Højbjerg is better than you think
Hello once again folks and welcome, on this delightful Thursday morning, to another Tottenham Tittle Tattle that concentrates mainly on our new signing Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg.
There is always a feeding frenzy on the suet balls between 6 and 8:30 or sometimes 9:30 am.
Today is no exception, must be about a dozen birds, starlings, sparrows, wrens, either pecking at the fat balls, eating the crumbs in the tray below, feeding on the bird seeds or waiting their turn on the balcony, in the gutter and on the railings.
If you are in a flat, get yourself a window box and grow some flowers (short ones so as not to stop the light) and tend those.
An oasis in a concrete jungle, a release from tension and stress for you.
Your babies to care for,something to make you feel good, a positive to turn to and remember, mentality is everything.
If at first you don't succeed, learn from the experience, try again and keep trying until you succeed.
With that determination, the only thing stopping your success is you, is your lack of persistence, your lack of effort, your lack of learning from your mistakes,experiences.
Achieve that, achieve the growing of flowers in a simple window box and personally I'd find an inventive way of getting a bird feeder outside my window too, then you will have shown yourself you can achieve something if you set out to do so.
Dream
Visualise
Plan
Prepare
Execute
Persistence
That lesson can then be applied to the rest of your life and what a great way to help your children develop that mindset than have them help and learn as you learn.
It is such an important message,the message that will control and dictate the course of their lives.
You become the leader, the achiever.
One step at a time.
Mourinho: “You don't make leaders. When you have them, your team is one step ahead.”
Højbjerg: "If you want to achieve big things you need 11 leaders on the pitch. To do that, everybody needs to take responsibility."
Now I don't know if Harry is a regular reader but he has the right idea and I share his enthusiasm.
The following was posted by an Everton supporter on Reddit where he was analysing Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and his defensive contribution.
2018/19 - Ndidi won 324 in 3298 min
2017/19 - Kante won 312 in 2998 min
2016/17 - Kante won 274 in 3139 min
2015/16 - Gueye won 340 in 3075 min
2015/16 - Kante won 325 in 3020 min
Mourinho: “You don't make leaders. When you have them, your team is one step ahead.”
Højbjerg: "If you want to achieve big things you need 11 leaders on the pitch. To do that, everybody needs to take responsibility."
Further THBN Masterpieces
Mourinho: “You don't make leaders. When you have them, your team is one step ahead.”
Højbjerg: "If you want to achieve big things you need 11 leaders on the pitch. To do that, everybody needs to take responsibility."
Take what I have just said and apply those two quotes.
You can instill success qualities in your children in investive ways, like a simple window box with life lessons thrown in.
have them or yourself if it is just you, research what plants will work.
Get the vision in your head of what you want, research costings, types of flowers that will grow there,amount of sunlight will affect that, how much they should be watered, what containers fit.
For a child you could make a whole project out of it,children love to see something grow,we grew watercress at school.
Instill in them a little piece of nature and perhaps that is where their talents, their future may lay.
If you haven't listened to the Højbjerg interview, go listen to it and you'll see the type of player we have signed,the type of mentality.
It's a world away from other signings.
His interview is the best advert for everything I have been banging on about all this time.
I think this is a superb signing, some are underwhelmed though,
Why?
Because he isn't a "name" and he doesn't cost a lot, in other words these fans simply want a signing for their own egos.
The now former Saints man is a £60m player when he has a full contract so to pick him up for £15m + £3m bonuses (£4m if we win a trophy) as exclusively revealed here and used by ITK and Twitter, is fantastic business.
I have really high hopes for the new Spurs next season, really high hopes and that puts a smile on the face.
The Europa League is there for the taking.
We are the best team in the competition and as good as, if not better than, the teams who will drop out of the Champions League.
Under a manager that likes to win trophies, this would be a great one to pick up,a European trophy.
This was because Everton were linked with him but as you all know, never actually in the hunt for him with ourselves being his only choice of destination for several months.
I'll hand you over to his post and his conclusion that defensively he is immense, twice the player Eric Dier was in the position and it also shows Harry Winks has a lot of learning still to do.
"When he was rumoured to join Everton I decided to analyse his statistics & compare to the rest of the league.
"Well actually at first I was mainly doing this to directly compare his defensive actions per 90 (DAP90) with Sigurdsson, who has been Everton's defensive midfielder for most of the season.
"I wanted to figure out why exactly Marco Silva & Carlo Ancelotti turned last season's Europe's Top scorer from Midfield (13 goals) with the 2nd most shots/key passes combined behind Hazard (Sigurdsson) into a defensive midfielder.
"Someone who had 54 G/A in the PL from 14/15-16/17 the joint most of any midfielder. (There's 1 missing assist)
"So I decided to calculate all of the Premier League's CDM's average defensive actions. DAP90 consists of all ball recoveries, tackles & interceptions being combined & dividing the total based on per 90 minutes.
"Højbjerg finds himself 2nd on the list. Sigurdsson, who I was initially comparing him with finds himself twice in the Top 5 when looking solely at his Top 6/10 matches at CDM.
"When he was rumoured to join Everton I decided to analyse his statistics & compare to the rest of the league.
"Well actually at first I was mainly doing this to directly compare his defensive actions per 90 (DAP90) with Sigurdsson, who has been Everton's defensive midfielder for most of the season.
"I wanted to figure out why exactly Marco Silva & Carlo Ancelotti turned last season's Europe's Top scorer from Midfield (13 goals) with the 2nd most shots/key passes combined behind Hazard (Sigurdsson) into a defensive midfielder.
"Someone who had 54 G/A in the PL from 14/15-16/17 the joint most of any midfielder. (There's 1 missing assist)
"So I decided to calculate all of the Premier League's CDM's average defensive actions. DAP90 consists of all ball recoveries, tackles & interceptions being combined & dividing the total based on per 90 minutes.
"Højbjerg finds himself 2nd on the list. Sigurdsson, who I was initially comparing him with finds himself twice in the Top 5 when looking solely at his Top 6/10 matches at CDM.
"He is the most 'featured' player on this list because unlike the other players he's normally a #10 who is supposedly 'inadequate' defensively.
14.16 - Wilfried Ndidi
13.68 - Højbjerg
13.21 - Jorginho
12.93 - Gylfi Sigurdsson (Top 6 CDM apps)
12.75 - Fred
11.86 - Gylfi Sigurdsson (Top 10 CDM apps)
11.82 - Jefferson Lerma
11.76 - Declan Rice
11.41 - Ruben Neves
11.38 - Naby Keita
11.32 - N'golo Kante
10.79 - Nakamba
10.77 - Capoue
10.65 - Romeu
10.31 - Rodri
10.24 - Kovacic
10.13 - Joao Moutinho
10.06 - McTominay
9.94 - Henderson
9.82 - Gylfi Sigurdsson (First 13 CDM apps, prior to Project restart)
9.80 - Fabinho
9.75 - Lo Celso
9.70 - Billing
9.60 - Doucouré
9.52 - Sissoko
9.48 - Ndombele
9.37 - Torreira
9.31 - Gylfi Sigurdsson (All CDM apps)
9.17 - Douglas Luiz
9.11 - Pogba
9.05 - Ward-Prowse
8.91 - Milivojevic
8.88 - Harry Winks
8.70 - Choudhury
8.47 - Will Hughes
8.46 - James McCarthur
8.28 - Guendouzi
8.23 - Xhaka
8.21 - Gundogan
8.10 - Lundstram
7.94 - Mark Noble
7.88 - Aaron Mooy
7.84 - Tielemans
7.81 - Gylfi Sigurdsson (Last 6 CDM apps, after Project restart)
7.67 - Jonjo Shelvey
7.65 - Fernandinho
7.45 - Kouyaté
7.11 - Dendoncker
6.93 - Gini Wijnaldum
6.84 - Tom Davies
6.04 - Eric Dier
14.16 - Wilfried Ndidi
13.68 - Højbjerg
13.21 - Jorginho
12.93 - Gylfi Sigurdsson (Top 6 CDM apps)
12.75 - Fred
11.86 - Gylfi Sigurdsson (Top 10 CDM apps)
11.82 - Jefferson Lerma
11.76 - Declan Rice
11.41 - Ruben Neves
11.38 - Naby Keita
11.32 - N'golo Kante
10.79 - Nakamba
10.77 - Capoue
10.65 - Romeu
10.31 - Rodri
10.24 - Kovacic
10.13 - Joao Moutinho
10.06 - McTominay
9.94 - Henderson
9.82 - Gylfi Sigurdsson (First 13 CDM apps, prior to Project restart)
9.80 - Fabinho
9.75 - Lo Celso
9.70 - Billing
9.60 - Doucouré
9.52 - Sissoko
9.48 - Ndombele
9.37 - Torreira
9.31 - Gylfi Sigurdsson (All CDM apps)
9.17 - Douglas Luiz
9.11 - Pogba
9.05 - Ward-Prowse
8.91 - Milivojevic
8.88 - Harry Winks
8.70 - Choudhury
8.47 - Will Hughes
8.46 - James McCarthur
8.28 - Guendouzi
8.23 - Xhaka
8.21 - Gundogan
8.10 - Lundstram
7.94 - Mark Noble
7.88 - Aaron Mooy
7.84 - Tielemans
7.81 - Gylfi Sigurdsson (Last 6 CDM apps, after Project restart)
7.67 - Jonjo Shelvey
7.65 - Fernandinho
7.45 - Kouyaté
7.11 - Dendoncker
6.93 - Gini Wijnaldum
6.84 - Tom Davies
6.04 - Eric Dier
"The reason why Sigurdsson appears multiple times is because I was comparing both his & Højbjerg's DAP90, and while Sigurdsson started off well at CDM he ended up being in & out of the side after project restart which diluted his DAP90 as the list shows.
"You don't 'just' go from being among the Top 5.. Twice. To being in the bottom 8 in the last 6 matches.
"Going from consistently delivering 12+ DAP90 to finishing in the middle of the list with 9.31
"However this post was primarily about Højbjerg, and his defensive output this season has been insane. More than twice of Eric Dier's to put it into perspective.
"Højbjerg won the most ball recoveries of any PL midfielder (320)
"You don't 'just' go from being among the Top 5.. Twice. To being in the bottom 8 in the last 6 matches.
"Going from consistently delivering 12+ DAP90 to finishing in the middle of the list with 9.31
"However this post was primarily about Højbjerg, and his defensive output this season has been insane. More than twice of Eric Dier's to put it into perspective.
"Højbjerg won the most ball recoveries of any PL midfielder (320)
"Now to put into even further perspective:
"That's 17 more than both Kante (156) and Fernandinho (147) combined this season.
"That's 17 more than both Kante (156) and Fernandinho (147) combined this season.
2018/19 - Ndidi won 324 in 3298 min
2017/19 - Kante won 312 in 2998 min
2016/17 - Kante won 274 in 3139 min
2015/16 - Gueye won 340 in 3075 min
2015/16 - Kante won 325 in 3020 min
"Højbjerg outperforms all of them in terms of ball recoveries per 90, because he did it with only 2749 min.
"Due to his contract dispute he fell out of the team with 7 matches left off the season.
Not in squad vs Watford & Man City
Played 20 min vs Everton
Bench vs Man Utd
Played 90 min vs Brighton
Played 13 min vs Bournemouth
Not in squad vs Sheff Utd.
"Due to his contract dispute he fell out of the team with 7 matches left off the season.
Not in squad vs Watford & Man City
Played 20 min vs Everton
Bench vs Man Utd
Played 90 min vs Brighton
Played 13 min vs Bournemouth
Not in squad vs Sheff Utd.
"Based on his average of 10.47 ball recoveries per 90 min, Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg could've easily finished the season with 400+ ball recoveries.
"Surely that must be a Premier League record? And the worst part is nobody cares about ball recoveries because most stat websites do not account for them.
"They're the 'hidden' defensive contribution, when you recover the ball without it registering as a tackle or interception it's a ball recovery. This is one of the biggest reasons why Højbjerg has remained under everyone's radar."
"Surely that must be a Premier League record? And the worst part is nobody cares about ball recoveries because most stat websites do not account for them.
"They're the 'hidden' defensive contribution, when you recover the ball without it registering as a tackle or interception it's a ball recovery. This is one of the biggest reasons why Højbjerg has remained under everyone's radar."
Still disappointed we have signed him?
Still think we should be buying someone costing £70m?
That analysis should have the mouth watering with some of you.
Höjbjerg is not the kid who was at Bayern Munich, he has developed.
He has a winning mentality, he wants to be the best he can be and he isn't going to let not trying be an excuse for not getting there.
We have a bargain on our hands simply because of the length of his contract at Southampton, a year.
In a season he will be worth £60m.
He will have solidified our improving defence.
This team got to a Champions League final, have had regular top four finishes.
It is not a bad squad all of a sudden and it does necessarily need major surgery.
That would be starting all over again,no, it needs an infusion of leadership qualities, an infusion of winning mentality, an infusion of fresh enthusiasm, an infusion of fresh hunger.
That comes in the shape of Höjbjerg, a new striker and changes at right-back.
Having grasped the new Mourinho system, we will be a tough team to score against next season and we now have leaders running through the spine of the team.
Hugo Lloris
Eric Dier
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg
Harry Kane
I remind you of those two quotes:
Mourinho: “You don't make leaders. When you have them, your team is one step ahead.”
Højbjerg: "If you want to achieve big things you need 11 leaders on the pitch. To do that, everybody needs to take responsibility."
Don't those two statements sum up what I have been banging on about for 7 years, mentality is everything.
11 Harry Kane mentalities on the field and we win everything.
Son Heung-min has also spoken about trying to improve every day and every week.
Words are easy of course, but he has backed that up with action.
Lucas Moura has the right mindset and gives everything.
Toby Alderweireld is a leader at the back.
We are getting there and Højbjerg is a delicious piece of icing.
It seems all and sundry are pushing Max Aarons as our first choice right-back, I still maintain Timothy Castagne is our first choice and we have to ait until his involvement in the Champions League is over before we can sign him.
A fresh system, a reinvigorated Spurs, a manager who knows how to win and wants players with the right mentality, there is plenty to be optimistic about next season.
COYS
COYS
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