weedman Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 It's a really hard call, but Whelan starts for me, only because I can't really choose between them for a start, but Hourihane can offer far more coming on as a substitute, especially if we need a goal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 Glenn for me. Sure, its unlikely he is going to score a goal, and sometimes passes like he is drunk, but he has been filling that enabler role quite well. Conor to come on a bit later, when we want to change gears in attack against tired legs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 I’d start Whelan tomorrow. We haven’t faced Derby with Mount in the team. I think Whelan will cut out Mounts passes hopefully nullifying any threat that Derby have 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted May 26, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted May 26, 2019 He’ll start and he’ll be great as usual 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 2 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: He’ll start and he’ll be great as usual And then get subbed for Hourihane after 65 minutes who will hopefully ship in with a goal or assist to seal the game. Solid enough plan imo. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanAVFC Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 Yeah Whelo starting for me 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 I think starting with whelan would be the same mistake Bruce made in his approach last year. We need to win the game, hourihane scores and assists. I'd be surprised if hourihane is on the bench. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 52 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: He’ll start and he’ll be great as usual He was awful in his last start. He cost us a goal and we didn't get back in the game till he was off the pitch. He has had some good moments but i disagree that he is usually great. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) 23 minutes ago, DCJonah said: He was awful in his last start. He cost us a goal and we didn't get back in the game till he was off the pitch. He has had some good moments but i disagree that he is usually great. Hit and miss for me. Going by Whoscored (obviously you can only get so much from a stat site) he is ranked as 19th among Villa players for average rating this season. 6.54 average. He has about as many great games (above 7.0 rating) as he has stinkers (below 6 rating) The 4.68 against Wigan stands out, as does his fantastic 8.28 against Derby, but even in that game they didn't have him as MOTM. For me he has been solid but with some really poor games and some really good ones. Once again you can only get so much when looking at stats but I see him about as Whoscored do. Edit: And it's not that they don't rate DCM's. They have Fernandinho as 3rd City player, Gueye as 3rd Everton player and Ndidi as 2nd Leicester one for example. Edited May 26, 2019 by sne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 33 minutes ago, DCJonah said: I think starting with whelan would be the same mistake Bruce made in his approach last year. We need to win the game, hourihane scores and assists. I'd be surprised if hourihane is on the bench. I have a feeling you maybe right, it sucks them on to us and sends out a message we are more afraid of them than they are of us.......We have to secure the initiative to win the game. If we allow some of their better players to run at us we may be in trouble, we have to take our game to them. I would be more inclined to start with Hourihane and finish with Whelan as opposed to the other way around. I also think Wembley, could be Hourihane's place to showcase his skills........last years style we adopted, didn't suit him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 20 minutes ago, sne said: Hit and miss for me. Going by Whoscored (obviously you can only get so much from a stat site) he is ranked as 19th among Villa players for average rating this season. 6.54 average. He has about as many great games (above 7.0 rating) as he has stinkers (below 6 rating) The 4.68 against Wigan stands out, as does his fantastic 8.28 against Derby, but even in that game they didn't have him as MOTM. For me he has been solid but with some really poor games and some really good ones. Once again you can only get so much when looking at stats but I see him about as Whoscored do. Edit: And it's not that they don't rate DCM's. They have Fernandinho as 3rd City player, Gueye as 3rd Everton player and Ndidi as 2nd Leicester one for example. Its how I see DCM's. I don't want to labour the point ....but without that unforced error against Albion, we would not have struggled so much, it was a howler and unsettled us.......We can't afford one of them and sadly Glen does seem to have one in him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 Honestly it's like people haven't watched Hourihane. Remarkable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holteend1982 Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 Whelan starts all day for me, we need him on mount and keeping him quiet. Hourihane will be better coming from bench if needed but if we stop mount we stop Derby imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) 29 minutes ago, holteend1982 said: Whelan starts all day for me, we need him on mount and keeping him quiet. Hourihane will be better coming from bench if needed but if we stop mount we stop Derby imo. I understand your point, and its a significant one....but I don't think Glenn is mobile enough to do that, with any success. Edited May 26, 2019 by TRO 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 27 minutes ago, holteend1982 said: Whelan starts all day for me, we need him on mount and keeping him quiet. Hourihane will be better coming from bench if needed but if we stop mount we stop Derby imo. I'd rather derby worry about how to stop us. Hourihane adds another player they need to worry about. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted May 26, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted May 26, 2019 1 hour ago, DCJonah said: He was awful in his last start. He cost us a goal and we didn't get back in the game till he was off the pitch. He wasn't awful at all. He made one huge mistake. Absolutely. But he was actually fine, he just isn't very attacking so the game suited Hourihane when he cam eon instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted May 26, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) Playing Whelan = defensive, is a very narrow way of looking at things. He played when we beat Derby 4-0 remember. He played most of the games in our 10 game winning run. Having a proper DM means the other two midfielders are more free to get forward and cause problems. Having Hourihane there means everybody has to do more (not that I dislike Hourihane by the way, he's just a very different player) An attacking or a defensive setup doesn't rely on one player. It's perfectly possible to play an attacking game with Whelan on the pitch. We've done it numerous times before. Edited May 26, 2019 by Stevo985 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) 7 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: He wasn't awful at all. He made one huge mistake. Absolutely. But he was actually fine, he just isn't very attacking so the game suited Hourihane when he cam eon instead. When he's good he brings calm and composure to the team, but we also become a team that fails to get the ball forward quickly....We tend to ponder and indecision creeps in. I must admit I am torn between the two........However I also feel we gave Albion so much initiative by that Error, that simply can't afford one..Glenn does tend to get the ball caught up in his feet at times, we can't afford one of them in tight margin games. Hutton and Adomah made a mistake last years too for Fulhams goal. I just hope we can avoid, stupid errors. Edited May 26, 2019 by TRO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted May 26, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted May 26, 2019 3 minutes ago, TRO said: When he's good he brings calm and composure to the team, but we also become a team that fails to get the ball forward quickly....We tend to ponder and indecision creeps in. I actually don't think that is true at all. But each to their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted May 26, 2019 Share Posted May 26, 2019 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: Playing Whelan = defensive, is a very narrow way of looking at things. He played when we beat Derby 4-0 remember. He played most of the games in our 10 game winning run. Having a proper DM means the other two midfielders are more free to get forward and cause problems. Having Hourihane there means everybody has to do more (not that I dislike Hourihane by the way, he's just a very different player) An attacking or a defensive setup doesn't rely on one player. It's perfectly possible to play an attacking game with Whelan on the pitch. We've done it numerous times before. fair comment...Technically that is right. For me these days, Glenn is more of a "pick pocket" than a ball winner and relies on his reading of the game to intercept as opposed to his mobility, so he relies on opposing teams errors as opposed to winning the ball.I also think when a team breaks, Glenn can look ponderous. but Conor has his faults too. Edited May 26, 2019 by TRO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts