Robbie Earle has stated that he was impressed by one Tottenham Hotspur player’s performance against Manchester United, but that no one else will be discussing his performance at Old Trafford.
Tottenham fans may have been concerned when they saw the lineup sheet for their match against Erik ten Hag‘s side. Dejan Kulusevski was sidelined. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp joined Rodrigo Bentancur in the middle of the park.
For much of the season, Hojbjerg and Skipp served as understudies to Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr. The Denmark international had only played 90 minutes of Premier League football three times all season.
Robbie Earle applauds Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg after the Tottenham draw
However, Hojbjerg played a key role in Tottenham’s 2-2 tie with Manchester United, dominating the midfield fight.
Hojbjerg has not been a fan favourite at Tottenham. In fact, there has been much talk that Hojbjerg will leave Spurs during this window.
However, speaking on The 2 Robbies podcast, Robbie Earle claimed that the former Southampton captain deserves a lot of praise for his effort against United, but believes it may go unnoticed.
“I’m going to point you to my underappreciated performance of the week, and I assure you that no one else in this country, or many other countries where our listeners live, will choose the same guy. For a variety of reasons, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is my underappreciated performer of the week,” he remarked.
“He’s 28 years old, a Danish international. He made his fifth start for Spurs under Postecoglou tonight, and he played every game last season, including those under new management. But it has fallen out of vogue. Obviously, in a midfield that typically sees Sarr and Bissouma – who are abroad on Africa Cup of Nations duty – Maddison and the wide players haven’t left a space for him.
“But I’ll tell you what, as an underappreciated performer, a 28-year-old international footballer who, when asked to play, gets on with it. I thought, got to the pitch, and performed an adequate job. I like his attitude; he’s not a sulker. He’s not feuding with the manager. There is talk that they might let him go through the window, but we will have to wait and see.
“But a good professional effort from the man in the middle of the park, who doesn’t get a headline, no one will talk about him, doesn’t score or receive assists – though he did get a few more than I expected last season. But I just thought that phrase was underappreciated; you need some good eggs in your squad, like Hojbjerg, to come in on days like today and do a job. “And I thought he did it brilliantly.”
Postecoglou can trust Spurs’ midfielder.
There is a reason why Hojbjerg has played in every Premier League game since the season began. He is someone Ange Postecoglou can trust, even if he does not fit all of the criteria the Tottenham manager is searching for.
He was a decent signing for £15 million, even if fans have never entirely taken to him.
Earle suggests that his performances are unlikely to make much headlines. And he isn’t necessarily a game changer.
But, given the amount of controlled chaos that can occur at Spurs, having someone like Hojbjerg who can produce six or seven out of ten performances most weeks is a significant advantage.
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