Pierre-Emile Højbjerg
Olympique de Marseille · Midfielder · Denmark · 658 min
Ballity Verdict
What makes this player special?
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg is the kind of midfielder coaches build possession around. At Olympique de Marseille, his real value is not goals or highlight assists — it is how cleanly he moves the team from safe zones into dangerous ones, almost never giving the ball away cheaply. Ballity's clearest read is box crasher: he controls games more than he decides them.
Beyond the headline job, Højbjerg remains plausible as duel destroyer and deep-lying playmaker. The secondary roles matter for how a coach can reorganise without changing the XI entirely.
On the pitch he has actually been used as CM (#8) / DM (#6). That matters: skill-set breadth is one thing; demonstrated deployment is another. Højbjerg's authenticity claim starts from those minutes, not from a role board alone.
Sample size still limits how hard you can push the conclusions. The football idea is clear; the confidence should stay honest until a fuller season of minutes confirms it.
Why Ballity says this
- Midfield / role totality: box crasher, duel destroyer, deep-lying playmaker
- Shown minutes: CM (#8) / DM (#6)
- No major weakness flags in the current profile
Receipts
- · Player Profile
- · Role Breadth
- · Deployment authenticity
- · Sample · limited
Position
Midfielder
Appearances
8
Great+ roles
0
Age
30
Preferred foot
Right
Height
185 cm
Ballity insights
Peer context vs midfielders — how often they get the ball and what they do with it. Separate from role tiers above.
Usage rate
Share of team touches (non-GK) among midfielders with match data.
33.8% team touches
Peer band · Elite
Pool percentile
96.4%
Also 92.9 touches/90 (season aggregate).
Efficiency
Output quality per action for midfielders.
68 score
Peer band · Elite
Pool percentile
86.8%
Balance & structural weaknesses
How complete this player is on the position's job board — strengths and holes.
How we define this
Two-way = Great+ on ≥2 complementary axes. One-way = every other route Limited/closed. Weak routes = Average holes on complementary axes.
No Elite/Great axis on this position's job board, so no weakness flag.
Stat profile
Within position peers — percentile shape (not role scores).
Versatility Index
Precise 0–100 score — cross-group breadth (67%) plus within-group depth (33%), quality-scaled by tier. Distinct from the shape card below.
Index
41.0
Breadth 23.5 · Depth 17.5
- ·Fullbacks: Defensive FB (Good)
- ·Midfielders: Box-to-Box Midfielder (Great), Box Crasher (Good), Duel Destroyer (Good), Deep-Lying Playmaker (Good), Ball Winner (Good), Creator (Good)
- ·Forwards: Target Man (Good)
Versatility shape
Coarse directional pattern (Specialist / Dual-threat / Generalist) — not the 0–100 Index above.
Specialist
Good SpecialistDistinct Great+
0 Great+ roles total
Where he plays
Positions with deployment evidence — not statistical guesses.
Natural
Role translations
Where the profile could fit. Tap a position — then see which role style suits it.
Select a position on the pitch to see the best role, alternatives, and evidence.
Role-by-role detail
How each role is scored. Expand a row for a radar of role-shaped stats.
Similar players
Shape match across midfielder roles — cosine similarity of role scores (domestic leagues only). Slot 1 is the best same-league match; the rest are the next closest from the full pool.
Éderson
Atalanta · Serie A 24/25
Closest roles
Deep-Lying PlaymakerΔ26
Duel DestroyerΔ14
Box CrasherΔ20
Matías Vecino
Lazio · Serie A
Closest roles
Ball WinnerΔ10- Deep-Lying PlaymakerΔ24
Box-to-BoxΔ22
Alex Scott
Bournemouth · PL 24/25
Closest roles
- Box-to-BoxΔ4
- Duel DestroyerΔ2
- Deep-Lying PlaymakerΔ15