QuoteI'd understand the plaudit "best player on the ball by a mile" to be different than "best player by far".Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
I wouldn't say he was our best player by far or at all but he pulled out the big guns when it mattered.
I'd understand the plaudit "best player on the ball by a mile" to be different than "best player by far".
His physical strength is the same, I think O'Neill was referring to his stamina, his ability to last out a game and has questions to do with best use of his talents in relation to his age affected dwindling stamina.
Is O'Neill an ageist?
Sorry, might need to invest in a set of glasses soon.
Then smash them over my head in the hope it'll teach me to read better.
Spectacles if appropriate may assist with a vision issue but will hardly help with inner madness.
He seems to talk about both in the article. He says that physical strength is usually necessary in top level football and Wes is a bit fragile in that sense. He then adds the bit about stamina, managing his game time, etc.
Yes MO'N talked about both but what's changing is not Wes' strength, it's his endurance levels in a game and the direct question is about how long he can last, therefore MO'N's probably upping the magnitude of his managerial responsibility by indicating that he's the man to make those delicate burdensome decisions
What would be a greater issue is if more mistakes were creeping into Wes' game
But the real question is what is the problem with his endurance ? It's not that he is only being subbed in the last year but has been subbed around the 70/75th minute at club level for a number of years now when other players of his age have remained on the pitch. To my unprofessional eye he still seems to be motoring well when up goes his number on the board. I wonder how many games has he finished in the last 3 seasons. Appears bizarre to me but obviously the managers see something I don't.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
I was going to go on a ramble. I'll keep it short. Hoolahan offers something that none of our other players currently being considered for selection offer. He retains the ball more often than not in positive areas of the pitch, and always looks to retain possession as a first option. I'll take that everyday of the week and twice on Sunday's. If he loses possession 50% of the time trying to engineer something, I wouldn't care. There's only so many times the Germany game rope-a-dope trick will work. Wes offers an alternative.
I have felt for a while that O'Neill always seems ready to knock Hoolahan.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
I agree with the rest of your post but I think this is a bit harsh. He picks him more often than not and often talks about his qualities. He probably feels the need to dampen some of the hysteria surrounding Hoolahan which is probably fair enough given he not always going to see him as the best option, rightly or wrongly.
I don't really buy the Hoolahan stamina thing to be honest. I've never seen Wes walk off a pitch looking absolutely wrecked. I've seen Walters, Whelan, Hendrick all leave the pitch looking like they've run a marathon but never Wes.
He is definitely lightweight, there's no getting around that. And I understand a manager taking him off to protect a lead if the game is getting more physical and he can tend to lose the ball at times.
Last edited by Fixer82; 22/11/2016 at 7:45 PM.
Folding my way into the big money!!!
He was in bits at the end of the Germany game. Think he'd forgotten that we'd used a substitution early on because he kept signalling to the bench that he had to come off. When Germany were in possession in the late stages of the game, he was barely moving, but he'd start again if we got possession back
Does he work much harder than everyone else? I'd love to see those stats which indicate how much ground a player covers.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
He's got little legs too, so covering the ground is harder for him
Well you can say he is light weight but then when it comes to creativity he is a heavy weight, he can create an opening in an instant
with a bit of quick thinking and ingenuity when all the huffing and puffing from the rest of the team is getting us nowhere.
He may not weight much but he is worth his weight in gold whereas with some others it would be more a case of worth their weight in spuds after a bumper harvest.
He has the ability to unlock defences and that is priceless.
Having seen your comment, I watched the incident. Lovely back heel by Hoolahan and Walters read it and got to the ball but was closed out by three defenders - not helped by the fact, I'll admit, that he miscontrolled it. So he wasn't on a different planet at all. You shouldn't turn your pro-Murphy campaign in to an anti-Walters campaign, or am I too late.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
I disagree that O'Neill looks to knock Wes when talking about him.
Last week he was speaking of how they plan to manage him closely over the next couple of years....
which reads to me like they rate him so highly they're planning on him always being involved for the next couple of years (they can't even foresee having to drop him!) and they are paying special attention to him in order that he can deliver us his best possible football. Wes is pretty old, in fairness. I know some here might try and argue about the concept of time/physics/whatever.....but I am happy to understand that 34 IS old, 35 is really quite old and 36 is kinda ancient.
I think that sounds very sensible and respectful. If he's ever said anything negative I bet it was to Tony O'Donoghue and is therefore null and void as their confrontations are like something you'd witness in a Westmeath chipper at 2am on a Saturday night.
I think there was an article online saying how Wes is actually one of MON's most regularly used players.
No he is never left waiting, hanging around.
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
It was poor play from Walters. You can dress it up any way you want to.
Bookmarks