MaVilla Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 (edited) Does he make assists?.....yes Does he score some goals?....yes The problem for me is similar to if we put Grealish in CD and then he started playing some great attacking football which people said was great but he left massive holes in defence and didn't track back well, and got muscled off the ball in defence all the time, or didn't pull his weight in defence. No one would say Grealish isn't useful going forward, but they would say we are playing him in the wrong position because he isn't effective as a CD and is actually a liability in defence. Now...this would be true and would imply if we want to use his abilities we should use him in the right position on the pitch, because for all his attacking prowess Grealish isn't an effective CD. It's the same for hourihane, he does offer "stuff", but he isn't an effective DM, in fact he is a liability at DM. Nobody can say hourihane doesn't provide assists and goals to some degree, but they can certainly argue strongly that he is a liability at DM. Edited August 4, 2019 by MaVilla 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villabromsgrove Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 43 minutes ago, AVTuco said: We all agree he's not a DM, but problem is he's not an AM either. He just has a great left foot. If he doesn't score (or assist) from a set piece, he's pretty much useless, a liability actually. Scoring (and assisting) is the point of the game and Hourihane does that regularly. What position would you play him in, or would you just discount his twenty goals and assists per season potential? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Villa Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 As with all our players, How-re-han (or however we're meant to pronounce it) has some flaws in terms of positioning, physicality and decision making but you can't deny the bloke has popped up with some critical goals - many after his drop in form that saw him booed off at Villa Park. Arguably he's been as fundamental to our return to the Premier league as Jack, SJM or Mings (in my opinion before the rocks come flying at me!). That's why Dean Smith seems to rate him (I believe), he has an underlying attitude and desire to compete, despite any physical/technical limitations. I believe this is the key difference in many of our new signings this summer and we're all the better for it. We now have a squad, he's an integral part of it and I believe his left foot will contribute to our survival this coming season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHV Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 2 hours ago, AVTuco said: We all agree he's not a DM, but problem is he's not an AM either. He just has a great left foot. If he doesn't score (or assist) from a set piece, he's pretty much useless, a liability actually. 27 goals in two and a half seasons and probably the same if not more in assists and instrumental in our semi final win against WBA. Complete liability your right 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted August 4, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted August 4, 2019 I always said about David Beckham that he only did one thing really well - deliver a dead ball with pinpoint accuracy - but he did that one thing better than pretty much every other footballer in the world. Hourihane is some way short of that level, but he IS damn good at what he does. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HKP90 Posted August 4, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted August 4, 2019 He has ‘impact sub to break the deadlock in a tight game’ written all over him (in small letters) for me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alreadyexists Posted August 4, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted August 4, 2019 He’s a good player! If we had just bought him for £12m from Club Brugges people would be so excited for him to start the season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 How do we replace his goals and assist is a tricky one. Might be worth it to have him in the eleven just because of set pieces alone. Just look at how many free kicks Grealish get's us on average. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keener window-cleaner Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 With Luiz and Marvelous I hope he will be played further forward, as back up to Jack and John. Having him as our main defensive shield in midfield against Alli, Son and Moura makes me shiver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villabromsgrove Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 4 minutes ago, villalad21 said: How do we replace his goals and assist is a tricky one. Might be worth it to have him in the eleven just because of set pieces alone. Just look at how many free kicks Grealish get's us on average. It's about time the Premier League operated an American NFL system. The one where a specialist kicker comes on for dead ball kicks (field goals)! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVTuco Posted August 4, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted August 4, 2019 (edited) 6 hours ago, KHV said: 27 goals in two and a half seasons and probably the same if not more in assists and instrumental in our semi final win against WBA. Complete liability your right You didn't read the whole sentence, did you? I'm trying to explain why it is very hard for me to place him anywhere in our line-up. He definitely is not a DM, he costs us goals there. You would think he should play further up then, if he's such a goal/assist machine. But his assists come from set pieces as well as his goals. So what do you do with him? I don't know. Edited August 4, 2019 by AVTuco 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVTuco Posted August 4, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted August 4, 2019 1 hour ago, Keener window-cleaner said: With Luiz and Marvelous I hope he will be played further forward, as back up to Jack and John. Having him as our main defensive shield in midfield against Alli, Son and Moura makes me shiver. Then he replaces one of the wingers, which is probably the safest option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mole86 Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 20 minutes ago, AVTuco said: But his assists come from set pieces as well as his goals. So what do you do with him? I don't know. That’s just not true though is it, the few games he played in an advanced role in our winning run he scored 3 goals from open play (2 against Derby and the winner against Bristol City). He scored a hat trick against Norwich the season before which were all from open play and his pivotal goal in the play offs was from open play. Swansea away he scored the winning goal with a header from open play, there are a lot more examples as well. I’m not advocating him starting ahead of Grealish or McGinn but he is by far our best midfielder for arriving into the box late. The fact his set pieces are so good as well shouldn’t take away from that fact. Great option to have in the squad and seemingly a great professional as well. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted August 4, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted August 4, 2019 43 minutes ago, AVTuco said: Then he replaces one of the wingers, which is probably the safest option. Wide midfielder. My Beckham analogy again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaVilla Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 48 minutes ago, AVTuco said: Then he replaces one of the wingers, which is probably the safest option. Hourihane replacing one of our wingers? am i hearing that right? madness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted August 4, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted August 4, 2019 2 hours ago, Keener window-cleaner said: With Luiz and Marvelous I hope he will be played further forward, as back up to Jack and John. Having him as our main defensive shield in midfield against Alli, Son and Moura makes me shiver. If he cant stop Alli and Son scoring we have real problems! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
praisedmambo Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 2 minutes ago, Nigel said: If he cant stop Alli and Son scoring we have real problems! Any of us could stop Son scoring. Because he's suspended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted August 4, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted August 4, 2019 (edited) 2 minutes ago, praisedmambo said: Any of us could stop Son scoring. Because he's suspended. alli is injured too. (Ill save you the whoosh ) Edited August 4, 2019 by Nigel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 3 hours ago, Keener window-cleaner said: With Luiz and Marvelous I hope he will be played further forward, as back up to Jack and John. Having him as our main defensive shield in midfield against Alli, Son and Moura makes me shiver. Son is suspended Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keener window-cleaner Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Nigel said: If he cant stop Alli and Son scoring we have real problems! If they are injured/suspended, I fear for our Conor being the main defensive shield against Eriksen, Lamela and Sissoko. And when it comes to wingers/wide forwards, I think the three players who play behind Kane/the main striker usually runs all over the pitch exchanging places. Whoever plays for Spurs, our midfield will have one hell of a job trying to stop that trio. Conor alone as the sole DM in a 4-3-3 is very risky imo. Edited August 4, 2019 by Keener window-cleaner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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