Pierre [#5] played in his usual slot, as a left-sided midfielder. To his left was Ryan Sessegnon [#19] and to his right, Harry Winks [#8]. Before we get stuck in, it has to be said it would have been difficult for Conte to have selected a more cautious, unimaginative midfield. on the 59th minute, Lucas Moura replaced Ryan Sessegnon, who had a poor game. The former Fulham lad hit just 35% in total successful actions, which is insipid stuff, even by his own modest standards.
party of small ants.
As far as passing accuracy, Hojbjerg’s has declined a little over recent times and now sits at 88.1%, which in itself doesn’t look like a huge issue, but that was the point with this player – he was a cut above. Against Chelsea yesterday (map below) his rate was just 79%.
All the above perhaps points towards concentration levels and confidence.
Whilst his numbers are absolutely on the wane, there is a case to be made for the dysfunctional personnel in the Spurs squad. I take a view that Conte is lacking big creative character in the middle of the park. Unfortunately, neither Demeble nor Lo Celso have risen to the task.
Numbers c/o Wyscout(€)
Hear hear, leave off PEH people.
When you make a list of failures Hojbjerg will be near the bottom just above our few really good players.
More pertinent – will Sessegnon ever become a baller and is the Winks experiment over now,
Conte is in it to win it mate, he already has loads of money…. Manure should get fourth, and I say this because they have a better squad than us and the rest. Better players, more strength in depth… We need a signing or two in this window really… Still I believe in the Contedust, we will rob fourth.. Especially now Kanes finally getting back to himself.
45 seasons and counting. 80 – 84 being the golden period. 3 cups in 38 years since then.
Well I’ve had thirty years of it and bad times before 1991, I’m waiting for a Good Fairy to lift the curse that has been put on the club.
Højbjerg is definitely not the issue. He is definitely part of the solution. He is the Wanyama replacement. Now we need to also replace Dembele and Eriksen.
Højbjerg is the ball winning disrupter terrier. We shouldn’t moan when he can’t play the creative role anymore than we can moan that a central defender can’t play the creative role. And pass success also relies on the receiving players movement off the ball.
Højbjerg, Kane, Son and Lloris are Spurs’s best players by a mile and we would be absolutely shafted without them.
His one big moment yesterday was a simple side foot pass, between Chelsea defenders, for Doherty who was running in behind on the left side of Chelsea’s defence. It was already 2-0 at the time but the pass was a simple one. Hojbjerg overhit it and it rolled out harmlessly for a goal kick leaving Doherty exasperated. Wink’s did virtually the same thing during a recent game with a simple pass for Kane.
Now the chances are that if Hojbjerg had managed to find Doherty he may have found a way to screw it up with a poor first touch or a dreadful shot at goal. What is really frustrating is that Hojbjerg picked Doherty out with a more difficult pass that led to the second equalizing goal at Leicester. Both passes were late in the game. These two incidents just about sum Spurs up. One pass gave us hope; the second one ended the (false) hope that the first pass had given us.
Everything about Spurs is just rotten at the moment. Rotten transfers, rotten squad players, rotten tactics, rotten team selections, rotten referees and rotten luck.
I am reluctant to invest in the contrived ‘battle for 4th place’. I suspect that the ‘favourite’ for 4th will change from week to week, game by game, until the end of the season. Manchester United will get 4th place though. Not because they are any better than AFC, Wet Spam, Wolves or Spurs. United will get the ‘help’ they need at the right times to achieve the most desirable outcome for the TV sponsors.
Conte; like Dele, N’dombele, Lo Celso, Levy, Sky, BT, Paddy Power and ENIC are only in it for the money. I’m getting sick and tired of it tbh.
It’s boring.