Summary Ange Postecoglou has brought a clear identity and belief to Tottenham Hotspur, despite being only two points behind Aston Villa in the Premier League. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's refusal to leave Tottenham during the January transfer market may cause some grumbling from the boardroom. Hojbjerg's lack of mobility and effectiveness in the new system make him incongruous and it's time for him to move on to make room for better replacements.
Ange Postecoglou is crafting something special at Tottenham Hotspur and it's important to remember that illustrious success will not appear overnight.
Stepping down after nearly nine years at the end of the season, it took Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp nearly four years to taste silverware for the first time, losing three cup finals on the way.
Mikel Arteta has yet to add to his FA Cup triumph after winning the 2020/21 edition just months into his reign at the Emirates Stadium.
Tottenham were in disarray when Postecoglou was anointed in the summer and the Australian has produced masterful results throughout the maiden phase of his tenure, all things considered.
While Spurs are two points being fourth-placed Aston Villa in the Premier League after 23 matches, just five points better off from the 2022/23 campaign, there is a clear identity and belief that was unseen last year, a vision and focus that will hopefully guide the squad toward a new level of success down the line.
Much of this has sprouted from Postecoglou and chairman Daniel Levy's no-nonsense approach on the transfer front, shipping on those unsuited to the system and targeting dynamic and technically impressive players to contribute toward the new era.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's Spurs future
While numerous players have departed the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since Postecoglou left his post at Celtic in June, there is more flotsam to be shifted away and none more salient than Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Many suspected that Hojbjerg would be sold during the January transfer market but it wasn't to be, with the Dane rejecting several concrete offers to end his stay in London despite only starting six times in the Premier League this season, provided a role from the outset mainly due to absences and a lack of alternatives.
Given that the 28-year-old, who signed for Spurs from Southampton for £15m back in 2020 and has since made 170 appearances, is out of contract in 2025 and looks very unlikely to be penning new terms, there might be a bit of grumbling from the Lilywhites boardroom that he obstinately refused approaches from the likes of Lyon last month.
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Indeed, Tottenham were interested in signing Chelsea star Conor Gallagher throughout January but it became clear that any successful swoop for the £50m-rated England international hinged on Hojbjerg's sale, which did not happen.
For that reason, in fairness, the £100k-per-week Spurs midfielder will play an important part in the months to come, with his industrious approach to his craft a nice tool to have when the second half of a contest demands stability and composure.
Postecoglou has already demonstrated his ruthless streak and this is typified by the January shifting of Eric Dier for Genoa centre-back Radu Dragusin.
Why Eric Dier left Spurs
Slowly, astutely, Tottenham are starting to shape up under Postecoglou's management, with Dragusin, signed from Serie A side Genoa for around £27m, the perfect player to join a backline boasting first-choice options in Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero.
Both those stars have missed chunks of the campaign in blows that proved detrimental to Tottenham's early-season swagger, eight victories and two draws from the opening phase of the Premier League term succeeded by a run of four defeats in five fixtures.
Dragusin has been described as "complete & dominant" by talent scout Jacek Kulig and definitely proved the accuracy of such remarks with his aggressive and commanding displays in the rearguard in Italy.
Given the high-octane, free-flowing ideology that Postecoglou is trying to instil down N17, Dier just wasn't suited to the job and ranks among the bottom 12% of centre-backs across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for progressive passes and the bottom 6% for tackles per 90, as per FBref.
That latter metric wouldn't be so important if Dier were not at the weakly beating heart of Tottenham's defence last season, conceding a staggering 63 goals in the top-flight.
It is this level of ruthlessness, conviction in his vision, that is underpinning Postecoglou's feasibility in the dugout in north London, and the same stance must be applied to Hojbjerg come summer, when the 6 foot 1 ace can still be cashed in on.
Incongruous in Postecoglou's system
Hojbjerg is a distinguished Premier League player with a wealth of experience across all areas of the professional game, but the 73-cap international is not the only veteran on the block and he is quite simply incongruous in this exciting new Tottenham project.
A lack of mobility and invention in the centre of the park is likely what has inhibited him from a regular starting berth, completing 89% of his passes in the Premier League but 0.2 key passes and 0.4 successful dribbles per game don't exactly bespeak high-level dynamism.
Moreover, the one-time Bayern Munich youngster has only emerged on top in 49% of his contested duels this season, hardly boasting the kind of success rate to evoke confidence in his grip at the core of the pitch.
6
5
0.83
17
39
2.29
Source: Transfermarkt
The table above highlights just how ineffectual he is when called upon, failing to produce the kind of all-encompassing displays needed from someone of his positional role.
Much like Bryan Gil, it's time for Hojbjerg to move on; the Spanish winger utterly ineffectual for the club and starting just twice in the Premier League this season, doing nothing of note.
These are the players that need moving on, freeing up space and facilitating acquisitions of bigger, better and shinier replacements.
With Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr returning from the African Cup of Nations and Rodrigo Bentancur continuing to raise his level after incessant injury issues throughout 2023, it does look likely that Hojbjerg – who has started the past three Premier League outings – will return to the periphery.
He's been hailed as a "warrior" in the past by pundit and former Spurs man Alan Hutton and has many qualities that would secure him a prominent role in a successful European outfit, he just doesn't suit this new Tottenham team and it's now vital that he is ditched alongside fringe players such as Gil, both without a shiny future in Tottenham colours.