When Lewis Holtby arrived many of us were swept away by his enthusiasm, blond hair and his work rate. However, over a year and half later his career has stalled. Where once there was so much hope, now there is just hustle and bustle. Is there any hope that Holtby can be a success at […]
No hope for Holtby
There was something about the little German when he first joined. His bustling stance, the hype, his confidence in choosing Germany over England and his blond locks. Lewis Holtby looked the part, he acted the part and he had arrived at Spurs captain of Germany’s Under 21s. I was convinced before I even saw him play. I loved him before he had kicked a ball, that was the problem in the end. I already loved him. I had gone too far too soon and based everything on little more than hope.
As our Champions League push stuttered slightly early in 2013, I remember thinking that Holtby’s arrival could spur us on. As with most things to do with Tottenham, realism was secondary, a matter to deal with in May. Knee deep in a top four challenge “keeping it real” is something to keep us busy in the summer. That January I was all about Holtby, his hair and his style.
I remember the former Schalke midfielder’s debut vividly. The touch, the energy and that flick to Jermaine Defoe who set up Gareth Bale’s incredible equalizer. It wasn’t a Roy of the Rovers debut where he smashed a shot into the top corner every five minutes, but it was his fearsome tenacity glossed with a subtlety of touch and vision that won us all over. We had a player who looked like a fan, ran like a fan, cared like a fan, but had talent in a different stratosphere to us. He was one of us, but he was exceptional.
[linequote]It wasn’t a Roy of the Rovers debut where he smashed a shot into the top corner every five minutes, but it was his fearsome tenacity glossed with a subtlety of touch and vision[/linequote]
Fundamentally it was this perception of that Holtby killed him. The very idea of him came up and stabbed the real man in his back. Ten minutes into his Spurs career, he set himself a level, a level of expectation that has destroyed his Spurs career. It is impossible for a footballer to be one of us, yet one of them. It doesn’t work, they inhabit a different world with a set of rules constantly in flux and open to interpretation.
“Should have controlled that ball from 60 yards. Pass there. Hit that. Do better. Keep calm and look for the ball. Say this to that journalist but say this to that one.” The game and its expectations are forever shifting. It is impossible to please everyone. From that night at Carrow Road onwards, the German was expected to please everyone. Mission impossible.
After his debut Holtby was expected to deliver in his next few games, but bar slapping Bale’s chest as the Welshman grabbed a stupendous winner against the Baggies, he did little of note and has done very little since then. At first I refused to acknowledge his lack of impact, I was one of those that refused to look at the truth, if you insist that you saw through Holtby all along then I praise your ability to forget, or your inability to hope that it will work, no matter how often it doesn’t.
With Holtby I was blinded by clean and unblemished hope. It is a fault of mine that with Spurs I always hope for the best, even when Tim Sherwood arrived I backed him in the hope that he could turn out to be the next Brian Clough or Bill Nicholson. Spurs blind me, they are my weak spot and G-spot, an area of pain and extreme pleasure, it just depends on who is doing the tickling. I hoped that Holtby would become this Gazza like figure, or a suitable replacement for Bale, but he failed.
[linequote]Spurs blind me, they are my weak spot and G-spot, an area of pain and extreme pleasure, it just depends on who is doing the tickling[/linequote]
Tenacity, blond hair, blue eyes and a good social media presence will get you so far, it may even earn you a Depeche Mode cover, but it wont last. Holtby has failed to progress from those early flashes of what we thought were brilliance. He still retains the tenacity, but the charm has started to fade.
In AVB’s second season strong showings in the cups were never translated into Premier League performances. In truth very few in the new Spurs team that was without Bale and with the “Magnificent Seven” shone. Dreary tight affairs gave way to brutal thrashings and AVB walked/was pushed/fell on Levy’s sword and left. In waltzed Sherwood. They were dark days, for us, but even more so for the German.
During the reign of Sherwood, it was Holtby and Etienne Capoue that suffered the most. The new manager pushed his own agenda, wanted the players he “knew,” who he believed in and instead of opting for “experience” promoted through the ranks a relative unknown in Nabil Bentaleb. Holtby was cast off, surplus to requirements.
In a calendar year he had gone from German Under21 captain and prospect, to relegation battler at Fulham. If that wasn’t bad enough, Holtby soon found himself under the stewardship of former manager and renowned task master Felix Magath.
[linequote]The old Holtby trick of crisp backwards passing, a lot of hustle and bustle doesn’t do it for me for me anymore, it’s not enough to be seen attempting to do something, you actually have to do it[/linequote]
The season got worse for Holtby when Magath publically questioned his attitude at Fulham. His twice former manager cast doubt over his fighting spirit, a quality that we were under the impression he had bundle of, and mental strength. However, it wasn’t the dismissive remarks from Magath that Choke Slammed his year, it was having to watch Bentaleb’s performances in Brazil, whilst he spent the summer at home. The youngster shone. Sherwood was right all along.
So what now for Holtby? Mauricio Pochettino is his sixth club manager in a year, has he matured enough to establish himself at Spurs or is the truth quite simply that he isn’t as good as we thought?
So far we have only glimpsed how he will play under Pochettino and even that has divided opinions. In the 3-3 draw with Seattle Sounders some like @LukeBBurgess gave him a glowing rating, but personally I didn’t see it.
The old Holtby trick of crisp backwards passing, a lot of hustle and bustle doesn’t do it for me for me anymore, it’s not enough to be seen attempting to do something, you actually have to do it. In 2013/14 we saw the arrival and emergence of Christian Eriksen, a player who can’t quite match the German’s showy work rate, but off either foot can produce brilliance.
Eriksen is who Holtby should have been. Understated, professional and decisive. No Instagramming, no chest thumping, no sound bites, just viciously effective football.
Perhaps one day he will go on to be good player, but it wont be at Spurs. It’s a shame. I had hoped for a lot more.
All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.
27 Comments
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22/07/2014 @ 3:30 pm
Oh good, an article judging the value / impact of a player based on last season. Can we not give the guy a shot under a proper manager who has an actual plan and a specific role in mind for the lad before we start forming conclusions on his ability or what he should / should not have achieved by now?
22/07/2014 @ 9:07 pm
This.
22/07/2014 @ 9:07 pm
This.
23/07/2014 @ 6:33 am
Totally agree. You can’t doubt the player has skill. He’s shown glimpses of it in a variety of competitions. Now he and the manager just need to figure out what his role in the team is and develop his game to suit that role. You don’t become a regular for Schalke and Germany’s U21s captain through hard work alone, there’s something more there.
22/07/2014 @ 4:44 pm
Have to agree with Johnny B, think this was written by a gunners fan trying to turn us against our own player.
Holtby’s pedigree of being Schalke’s major playmaker in the Champions league before he came to us was ignored, his being constantly played out of position was ignored, his lack of regular 1st team football was ignored, AVB’s ponderous style of play (leading to an ineffective midfield going forwards) was ignored, Magath was misquoted (he said Holtby was a skillful player but lacked fighting spirit and for a relegation battle he needed fighting spirit) and his goal against Seattle again ignored.
The fighting cock has just joined Harry Hotspur as a Tottenham blog I’ll never read again!!!
22/07/2014 @ 4:54 pm
The Harry Hotspur should be renamed Ron and Kiri bollox blog.
22/07/2014 @ 5:03 pm
I agree totally – I just wish that I could get ‘news now’ to block this guy!
22/07/2014 @ 7:21 pm
Harry Hotspu have disappeared up their own self-righteous bottoms!
23/07/2014 @ 11:28 am
Harry Hotspur is a goose!
23/07/2014 @ 11:38 am
Bit of a knee-jerk reaction to one poor article.
22/07/2014 @ 5:09 pm
Who the hell wrote this drivel???
Holtby is a class player that’s never been given a consistent run of games!!
Played in a 3 man mid field of Sandro as the Holder,Eriksen as the No.10 and Holtby as the deep lying playmaker ala Modric,you will see how good he is and be made to look the fool you are!!!
4/2/3/1
Lloris
Walker
Alderweild
Vertonghen
Davies
Sandro
Holtby
Lamela
Eriksen
Griezmann
Bony
Stay fit top 4 all day long COYS!!!
22/07/2014 @ 6:07 pm
Change Sandro for Schneiderlin and we’re sorted. Before you “Sandro-bash” me, I do love The Beast his commitment is 110% and never shirks a tackle (I’ll never forget that Sandro-Palacios partnership vs AC Milan at the San Siro in the UCL) but he just can’t stay fit longer than half a season, no good if you’re a Top 4-chasing side like us, commitment only gets you so far thesedays, sadly for the Beastly one…
22/07/2014 @ 7:31 pm
Din you just post our lineær with three players that aren’t Spurs players, one that was just bought and one returning from loan? Wanna do all the same mistanke av last season, or just the major **** up of having too many new at once.
22/07/2014 @ 5:14 pm
Holtby is pure class – whoever wrote this doesn’t really understand the different pressures a number 10 is subject to as different managers want them to do different things. I think that after left back – No 10 is quite easily the most difficult position in football. Bale did it brilliantly and wish he was in the world cup together with all the other talented No 10s there – indeed I think he would have done better than Messy.
22/07/2014 @ 5:34 pm
I have to say, I quite like the look of dabspurs team. That would do me.
22/07/2014 @ 7:27 pm
Agreed. If we could put that out next season I’d be over the moon!
22/07/2014 @ 7:27 pm
He’s one of many who haven’t performed to the best of their ability, mainly down to not having a manager who believed in him!
If we get the best out of this guy I genuinely believe he could be captaining us for the next 5 or 6 years.
Lewis has never been given a fair chance to play. Don’t write him off just yet…
22/07/2014 @ 8:02 pm
Nice read. I’m one of those that is unsure on Holtby. I’m hoping that he will get the chance to show what he can do, as he undoubtedly has the talent.
It also makes me chuckle on this site with the devoted loyalty to Holtby, and everyone supports him and the fact that he has bee. Underused, played in the wrong position, or hasn’t had enough time yet the “seven” have been heavily derided bar Eriksen, with Soldado the most obvious victim. How about play a system that suits him?
22/07/2014 @ 8:04 pm
Holtby sums up one of my biggest gripes with Tottenham. We sign players based on there performances for other clubs then decide to play them out of position & wonder why there not performing like they use to. Holtby is a No10 or attacking midfielder not a winger like we have used him. His first few games at Fulham he was there best player (Not hard i know) in his favored advanced role. At schalke he was brilliant in that role hence why we signed him. Lets hope Pochettino can work it out.
22/07/2014 @ 8:07 pm
cant say I agree with any of these comments, I think Lombardi has hit the nail on the head. plenty of endeavour and effort but not seen any of the incisive passing or assists that he promised from his Schalke days, he didn’t exactly tear it up for Fulham either. Don’t get me wrong, I really want him to come good, he really does aim to please and he’s not really had a run in the team to speak of, but I do think its a case of our hearts ruling our heads if we say he’d be in our best XI right now.
22/07/2014 @ 10:56 pm
Clearly didn’t watch his assists last season then? Guys the kid is under 25? Runs his ass off and loves the shirt……. What more do you want?
22/07/2014 @ 10:28 pm
Holtby always seems to have been used by AVB to plug a gap but never the same gap. He’s often been out of position and/or playing with other teammates who are out of position.
I’d like to see him have a proper chance to establish himself in our team, in a system that’s based on high energy and quick movement. I think he could shine.
22/07/2014 @ 10:51 pm
Holtby, Sandro, Lloris, a few others as well that you HAVE to love, otherwise you’re not a ‘real’ supporter. The same people who slagged off Sherwood as soon as he was appointed (and wanted AVB to be given even longer to prove what a great manager he was) are apparently happy to allow the likes of Holtby (who won his full German caps almost four years ago!) or Sandro (no Brazil cap since 2012) to make the very occasional good pass or tackle (or yellow card in Sandro’s case) in return for their grotesque performance-unrelated salary, and their failure to cement a first team place is never their fault, obviously. Dump Dawson, Rose, Naughton by all means but don’t touch the overseas contingent – they’re soooo cool!
23/07/2014 @ 9:06 am
jeeez always one extreme or the other!
I want Holtby to be given a chance, he hasn’t had one. Sandro, when he was fit, started for Brazil and was talked of as becoming one of the best DM’s around. Dawson, I want to stay because I love his attitude and think he’s a great 3rd/4th choice. naughton, good back up and should stay as that. Rose, had his chance and didn’t cut the mustard, been replaced now and can stay as back up or go somewhere else.
For some reason people like you always seem to build your own fan to hate. You pick up all the opinions from various posts you don’t like (e.g. Dump Dawson, Rose, Naughton by all means but don’t touch the overseas contingent – they’re soooo cool!) and put them all together in one point as if there is 2 types of fans, one’s that like attitude when seen in foreign players and those that don’t like the same attitude in English players. You’ve created this fan and now you hate him… this conversation was about Holtby… I for one do love his attitude but I also love it in Sandro and Dawson and think characters like this are invaluable to the squad.
Just relax, stop looking for the hate and let’s all chat football respect other people’s opinions… disagree by all means but by slagging off a fan that doesn’t exist your just winding yourself up – all very Daily Mail!
23/07/2014 @ 10:12 am
The ‘winding up’ that you refer to was prompted by the responses to the article, in which the writer was accused (among other things) of being a closet Arsenal fan and a purveyor of drivel, merely for pointing out that Holtby has not lived-up to initial expectations, and was perhaps just slightly over-hyped. All over the different Spurs sites you’ll read ‘loyalists’ singing the praises of Sandro, and expressing the belief (based on faith, not performance) that Soldado and Lamela will come good this year, usually bracketing their opinions with an attack on Townsend, Dawson, Rose or any other of the few remaining English players at this English football club, my point being that many posters are so lost in their globalised borderless virtual world that ‘English’ is boring – who wants dull loyal players like Dawson when exciting foreigners like Paulinho or Chadli are so readily available?
23/07/2014 @ 11:26 am
P.S. Much of the hostility towards Redknapp and Sherwood was based on sheer snobbery – the cool globalised ‘modern’ fan was/is embarrassed by working class relics like those two, especially contrasted with such exemplars of the ‘modern’ game as Mourinho and Wenger – completely wrong image, but at least we’ve got a South American in charge now, and who cares if he’s as big a gamble as Sherwood? At least he’s not a cockney, so he’s bound to be an improvement, isn’t he?
23/07/2014 @ 1:26 pm
Holtby has to stay and play more. The boy has great vision and a superb left foot to go with. He runs round on a mad one for 90 minutes too. We lack backbone and Holtby gives us a drive, we need more players with that ability and attitude and some sort of direction (thankfully now we have pochetinno) for us to go forward! Holtby’s cousin is one of my better friends, and they have a really really close family it seems. I know that when Sherwood took over Holtby went over and said to him “where do you want me boss?” to which Sherwood said ” I dunno, I haven’t really seen you play” bringing Holtby’s miffed response of ” I’ve been here over a year”. Kinda clear that Sherwood should perhaps study harder for those bloody coaching badges, he doesn’t have a Scooby. Like most on here, there are times when he frustrates me but I’ve been more frustrated with players like lennon who used to be mustard and now doesn’t fancy running down the wing at defenders, rather just pick up his 30 grand a week or whatever and look uninterested. For me that’s more annoying because Lennon is aging and Holtby is what like 23 with great potential? Give the lad time, He will be class if he plays more regularly and we actually get into attacking positions with strikers running past opposing defenders.