Originally Posted by
Colbert Report
I honestly don't think that Whelan is a very good player. If I were the manager of a Premiership team, I would totally pick Andy Reid over him in central midfield.
The difference is that this is international football - Trapattoni is trying to get us to play a very simple 4-4-2 system. The two central midfielders (Steven Reid and Glenn Whelan in this case) sit right on top of the two central defenders and break up play. We're not going balls to the wall and risking getting caught on the counter-attack by anyone. This is the reason that under Trap I don't think we'll score very many goals but any goal we concede will have to be well-earned, as they must break down nine players including the keeper to score.
Lee Carsley would definitely go in ahead of Whelan in this system. From what I've seen, Whelan is a very limited player suited excellently to our current system. He is not suited to a system of a Premiership team, although I think Stoke could well take a page from Trap's book when it comes to putting men behind the ball, or else it will be a short season for them this year.
The fact that he started Whelan against the weaker teams in our group says to me that is Carsley isn't fit, he'll likely stick with Whelan over more creative, attacking players like Andy Reid and Stephen Ireland.