Pierre-Emile Højbjerg

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Guardiola on Hojbjerg when at Bayern:

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Igula said:
It seems to be a difficult position to fill or even agree on whether it is necessary or who qualifies for it.

Look in this thread already a lot of disagreement whether Hjobjerg is a DM, whether Liverpool has one, if Carrick filled the role etc. You mention Rice who I have seen people talk about being a potential CB for Chelsea if they sign him. Other have issues with parts of his game.

Then you can get into arguments about guys who are great defenders/tacklers but can't pass, are they valuable? Are they more or less valuable?
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Rice can do it all, watch him sometime. Stand out player every gave for Spam. And proven at this level. But Hojberg seems ok
 
Cranston said:
Perhaps, but we’d still need to replace Winks. He is simply no longer good enough on the ball, and especially off it, to fulfill the role of the deeper player in a midfield 2.

I’d rather see Lo Celso there and pair Hojbjerg with Ndombele.
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I understand what you´re saying about getting Hojbjerg AND another midfielder. However:

1 - For the majority of the games, we will be pairing Lo Celso alongside a more defensive minded player, like Hojbjerg.

2 - Against big teams, we could pair Winks alongside Hojbjerg, with Lo Celso ahead of them as a 10, like I said; but there are other options that would also improve us. For example, we could repeat the formula used against Woolwich: pairing Lo Celso and Hojbjerg, but closing the sides with more hard working players, like Lucas and Sissoko - leaving Sonny and Kane up front to counter. It would be already a much more solid team.

3 - I don´t think Winks is that bad without the ball. Especially alongside a real destroyer, I think his qualities as a midfielder could be fantastic for this team. But that is another discussion, let´s save it for another time.

4 - We have limited money. We need to prioritize. For me, DM, RB, backup striker and CB, in that order.
 
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Totti said:
And a ball recovery is defined as when a player recovers the ball in a situation where neither team has possession or where the ball has been played directly to him by an opponent, thus securing possession for their team, right?

In terms of tackles as of 16/07/2020 with players who have made at least 10 appearances in the league this season in central or defensive midfield:

9 players rank higher than him.

James McCarthy (Crystal Palace) - 4.5
Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester) - 4.1
Will Hughes (Watford) - 3.2
Declan Rice (West Ham) - 3.1
Tom Trybull (Norwich) - 3
Morgan Schneiderlin (Everton) - 2.9
Marvelous Nakambe (Aston Villa) - 2.8
Oriol Romeu (Southampton) - 2.8
James Ward-Prowse (Southampton) - 2.7

And 5 players rank the same.

HOJBJERG - 2.6
Joao Moutinho (Wolves)
Dale Stephens (Brighton)
Etienne Capoue (Watford)
Fabinho (Liverpool)
Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)

Closest Spurs players:

N'Dombele - 2.5
Lo Celso - 2.2


In terms of interceptions as of 16/07/2020 with players who have made at least 10 appearances in the league this season in central or defensive midfield:

17 players rank higher than him.

Wilfried Ndidi (Leicester) - 2.7
Dani Ceballos (Woolwich) - 2.6
Philip Billing (Bournemouth) - 2.3
Jorginho (Chelsea) - 2 .3
Etienne Capoue (Watford) - 2.3
Ngolo Kante (Chelsea) - 2.3
Dale Stephens (Brighton) - 2
Declan Rice (West Ham) - 2
Jefferson Lerma (Bournemouth) - 2
James McCarthur (Crystal Palace) - 1.9
James Ward-Prowse (Southampton) - 1.8
Morgan Schneiderlin (Everton) - 1.8
Lucas Torreira (Woolwich) - 1.7
Tom Davies (Everton) - 1.7
Oriol Romeu (Southampton) - 1.7
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Liverpool) - 1.7
Marvelos Nakambe (Aston Villa) - 1.7

And 4 rank the same.

HOJBJERG - 1.6
Ruben Neves (Wolves)
Alex Tettey (Norwich)
Cheik Kouyate (West Ham)
Fred (Man Utd)

Closest Spurs players:

Winks - 1.5
Ndombele - 1.4



And only 1 player in the whole entire league as of 16/07/2020 has lost the ball more times than him due to a bad touch.

Dan Gosling (Bournemouth) - 2.4
HOJBJERG - 2.2

Though Ndombele also loses the ball at the same rate as Hojbjerg.



Obviously the good thing about these defensive stats are that there isn't a single Spurs in them so we'd be improving that aspect but per 90, he makes 0.1 more interceptions than Harry Winks and only 0.1 more tackles than Ndombele.

What's worrying is that there are two players in that same Southampton team who are better than him at both tackling and intercepting the ball and don't lose it as often...



I've said it before - I'm all for giving Hojbjerg a chance, if Mourinho has hand picked him and feels he can improve us then so be it. I will back him, just like I've backed all the signings we've made until I've made my own judgement - I wasn't too excited by the signing of Wanyama and he definitely exceeded my expectations.

But we signed him off the back of making:

3.4 interceptions per 90
2.4 interceptions per 90

So putting up a lot monstrous numbers in a much better Southampton team.
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Beginning to count on you for the stats I need to make me feel smart :).

I just don't see the point of this guy if the goal is to have an out and out DM. If the idea is to set GLC and TN free then I don't see it. But if the goal is to be in a mid-block with a three of PEH, GLC, and TN then maybe.
 
I am a fan of this addition, and I am a fan of it happening quickly. Given all of the business we plausibly need to do this window, given how quickly next season will be upon us, and given how slowly Levy typically does business, if we can get this over the line in short order, it’ll allow José and Levy to pivot to other need areas.
 
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