Player Watch: Pierre-Emile Højbjerg

[spursfan77]

If we are getting him he has to be in for preseason to give him a fighting chance.

 

[Japhet]

I’m not that worried about his passing in itself it’s more his ability to get out of being pressed. Kante, Bissouma, N’Didi are not particularly imaginative passers but they can get themselves out of trouble, manipulate the ball then there is generally a simple but progressive option for them. I think the reason his passing is often over hit or misplaced is because he can be pressured into a pass that’s not on or he will just go back.

I think he's tasked with more progressive passing at Soton than he would be here too. I think he usually plays with Romeu and Ward-Prowse and neither of them is particularly a midfield play maker (although Ward Prowse is getting the hang of it).

 

[Goobers]

He is a technically all round footballer but possess the football intelligence to play the defensive role. Seems, on paper, like w very modern deep lying midfielder.

 

[TEESSIDE1]

He is a technically all round footballer but possess the football intelligence to play the defensive role. Seems, on paper, like w very modern deep lying midfielder.

Look at Liverpool, they play any 3 of Henderson, Fabinho, Keita, Wijnaldum, Milner. I wouldn’t class any of them as exciting or stand out players but what they excel at is they all work their arses off and play as a functioning unit.

We’ve got Lo Celso, hopefully Højbjerg and will then require 1 more to complete the trio. Ndombele can be the 3rd leg of the tripod but fuck knows what’s happening with him at the mo. I’d happily trade him for Brozovic as you know you would be signing a work horse who’s competent both defensive and offensively. With Ndombele, he may be highly talented but his mentality and fitness is piss poor.

 

[jedimonkey]

Reading the comments on him on saintsweb seems that there are a lot of posters saying he’s absolute crap and would want to replace him with a youth player, and a lot saying he’s rubbish but they wouldn’t be able to replace him.
While I do value the opinions of people who watch players week in/week out, there seems to be a whole lot of hate for a leaving player on their forum (as is the case with a lot of forums). Mixed in with the usual dislike Spurs generally.

Living 30 mins from Southampton means I have a lot of friends who support them. They've all suddenly starting coming out with stuff like "great news, finally get him out of the team and replace him with someone good". Wasn't that long ago they were chirping on about him being awesome because he played for Pep's Bayern.

I don't have too much of an opinion on him at the moment, but I get the feeling they're actually a bit annoyed. The same thing happened with Poch and Alderweireld, so let's hope lightning strikes a third time ?

 

[RikkiRocket]

I actually think that signing Hojberg could free Winks up and let him play more.
Winks is a decent player and always wants the ball, having someone defensive alongside him could free him up to play his natural game, which I think is a lot better than he gets credit for.

Winks will tootle off to Fulham. Where him and Scott Parker will make beautiful circular passes. Herein known as the M25 method.

 

[tony0379]

Don't mean to be a downer (I'm pro Hojbjerg) but I wouldn't get your hopes up on his passing based on YouTube comps. Southampton fans think his passing is by far the weakest part of his game and he gives the ball away a fair amount.

As someone else said, though, if he just keeps things simple and passes to Lo Celso it won't really matter. And there's no way in hell he's a worse passer than Sissoko.

He'll be releasing it 2 to 5 yards to Gio or Ndomblele. Not going to be a problem imho

 

[wrd]

He'll be releasing it 2 to 5 yards to Gio or Ndomblele. Not going to be a problem imho

As much as I appreciate all Sissoko has done for us, it won't be hard for Højbjerg to look like Pirlo in comparison.

 

[doctor stefan Freud]

Don’t get why everyone in here keeps mocking Sissoko’s technique.

It takes extraordinary skill and mental strength to dummy oneself into losing possession

 

[rossdapep]

Hojberg and Brozovic midfield duo would be top class under Mourinho's system

I was thinking about this earlier.

Skriniar and Brozovic for Ndombele gives us much more strength in the core and we'd be very tough to beat.

If we can shift Sissoko and bring in Brooks or a better ball player, we then have much more technique for the counter attack.

People tend to forget one of the biggest reasons we were so strong under Poch was because we had Wanyama, Dier and Dembele with our 2 CBs behind them.

This gave the others the freedom to play.

My concern is that Ndombele wont give us that strong base in this system.

 

[emiley heskey]

I was thinking about this earlier.

Skriniar and Brozovic for Ndombele gives us much more strength in the core and we'd be very tough to beat.

If we can shift Sissoko and bring in Brooks or a better ball player, we then have much more technique for the counter attack.

People tend to forget one of the biggest reasons we were so strong under Poch was because we had Wanyama, Dier and Dembele with our 2 CBs behind them.

This gave the others the freedom to play.

My concern is that Ndombele wont give us that strong base in this system.

I would trade ndombele for Brozovic and Skriniar and sissoko for someone like brooks... That would give us two players who are at their peak age and an upcoming attackind midfielders for future.

Midfield two: Hojberg, Brozovic, Winks, Lo celso

Am: dele, brooks

Winger: lamela, son, bergwjin, moura

Center back: Skriniar, Toby, Dier, Sanchez


I think our center back, midfield and winger positions look much more physical and technical with the addition of these three and sacrificing ndombele and sissoko...

 

[GetSpurredOn]

Sadly they deal being covered in the press is Ndombele and Sissoko for Skriniar and Brozovic, not just for Ndombele.

 

[king26]

Sadly they deal being covered in the press is Ndombele and Sissoko for Skriniar and Brozovic, not just for Ndombele.

all crap anyway

 

[wrd]

Sadly they deal being covered in the press is Ndombele and Sissoko for Skriniar and Brozovic, not just for Ndombele.

Sissoko for Skriniar. Job done.

 

[C0YS]

Reading the comments on him on saintsweb seems that there are a lot of posters saying he’s absolute crap and would want to replace him with a youth player, and a lot saying he’s rubbish but they wouldn’t be able to replace him.
While I do value the opinions of people who watch players week in/week out, there seems to be a whole lot of hate for a leaving player on their forum (as is the case with a lot of forums). Mixed in with the usual dislike Spurs generally.

look back, before the links. He split opinion back then too. I think Southampton wont miss him, they've actually played better without him. However, that doesn't mean he wont do a job for us. If we sign him I don't expect him to be a clear starter, but I do think he would offer us something we lack.

 

[elfy]

Sadly they deal being covered in the press is Ndombele and Sissoko for Skriniar and Brozovic, not just for Ndombele.

Pft, typical Levy - inter offer Skriniar and Brozovic for Ndombele, Levy says he'll only deal if they take Sissoko too

 

[C0YS]

Hojberg and Brozovic midfield duo would be top class under Mourinho's system

I'd be surprised if we get both. Brozovic's best position is a holder now. While, we could do with two I suspect it would be one or the other. Brozovic isn't really that good playing number 8 either.

 

[dSSAbr]

Sadly they deal being covered in the press is Ndombele and Sissoko for Skriniar and Brozovic, not just for Ndombele.

I would take this deal. I am a huge Brozovic fan, and Skriniar for Sissoko would make up for the age diference between Brozovic and Tanguy. If Mourinho wasn't the manager, I would keep Ndombélé, but i think he doesn't rate the french at all after a few months working together.

 

[Snarfalicious]

I'd be surprised if we get both. Brozovic's best position is a holder now. While, we could do with two I suspect it would be one or the other. Brozovic isn't really that good playing number 8 either.

Think the idea would be to utilize Brozovic in that Sissoko role. Let Lo Celso work more freely in attack and just have PEH sit deep. On paper, it's a lot more solid of a midfield.

 

[C0YS]

Think the idea would be to utilize Brozovic in that Sissoko role. Let Lo Celso work more freely in attack and just have PEH sit deep. On paper, it's a lot more solid of a midfield.

I'd rather sissoko in the sissoko role. Brozovic works best as the deepest player as a DM and deeper midfield where he has more space for his passing. Playing in a more dynamic midfield role he has tended to look pretty average.