Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand has called up Tottenham Hotspur’s Pierre-Emile Højbjerg for the European qualifiers against Kazakhstan and San Marino this month.
In the last outing, Denmark sealed a 1-0 win over Finland and Hjulmand changed the formation from four at the back to a three-man defence during the game.
According to Ekstra Bladet, this didn’t the Tottenham player and he expressed his unhappiness with the national team’s performance against Finland.
Hjulmand has now made it clear that the comments made by the 28-year-old were ‘in no way’ a criticism and also explained why Denmark need to keep changing formation during a game.
“I think Pierre was satisfied when we switched to a three-man midfield and played 4-3-3 in the 2-1 win over France last summer. We agree on the ability to change along the way. Because the most important thing is that we have to remember when Denmark is at its best. When we are dynamic, play the ball forward and go towards the goal,” he said.
Hjulmand insisted that he doesn’t feel the midfielder ‘has crossed the line’ after he shared his ‘dissatisfaction’ last month.
“Pierre is fantastic to talk football with. He contains so much and wants so much. Sometimes he also wants too much, but it’s a good starting point when one day you have to be a coach,” Hjulmand explained.
“For me, the most important thing is that you are loyal to your team and the management. Otherwise, I’m perfectly fine with people having opinions. But here I can say that Pierre and I are on the same page.”
At Tottenham, Højbjerg has been reduced to a substitute under Ange Postecoglou this season and will be hoping to enjoy more minutes with Denmark.
He’s also likely to continue his chats with the management to give his opinion on how they should be setting up.
