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Tottenham Hotspur acquires Pierre-Emil Højbjerg from Souhampton
Date: August 5, 2020By: Joe Cammarota
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Tottenham Hotspur have reached a deal with Southampton for their Center-Defensive Midfielder (CDM) Pierre-Emile Højbjerg. His acquisition for Tottenham can help end the Spurs’ an over 10-year trophy drought, but this acqusition does not come without a loss. Tottenham will be sending fullback Kyle Walker-Peters to Southampton.
Who is Højbjerg?
Højbjerg, a Danish CDM, is a 25-year-old who excels in his positioning and defending. He captained the Southampton side until he expressed his desire to leave the club this past June. In addition to playing CDM he can also slide into a central midfielder position (CM) a bit higher up the pitch, which the Saints utilized him often this past season. It is expected, however, that Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho will use him at the CDM position, a position of need for the North London club.
Tottenham’s Need
Since 2018 Tottenham struggled without a true CDM. They have Eric Dier but his play declined sharply in the 2018-19 season, leading former manager Mauricio Pochettino to switch up his formation to have a midfield pivot instead of having a defensive midfielder, and a box-to-box midfielder to having two box-to-box midfielders.
Spurs run this normally with Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko, or Giovanni Lo Celso when he is not playing in a more advanced position. Mourinho likes to have one of the pivots, usually Sissoko, slide out to the sideline space to create with.
Currently, Tottenham runs a 4-2-3-1, which means there are four defenders, two central midfielders (the pivot), one attacking midfielder in a more advanced position, and two midfielders out on the wings and a central striker. The issue is that because of the pivot, Spurs’ record signing and talented midfielder Tanguy Ndombele cannot fit into the team.
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Ndombele is a creative midfielder who is very press resistant and hard to take off the ball. Unfortunately, he is not the best defensively, which creates a big problem with an already weak defensive team. With Højbjerg, however, Ndombele can get into the starting nine which Mourinho is under pressure to make happen from Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy.
How Højbjerg fits the need
An addition of Højbjerg to the starting XI could lead to Mourinho changing the formation to his favored 4-3-3. A 4-3-3 is when there are four defenders, three midfielders (normally central) and three attackers. In the midfield positions, Mourinho can have Højbjerg play the typical CDM role and sit back and protect against any counter attacks. Højbjerg occupying this position lets players like Lo Celso or Sissoko push up while still getting back on defense. This would be a box-to-box role.
Finally, the third midfield spot could be filled by Ndombele or Dele when needed. This role would be more attacking oriented, while still tracking back when needed. A player such as Ndombele would excel here as he could breakdown compact defenses with his maestro-esque passing.
Why Højbjerg is needed to help Spurs excel
In Spurs’ current formation the midfielder playing a more defensive oriented role in the pivot is Harry Winks. This past season he averaged 1.2 interceptions-per-game and 1.3 tackles-per-game. In addition, Winks made a clearance once per game and only won possession on average 0.2 times-per-game.
Højbjerg, on the other hand, averaged relatively well in defending. He averaged 1.4 interceptions per game and 2.4 tackles-per-game. To add context, Liverpool’s CDM Fabinho averaged 1.2 interceptions-per-game and 2.2 tackles-per-game.
Højbjerg is also pretty good at winning possession, winning it 0.8 times-per-game, much better than Winks’ 0.2 average. Højbjerg is not hesitant in getting rid of the ball either with a 1.5 clearance average which is important as it helps relieve pressure on a weak defense, and could help in a “sit back and protect the lead” approach Mourinho is known for.
How this could lead to a trophy
Spurs have very good attackers, including Son Heung-Min, Harry Kane, Steven Bergwijn, and Lucas Moura. When healthy this group can be deadly and efficient, and as Harry Kane showed towards the end of the season, unstoppable. The one issue the team has run into was breaking down teams lower on the table who would sit back and absorb pressure as Bournemouth did.
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With the addition of Ndombele into the midfield because of a Højbjerg acquisition, Spurs could get a key pass or two that could lead to a goal. As seen in the West Ham game, once one goal is scored the losing side would have to attack to get back into the game, which could lead to Son and Bergwijn causing havoc. In addition to this, the Højbjerg acquisition could help the defense as a strong, quick thinking midfielder and relieve pressure.
While Spurs are most likely not going to compete for the Premier League title, they have a very good chance of winning Europa League (a competition Mourinho specializes in), the FA Cup, or the League Cup. Mourinho is a serial winner and with him finally having a chance to craft a team in North London that is to his liking is the best chance to finally make an addition to the trophy cabinet.
Joe Cammarota can be reached at joseph.cammarota@student.shu.edu.
