Pundit claims no-one has realised how good £15m Tottenham player was vs Man United

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Robbie Earle has suggested that he was amazed by one Tottenham Hotspur player’s performance against Manchester United, but insisted that no-one else will be talking about his display at Old Trafford.

Spurs fans may have been fearful when they saw the team sheet for their clash against Erik ten Hag’s men. Dejan Kulusevski was sidelined. And Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp played alongside Rodrigo Bentancur in the middle of the park.

Hojbjerg and Skipp have been understudies to Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr for much of this season. The Denmark international went into the weekend having completed 90 minutes just three times in the Premier League this season.

Robbie Earle lauds Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg after Tottenham draw

But Hojbjerg more than played his part as Tottenham dominated the midfield battle in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United.

Hojbjerg has not exactly been a fan favourite during his time at Tottenham. In fact, there has been plenty of speculation that Hojbjerg could leave Spurs in this window.

However, speaking on The 2 Robbies podcast, Robbie Earle insisted that the former Southampton captain deserves a lot of credit for his performance against United, but fears it may go under the radar.

“I’m going to point you to my under-appreciated performer of the week, and I guarantee you there’ll be nobody else in this country and many countries where our listeners are who’ll go for this same guy. For a number of reasons, my under-appreciated performer of the week is Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg,” he said.

“He’s 28 years of age, he’s a Danish international. He made today his fifth start for Spurs under Postecoglou, played all games last season, number of games under different management. But has fell out of favour. Obviously, a midfield that usually sees Sarr and Bissouma – away on Africa Cup of Nations duty – with Maddison in and the wide players, there’s not been a space for him.

“But I tell you what, for me, as an under-appreciated performer, a 28-year-old international footballer who when asked to play gets on with it. I thought, got about the pitch and did a decent job. I think his attitude, he’s not a sulker. He’s not falling out with the manager. There is talk that they might want to let him go in the window, and we’ll wait and see.

“But a proper professional performance from the man in the middle of the park, who doesn’t get a headline, no-one will be talking about him, doesn’t score or get assists – although he did get a few more than I thought last season. But I just thought that term, under-appreciated, you need some good eggs like Hojbjerg in your squad to come in on days like today and do a job. And I thought he did that brilliantly.”

Ange Postecoglou can trust Spurs midfielder

There is a reason that Hojbjerg has featured in every single Premier League game since the opening day of the campaign. He is someone Ange Postecoglou can trust, even if he does not tick all of the boxes the Tottenham boss is looking for.

He has been a decent signing at £15 million, even if supporters have never completely taken to him.

As Earle suggests, he is unlikely to grab many of the headlines with his performances. And he is not necessarily a game-changer.

But with the amount of controlled chaos which can happen when it comes to Spurs, having someone like Hojbjerg who can produce that six or seven out of 10 display most weeks is a big advantage.