It's the nature of the role he plays I think. He is tidy and usually effective in the role that he plays, but through no fault of their own, players who play in defensive midfield roles seldom get many plaudits because they don't contribute to the offensive part of the game. Even Dembele who was as good as it gets in that type of role, often attracted criticism regarding his goals and assist record. Winks biggest weakness for me is that he doesn't have the long passing ability to turn defence into attack, as compared for example with Alderweireld.I was struck that against West Ham, post match Jose explained that he brought Winks on to hold the ball and control/see the game out...
I was subsequently surprised to see he's one of the top 10 midfielders for positive passes forward/yards carried...
Yet, he seems not to gain the credit for doing exactly what Jose has asked of him.
Why?
It's the nature of the role he plays I think. He is tidy and usually effective in the role that he plays, but through no fault of their own, players who play in defensive midfield roles seldom get many plaudits because they don't contribute to the offensive part of the game. Even Dembele who was as good as it gets in that type of role, often attracted criticism regarding his goals and assist record. Winks biggest weakness for me is that he doesn't have the long passing ability to turn defence into attack, as compared for example with Alderweireld.
Rumour on tv is he’s off to Chelsea..The other thing I take from that graphic is that for a DM'er Declan Rices stats look pretty impressive..now, I wonder if he'd stay at the spam come the summer?
He has been played as a deep playing DM type midfielder for 2 years now. Like it or not to play this position successfully you need to have a natural defensive brain and have the ability to tackle and screen the defense.
Whilst he works hard and is tenacious he is nowhere near good enough defensively to ever be successful in the role.
I find it madness that we still shoehorn him in like this when the evidence shows we lose most midfield battles and he and Sissoko are the route of the issue.
I have seen so many times where Winks is left isolated when Sissoko hogs the right and Winks just doesn't have the presence or ability to hold the fort.
We will never achieve anything with him or Sissoko playing every week. Nowhere near the standard required.
Mason, Bentaleb, Livermore, Carrol, all promising young midfielders with Spurs who ultimately proved to be not quite good enough for what the Club aspires to be, but have been decent journeymen elsewhere. Is Winks any different.
Heard that myself.Rumour on tv is he’s off to Chelsea..
Great question. I would say yes, but used to hesitate a little on Bentaleb as he looked the pick of them for a while. I don't so much nowadays as he never lived up to his potential even after the clear attitude and injury problems. Winks is clearly better than Carroll and Livermore who aren't in the same league. Mason gave the best of what he had, but unfortunately wasn't the real deal either.
Ultimately, Poch cleared out Paulinho, Mason and Bentaleb to ensure space was created for a young Winks. As good a sub as I've seen in the centre of the park in those days. Just couldn't stay fit enough to get more involved for club and country. I used to berate Hodgson for not even picking Winks when we used to watch him close out game for us in a great side every week, when fit. England needed a Winks and still do.
My guess is that Jose is working very hard with Winks to help him get to the next level. The manager / player relationship looks good.