Trading Places: Making sense of Pierre Hojbjerg and Harry Winks’ supposed reversal of fortunes

There has been a fair degree of discontent about Hojbjerg doing the rounds within the Spurs fanbase of late, to add to which, there’s an increasing degree of praise creeping in for Harry Winks.

This is my attempt, at least, to try and make sense of what has become a considerable shift in the fortunes of the pair. Hojbjerg was widely seen as a steely, rather vital Viking. Whereas, it is fair to suggest that Winks was commonly viewed as somewhat of a ‘yesterday’s man.

Directions of travel

Hojbjerg remains a pivotal player for his country, having racked up 75 starting XI spots for Denmark, whereas Winks has amassed just 11 starting XI appearances.

The Dane has played consistently in the Premier League for Southampton Spurs over the last few seasons.

Winks has been struggling to remain relevant under any of our recent coaches. And for context, the 25-year-old (who is 26 in a matter of weeks) has been on Tottenham’s books since 2013/2014.

Style

Both players operate as utility midfielders, and there’s a case to be made for neither man being naturally offensively minded. Hojbjerg was more attack-minded in the last Euros tournament, but obviously, that wasn’t in a Tottenham shirt. Winks has routinely frustrated for club and country, and whilst his passing accuracy has always been high, the lack of attacking dynamism has been a recurring chore.

Bigger picture

Looking at the squad as a whole, we see that Oliver Skipp is perhaps more naturally a defensive midfielder and that Tanguy Ndombele is obviously an attacking midfielder.

This leaves us with arguably our best (and most expensive) attacking option unable to play as he is invariably unfit, and our first choice defensive-midfield option in need of rest during hectic schedules such as Christmas.

The odd couple

Putting Winks and Hojbjerg together is clearly far from ideal. I would suggest that pitting the two against each other is a naive and depressingly simplistic way of approaching matters. Think of Dwight K Shrute arguing over who would win in combat – out of a bear and a shark.

Against Southampton, Winks created many chances and made more attacking third passes than Hojbjerg.

Yet it was Hojbjerg who won 10 duels to Wink’s 4.

Conclusion

Drawing sweeping conclusions based upon very small sample groups is a notoriously dangerous business. For me, this is a transitory pairing and ideally, Conte would look to match Skipp with a more attacking option, which leaves few particularly satisfactory combinations.

Hojbjerg has the best career trajectory, Ndombele may well be a lost cause. Skipp is still on his way and his age frequently overlooked. The notion that Harry Winks is now embarking upon some kind of comeback tour, strikes me as implausible.

If I’ve learned anything, pondering our midfield, then it is until the desperate state of affairs with Dele Alli, Giovani Lo Celso, and Tanguy Ndombele are addressed, then Conte’s worries are considerably bigger than any imagined contest between Pierre and Harry.