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Conor Hourihane


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45 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

Weird, I'm sure I remember him playing most of the games in the season we came up! :lol: 

weird, how do arrive at that?.....just because he played in most of the games, was probably because we had no one better.

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11 minutes ago, useless said:

Last season he played in 43 of our league games including many in the unbeaten run we went on, scored in the first leg of the play-off semi-final and then played for ninety minutes in the second-leg and the final itself, he also scored 7 goals and provided 12 assists. Without him we wouldn't have been promoted.

We all know his value and his limitations in equal measure.

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Hourihane maybe a decent player in the Championship....He has a wand of a left foot, which is a valuable weapon.

But Imo would he feature in a team to get Automatic promotion?.....No.

Hasn't got enough for a 46 game haul....goes missing in too many games, lacks consistency.

Edited by TRO
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He's not amazing, but was very valuable to us in the championship, I'm pretty sure that any of the current championship clubs would love to have him, and he'd be a starter for most of them, if not all of them, so this idea that he's not a top six player in that division doesn't really ring true. I think the main reasons that he's not featuring as much for us any more are the fact we've changed formation and now only really play with two central midfielders, the arrival of Drinkwater, and the fact that Luiz and Nakamba have both been improving as well. I'm sure he'll make his contribution to us between now and the end of the season though, and if we stay up we'll be able to look back on his goals and assits and say that they helped us in acheiving that aim.

Edited by useless
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Hourihane would be courted by most clubs because the things that stand out (goals from distance, goals from freekicks and a decent amount of assists) would be easily noticeable. What they wouldn't see is that he literally does go missing in games, he did it even in the championship. There has been some games he's featured in this season I haven't even realised he's been playing. You can't afford to carry anyone in this league and it looks like Dean has finally realised this.

I wouldn't even say he was a lazy player it must be his positional awareness and lack of desire to get stuck in. 

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5 minutes ago, AVFCDAN said:

Hourihane would be courted by most clubs because the things that stand out (goals from distance, goals from freekicks and a decent amount of assists) would be easily noticeable. What they wouldn't see is that he literally does go missing in games, he did it even in the championship. There has been some games he's featured in this season I haven't even realised he's been playing. You can't afford to carry anyone in this league and it looks like Dean has finally realised this.

I wouldn't even say he was a lazy player it must be his positional awareness and lack of desire to get stuck in

I agree with all you've said except the lack of desire. I think he has that desire, but I think this league is just too quick for him. I actually think he wants to get stuck in, but a combination of positional awareness and a lack of reading the speed of the game means he's rarely capable of getting himself in to the position to get stuck in.

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I'm sure that championship clubs will have scouts that look at more than just goals and assists, I think this idea that he goes missing is overplayed anyway, not sure he goes missing more than most other midfielders, seems people expect midfielders to be all action, either non-stop flying into tackles, or running with the ball beating players left, right, and centre, the reality is most midfielders aren't like that, but it's something that many can't seem to grasp for some reason, see also the criticism that Whelan, Westwood, and Petrov used to get, and the criticism that Winks, Henderson, Dier, Rice also receive at other clubs.

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44 minutes ago, useless said:

Last season he played in 43 of our league games including many in the unbeaten run we went on, scored in the first leg of the play-off semi-final and then played for ninety minutes in the second-leg and the final itself, he also scored 7 goals and provided 12 assists. Without him we wouldn't have been promoted.

He was incredibly in that final too - that's the Conor we all want to see, he was industrious, aggressive and he played the ball forward. If that was the Conor you got even half the time he would be an incredible player.

You never get it though. Passive. Too passive. Stewart Downingesque. Needs a rocket up his arse.

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Conor is a great player if we are playing with loads of possession. There is little difference between the championship and premier league in terms of Conor's ability. Conor could easily be a standout premier league player if we played a style where we'd have the ball more. The reason Conor was so potent in the championship was because the majority of matches we played, we would have the majority of the ball, and we were able to be the team attacking. 

In the premier league, we are typically the team on the back foot so we don't really play a more free flowing style. Now we rely on Jack to get the ball and dribble players to get us forward. At least with McGinn, we had another outlet to get forward. The reason McGinn-Conor worked as a CM pairing was because Conor did a lot of the little things right such as quick passes to Jack and McGinn. Then Conor would typically float in the box and pop up with a goal. He still does that in the premier league. 

At the moment, unfortunately Conor doesn't suit us and that is why he looks like a passenger. When we have 9 men behind the ball, it's hard for any midfield to shine. None of our midfielders have looked good since switching to the 3-4-3. If we ever go back to the 4-2-3-1, I'd like to see a midfield of McGinn, Nakamba, Conor. I think that would give us the most versatility. 

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On 10/02/2020 at 17:22, Czechlad said:

Conor is a great player if we are playing with loads of possession. There is little difference between the championship and premier league in terms of Conor's ability. Conor could easily be a standout premier league player if we played a style where we'd have the ball more. The reason Conor was so potent in the championship was because the majority of matches we played, we would have the majority of the ball, and we were able to be the team attacking. 

In the premier league, we are typically the team on the back foot so we don't really play a more free flowing style. Now we rely on Jack to get the ball and dribble players to get us forward. At least with McGinn, we had another outlet to get forward. The reason McGinn-Conor worked as a CM pairing was because Conor did a lot of the little things right such as quick passes to Jack and McGinn. Then Conor would typically float in the box and pop up with a goal. He still does that in the premier league. 

At the moment, unfortunately Conor doesn't suit us and that is why he looks like a passenger. When we have 9 men behind the ball, it's hard for any midfield to shine. None of our midfielders have looked good since switching to the 3-4-3. If we ever go back to the 4-2-3-1, I'd like to see a midfield of McGinn, Nakamba, Conor. I think that would give us the most versatility. 

4231 with Conor , Nakamba and McGinn , who are the two? 

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I was in the the "he doesnt do much apart from score goals and get assists" camp

But seeing the water carrier in the team ahead of him I'd like to have him back in the starting xi pronto, because we are seeing the same player but without the goals and assists.

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He's good enough to have an involvement in the team but at a time when we are shipping goals left right and centre I'm not sure what benefits he can bring to the team.

Having said that I can't see that he's a worse option than Drinkwater.

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On 10/02/2020 at 16:22, Czechlad said:

Conor is a great player if we are playing with loads of possession. There is little difference between the championship and premier league in terms of Conor's ability. Conor could easily be a standout premier league player if we played a style where we'd have the ball more. The reason Conor was so potent in the championship was because the majority of matches we played, we would have the majority of the ball, and we were able to be the team attacking. 

In the premier league, we are typically the team on the back foot so we don't really play a more free flowing style. Now we rely on Jack to get the ball and dribble players to get us forward. At least with McGinn, we had another outlet to get forward. The reason McGinn-Conor worked as a CM pairing was because Conor did a lot of the little things right such as quick passes to Jack and McGinn. Then Conor would typically float in the box and pop up with a goal. He still does that in the premier league. 

At the moment, unfortunately Conor doesn't suit us and that is why he looks like a passenger. When we have 9 men behind the ball, it's hard for any midfield to shine. None of our midfielders have looked good since switching to the 3-4-3. If we ever go back to the 4-2-3-1, I'd like to see a midfield of McGinn, Nakamba, Conor. I think that would give us the most versatility. 

We want to play a possession based game.....but the opposition won't let us.

they have players capable of taking it off us, when we are not just giving it away, with unforced errors.

There is only jack who can keep the ball.....the others look hesitant and unsure and have questionable ball control to keep the ball safe during a game.

we don't have enough players with sufficient ability to stop the opposition from playing...its that simple.

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Conor is a dead ball specialist who occasionally makes decent late runs into the box and scores goals. He offers nothing else at all. He wins no tackles or headers, he never shows for the ball in tight areas, he doesn’t track back, he can’t beat a man, if an obvious pass is not instantly available he loses the ball. He is a total passenger. 
He was not good in the Championship and unsurprisingly he is not good in the PL. Whatever happens for the rest of this season, if Conor is a regular starter for us next season, we are unlikely to achieve our seasons aims. He has some value in the transfer market and we should absolutely cash in during the next window. He is the classic example of stats being misleading and not telling the complete story. 

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51 minutes ago, M_Afro said:

Conor is a dead ball specialist who occasionally makes decent late runs into the box and scores goals. He offers nothing else at all. He wins no tackles or headers, he never shows for the ball in tight areas, he doesn’t track back, he can’t beat a man, if an obvious pass is not instantly available he loses the ball. He is a total passenger. 
He was not good in the Championship and unsurprisingly he is not good in the PL. Whatever happens for the rest of this season, if Conor is a regular starter for us next season, we are unlikely to achieve our seasons aims. He has some value in the transfer market and we should absolutely cash in during the next window. He is the classic example of stats being misleading and not telling the complete story. 

I like the kid.....but like you say,he simply does not have enough in his game at this level.

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