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Post by GlennA on Oct 8, 2015 11:14:20 GMT
I'm still not convinced to be honest. I don't know if he's got better this season, or if he just looks better because he's having to cover more for whoever he partners with now that Zonzi's gone. I always considered him the weak link in midfield prior to this season, but I have to admit that so far he's looked better than in the past so my opinion may change over time. He's a good pro but I wouldn't go so far as to call him a 'Legend'. I'm with you on this one. I've seen him play very well but I've seen him play bloody awful, too. Yeah, we all have but the reason Whelan is admired so much is that he's a player who's never stopped learning from his mistakes, improving and coming roaring back, usually when we need it the most. Just as legendary as the bloke with innate silky skills, just for a different reason.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2015 11:14:24 GMT
He's certainly playing better than he ever has this season and a good job too with our dodgy midfield
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Post by bayernoatcake on Oct 8, 2015 11:20:41 GMT
17 in 159 for Wednesday 8 in 273 for us! Not that surprising, a lot of his games for Wednesday were in league 1 whereas most of his games for us have been top-flight, in Tony Pulis teams no less. I know but still..... I'd love to know if the way he's gone was ever spotted by the Wednesday faithful though as a defensive lynchpin.
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Post by bayernoatcake on Oct 8, 2015 11:23:13 GMT
Indeed! I remember he came to us with a bit of a reputation for goalscoring, I know he got 8 in one season for Wednesday but I'd love to know if this defensive rock was there or seen by Wednesday fans back in the day. It's funny thinking about the player Whelan turned out to be, compared with what we were expecting. The reputation I remember him having was as a dynamic young midfielder with a great range of passing and a thunderbolt of a shot - to be fair with the level Wednesday were at at the time, he probably was - but I was really expecting a cultured all-rounder who could spray the ball about and drive the team forwards. He ended up enduring as the rugged spoiler and ball-winner in front of the defence. And that shouldn't be taken as a negative thing - I doubt Whelan would have had a career at the top level if he'd tried to be the player described above. Credit should perhaps go to TP for spotting the "cage" in him and kickstarting a hugely successful club and international career in that role. That is exactly what I was expecting too. And definitely not and it is a credit to himself and TP for doing that because he is superb at it.
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Post by chiswickpotter on Oct 8, 2015 11:53:29 GMT
Any Stoke City or Ireland supporter that questions Glenn Whelan's role and importance doesn't understand football. He's been consistently good for the duration of his time here, littered with spells of brilliance. Yeah, he might have had a few spells of being a bit off his game but nobody human could play 250 odd games to the absolute best of their ability. And I disagree with Foster. Glenn certainly is a legend. As Javi Alonso noted, I assume we agree he knows something about football, a tackle means a player has failed to anticipate a situation and that i the core of Glenn's game. Glenn is a decent low end Premier Legaue player but lacks the vision, pace and passing range to be called a legend. At Arsenal when pressed in possession he was like a rabbit in headlights. when we play the stronger sides we always lose out in midfield and Glenn is part of that problem. We have no ability to link defence to attacka s our CDM, Glenn, is not good at taking the ball off the back four. Important if we want to stay where we are, needs replacing if we want to move foreard in a significant way
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Post by pedro23 on Oct 8, 2015 12:07:55 GMT
Glen Whelan is a defensive midfielder,so I am not expecting to see vision and pace from him, he does a job for the team, and in my view we would be royally screwed without him at the moment. The Arsenal game is the only one where he was awful, but so was everybody else. Is there any player who has given the Club such a fantastic return on investment, I don't think so.
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sutt
Youth Player
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Posts: 296
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Post by sutt on Oct 8, 2015 12:29:53 GMT
Time for the daily Whelan lovin' He's alright lets leave it at that? But club legend nahh No one remembers the players who break up play.
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Post by cousindupree on Oct 8, 2015 12:32:03 GMT
Any Stoke City or Ireland supporter that questions Glenn Whelan's role and importance doesn't understand football. He's been consistently good for the duration of his time here, littered with spells of brilliance. Yeah, he might have had a few spells of being a bit off his game but nobody human could play 250 odd games to the absolute best of their ability. And I disagree with Foster. Glenn certainly is a legend. this is spot some on here and some irish supporters get seduced by the silky skills of some of the creative midfield players and moan that Glen doesn't make the killer pass or laughably why he doesn't score more goals.They really don't understand the role he is asked to play and should be compared to other players in the DM role. Pound for pound Whelan is up amongst the best. Sadly Whelan always seems to be one bad game away from a tirade of abuse from the 'he's shit, get rid, we need better' brigade on here and that is totally unfair.This is to totally overlook the fact that while Hughes fecks around with his best midfield lineup after the loss of Nzonzi Whelan has performed heroics and covered for the deficiencies in his midfield partners and has been arguably our best outfield player this season. There are a few genuine candidates for legend status in the modern era, Fuller Delap Shawcross etc and Glen's name wouldn't be out of place in that group for the service he has put in for the club and all for 1/8th of a Dean Whitehead.Top man Top Pro
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Post by nik80 on Oct 8, 2015 12:55:15 GMT
Was in Dublin in April and got talking to a few Irish blokes about Stoke's Irish contingent and not one of them merited Whelan with the credit he deserves. One lad said he'd be great if he could emulate his Stoke game for Ireland, which I found amusing as under TP I often wished Glen could match his Ireland performances for us.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2015 13:25:16 GMT
Whelan has improved significantly over the past 18 months as far as I'm concerned. I will hold my hands up and say at times he has come in for some serious stick from myself and my friends at the match, but I rarely have anything but compliments for him this season. Man of the match for me on a couple of occasions. It will be interesting to see if Molina is the long term replacement given the fact he is a no nonsense defensive minded player. Keep up the good work in the meantime Glen.
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Post by superheroantonius on Oct 8, 2015 13:41:16 GMT
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Post by jimigoodwinsbeard on Oct 8, 2015 15:31:32 GMT
With Glenn getting entering the twilight of his career, I really hope that the management & scouting team are searching high and low for the next player to fill his boots, because he really is that important to our side. The way he breaks up play & covers the fullbacks when the advance forward goes unnoticed by many but is vital to our game plan. For me, he is one of the most underrated players in the league, just watch us when he doesn't play, we don't look anywhere near as solid and invariably struggle. This. I was never a massive fan as you tend to look for the exciting players in midfield dont you? Shows how wrong i was. When he doesnt play we are a poorer side.
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