Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has surely started last game at Tottenham after nightmare display v West Ham United
Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg may well be walking on a tightrope in North London after a nightmare display against West Ham on Thursday (7 December).
West Ham staged a brilliant second-half comeback to inflict a third successive Premier League home defeat on Tottenham, another game where Ange Postecoglou’s men took the lead but failed to win.
Spurs took the lead after 11 minutes but conceded twice in the second half to miss the chance to move level with Manchester City in fourth place as Jarrod Bowen and James Ward-Prowse both capitalised on Spurs’ defensive errors.
The Hammers stay in ninth place but move just three points behind Tottenham in fifth following their fourth Premier League away win of the season with the North Londoners suffering their fourth defeat in five games.
According to OptaJoe, Tottenham are the first English top-flight side to fail to win five consecutive games despite going 1-0 up, and the first to lose three consecutive home games despite taking the lead.
Postecoglou may not be worrying about stats right now given his side’s form but they do not make for pleasing reading for the Spurs fans who have been lavishing him with praise in recent weeks.
But it’s another defeat in which his side started brilliantly but failed to capitalise on it and that could well owe in part to the fact the former Celtic manager has had to rely on players who may not have a long-term with him at the helm.
One of those figures, and one who has arguably been the most central at the club for a number of seasons is Hojbjerg who once again failed to show he’s a viable candidate to start consistently when the Australian tactician needs him most.
Hojbjerg was heavily linked with a move to La Liga giants Atletico Madrid throughout the last window (Daily Mail, 20 July), while Manchester United (Sky Sports News, 29 August) and Fulham were also reportedly interested.
Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano posted on his personal Twitter account (25 September) revealing that the Denmark midfielder ended his contract with agent Pini Zahavi to assess his options in the winter transfer window after he failed to secure a summer move.
There was one particular incident early in the first half that pretty much summed up his Tottenham career of late when he was found by Brennan Johnson with space in the penalty area to cross, but instead comically tripped over himself in a heap.
Hojbjerg has certainly possessed the dynamic qualities to offer this team and his composure and ability to set a tempo have served him well previously at Tottenham.
But that’s the thing, it’s in the past and his display against the Hammers certainly left a whole lot to be desired before he was deservedly hooked off with over 20 minutes to go.
The numbers make for some dreadful reading.
As per SofaScore, the Denmark international failed to complete a single tackle throughout his 67 minutes on the pitch, failed to complete or even attempt a single ground duel, lost the ball 10 times despite completing 93 per cent of his passes, failed to register a single key pass and gave away one foul.
In a progressive, free-flowing and expansive system like Postecoglou’s, the midfielders are central to everything in front of them and behind them and Hojbjerg was guilty of lacking the cutting-edge influence needed to aid Tottenham’s progression.
There was one instance in the 21st minute where the Dane had the ball at the edge of the penalty area and could have picked out Kulusevski, who made a great darting run beyond the West Ham backline…
Or he could have found Pedro Porro, who is clearly calling for the ball right at the edge of the West Ham box…
Instead of taking the risk to be progressive and innovative in the final third to create goal-scoring opportunities, the Dane went with his usual sideways passing…
…handing the West Ham United defenders ample time to regroup and get back into shape, or there could well have been the danger of Mohammed Kudus intercepting the sideways pass and springing a counter with Jarrod Bowen out of the image.
Such deficiencies in this instance are made incredibly baffling by the fact that Hojbjerg ranks in the 92nd percentile of midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues for passes into the final third per 90 [FBRef] suggesting he isn’t afraid to take risks when progressing the ball in dangerous areas.
It may well be that there could be a decline emerging in the 28-year-old’s game and it’s why several Tottenham fans have made the judgement that he is no longer capable enough for this more expansive and risky Spurs side.
When the chance is there to take the risk, the Dane looks lost.
Keeping possession is all well and good but when playing for a top-level side, keeping it for possession’s sake and not taking the blatant risk consistently is where the problem lies and that’s the issue Hojbjerg tends to have in his game – something Postecoglou may now be thinking isn’t of use to his team.
The West Ham encounter may well have been the last we’ve seen of the former Bayern Munich starting at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
In other Tottenham news, the North Londoners can rid themselves of £15.9m in wages to seal a cut-price star transfer in January.