Jose Mourinho has tipped Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to go into coaching later in his career after another fine display from the Tottenham midfielder against Arsenal.
Since his shaky debut against Everton – the last time Spurs lost a Premier League game – Hojbjerg has been pretty much faultless in front of the back four and was instrumental in Sunday’s north London derby victory.
The Dane won the man of the match award, boosting his status as a bit of a cult hero despite only having joined Tottenham a few months ago.
And Mourinho, who has also been earning plenty of plaudits for taking Spurs to the top of the Premier League table, has explained why Hojbjerg being “a pain” in training shows he has coaching credentials.
“Pierre is very intelligent, he reads the game very well, he understands the game very well,” Mourinho said in his post-match press conference (via Football London). “He is going to be a coach one day, for sure. He is a pain, always asking questions why we do this and that.
“On the pitch he reads the situation very, very well and the people that surround him they are really compact and they read the game. Physically he is very strong and technically he is much better than people think.
“Sometimes people think the guy that is good technically is the guy who does the back heel, the guy who does something wonderful, but these are not my words, they are words of some coaches from 30 or 40 years ago: Simplicity is genius. And the guy is so simple in everything he does with the ball and I think he is a phenomenal player. Congratulations Mr Levy.”
If you’ve ever heard Hojbjerg speak you will know he is mature and articulate when analysing his and the team’s performances – all the signs point towards him making an ideal coach one day.