its hard to integrate with a tight fast passing side. give the boy time. even the senior folks - lennon, bale, defoe all took some time to settle into AVB's setup. not to mention the others who where sidelined...
I honestly thing thr kid struggles with some of the brick technique that surrounds him. Most of our players have no awareness of space and movement and are unable to complete simple passes at times. I think he is on the next book compared to some of the other players to be honest.
He had a 93% pass completion rate tonight, which is pretty impressive. And I thought he showed flashes of creativity too, with his through-ball for Ade's tame shot and his chipped ball over the top to Ade when he was just offside.
I don't think he has standout attacking ability, at least in terms of shooting and dribbling (in terms of creative passing the jury is still out IMO). But what I think he does have is good movement and very quick, accurate passing - qualities that don't necessarily wow you but that are perhaps important and impressive. He always seems to know where his teammates are without looking, which allows him to make those first-time forward passes and layoffs. I think he ties the team together nicely in that central role, and could be effective if the three most attacking players can offer more in terms of real offensive threats.
I havent seen any of that in his time here SO FAR. The thing is what ive noticed which is very annoying but could be instructions and could be his enthusiasm is that he isnt that disciplined i.e. such a VDV issue. He dropped deep too many times which meant we had not much up front. He did it against Everton and did it yesterday. If he is as creative as you guys say then he has got to stay up front.
Its my bug bear with the team where everyone seems to be everywhere which means we get knackered early on.
I havent seen any of that in his time here SO FAR. The thing is what ive noticed which is very annoying but could be instructions and could be his enthusiasm is that he isnt that disciplined i.e. such a VDV issue. He dropped deep too many times which meant we had not much up front. He did it against Everton and did it yesterday. If he is as creative as you guys say then he has got to stay up front.
Its my bug bear with the team where everyone seems to be everywhere which means we get knackered early on.
didn't watch the game but seems like he played well
[video=dailymotion;x10necq]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x10necq_hol-dui-u21-holtby_sport[/video]
boy's got talent for sure
edit: in before someone says he learnt that from bale
I have seen nothing in Holtby that suggests he is going to be a first choice player in the future, where does he play for a start, he offers energy off the bench but I can't see anything else, if he is not in a starting position early next season I can see him becoming a bit player very quickly.
He's less than two years older than Carroll, he's younger than Livermore and he's only had half a season in the PL.
He was a fixture for a Schalke team that did well in the CL and at times at least played some great football. He can play multiple positions, far from uncommon in a young player.
Give him some time. A lot of players have looked average at first in the PL only to improve massively as they adjusted, central midfield is probably one of the hardest positions to get used to. Holtby has been inconsistent (as can be expected), but he's also shown some real ability on the ball, great work rate and enthusiasm.
Tonight, Holtby has really shown the intelligent and crisp passing/distribution that we all heard about when we signed him. Is this because he currently feels more settled in the German team and the role he is playing? I hope that the more he settles at Spurs the more of this we will see of him.
I honestly thing thr kid struggles with some of the brick technique that surrounds him. Most of our players have no awareness of space and movement and are unable to complete simple passes at times. I think he is on the next book compared to some of the other players to be honest.
I honestly thing thr kid struggles with some of the brick technique that surrounds him. Most of our players have no awareness of space and movement and are unable to complete simple passes at times. I think he is on the next book compared to some of the other players to be honest.
Holtby was good last night in behind the striker, but what he did was get the ball off the centre backs and pop off a pass, one touch triangles and 1-2s, then make a stupidly long run from defence, past the midfield, past the defence, past the striker and try to get on the end of a pass.
It was a bit odd, reminded me a lot of Stevie G or Beckham in his England pomp, like a one-man heroic focus for the team... he would go and get it, then tell others where to go, then try to finish the move as well!
He did well all night, nearly always one-touch which can be great, but is also risky and can lose posssession with ambitious passes which only have a slim chance of coming off.
He captained the Germans, drove them forward, won set pieces, won a penalty, scored a good goal... if that had been Isco or whoever else we would be clamouring to sign the lad, so let's celebrate a bit ffs!
I thought the board would be red hot with discussion about this performance, but there are about 10 posts!
Holtby was good last night in behind the striker, but what he did was get the ball off the centre backs and pop off a pass, one touch triangles and 1-2s, then make a stupidly long run from defence, past the midfield, past the defence, past the striker and try to get on the end of a pass.
It was a bit odd, reminded me a lot of Stevie G or Beckham in his England pomp, like a one-man heroic focus for the team... he would go and get it, then tell others where to go, then try to finish the move as well!
He did well all night, nearly always one-touch which can be great, but is also risky and can lose posssession with ambitious passes which only have a slim chance of coming off.
He captained the Germans, drove them forward, won set pieces, won a penalty, scored a good goal... if that had been Isco or whoever else we would be clamouring to sign the lad, so let's celebrate a bit ffs!
I thought the board would be red hot with discussion about this performance, but there are about 10 posts!