Hoyte a Boro target? - The views of an Arsenal fan
By Shaun • Aug 8th, 2008 • Category: Featured ArticlesSince the departure of Luke Young to Aston Villa speculation has been rife over who Gareth Southgate will bring in to replace him, among them Steve Finnan, Moritz Volz and Justin Hoyte. The latter has been the subject of mixed reviews from a number of Boro fans, those who think a young, pacey full back like Hoyte would be a good addition to the team Southgate is building and those who feel he is not good enough and is not an able replacement for Luke Young.
So, we decided to ask someone who had seen the player on more occasions than we had. Jamie Sanderson runs the Young Guns website, a website that focuses primarily on the young players coming up through the Arsenal system and those playing in the reserves. We would like to thank Jamie for the following assesment on a potential Boro transfer target.
Can you give us your assessment on Justin Hoyte?
Well firstly even as a Gooner I was surprised Boro sold Luke Young, but when I heard you got £6 million for him I have to say its a cracking bit of business.
Secondly, Justin's mother and father were both sprinters, and Justin has said on a lot of occasions he would have followed them if he had no football talent, so he is incredibly quick, and very athletic. He has added a new style to his game recently, where he doesn't take anything from anybody, he even kicked Ronaldo when he started doing his tricks in the FA Cup game.
He is quite strong and rugged, but he needs to work on his awareness of defensive situations. He has played a fair bit at centre back for us, and his electric pace and firm tackling are great assets, but his lack of height has caught us out on occasions. Hoytey has shown some good promise, but his lack of chances here meant he has missed out on a bit of development, which a young manager like GS could certainly fix.
What do you make of the perception a lot of people have that Hoyte is a good attacking full back but struggles a little with the defensive aspect of the game?
Well, its actually the other way around, he is more defensive than forward going, although he does like to get forward. Playing at centre back has honed his defensive talents, and he drops back now - although he could easily be converted to be a more attacking full-back if required.
Do you feel Justin was unlucky that he fell behind Eboue and Sagna in the Arsenal pecking order or is he ultimately not good enough for Arsenal?
Justin was out on loan at Sunderland when Emmanuel Eboue broke into the team, and yes we were all really impressed with Emmanuel because of his attacking prowess which helped us get to the Champions League Final, but Arsene Wenger felt we needed an experienced more defensive minded full back.
Sagna came in and offered us that and Justin never really got a firm opportunity in the team, but showed he can be a great addition when he filled in. We all share the view that he is a great young player, but he is never going to be good enough to force his way into a side like Arsenal. That said i believe he would flourish at somewhere like Boro' where he would be more appreciated.
As for the speculation, he signed a new four year contract last summer, and Wenger admitted he has rejected offers for him from two clubs which were believed to be Everton and Aston Villa. Justin - and his brother Gavin have had decent pre-seasons, and Justin himself said he is determined to stay here and break his way through, but realistically if we got an offer of around £4 million he could move on - back to be with his a close friend Jereme Aliadiere - they both helped us to win the youth cup a few years ago.
I should just mention, your new striker Marvin Emnes, ive seen him on quite a few occasions and he looks an awesome prospect. Very quick, strong and powerful and i believe he will be a super player for you guys, and adding somebody like Justin would complement him.
Shaun is A Boro fan and owner of BoroMania.com. Born and brought up in the North East. Favourite players are Juninho, Slaven and David Wheater.
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News Now has got Mackem’s showing an interest too. I think he’s the sort of player that would blossom in a starting role. I thought he did ok at Sunderland on loan and was played out of position at LB a lot.
Better option than Finnan for me anyway
Signed a new four year contract so Wenger must see something in the lad.
Excellent Article.
Nice to see the views from an Arsenal perspective.
Gazette reckons they’re trying to tie up a deal for him in the next 72 hours
Could we interest you guys in Eboue instead? We’ll throw in a abg of hlaf-inflated balls and some of those little orange pylons.
After Eboue’s behaviour at the Riverside last season i don’t think he’d be welcome
Would Wenger sell when he’d jst given the lad a 4 year deal?
if u want eboue you can take him because he is so bad i get terrified when he touches the ball that he’ll mess up(which he does).Hoyte is a player who is differant to many other footballers now a days as he is loyal to his club so i hope he stays as he is good back up for sagna but if he goes good luck to him and i think that he is better than luke young anyway.
Verry intresting points from a Gooner fan .
I personally like Justin Hoyte he would be a verry good addition to our team and i belive he would become a better player here at boro? as he would get more 1st team football.
Ofc Wenger rates him or he wouldnt be an Arsenal player?
4million is a little steap i would pay about 2m then with addons games played etc?
But my feeling is i would be happy to see him here .
Roll on next week 16th COME ON BORO!!!
Thanks Ross, and thanks to JS of YoungGuns for giving us his views.
Not sure what to make of the Hoyte thing. Intersting reading what the Arsenal fan thinks and from reading his site he seems to know his stuff, also a Mackem lad from work said he was a good player in a very poor side when they had him on loan. I would probably take him for around £3million but he should have to fight it out with McMahon and Williams (who looks an awesome prospect BTW) for a starting spot.
Suprises me that he’s better at defending than attaking as i always had him pegged as good player raiding forward but struggled at he back. Haven’t seen him a lot in the flesh like so i’ll take the Arsenal opinion on him
To be honest Eboue shuld not leave. Defensivley he does well and has proven it in the past. not to mention he goes forward and add support to the winger and center midfielder. Where as hoyte defensive skills are not up to par….al he does is jockey as if he could not time a tackle. Offensivley he has nothing to add rarley going forward with no skills to take a man on one on one and his movement off the ball to gain space for offensive grounds is poor as well. I personally think we shuld take whatever we can for him because he lacks offensivley and arsenal are an offensive side!
[...] update (scroll down), but for a more in-depth analysis of his merits take a look at this entry from Boro Mania, where the opinions of an expert on young Arsenal players was sought. Certainly, Hoyte isn’t [...]
Its nice to here from someone who has seen Hoyte alot and here his veiws. I was surprised to see us linked to Hoyte even before Young had gone. I think the first time I read something with us been linked to Hoyte was just after we had accepted the bid for Young.
Having read what Jamie has said I would say he would be worth a punt, we have alot of quick players now and he would add to that. Gone are the days were we had no pace, GS is building a young pacey hardworking team and Hoyte seems to fit the bill.
Lets hope we get him signed.
UTB
[...] was asked to give my opinion on Justin for Boro’ Mania over the weekend, with the general feeling on their part feeling Hoyte would be a perfect addition [...]
As a gooner, I’d prefer it if Boro signed Eboue, as I really can’t see any justification for his place in the Arsenal squad- Boro owe it to Arsenal having acquired the legend that is Ray Parlour for nothing. Hoyte’s no Bacary Sagna by any means but he is a solid, reliable squad player, akin to Phil Neville when he was at United. Playing for Arsenal means the world to Hoyte and that’s very rare these days with players like Cashley around
“Boro owe it to Arsenal having acquired the legend that is Ray Parlour for nothing”
I dont think Boro fans would agree with that
[...] Arsenal fan may be familiar to you regular readers as he has given us his opinion on both Justin Hoyte and Armand Traore in the past. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Jamie Sanderson runs a very [...]