What a lovely young man, his parents must be so proud. The thing I like most about him is that when he makes a dodgy pass or loses the ball, his immediate reaction is to get it back.
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Only negative I have about Winks is his off the ball work. I think once we've re-built our central midfield though and got the right personnel in, he'll continue to flourish even more.
He comes across as a VERY hard worker and wanting to improve his game so I'm sure Poch is aware of this and will get him working hard on it.
He comes across as a VERY hard worker and wanting to improve his game so I'm sure Poch is aware of this and will get him working hard on it.
As a big Winks fan, it's a bit of of a bugger to see the number of times that he's close to the goal scorer - the other day with the diving tackle, the other week in the box nowhere near the header. I'm not sure what to make of that - he's in a defensive position so should be in the mix for these postions, he's not a dedicated defender so maybe makes a wrong move in the crucial moment? Ultimately, my own opinion is that he's a brilliant addition to the team - and will improve. I have a slight worry which is that when he started his role was to provide the forward passes in tight spaces but now he's been moved back so he's perhaps becoming a little Ray Wilkins in style. He knows his responsibility is to safeguard the defense so he passes sideways. When he came into the team, I was most excited by his little turns and short passes forwards which really gave us, and England when he played, a momentum.
Some of the critics would do well to remember that this lad's still younger than Luka Modric, the man who has been the best midfielder in the world for the last 5 years, was when he arrived at Spurs, and he was by no means the finished article at that stage.
Winks really is very fucking good for his age and the position that he plays. It's very rare that you see the type of player that he is perform as well as him in that central midfield/defensive midfield role, because a lot of the nous and game sense needed for those positions can only come with experience and maturity. A lot of people talk about all the young guys they'd like to bring in from other clubs that play in the same position, ie Diawara, Barrios, even NDombele, but honestly, Winks stacks up very well alongside all those guys.
Winks really is very fucking good for his age and the position that he plays. It's very rare that you see the type of player that he is perform as well as him in that central midfield/defensive midfield role, because a lot of the nous and game sense needed for those positions can only come with experience and maturity. A lot of people talk about all the young guys they'd like to bring in from other clubs that play in the same position, ie Diawara, Barrios, even NDombele, but honestly, Winks stacks up very well alongside all those guys.
when Winks first started playing in the first team I was hopeful that he would play in a Modric type way, moving the ball forward, running with the ball, and before his injury he was doing that sort of thing,
but this season I just feel he's trying to more like Dier, and watching him I think he just doesn't get into the position to stop that threat and the ball is played round him
but this season I just feel he's trying to more like Dier, and watching him I think he just doesn't get into the position to stop that threat and the ball is played round him
Nobody apart from TA (but as a CB you’d expect that) made more forward passes than Winks (29) (Eriksen 27, Sissoko 16) against Barca.
His passes were nicely evenly spread - 21 to Eriksen (12) and Sissoko (9), the players just ahead and either side and 11 to the fb’s 6/5), 12 to the forwards.
I was a bit critical of him Saturday, because he was playing more as an 8, but you have to bare in mind his remit Tuesday was different, and I really liked what he did. Helped us beat their press, helped us retain the ball and spread it around nicely, including forwards.
Great performance today
Yep, he was very close to getting MOTM from me.
Had to give it to Dele though.
Yeh but doesn’t he also average our highest passes and pass completion, he is not a DM and while he is feisty that’s not his role. He won’t go the Mason route as Mason was often easily knocked off the ball and didn’t pass as well.
The issues sorrounding Wanyama and Dembele mean we do most likely need another top CM/DM to come in but we need January and money for that.
It's not a coincidence his best performances for Spurs come in the Champions League.
Real Madrid H + A, Dortmund A, PSV H, Barcelona A....all excellent performances where he was the link in midfield having lots of touches and passes.
I can't really remember standout Premier League games in the same vein though. Lot of games where you could say he was solid and kept things ticking over but not really expansive. Sometimes the game does pass him by but the other players pick up so we win and move on.
I'd like to see Winks play more like he does in Europe where he carries the ball a bit more and a bit more expansive. People might say it's a benefit of more time on the ball but if you can get on the half turn and dictate against the top European sides, running the show against English cloggers shouldn't be that difficult surely?
Real Madrid H + A, Dortmund A, PSV H, Barcelona A....all excellent performances where he was the link in midfield having lots of touches and passes.
I can't really remember standout Premier League games in the same vein though. Lot of games where you could say he was solid and kept things ticking over but not really expansive. Sometimes the game does pass him by but the other players pick up so we win and move on.
I'd like to see Winks play more like he does in Europe where he carries the ball a bit more and a bit more expansive. People might say it's a benefit of more time on the ball but if you can get on the half turn and dictate against the top European sides, running the show against English cloggers shouldn't be that difficult surely?
Mason route = Poch realises we can do better. Winks become a bench player and Poch eventually let's him go saying he needs first team football elsewhere.
Winks completes ONE successful dribble per 90 minutes and just 0.1 key passes per game in the league.
So he isn't really making up for his lack of defensive effort. He's just sort of there. I can almost see why Poch didn't start him against City or Woolwich in the league now.
Getting a DM in there may help him though. We haven't really seen him with an out an out DM. But his off the ball work is the absolute worst in our team. Positionally awful and doesn't do anywhere near enough to win a ball back.
Basically his ball progression stats arent good enough to excuse the lack of attacking threat and poor defensive stats in my opinion.
Needs to do better. We know he has it in him and he's still young.
I don’t think your looking at him the right way, he ain’t a DM nor a AM.
I remember Modric when he played for us, first couple of years people (not just Gibbs) moaning he doesn’t tackle or assist much, he just passes the ball.
Players like Winks will never have high assist stats or big tackle stats they are there to maintain control of the ball, pass and move, pass and move while shifting the opposition.
Can Winks improve, yes but he is difficult to get off the ball and passes very well which helps us control a game.
I am looking at him as a central midfielder.
I don't expect him to get assists or have big tackle stats. But I don't expect a central midfielder at Tottenham to have the fewest tackles of ANY player in the league in his position. Or 3rd least amount of interceptions. Considering our game is all about closing down passing lanes, he's obviously doing a pathetic job off the ball. But we all know that's the weakness in his game.
At the moment, HE is the one we should be upgrading in midfield when everyone is fit. Going off the stats. Hopefully he can up his game. We'd all like that.
Regarding Modric - he would usually get about 1.5 interceptions per game and make 2 tackles per game.
Winks is on 0.2 interceptions and he makes 0.4 tackles per game.
Xavi at his best? 1.2 tackles per game. 1.4 interceptons.
Iniesta? 1.3 tackles per game. 1 interception.
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I don't care too much about tackles BUT he has to effect the game without the ball, he has to improve spotting and tracking runners then make the right decision of what to do, close down, drop off or block a passing lane etc., he is a ghost without the ball and easy to byepassed and gets draw towards the player on the ball. He does press with energy, usually sprints into the oppo. Which I like.
Still young and Poch is always focused on what players do without the ball, so every confidence this side of his game will develop.
FFS that's a dreadful way to judge a player like him. His job is to get on the ball and recycle to the front four as quickly and efficiently as possible, at which he is genuinely outstanding, especially for his age.
He's "just kind of there" if you have no clue about what that role requires. He's not supposed to go on mazey dribbles, he's not supposed to be the one playing the killer final pass. The problem with so many people's judgement of players like Winks is that their expectations are so far off base that it renders their judgement completely moot.
What we need is Dier or Wanyama back to partner him, or another DM, to make best use of his prodigious strengths, not to replace him.
I think this is a reasonable point, but he's still only 22. So much of what makes CMs like him good comes with age and experience, which makes it all the more remarkable that he's able to do what he does at his age.
I mean, shit, you don't get singled out for special praise by Pep if you're rubbish. I get that Pep's a cunt, but if nothing else, he's a football genius, and IIRC has actually spoken of his like for WInksy as a player on a couple of occasions.