Garth Crooks has named both Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Son Heung-min in his team of the week, admitting that his admiration for the Dane has grown since he joined Tottenham.
Tottenham needed a response against Aston Villa on Sunday on the back of three consecutive losses in the Premier League that had piled the pressure on Nuno Espirito Santo.
Nuno certainly got the response he was looked for from his players as the North Londoners dominated proceedings and emerged 2-1 winners.
Both of Tottenham’s goalscorers, Hojbjerg and Son, made it into Crooks’ Team of the Week.
Picking the South Korean was a no-brainer considering he set up both of Tottenham’s goals and was a menace for the Villa defence throughout the 90 minutes.
However, Crooks reserved special praise for Hojbjerg, admitting that he has changed his mind about the midfielder over the last 12 months.
The former Spurs forward insisted that the 26-year-old is one of the few players in the Tottenham squad who is always up for a battle.
MORE SPURS STORIES
Crooks wrote in his column for BBC Sport: “He (Hojbjerg) was never one of my favourite players when he played for Southampton but I must say he has grown on me since his arrival at Spurs.
“He’s one of the few Tottenham players that have some grit to their game. You can also trust him in a battle and at times the game against Aston Villa became just that.
“What was impressive, however, was the way Hojbjerg took his goal. He did it with consummate composure and in a manner that suggests Tottenham or their manager are not under any pressure at all – and we know that’s not true.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I thought Hojbjerg was one of our poorest performers in the North London derby last week, with the Dane being partly at fault for at least two of the three goals we conceded.
However, he demonstrated against Villa how effective he can be, particularly when paired with someone like Skipp, with whom he can share the burden of shielding the back four.
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
