terrytini Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 5 hours ago, sne said: Not beyond the realm of possibility that Brom had 2 different strategies prepared depending on who played in CM for us, Whelan or Hourihane. They might have played a different game if Hourihane had played and not been as comfortable letting us have so much possession. No guarantee starting with Hourihane would have made the same impact as subbing him on did. In hindsight, yeah Hourihane changed the game, probably should have started against a Brom side sitting that deep. It wasn't obvious from the start thou. And again now in the away leg one might want to start him after that performance, but this game might be more suited for Whelan. But is he fit enough to play 2 games so close to each other... Great post 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mic09 Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 Good thing about making the Whelan/Hourihane decision is that whichever one he picks, he will make a good decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GENTLEMAN Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 34 minutes ago, Mic09 said: Good thing about making the Whelan/Hourihane decision is that whichever one he picks, he will make a good decision. Or a bad, depending on your persuasion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GENTLEMAN Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 It’s a non-story for me, it’s what the bench is for; mid game adaptations. Besides, Jack being told at HT to remain high up the pitch and stop dropping deep to collect the ball also had a massive impact. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 6 hours ago, sne said: Not beyond the realm of possibility that Brom had 2 different strategies prepared depending on who played in CM for us, Whelan or Hourihane. They might have played a different game if Hourihane had played and not been as comfortable letting us have so much possession. No guarantee starting with Hourihane would have made the same impact as subbing him on did. In hindsight, yeah Hourihane changed the game, probably should have started against a Brom side sitting that deep. It wasn't obvious from the start thou. And again now in the away leg one might want to start him after that performance, but this game might be more suited for Whelan. But is he fit enough to play 2 games so close to each other... Much food for thought, interesting comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 4 minutes ago, GENTLEMAN said: It’s a non-story for me, it’s what the bench is for; mid game adaptations. Besides, Jack being told at HT to remain high up the pitch and stop dropping deep to collect the ball also had a massive impact. I think so too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said: I'd be inclined to start Whelan again in the second leg, and start Hourihane in the final, when we need to go gung ho! I am really not sure.....but I think we need to score. sitting back won't get us through....we need to go for the win and might eventually settle on a draw....but we must not concede the initiative. We need to play like Leeds played at our place....keep up the pressure. Edited May 13, 2019 by TRO 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAMAICAN-VILLAN Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 2 minutes ago, TRO said: I am really not sure.....but I think we need to score. sitting back won't get us through....we need to go for the win and might eventually settle on a draw....but we must not concede the initiative. I only lean towards Whelan for his "defensive" qualities, whilst I obviously want us to go for it, we also need to try not to concede. It's a tough one for me, in theory, starting Hourihane and going for it would seem ideal. The Bruce in me wants to go for Whelan. Glad it's not up to me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 26 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said: I only lean towards Whelan for his "defensive" qualities, whilst I obviously want us to go for it, we also need to try not to concede. It's a tough one for me, in theory, starting Hourihane and going for it would seem ideal. The Bruce in me wants to go for Whelan. Glad it's not up to me. My concern is this... Albion are good at closing down and pressing.....Johansen on Jack and subsequently Gayle on Whelan, resulted in their first goal....nothing creative, just good old fashioned pressing. Glen has not got the nimblest of feet.....We need players out there who are competent on the ball and are not easily dispossessed....Taylor worries me in that sense too. Albion are not technically better than us, just more robust and do the basics well, they are more physical and more likely to bungle a goal in as opposed to us creating one with finesse. Me too, glad I haven't got to pick the team. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvfcRigo82 Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 34 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said: I only lean towards Whelan for his "defensive" qualities, whilst I obviously want us to go for it, we also need to try not to concede. It's a tough one for me, in theory, starting Hourihane and going for it would seem ideal. The Bruce in me wants to go for Whelan. Glad it's not up to me. But it is a massive game.. you can smell the hotdogs! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 7 hours ago, Stevo985 said: Also the complete disconcern for tactics. People saying Hourihane changed the game so he should start the next one without any thought to the scenario. Well the game suited Hourihane at the time. We were a goal behind and needed to get back into it. WBA were sitting back and we needed to break them down so of course Hourihane suited that situation perfectly, and we didn't need to have a dedicated DM in Whelan in there. But for the next leg, we're a goal ahead, we're away from home, we'll probably be facing a fired up, more attacking WBA team. So despite Hourihane playing so well, Whelan is probably the better option for the scenario. But you know that if Whelan starts people will be going mad about Hourihane getting "dropped" At this present moment in time they don't have the ability or the legs in midfield to play that way against us, nor have they played that way for a while really. Philips is one of their better players left and he's only half fit. They will know that if they open up too much we will rinse them so I'm pretty sure they will try and suck us in and counter again. He might start Whelan anyway, purely as he is better than Hourihane at recycling the ball. I would start Hourihane, because we are one moment of inspiration away from putting this to bed. Tough call for Deano here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted May 13, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted May 13, 2019 Just now, dont_do_it_doug. said: At this present moment in time they don't have the ability or the legs in midfield to play that way against us, nor have they played that way for a while really. Philips is one of their better players left and he's only half fit. They will know that if they open up too much we will rinse them so I'm pretty sure they will try and suck us in and counter again. He might start Whelan anyway, purely as he is better than Hourihane at recycling the ball. I would start Hourihane, because we are one moment of inspiration away from putting this to bed. Tough call for Deano here. Yeah that's fair enough. And I didn't really mean that starting Hourihane would be a bad thing. Just that I can totally see why he would stick with Whelan given the different circumstances. Whereas I think some people just see Hourihane plays well = Hourihane must start, when it's not really as simple as that 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 1 minute ago, Stevo985 said: Yeah that's fair enough. And I didn't really mean that starting Hourihane would be a bad thing. Just that I can totally see why he would stick with Whelan given the different circumstances. Whereas I think some people just see Hourihane plays well = Hourihane must start, when it's not really as simple as that I wouldn't be mad if he starts either of them and I'm sure he will switch it up in game if it isn't working as planned. There is an argument to be made that he timed it to perfection on Saturday, bringing Hourihane on as legs were tiring, they were dropping deeper and deeper and that pocket was opening, sucked in by Grealish and bam, they switched off. Had we started the game with Hourihane maybe things go very differently indeed. Worth noting also that mistake aside Whelan looked comfortable and used the ball well. It was the players in front of him who didn't perform. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 I think we just need to play our game without being too open. Keep it tight for the first 10 minutes when they go all out to score. After that keep the ball and eventually control the game. Sooner or later they will have to take chances and we can hit them on the break. I think as long as we are clinical when we get opportunities we will win tomorrow. Sounds so simple doesn’t it ? Im absolutely shitting it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAMAICAN-VILLAN Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 11 minutes ago, Vive_La_Villa said: I think we just need to play our game without being too open. Keep it tight for the first 10 minutes when they go all out to score. After that keep the ball and eventually control the game. Sooner or later they will have to take chances and we can hit them on the break. I think as long as we are clinical when we get opportunities we will win tomorrow. Sounds so simple doesn’t it ? Im absolutely shitting it. Yeah we need to avoid conceding early at all costs. All that would do is fire them up at home and give them momentum and belief. We need to snuff them out good and early. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheepyvillian Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 I just can't see us going there with a safety - first approach. That's not Dean Smith's way and hats off to that. If we can score in the first 15 then that will hopefully knock the stuffing out of them and we go on to give a masterclass in pass and move football. We won 10 games in a row by being always on the front foot. Why would we change a winning formula ? It's Deano, have some faith. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody1000 Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 This is it, it’s nearly here...... I believe, without a shadow of a doubt, that this is the game that sends the message out that we are ready to take our place back in the Premier League. DS will set us up to play positive, but sensible football and I can see us winning comfortably tomorrow night. I believe he will start with Hourihane with Whelan to come on and see out the last 15 minutes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazrim Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 The only reason we didn't hammer them off the face of the Earth is they closed the space and abandoned any thought of attacking as a team. They don't have that luxury now, therefore... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said: I think we just need to play our game without being too open. Keep it tight for the first 10 minutes when they go all out to score. After that keep the ball and eventually control the game. Sooner or later they will have to take chances and we can hit them on the break. I think as long as we are clinical when we get opportunities we will win tomorrow. Sounds so simple doesn’t it ? Im absolutely shitting it. We need to secure the initiative.....and we will win through.....simple as that IMO No more unforced errors...belief will see us home and dry. Edited May 13, 2019 by TRO 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted May 13, 2019 Share Posted May 13, 2019 1 hour ago, Mazrim said: The only reason we didn't hammer them off the face of the Earth is they closed the space and abandoned any thought of attacking as a team. They don't have that luxury now, therefore... I just hope we take our chances. There’s no doubt we will create many. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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