Pierre-Emile Højbjerg

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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.

Taken from the PL site just as a quick comparison for the defensive side to both players games:

Hojbjerg 31 games


Defence
Tackles 79
Tackle success % 61%
Blocked shots 8
Interceptions 46
Clearances 48
Headed Clearance 23
Recoveries 312
Duels won 206
Duels lost 176
Successful 50/50s 39
Aerial battles won 54
Aerial battles lost 42
Errors leading to goal 0

Winks 29 games


Defence
Tackles 39
Tackle success % 59%
Blocked shots 3
Interceptions 33
Clearances 26
Headed Clearance 9
Recoveries 150
Duels won 89
Duels lost 88
Successful 50/50s 14
Aerial battles won 14
Aerial battles lost 8
Errors leading to goal 0

I know that stats can only tell so much and different teams, seasons, styles, teammates, minutes played, game quality makes a difference but this season Hojberg has made twice as many tackles, has a higher tackle success rate, more blocked shots, more interceptions, more clearances, more headed clearance, over twice a season many recoveries, on average wins more duels than Winks based on a percentage of duels won and lost, more 50/50s and only seems lose out on the average aerial battle percentages. For a swap with some dough he for KWP for me he’s a pint worth pursuing.
 
I know about the idea of signing a proper number 6 to give freedom to Ndombele and Lo Celso, as the article from The Guardian mentioned. And yes, I think that it will be a possibility once we get a good DM, or a player like Hojbjerg, very good at recoveries and tackles.

However, there are many signs that tactically we are building the team in the direction of a 4-4-2, or one of it´s variations - which includes the 4-2-3-1. Basically, the premise is to have a back four and then two midfielders in front, not just one - which is why we don´t have to look for a "Makelele type" of number 6. Obviously, these two players are not necessarily DM´s. When we are expected to have the ball, Lo Celso could/should be one of them.

So, as I´ve been saying for a while now, Hojbjerg wouldn´t be replacing Winks in this team. Especially against big teams, Winks is the one playing positionally deeper, starting the play, etc. Hojbjerg would be the physical presence in midfield, with real quality to recover the ball and make us much more proactive when defending. That´s where his signing would make a difference for us.

In other words, he would be replacing Sissoko.

Sissoko is the one being used as the physical midfield player right now. In big games, when we are expected to be more solid in the team selection, but also against small teams. Against West Ham, for example (4-3-2-1 formation), he was the one choosed to play alongside Lo Celso in the pivot - not Winks. The only problem is that he is not made to play in central midfield. Hojbjerg definitely is.

The truth is that we simply don´t have a player like Hojbjerg at the moment. And there´s no problem at all considering the player he is and the way we want to play. Quite the contrary.

He would be a huge signing for us.
 
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Taken from the PL site just as a quick comparison for the defensive side to both players games:

Hojbjerg 31 games


Defence
Tackles 79
Tackle success % 61%
Blocked shots 8
Interceptions 46
Clearances 48
Headed Clearance 23
Recoveries 312
Duels won 206
Duels lost 176
Successful 50/50s 39
Aerial battles won 54
Aerial battles lost 42
Errors leading to goal 0

Winks 29 games


Defence
Tackles 39
Tackle success % 59%
Blocked shots 3
Interceptions 33
Clearances 26
Headed Clearance 9
Recoveries 150
Duels won 89
Duels lost 88
Successful 50/50s 14
Aerial battles won 14
Aerial battles lost 8
Errors leading to goal 0

I know that stats can only tell so much and different teams, seasons, styles, teammates, minutes played, game quality makes a difference but this season Hojberg has made twice as many tackles, has a higher tackle success rate, more blocked shots, more interceptions, more clearances, more headed clearance, over twice a season many recoveries, on average wins more duels than Winks based on a percentage of duels won and lost, more 50/50s and only seems lose out on the average aerial battle percentages. For a swap with some dough he for KWP for me he’s a pint worth pursuing.

Well of course, Hojbjerg is a defensive player. Winks isnt.

My point wasnt that Hojbjerg wasn't an upgrade on Winks and Sissoko, he is.

My point was that hes pretty average and his stats show that.

Hes an upgrade on what we have though and Jose wants him, so let's all hope hes a success!
 
He is a fine addition, I don't get a lot of the hate or the new revisionist history that has recently popped up to discredit him. However, by the same token it is just a fine signing, not a great one so I do understand if some people are underwhelmed by it.

I have said in other threads and will repeat here the way I see it is that his floor is very low, we know he can come in play for day 1 and contribute to the team. I don't think this signing is one that puts us in competition with City or Liverpool and may not even vault us into top 4 competition but it should help to keep us away from the 8/9/10 spots that we have been flirting with and make us a much more competent squad.

Obviously a lot will depend on other signings but if nothing else at least this makes the DM role (whether or not he is a destroyer or pure DM is kind of irrelevant) no longer a major issue with this squad.
 
I know about the idea of signing a proper number 6 to give freedom to Ndombele and Lo Celso, as the article from The Guardian mentioned. And yes, I think that will be a possibility once we get a good DM, or a player like Hojbjerg, very good at recoveries and tackles.

However, there are many signs that tactically we are building the team in the direction of a 4-4-2, or one of it´s variations - which includes the 4-2-3-1. Basically, the premise is to have a back four and then two midfielders in front, not just one - which is why we don´t have to look for a "Makelele type" of number 6. Obviously, these two players are not necessarily DM´s. When we are expected to have the ball, Lo Celso could/should be one of them.

So as I´ve been saying for a while now, Hojbjerg wouldn´t be replacing Winks in this team. Especially against big teams, Winks is the one playing positionally deeper, starting the play, etc. Hojbjerg would be the physical presence in midfield, with real quality to recover the ball and make us much more proactive when defending. That´s where his signing would make a difference for us.

In other words, he would be replacing Sissoko.

Sissoko is the one being used as the physical midfield player right now. In big games, when we are expected to be more solid in the team selection, but also against small teams. Against West Ham, for example (4-3-2-1 formation), he was the one choosed to play alongside Lo Celso in the pivot - not Winks. The only problem is that he is not made to play in central midfield. Hojbjerg definitely is.

The truth is that we simply don´t have a player like Hojbjerg at the moment. And there´s no problem at all considering the player he is and the way we want to play. Quite the contrary.

He would be a huge signing for us.

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.
 
Why don't we have the right to a decent DM.?
It's about time we recruited someone for this position.

Would like Rice but will get Danish Bacon ?

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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