Okonokos Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 Glad to see others agreeing how good he was yesterday. I thought he was immense. He was happy to sit back, do the nitty gritty side of the game, break up play, move the ball out wide quickly and let McGinn and Grealish get forward. He's a team player and actually a joy to watch on the ball. I've criticised him in the past because I think he sometimes needs to be a bit more physical and put his mark on games more often, but he's proven what a quality, quality player he is. And I think he will get better in the Prem. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 Did well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LxYoungAVFC Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 A poor man's Ashley Westwood. Joke, he was really good yesterday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonVillian Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 Distrubution was great as always - was nervous not having wheelan from the start but he did well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 He was OK. Got overrun at the end but was outnumbered. McGinn did all the heavy lifting for both him and Grealish yesterday. I think we'd have been comfortable with Whelan tbh. Think he would have suited the Prem 10 years ago. Needs to step up now the high press is all the rage. Always looks alright when he's got time, and poor when he doesn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest av1 Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 13 hours ago, Pelle said: Mu motm. His best game ever for Villa as a DM. Agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 He'll be an excellent squad player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 13 hours ago, Pelle said: Mu motm. His best game ever for Villa as a DM. Agree with this bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WakefieldVillan Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 Echo most people's appraisals of him. Yesterday he was very good, certainly seemed to have toughened up during the run-in. I actually think the turning point was the Klich goal at Elland Road, since then he has had fire in his belly. Broke up play well, played a huge part in our first goal and along with McGinn and El Ghazi our best performers on the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 Very good yesterday. He’s been fantastic as a signing if you look at his stats since joining - bit weird that he was made a scapegoat before our winning run. I do agree that he has got more ‘stuck in’ recently but I think he was feeling the pressure mid season of playing in front of a leaky defence and having to also do much of the creating without Grealish - difficult to cover both bases. I like him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted May 28, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted May 28, 2019 Was really good yesterday I thought. I would have started Whelan myself but was very glad to be proven wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted May 28, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted May 28, 2019 Might actually do better in the Prem where it's less physical, his touch is good enough, so much of what he played yesterday was first touch too. He'll get more protection from the ref but less time in the top flight. Might suit him TBH. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GENTLEMAN Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 13 minutes ago, romavillan said: Might actually do better in the Prem where it's less physical, his touch is good enough, so much of what he played yesterday was first touch too. He'll get more protection from the ref but less time in the top flight. Might suit him TBH. At the least, he’s earned his chance for a shot at it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornso Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 What a turnaround for Conor. Wasn't that long ago he was getting booed off Villa Park. Now's he played a big role in the getting club back into the Premier League at Wembley. Well played sir. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 I watched the whole game against yesterday, I knew he played well but he was bloody excellent the first half hour. Really stamped his authority on the game, winning tackles, interceptions, fizzing the ball forward. He has got stick this year because when he has played that role, those are all the things he failed to do. He was trying to stroll through the games and not do the dirty work. He had an edge to him, an aggression which is what was lacking before and one I am not sure he had. I have said it once and I will say it again, I am sorry Conor. I feel bad. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCDAN Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Hes been in our top 3 performers for 2 seasons now so he's earned the right to a crack at the Prem. Remains to be seen if he is prem quality or not, but he's earned the right to show us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentVillan Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 I was sceptical about him starting, but he had a very good game. His quick pass out wide to start the move for the El Ghazi goal was excellent, and he looked calm when he received the ball under pressure. Looks like pressing higher with two quality CBs has made him less panicky when he receives the ball deep, which is what always bothers me about him. Besides that, he put in a lovely cross off a set piece, and generally didn't seem to make any mistakes. I think good set piece is good at any level, so he'll definitely be involved in some goals next year. Whether he'll be good enough to tie down a regular starting role remains to be seen. Best of luck to him - great effort fighting back after the abuse he got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 20 hours ago, romavillan said: Might actually do better in the Prem where it's less physical, his touch is good enough, so much of what he played yesterday was first touch too. He'll get more protection from the ref but less time in the top flight. Might suit him TBH. Can't agree at all about the Premier League being less physical. If anything the Premier League is more physical, he will be up against players who are on average much better athletes, being faster, stronger and more agile, he will be getting challenged much quicker and have less time on the ball, the Championship might be a dirtier league but that doesn't make it more physical. Anyway, I think he'll be a good squad player next season but until we will need better quality in his position. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted May 29, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted May 29, 2019 18 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said: Can't agree at all about the Premier League being less physical. If anything the Premier League is more physical, he will be up against players who are on average much better athletes, being faster, stronger and more agile, he will be getting challenged much quicker and have less time on the ball, the Championship might be a dirtier league but that doesn't make it more physical. Anyway, I think he'll be a good squad player next season but until we will need better quality in his position. Yeah, I don't mean athletically and fairly physical, I do mean dirty physical. Championship you can nullify a Hourihane by just essentially being all over him and roughing him up. Can't do that in the Premier League, small skillful players can thrive in the Premier League whereas in the Championship ,not so much. We all saw it, at times watching Jack was like a 60s/70s video with Besty dodging the ridiculous challenges trying to **** him up. I'm exaggerating a bit but you know what I mean. Modern football and the Premier League officiating whilst not helping Hourihane deal with less time and more athletic opposition will mean he gets protection from just being shoved out the way or opposition playing the man and not the ball. He's got good enough touch and can play one touch well enough to deal with less time on the ball. Most of the criticism coming his way has always been with him being lightweight, getting out fought, not making challenges etc. etc. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenjiOgiwara Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 I actually don't like the idea of Hourihane in the PL due to him being so slow. Hope he proves me wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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