View: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg reminds Tottenham of his quality with key contribution v Fulham
Some Tottenham supporters might have been worried about the prospect of facing Fulham without Yves Bissouma but Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s display proved they had nothing to fear.
Spurs returned to the top of the Premier League and maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 2-0 win against Fulham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday 23 October.
And they did it without one of their standout players this season, Bissouma, who was suspended for the fixture after being sent off during Spurs’ last match, a 1-0 win at Luton Town.
Going into the game, some fans would have understandably been feeling pessimistic about how the side would perform without Bissouma. After all, the 26-year-old hasn’t just been one of the club’s best midfielders this season, he has been one of the league’s best.
According to stats by fbref, Bissouma is in the top one per cent of his positional peers in England’s top flight for the number of successful take-ons he has completed (2.33 per 90), the number of progressive carries he has made (3.43 per 90) and his total carrying distance (377.29 yards per 90).
As well as this, he is in the top five and 10 percentiles for numerous other impressive metrics and is a key component of Spurs’ system and their ability to play Ange Postecoglou’s style of football.
However, in his place, Hojbjerg filled in for the Mali international rather effectively, and was instrumental in the build-up to James Maddison’s goal, which put the hosts two ahead.
The Denmark international was the first to react to Calvin Bassey’s loose pass into midfield, and this would eventually prove crucial.
Rather than taking a touch and driving forward, the 28-year-old played a pinpoint first-time pass towards Son Heung-min who had taken up an advanced position on the edge of Fulham’s penalty area.
Son was then able to play in Maddison who finished cooly.
Due to the speed of Hojbjerg’s decision-making, Fulham didn’t have time to react and reset, which left their defence wide open for Son and Maddison to exploit. Therefore, while the dynamic Spurs duo will be credited with the goal and assist, the importance of Hojbjerg’s involvement in the goal cannot be understated.
In addition to this quick-thinking, the industrious midfielder put in an overall positive shift. He completed 95 per cent of his passes (76 out of 80), completed four of his five long balls forward, won four of his seven ground duels, the only aerial duel he contested and made two interceptions and one tackle, earning a respectable 7.3 match rating (Sofascore).
Overall, it was an impressive display, and while Hojbjerg is unlikely to maintain his place in the team for the trip to Crystal Palace, at least Postecoglou now knows he has a midfielder on his bench whom he can truly trust should he be needed again.
After all, with Bissouma just one yellow card away from suspension, and 10 matches to go until the tally resets, Hojbjerg is almost guaranteed to be needed again in the not-too-distant future.
In other Tottenham news, the stats suggest one other fringe player at the club is no longer good enough.