Glenn Whelan

I don't want to sound like a broken record but this guy still worries me.

I thought his performances in Warsaw and the Play-off second leg were not good enough and he is supposed to be the one setting the example, setting the tone, for everyone else.

We really got away with it a couple of times. He put the defence under pressure in a big way several times in Poland - and Keogh, to his credit, recovered very well in one instance.

Against Bosnia, he gave Dzeko lots of freedom outside the box to carve out a chance - something he didn't take advantage of.

Any time he plays anything approaching an adventurous pass it's liable to go anywhere.

In saying that, Hendrick's performances have varied in quality across the campaign.

Perhaps a pity that Arter isn't available so we can see if he lives up to the hype. He is/was probably the next in line and the lad best placed to replace one of them in the team for the next campaign.

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Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks

I don't want to sound like a broken record but this guy still worries me.

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Because he's brutal. I'd love one of our midfield tyros to get in and take his place. I'd struggle to think of a particular attribute they'd fail to match him at.
And can think of many where they'd be much much better, (controlling the ball under no pressure, running, passing the ball 5 yards etc.)

Whelan was excellent in the second leg against Bosnia. Plenty thought so at the time too, as the match thread will attest.

It's okay Swan, you don't have to reply, it's just yet another Yard of Pace obsessively-stalking-Welan post.
Replying is futile.

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Originally Posted by geysir

It's okay Swan, you don't have to reply, it's just yet another Yard of Pace obsessively-stalking-Welan post.
Replying is futile.

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I'll stop when he's not in the team anymore. I promise.

But until then.....

Singled out by The Guardian today:

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Time for Whelan to get the credit he deserves

Perhaps Glenn Whelan is doing yoga. It seems like an odd image, but the 32-year-old must be doing something. He is immune to injury, and has started all 31 Premier League matches for Stoke this season. The last time he was unavailable for the Republic of Ireland because of injury was November 2014, when he was still recovering from a broken leg (Ireland lost without him that day to Scotland, who dominated the centre of midfield). Despite his remarkable injury record Whelan is not afraid of a tackle and rarely gives the ball away – it is this consistency that makes him so valuable for club and country. New players are brought in (Whelan’s cousin Stephen Gleeson has been called into the squad to face Switzerland and Slovakia for the first time since 2007), others are dropped or withdrawn but this only brings into focus what a stalwart Whelan has become. While he may not be the most celebrated of players, Whelan needs just three more appearances to surpass Liam Brady as the most capped Irish central midfielder of all time – a record he will surely break at Euro 2016. It is high time he started getting a bit more praise. MB

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http://www.theguardian.com/football/...coming-matches

I seem to recall he recovered very quickly from that broken leg too

Kind of a rubbishy passage in my opinion. It's so selective in its information. It conveniently mentions the last time he was unavailable through injury, seeing as it was a negative result against Scotland. How about the last time he was simply unavailable, when we had our best result in over a decade? We were outplayed in Glasgow due to tactical incompetency more than the absence of Whelan, and presumably he is implying that we're not usually outplayed in midfield when Whelan is present, which is beyond nonsense. I'm all for Whelan getting the credit he deserves, but I'm not going to buy into giving him credit he simply doesn't deserve.

Get off the fence, DeLorean.

I should try to be more diplomatic like YOP. :)

He played very well against Scotland at home, bar one dodgy pass out to the wing. We could have done with his calmness in midfield in Galsgow. Hendrick and Gibson seemed off pace and nervous

I totally disagree with that but it's been discussed to death both at the time and since so I won't bore folk any further :)

I take your Glenn Whelan absence against Scotland and raise you Glenn Whelan absence against Sweden. A midfield with PAUL GREEN and James McCarthy looked refreshingly productive in just one game together.

The fact that our midfield was non-existent against Poland, largely due to Whelan going missing, and bossed in midfield by a poor Bosnia team in Dublin seems to be be escaping people.

Whelan was also atrocious in all three games in Euro 2012. Andrews was the only central midfielder to emerge with any credit from that tournament. Of course the fact that we were so tactically inferior and poor all over the pitch glosses over his individual inadequacies four years ago.

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Originally Posted by DeLorean

I totally disagree with that but it's been discussed to death both at the time and since so I won't bore folk any further :)

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We call that kind of thing "yopping".

Whelan.....now been mentioned alongside Liam Brady, to go with his previous Michel Platini and Gennaro Gattuso.

Unreal.

Whelan's ball skills in their entirety wouldn't trouble a falling hair from Liam's scalp but that's besides the point, I wouldn't hold that against him.

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Originally Posted by Yard of Pace

Whelan.....now been mentioned alongside Liam Brady, to go with his previous Michel Platini and Gennaro Gattuso.

Unreal.

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Surely as much as you dislike Whelan you can't possibly have a problem with somebody saying 69 and 72 are numerically close to one another.

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Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks

Whelan was also atrocious in all three games in Euro 2012. Andrews was the only central midfielder to emerge with any credit from that tournament. Of course the fact that we were so tactically inferior and poor all over the pitch glosses over his individual inadequacies four years ago.

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Agreed. The mad thing is, if for some reason Whelan had missed that tournament, you'd have people convincing themselves that we wouldn't have performed so badly had he been there. It would have showed up how important he is.

Objection! Speculation.

Speculation based on the likes of you saying we would have held out in Glasgow if Whelan was there, in other words, speculation based on speculation :)