Hojbjerg desperate to show his quality
Southampton midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has insisted that he is ready and willing to fight for his place in the starting line-up.
Speaking to the Daily Echo recently, the young Dane spoke of how he’s been frustrated by the lack of first-team chances but was appreciative that Claude Puel has a plethora of options at his disposal and it’d be difficult to regularly include Hojbjerg.
I would lie if I said I felt fantastic but football is sometimes like this. But I also know that we have 22 players in the squad, I also know that the coach has to make decisions and me as a player, a part of the team, I have to respect the coach makes the decisions.
Signed for a fee in the region of £12 million from Bayern Munich last summer, Hojbjerg started life on the south coast in excellent form, catching the eye of several Saints fans and establishing himself as a promising player.
I respect his decisions and know that it is 11 players who can play. I just try to show in training and the small opportunities that I get that I am a man that he can count on.
I will keep showing him that and try to get better. I always say to myself that in every situation, it doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad, try to get the maximum out of it.
However, he hasn’t quite lived up to those standards throughout the season and has subsequently fallen out of favour, with his last start coming back in January.
I think if you ask everybody in the team, they would say they deserve it. So, if you deserve it or not, this is not the right question. More the question is: Am I good enough to be in the squad? Yes I am.
The coach is making his decisions, I respect them and I need to wait for my chance and keep working hard.
Hojbjerg is a player with undoubted talent but he’ll need to show it consistently when he does get given an opportunity and he’ll feel encouraged by the knowledge that April entails at least six games.
We are all football players that want to play football and play in the stadium. If I said I wasn’t disappointed, then I would lie. I respect the decision of the coach though and this is what I’m doing.