Pierre-Emile Højbjerg

[milo]

I think I was pretty clear in the transfer thread on this, that I felt we held all the cards and simply had to bide our time - the longer it went on, the more that played into our hands.
Despite the Everton bluff, that was irrelevant as long as the player said Spurs or nothing. And the contract situation being 11 months to go, meant Levy was never ever going to pay a premium for something he could have for free.

I did say though that half the board and social media were baying for us to pay £30m or whatever, then moment the Everton link was reported. Which was hilarious.

That wasn't aimed at you, it was Bedford who said that Southampton were in the driving seat.

 

[Kandi1977]

The Southampton fanbase response to this isn't overly happy. A fair few have been talking Hojbjerg down since it became apparent he's on the way out. But they are unhappy at the fee being paid.

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/news/52720/

He's got one year left on his contract, and he's brick, but he's worth more than £15m.... Makes sense....

 

[Bedfordspurs]

That wasn't aimed at you, it was Bedford who said that Southampton were in the driving seat.

They were if they had a pair
They bottled it
Hence why their fans are angry
But at least now we have paid a more relevant price for him
It’s exactly what happens with Eriksen
We had people saying we can get £x and we got a fraction of it as the player wouldn’t go go the clubs that would pay it
It cost is a fortune in the end

 

[SpurMeUp]

From what I’ve seen of him passing isn’t his strength
He still has time to improve though
I’ll say no more than that

Only so much YT clips can tell you, but on those alone I like him. Most importantly Hojberg looks all action. It has been a while since we've had a highly mobile, tenacious player in the middle who is quick to close down and win the ball back. He's big, strong and he has some skills. A decent touch, control and his passing is competent. In other words a well-rounded DM. Something we've really missed.

 

[parklane1]

One of the most important positions in a team for me is a good DM, something we have lacked for a good while and its good to see that its the first signing we have made.

 

[milo]

They were if they had a pair
They bottled it
Hence why their fans are angry
But at least now we have paid a more relevant price for him
It’s exactly what happens with Eriksen
We had people saying we can get £x and we got a fraction of it as the player wouldn’t go go the clubs that would pay it
It cost is a fortune in the end

I don't think that's true. If a player only has one year left on their contract and is only prepared to join one club, the selling club has very little power. They can sell at a reduced fee or lose the player for nothing in a year and potentially have a disruptive player in the dressing room until then. Southampton did the best that they could under the circumstances.

 

[milo]

One of the most important positions in a team for me is a good DM, something we have lacked for a good while and its good to see that its the first signing we have made.

He's another leader too, he was the youngest captain in the PL until he said he wanted to leave.

 

[parklane1]

He's another leader too, he was the youngest captain in the PL until he said he wanted to leave.

Did not know that to be honest, i always thought Dier would be our next captain maybe it will be Pierre.

 

[Moby]

That wasn't aimed at you, it was Bedford who said that Southampton were in the driving seat.

It’s cool, I know it wasn’t!

I was just riding your wave and taking an opportunity to talk about how great I am.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I don't think that's true. If a player only has one year left on their contract and is only prepared to join one club, the selling club has very little power. They can sell at a reduced fee or lose the player for nothing in a year and potentially have a disruptive player in the dressing room until then. Southampton did the best that they could under the circumstances.

True
But they can also start by flatly refusing to deal with certain clubs like we do
It gives the player that clarity
This deal gives them a small win now in that they fill a gap in their team and make some money
I said a while back that he isn’t worth £25m but Everton are happy to bid that as they over pay to attract players
The price is much much more sensible considering what the player has achieved

 

[milo]

Did not know that to be honest, i always thought Dier would be our next captain maybe it will be Pierre.

I don't think that Mourinho puts much onus on who has the armband but he does like vocal players and he wants the team to be able to manage itself through games.

 

[milo]

I was just riding your wave and taking an opportunity to talk about how great I am.

You should start a thread about it

 

[scaramanga]

Its an outstanding piece of business if true. I also really like us adding someone with captaincy qualities in that part of the pitch

Its not hard to believe that a decent DM could have been enough for us to close the gap to 4th in the season just finished

The normal argument is that a specialist defensive player would, whilst making us more defensively solid, reduce our attacking output.

Of course, when there's a Sissoko stinking up the place you could replace him with a training cone and increase creativity.

 

[milo]

The normal argument is that a specialist defensive player would, whilst making us more defensively solid, reduce our attacking output.

Of course, when there's a Sissoko stinking up the place you could replace him with a training cone and increase creativity.

I don't think that Hojbjerg is a purely defensive player, he can play at #8 too and his ball pass completion stats were a lot better before his manager asked him to play more high risk balls.

 

[scaramanga]

I don't think that Hojbjerg is a purely defensive player, he can play at #8 too and his ball pass completion stats were a lot better before his manager asked him to play more high risk balls.

They are but if you look at his Statsbomb radar, he has a very high deep progression numbers and very low xGAssist and xGBuildup numbers.

That's a concern for the player most likely to be on the ball at a turnover or moving it out from the back.

Of course, it could also mean that their forward line is so utterly incompetent that they never create any chances worthy of the name too. Not entirely impossible, considering where he's coming from.

 

[milo]

They are but if you look at his Statsbomb radar, he has a very high deep progression numbers and very low xGAssist and xGBuildup numbers.

That's a concern for the player most likely to be on the ball at a turnover or moving it out from the back.

Of course, it could also mean that their forward line is so utterly incompetent that they never create any chances worthy of the name too. Not entirely impossible, considering where he's coming from.

I am pretty sure that Mourinho will have him playing differently. I wouldn't expect too many assists but I'd be disappointed if we didn't see his build up figures improve.

 

[Moby]

You should start a thread about it

There’s a good few in random. Will dig one out for you.

 

[scaramanga]

I am pretty sure that Mourinho will have him playing differently. I wouldn't expect too many assists but I'd be disappointed if we didn't see his build up figures improve.

That doesn't seem like Mourinho's forte.

With the caveat of not having seen him play many matches, his stats would suggest an overly cautious player on the ball - more a Parker than a Carrick. His completion numbers are good, so he has the physical skill to place a pass (not something I ever expected to doubt a pro footballer for until I saw Sissoko). But he seems to not have either the vision or the ambition to make the passes likely to result in a goal. I can't see how time under Mourinho is likely to change that.

 

[Lemonade Money]

So we get this guy and build the team/system around him. Who's the backup for when he's injured/rested? Skipp?

 

[Benny_Lad]

So we get this guy and build the team/system around him. Who's the backup for when he's injured/rested? Skipp?

Where do you see Winks fitting in?

Interestingly some Saints fans on Twitter have said that he is not a DM - more of a CM that’s been playing DM. I see no reason why - if he is disciplined - he can’t make the DM job his own. Also loving the leader aspect through the spine. Lloris, Dier, Toby, Pierre, Kane.