenham captain and Conte has said he’s a huge prospect and is going to the top. Winks was hype, this guy is not hype and he has it all to go to the top of the game and he won’t find Hojbjerg there with him, of that I’m certain

I don't believe Højbjerg is at that level like the ones you're mentioning, i'm not sure where I have said that. I just don't think Bentancur or Skipp for that matter is as good at people on here clearly thinks.

Look it's all good mate. I respect your opinion. Skipp is only 21 so he clearly has time on his side, which I have already said multiple times.

But right now, if you look at ratings across all websites, and from Ally Gold and DanKP for example. You will see PEH is a better performer in general than both. If you look at stats after that it's really starting to show and he is superior to both. Then you take him as a player into contention, his personality, leadership, mentality, giving it always 110%, making his teammates better, doing all the dirty work, telling all others what they should do and being a winnner by nature. We have a case why he's the best CM we have right now, not all have to be flash or how they move on the pitch, homegrown or whatever.. That isn't to say he can't be upgraded for an 50m player, but so can the others.

I actually try and not be biased, wether you believe it or not. I was here before Højbjerg and Eriksen (good lord the disrepect he got), and I will be after.
I have high hopes myself for Skipp, lets see if he will go to the top shall we. The only thing i'm saying is right now, he isn't better. Looking at the performances I think i'm right and people massively underrate PEH as a player and person. Who could blame Skipp really he's 21 and came from the Championship.

 

[Flobadob]

I don't believe Højbjerg is at that level like the ones you're mentioning, i'm not sure where I have said that. I just don't think Bentancur or Skipp for that matter is as good at people on here clearly thinks.

Look it's all good mate. I respect your opinion. Skipp is only 21 so he clearly has time on his side, which I have already said multiple times.

But right now, if you look at ratings across all websites, and from Ally Gold and DanKP for example. You will see PEH is a better performer in general than both. If you look at stats after that it's really starting to show and he is superior to both. Then you take him as a player into contention, his personality, leadership, mentality, giving it always 110%, making his teammates better, doing all the dirty work, telling all others what they should do and being a winnner by nature. We have a case why he's the best CM we have right now, not all have to be flash or how they move on the pitch, homegrown or whatever.. That isn't to say he can't be upgraded for an 50m player, but so can the others.

I actually try and not be biased, wether you believe it or not. I was here before Højbjerg and Eriksen (good lord the disrepect he got), and I will be after.
I have high hopes myself for Skipp, lets see if he will go to the top shall we. The only thing i'm saying is right now, he isn't better. Looking at the performances I think i'm right and people massively underrate PEH as a player and person. Who could blame Skipp really he's 21 and came from the Championship.

Maybe I’m wrong to believe my eyes give me a better understanding of football than stats do but I’ll never believe anything different tbh. I’ve played football at a high level in the past, played for several different academies as a kid and had years of coaching from guys that have decades of experience in the game, at no point did stats come into anything I’ve learned about football other than I can remember a coach saying a statistic about how 9/10 times you win the ball back it isn’t through a tackle but rather the opponent giving the ball away, so you should concentrate on reading the game rather than charging towards a player to tackle them, sound advice after all! Or that something like 1 in 2000 of academy players make it to the first team, so all of us should shut up and listen ?

I really don’t rate stats at all tbh. I’m sure stats would have people believe that Dembele wasn’t one of the best PL CM’s of his generation. It can give you an idea of what a players strengths are, but as far as saying “he’s better at this than this guy” they are completely useless as every match is different, every opportunity that arises in a match is different and every touch, pass, tackle etc could have a greater importance in the context of a match than another and those important moments are when a players poor technique, balance and composure will show. The best players tend to be there and make the difference when it really counts. This is where I find Hojbjerg really shows his lack of talent and technique tbh. When he’s under pressure on the ball or the action he’s about to take really matters I find he takes a shit touch, makes a pass 10 yards off target or gets so out of control on the ball he turns straight into a player pressing him because he’s lost all composure and balance. The only time I can remember his technique holding up in a big moment is Leicester away with his pass to Bergwijn. The best players with total trust in their technique never lose composure, it doesn’t always work out, but you need a far higher level of technique, composure and balance than Hojbjerg has to not find yourself in hot water with the way teams press high up the pitch these days and you need to have some ability to evade 2-3 players or put you under pressure when it’s time to make that killer pass further up the pitch. I think he’s a very consistent 6-7 out of 10 player for us most weeks but I really don’t think he’s got anywhere near the ability to win us 90+ points in a season like the very best CM’s are doing for City and Liverpool and Chelsea’s midfield is a mile superior to him too. Why be content with settling for a player who isn’t good enough to compete with the best? I’m happy to have him as a squad player, but I really do believe we won’t win a thing if we continue with him as a starting CM for us

 

[SpursAddict]

He's been brilliant ever since Conte dropped him in the 2-0 loss against Wolves.

 

[Deleted member 29446]

Maybe I’m wrong to believe my eyes give me a better understanding of football than stats do but I’ll never believe anything different tbh. I’ve played football at a high level in the past, played for several different academies as a kid and had years of coaching from guys that have decades of experience in the game, at no point did stats come into anything I’ve learned about football other than I can remember a coach saying a statistic about how 9/10 times you win the ball back it isn’t through a tackle but rather the opponent giving the ball away, so you should concentrate on reading the game rather than charging towards a player to tackle them, sound advice after all! Or that something like 1 in 2000 of academy players make it to the first team, so all of us should shut up and listen ?

I really don’t rate stats at all tbh. I’m sure stats would have people believe that Dembele wasn’t one of the best PL CM’s of his generation. It can give you an idea of what a players strengths are, but as far as saying “he’s better at this than this guy” they are completely useless as every match is different, every opportunity that arises in a match is different and every touch, pass, tackle etc could have a greater importance in the context of a match than another and those important moments are when a players poor technique, balance and composure will show. The best players tend to be there and make the difference when it really counts. This is where I find Hojbjerg really shows his lack of talent and technique tbh. When he’s under pressure on the ball or the action he’s about to take really matters I find he takes a shit touch, makes a pass 10 yards off target or gets so out of control on the ball he turns straight into a player pressing him because he’s lost all composure and balance. The only time I can remember his technique holding up in a big moment is Leicester away with his pass to Bergwijn. The best players with total trust in their technique never lose composure, it doesn’t always work out, but you need a far higher level of technique, composure and balance than Hojbjerg has to not find yourself in hot water with the way teams press high up the pitch these days and you need to have some ability to evade 2-3 players or put you under pressure when it’s time to make that killer pass further up the pitch. I think he’s a very consistent 6-7 out of 10 player for us most weeks but I really don’t think he’s got anywhere near the ability to win us 90+ points in a season like the very best CM’s are doing for City and Liverpool and Chelsea’s midfield is a mile superior to him too. Why be content with settling for a player who isn’t good enough to compete with the best? I’m happy to have him as a squad player, but I really do believe we won’t win a thing if we continue with him as a starting CM for us

So you didn’t have an answer to that he he clearly a better performer and more consistent than the others, good then.

The eye does certainly give a much better indication of a player but what did a wise man once say

The eye sees all, but the mind shows us what we want to see.

- William Shakespeare

Let’s just see who plays next season and we get a good CM as replacement for Winks this summer. Shall we

 

[Flobadob]

So you didn’t have an answer to that he he clearly a better performer and more consistent than the others, good then.

The eye does certainly give a much better indication of a player but what did a wise man once say



- William Shakespeare

Let’s just see who plays next season and we get a good CM as replacement for Winks this summer. Shall we

This is going to seem incredibly petty but I’m doing it for the lols

Hojbjerg PL whoscored rating-7.14
Bentancur PL whoscored rating-7.15

Quoting William Shakespeare to try and make your point about football is kind of hilarious man ? My eyes WANT me to see good players playing for Tottenham. My eyes WANT me to see players that are good enough to challenge for titles. Me eyes don’t see this right now.

We shall see. I’m glad this is your last resort as a counter argument, the old “let’s see” because you’ve not made a single valid point, other than point to stats which I’ve just shown aren’t even in favour of your argument either

 

[spurs9]

This is going to seem incredibly petty but I’m doing it for the lols

Hojbjerg PL whoscored rating-7.14
Bentancur PL whoscored rating-7.15

Quoting William Shakespeare to try and make your point about football is kind of hilarious man ? My eyes WANT me to see good players playing for Tottenham. My eyes WANT me to see players that are good enough to challenge for titles. Me eyes don’t see this right now.

We shall see. I’m glad this is your last resort as a counter argument, the old “let’s see” because you’ve not made a single valid point, other than point to stats which I’ve just shown aren’t even in favour of your argument either

Skipp PL whoscored rating-6.57

Clearly whoscored ratings are meaningless.

 

[Flobadob]

Skipp PL whoscored rating-6.57

Genuinely shocked his score is that low. I don’t know how it’s scored, but I imagine the fact Hojbjerg has more goals and assists will probably help his score considerably in certain matches where his overall performance has been lacklustre. I do think Hojbjerg’s performance’s in the last 4-6 weeks have been up there with any we’ve seen from our CM’s this season, but I’ve watched him for 2 years and just don’t see how he’s consistently anywhere near the level we need to be winning titles and I see the potential for Skipp to reach that level, so maybe this is why I favour having him in the team as I feel Hojbjerg is a waste of time

 

[Deleted member 29446]

Skipp PL whoscored rating-6.57

Clearly whoscored ratings are meaningless.

Shh doesn’t fit the narrative.

 

[Deleted member 29446]

This is going to seem incredibly petty but I’m doing it for the lols

Hojbjerg PL whoscored rating-7.14
Bentancur PL whoscored rating-7.15

Quoting William Shakespeare to try and make your point about football is kind of hilarious man ? My eyes WANT me to see good players playing for Tottenham. My eyes WANT me to see players that are good enough to challenge for titles. Me eyes don’t see this right now.

We shall see. I’m glad this is your last resort as a counter argument, the old “let’s see” because you’ve not made a single valid point, other than point to stats which I’ve just shown aren’t even in favour of your argument either

Take Golds or KPs please. Let me know what you find. I think they’re kinda neutral. Or look in the Bentacur thread where I already did it. And that’s before the last 5-7 games where PEH has got better every single time.

I’m saying let’s see as we’re not going anywhere are we. There’s plenty of valid points while the only you you use is your eyes. There’s more to a footballer than how flashy they are. I think Bentancur Skipp and PEH are kinda the same level. So let’s see who plays next season

 

[sly1]

So you didn’t have an answer to that he he clearly a better performer and more consistent than the others, good then.

The eye does certainly give a much better indication of a player but what did a wise man once say



- William Shakespeare

Let’s just see who plays next season and we get a good CM as replacement for Winks this summer. Shall we

That doesn’t feel like a real Shakespeare quote to me.

 

[spurs9]

Genuinely shocked his score is that low. I don’t know how it’s scored, but I imagine the fact Hojbjerg has more goals and assists will probably help his score considerably in certain matches where his overall performance has been lacklustre. I do think Hojbjerg’s performance’s in the last 4-6 weeks have been up there with any we’ve seen from our CM’s this season, but I’ve watched him for 2 years and just don’t see how he’s consistently anywhere near the level we need to be winning titles and I see the potential for Skipp to reach that level, so maybe this is why I favour having him in the team as I feel Hojbjerg is a waste of time

Could be the goals and assists or it could be because he makes more tackles, more interceptions, more key passes, more dribbles, more passes and/or more long range passes?

 

[Flobadob]

Take Golds or KPs please. Let me know what you find. I think they’re kinda neutral. Or look in the Bentacur thread where I already did it. And that’s before the last 5-7 games where PEH has got better every single time.

I’m saying let’s see as we’re not going anywhere are we. There’s plenty of valid points while the only you you use is your eyes. There’s more to a footballer than how flashy they are. I think Bentancur Skipp and PEH are kinda the same level. So let’s see who plays next season

I don’t rate Gold’s opinion on football, so I’d rather not tbh. Who’s KP? ? Are whoscored not neutral? I literally used the only stats website I’ve really heard of.

I really don’t give a shit about stats tbh, I’ve explained why they are so flawed and I’ve explained why in quite a bit of detail that I think Hojbjerg isn’t good enough technically. All you’ve done is harp back to stats that are flawed, my eyes are flawed too but at least I’ve actually discussed the technical aspects of football rather than point to a load of stats that are flawed and we don’t even know how it’s scored. A goal could be rated extremely highly points wise, where a goal saving challenge rated very low. Both are incredibly important actions.

I’m pretty sure many people have raised the same issues with stats over and over again on this site, they are slightly useful in getting an idea what a players strengths might be, but other than that you really shouldn’t put much weight behind them.

Some actual opinions involving the technical aspects of football would be nice tbh, I’ve not heard you really explain why you think Hojbjerg has been better this season? It would make it far easier to understand why you believe what you do for me personally, rather than pointing to stats which I just don’t rate as a unit for assessing a player in very much detail

 

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

There are some really average players topping or near the top of alot of these stat pages. They are fairly meaningless honestly. Xg/a is a pretty useful tool for how well your teams functioning but a lot of the rest aren’t a reflection of the quality of those players/numbers

 

[ajspurs]

Maybe I’m wrong to believe my eyes give me a better understanding of football than stats do but I’ll never believe anything different tbh. I’ve played football at a high level in the past, played for several different academies as a kid and had years of coaching from guys that have decades of experience in the game, at no point did stats come into anything I’ve learned about football other than I can remember a coach saying a statistic about how 9/10 times you win the ball back it isn’t through a tackle but rather the opponent giving the ball away, so you should concentrate on reading the game rather than charging towards a player to tackle them, sound advice after all! Or that something like 1 in 2000 of academy players make it to the first team, so all of us should shut up and listen ?

I really don’t rate stats at all tbh. I’m sure stats would have people believe that Dembele wasn’t one of the best PL CM’s of his generation. It can give you an idea of what a players strengths are, but as far as saying “he’s better at this than this guy” they are completely useless as every match is different, every opportunity that arises in a match is different and every touch, pass, tackle etc could have a greater importance in the context of a match than another and those important moments are when a players poor technique, balance and composure will show. The best players tend to be there and make the difference when it really counts. This is where I find Hojbjerg really shows his lack of talent and technique tbh. When he’s under pressure on the ball or the action he’s about to take really matters I find he takes a shit touch, makes a pass 10 yards off target or gets so out of control on the ball he turns straight into a player pressing him because he’s lost all composure and balance. The only time I can remember his technique holding up in a big moment is Leicester away with his pass to Bergwijn. The best players with total trust in their technique never lose composure, it doesn’t always work out, but you need a far higher level of technique, composure and balance than Hojbjerg has to not find yourself in hot water with the way teams press high up the pitch these days and you need to have some ability to evade 2-3 players or put you under pressure when it’s time to make that killer pass further up the pitch. I think he’s a very consistent 6-7 out of 10 player for us most weeks but I really don’t think he’s got anywhere near the ability to win us 90+ points in a season like the very best CM’s are doing for City and Liverpool and Chelsea’s midfield is a mile superior to him too. Why be content with settling for a player who isn’t good enough to compete with the best? I’m happy to have him as a squad player, but I really do believe we won’t win a thing if we continue with him as a starting CM for us

I agree and disagree really. I don't think you could say that stats are entirely useless but I also don't think you can judge a player off stats alone. There are also some players who if it was left to just the eyes of the person, wouldn't get the praise that's really very much warranted. The thing with impressions of a player with ones eyes is that it can be subjective to the individual and what they personally value. For instance you've made an evaluation of Hojbjerg pointing out his technique and his killer passing amongst other things, but these are not things that I myself personally judge Hojbjerg on as I know he doesn't have these things in his locker to a great degree.

I would question anyone who didn't say they wanted us to upgrade on him for next season, it's just one of those things that goes without saying to me personally so it always baffles me a bit when people go out of their way to detail his shortcomings. I don't really mean you as I know you're arguing a point made by someone else but I just don't quite get the amount of criticism that he does get for what he has contributed to the team this season and at his time at Spurs really. Maybe people expected a lot more, I'm not sure. For me he's brought exactly what I thought he would bring based off the player I saw at Southampton.

 

[Flobadob]

I agree and disagree really. I don't think you could say that stats are entirely useless but I also don't think you can judge a player off stats alone. There are also some players who if it was left to just the eyes of the person, wouldn't get the praise that's really very much warranted. The thing with impressions of a player with ones eyes is that it can be subjective to the individual and what they personally value. For instance you've made an evaluation of Hojbjerg pointing out his technique and his killer passing amongst other things, but these are not things that I myself personally judge Hojbjerg on as I know he doesn't have these things in his locker to a great degree.

I would question anyone who didn't say they wanted us to upgrade on him for next season, it's just one of those things that goes without saying to me personally so it always baffles me a bit when people go out of their way to detail his shortcomings. I don't really mean you as I know you're arguing a point made by someone else but I just don't quite get the amount of criticism that he does get for what he has contributed to the team this season and at his time at Spurs really. Maybe people expected a lot more, I'm not sure. For me he's brought exactly what I thought he would bring based off the player I saw at Southampton.

He probably doesn’t deserve the criticism I give him in terms of his value to the team under the current targets we are aiming for etc and his effort and consistency as a player. My biggest problem with him is I’ve watched him for 2 years and I can’t see a single ounce of potential or ability that is ever going to have him competing with the best CM’s in the league in terms of quality. I feel like if we’re aiming for titles we are wasting our time with him. If we’re happy with top 4 we will probably be okay until Son and Kane retire and then we’re in big trouble in my opinion as there will be very little star quality in terms of technical ability left in the team, or “difference makers”

 

[$hoguN]

I think his contribution is massively under rated.