Hojbjerg: “When I’m 35 or 38 I can stop. Until then, I’ll push myself to the limit”
Mon 09 August 2021, 15:15|
Tottenham Hotspur
Thirty-three days after an 11-month campaign came to a devastating end in a Euro 2020 semi-final defeat at Wembley, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is champing at the bit to go again.
Our midfield warrior followed an ever-present season in the Premier League and featuring in 53 of our 58 matches in 2020/21 by playing every minute of Denmark’s run to the last four, overcoming the emotional toil of Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest in their opener before bowing out in extra time to England.
Pierre played every minute of Denmark’s six games. They went out on 7 July. On 4 August, he stepped back out in a Spurs shirt for our Mind Series opener at Chelsea. He played the first half of the 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge and followed up with a full shift in Sunday’s 1-0 win against Arsenal.
So, the Viking is back… but how did Pierre feel with the big 2021/22 kick-off against City less than a week away?
“I’m very excited,” he said. “I feel well physically and mentally and again, I truly believe this is a way of living. When I’m 35 or 38 I can stop. Until then, I’ll push myself to the limit and give my all.
“The Club know it, my team-mates know it and every day I will try to give my best. This is who I am. I really want to keep improving, keep learning and I feel the environment we have now is perfect to keep growing as a person and as a footballer. We keep pushing, I keep pushing, and let’s hope for some more glory.”
Sunday’s win and performance was certainly another step in the right direction. We struck the woodwork three times, created chances, looked solid defensively and deserved the victory thanks to Heung-Min Son’s strike on 79 minutes.
“Let’s stay on the right track, let’s stay steady, let’s stay realistic, but I’ve said it before, the talent in this team is incredible,” added Pierre. “We’ve got to change a little bit maybe the way of bringing that mentality and, let’s say, the ability to be consistent every single day in our behaviour, we have to bring that forward a bit more, but we put in a good fight, we saw some good play, we were well organised and all excited to try to give something back to the supporters.
"We need the fans on our side, to be behind us and push us, like they did today. I can’t wait for the season to start, to hear the fans roaring and celebrating. We will give our all, and I’m sure the fans will do the same. It’s a pleasure to play in front of them.
“We are building, we are trying to improve every day, and this was a piece of what we’ve been trying to train on. There will be more, we’ll be better and stronger, but, so far, not bad.”
