Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

[catcherintherye]

Have you not just repackaged the same point he was making and made it back to him?! Players like that are important, but you also need quality around them because they aren’t the type of player to win you games. Hojbjerg would be a good start, but he wouldn’t even come close to addressing many of our issues.

I think the reality is, two things can be true simultaneously;
1) Hojberg solves some of the issues we have
2) He does not resolve all, or perhaps even most of our issues.

Our midfield is very poor. With the exception of Gomes it's hard to think of anything they do. I am quite critical of Gomes too but I would concede he could do aspects of the attacking midfield role, he just doesn't very often, which is odd.

Anyway, they don't really break up play and protect the back four. They don't get many assists, get many goals, pass a team to tough etc.

Hojberg will win the ball back well and will keep it ticking over in midfield. He won't singularly resolve problems, but maybe he will allow Gomes has the confidence to play further forward?

I think we need at least 2 in there. If he can come in with an Allan type player, who would play in front of him then that makes some sense. He's not going to solve everything, but if his partner is an Allan or a Rabiot he might provide a consistent reliable foil for them.

For everyone reading, I really wouldn't be losing your heads with people who have a different view. There are positives and negatives to the signing, and those on each side raising the alternate points have got a lot of legitimacy in my view.

 

[Lanolin]

I think the reality is, two things can be true simultaneously;
1) Hojberg solves some of the issues we have
2) He does not resolve all, or perhaps even most of our issues.

Our midfield is very poor. With the exception of Gomes it's hard to think of anything they do. I am quite critical of Gomes too but I would concede he could do aspects of the attacking midfield role, he just doesn't very often, which is odd.

Anyway, they don't really break up play and protect the back four. They don't get many assists, get many goals, pass a team to tough etc.

Hojberg will win the ball back well and will keep it ticking over in midfield. He won't singularly resolve problems, but maybe he will allow Gomes has the confidence to play further forward?

I think we need at least 2 in there. If he can come in with an Allan type player, who would play in front of him then that makes some sense. He's not going to solve everything, but if his partner is an Allan or a Rabiot he might provide a consistent reliable foil for them.

For everyone reading, I really wouldn't be losing your heads with people who have a different view. There are positives and negatives to the signing, and those on each side raising the alternate points have got a lot of legitimacy in my view.

Yeah I agree, I was just pointing out that a poster said somebody was ‘totally undervaluing’ players like hojbjerg despite the post they were replying to literally making the exact same point. Someone like hojbjerg will help, but only if we also improve elsewhere. Some games we’ve dropped points because the midfield hasn’t got a grip, but it’s far from the only issue. Last night for example, it was an open game and we had the ball in good positions quite a lot, but still created almost nothing. Hojbjerg won’t solve that, that was the only point being made really.

 

[catcherintherye]

Yeah I agree, I was just pointing out that a poster said somebody was ‘totally undervaluing’ players like hojbjerg despite the post they were replying to literally making the exact same point. Someone like hojbjerg will help, but only if we also improve elsewhere. Some games we’ve dropped points because the midfield hasn’t got a grip, but it’s far from the only issue. Last night for example, it was an open game and we had the ball in good positions quite a lot, but still created almost nothing. Hojbjerg won’t solve that, that was the only point being made really.

No I agree. Holgate would hopefully allow us to win balls back better, protect the back 4 more, allow us ore control in midfield and ideally be a good foil for Gomes to play further forward and influence the game in the right areas.

 

[Neiler]

Think we need to go back to the double pivot myself and not be as prominent with 442.

A concern is if we just get PEH, then that will be it, given our squad numbers. We clearly need another, well we dont, we need to improve the quality in there.

We do however have a plethora of central midfield players in Delph, Gbamin, Davies, Gomes already - im not sure if we get PEH we will see another central midfield addition without outs. Would make it five central midfielders.

Some big fees and wages in there already.

 

[mkrudden]

To be honest I have not seen a lot of Hojbjergs games but what I have seen I am not to impressed, I believe we could a lot worse than have a good look at Douglas Luiz who for me was man of the match for Villa last night.

He was good last night, Luiz, but in every other game I've seen of him he's been utter toilet.

And he cost them 18m!

 

[Minimeister]

He was good last night, Luiz, but in every other game I've seen of him he's been utter toilet.

And he cost them 18m!

I was talking to a Villa fan the other night and he says since the re-start Luiz has been their star man. Before that he was garbage.

 

[Caolam]

While I agree with what is being said about him not being the answer to all our midfield issues he is the answer to some. We do not have a block in front of our defence, we don’t have a player who breaks up attacks, intercepts and tackles. Hojbjerg could do that job for us at the moment because he is so much better than anything we have in doing the defensive role. This may free Gomes to look up and play forward rather than worry about covering the inadequacy of his midfield partner.
The big question for me is not can he do the job for a mid table Everton but can he do it for a team capable of challenging for a top 4 position. Provided we are to be a top 4 team.
I’ll leave that one with Carlo.

 

[TheBigIguana]

Think we need to go back to the double pivot myself and not be as prominent with 442.

A concern is if we just get PEH, then that will be it, given our squad numbers. We clearly need another, well we dont, we need to improve the quality in there.

We do however have a plethora of central midfield players in Delph, Gbamin, Davies, Gomes already - im not sure if we get PEH we will see another central midfield addition without outs. Would make it five central midfielders.

Some big fees and wages in there already.

I'd like a three man midfield with only one guy playing deep and the other two more freed up. We've been using the double pivot basically for the entirety of the time since Martinez arrived and it has created basically now 6 straight seasons of next to nothing in the final third from our central midfield. It'd be nice for us to just spend one season not playing the same game of trying to find all of our creative output through combinations between wingers and fullbacks.

 

[Gaffa]

Said it a million times
We could sign the best player in the world and people will moan. Reading through the comments and people already writing him off and he hasn’t even signed. Welcome to Everton
People saying he’s xxxx yet have you been watching his every game, watching his move, got every game from Southampton on record. Probably not.

 

[H.H.]

Ha yeah i mean it's good for us, but they can't value him at £20m plus a player given they have no leeway.

This just smacks as a great way of spurs getting rid of sissoko though. He's a useless lump who i reckon a team like soton would love to have with spurs being desperate to get rid of his wages.

I'm the first to admit Sissoko was very poor for at least the first 12 months after we signed him but he then started improving and has done quite a good job for us since then and did well to help us get to the C/L final.
I have not read anywhere that Spurs are desperate to get rid of him and to be honest, amazingly enough, I think he should be on the shortlist of our player of the season this year (and I thought he was our MOTM in our win this week at Newcastle.)

Carlo will know him if he wants him that's good enough for me. I just hope Spurs don't gazump us. They collect midfielders

We have loads of wide midfielders/wingers but the centre of Midfield is by far our weakest posistion, (especially as Sissoko is the best we have .)
I know nothing about Hojberg but if he is even just a slight upgrade on Harry Winks playing playing in that posistion then I'm all for us also trying to get him.

 

[billyblue80]

Please be Gylfi, please be Gylfi, please be Gylfi.....

Gylfi or Davies I reckon I'd tell them both to get their suitcases packed.

 

[LEONARD]

If Brands rates him, the minute he signs for us, he will become injury prone, slow, and unable to score goals.

He will lose 99% of his resale value in 2 years time.

 

[Carlito]

Are you talking about Hojberg ?
He is neither.

I am.

He has the same awkward, top-heavy running gait that Heitinga and Gravesen had.

 

[windymiller]

Gylfi or Davies I reckon I'd tell them both to get their suitcases packed.

That would be marvelous!

 

[Eggsyblueskin]

Gylfi or Davies I reckon I'd tell them both to get their suitcases packed.

Don’t forget Gomes , been as poor as anyone.