Glenn Hoddle was absolutely furious with Tottenham Hotspur star Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg last night.
Hoddle was speaking on BT Sport (8/3 10:15pm) after Spurs suffered a dismal exit from the Champions League.
Needing a goal against AC Milan with tens of thousands of home fans behind them, they simply didn’t turn up.
Their best chance of the night fell to Harry Kane, but Tottenham fans had to wait until the 92nd minute for it to arrive.
Up to that point, they’d had plenty of the ball, but no impetus to use it positively.
It left Kane fighting for scraps miles away from Mike Maignan’s goal, with his fellow attackers struggle to create any opportunities.
Milan matched Tottenham in midfield giving Spurs a rare opportunity to dominate the middle of the pitch.
However, Glenn Hoddle was very disappointed with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, and thought he really hampered Tottenham in possession.
The 27-year-old is their most senior fit midfielder right now, and will be essential to the rest of the campaign.
But, he may need to re-think what he does with the ball to give his teammates a fighting chance.
Hoddle furious with Tottenham star Hojbjerg
Talking about the after the match, Hoddle said: “Hojbjerg has put some decent performances in for Tottenham and he’s a good player, but get turned, look forward first, and see if it’s on and then go back.
“But how many times [are we saying] turn on it, turn!
“His manager hasn’t asked him to do that. And that’s what happens for Tottenham.
“The two in midfield pop it back so many times, they go backwards for nothing.
“What you are doing there is giving people time to give people time to press you, and they can do it easily.”
Hojbjerg’s ball-winning ability was praised during the game, but Spurs really needed a goal, and he was too slow to involve his more creative teammates.
He wasn’t helped by Cristian Romero’s red card in the final 15 minutes, which completely opened up the game.
It may have been worth getting Hojbjerg further up the pitch, after all, he has outscored Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison this season.
However, Hoddle ended the game frustrated with Hojbjerg and plenty of his Tottenham teammates.
He simply couldn’t believe that Conte would be telling him to pass backwards as often as he did.
The chance to qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals was presented to them last night.
Once again, they failed to live up to the big occasion, and now face a scrap to finish in the top four of the Premier League.
