Leeds United legend Johnny Giles has slammed Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane for his lack of creativity.
Hourihane, 28, has scored nine goals and supplied 12 assists in 47 appearances across all competitions for the Villans this season and played a major role in them reaching the play-off final by scoring against West Brom in the first leg of the semi-finals on Saturday.
However former Leeds and West Brom midfielder Giles wants to say a lot more from the Republic of Ireland international when Aston Villa are in possession of the ball.
“He’s neat and tidy,” Giles told Off the Ball, as shown via their Periscope account. “I would expect more of him on the ball as a midfield player. He gets it from A to B, but there’s nothing really creative about him.
“He’s useful in that sense, he’s got a shot on him. But he won’t take control of the game, he’s just a bit conservative in his play and his passing.
“He might improve on that but I think he should look a little bit more.”
OPINION
Does Hourihane need to improve his creativity? Giles might be talking about what he wants to see Hourihane do more for the Republic of Ireland national team because they lack quality players in their squad, but Aston Villa have John McGinn and Jack Grealish who do all the creative work in Dean Smith’s midfield. Hourihane had a mixed start to the season but he has really come into his own in the second-half of the campaign. His set-pieces have been superb and he always seems to step up in the big matches, like he did when he scored against West Brom when coming off the bench last week. There are different types of midfielders and it doesn’t work when you have too many similar players in the same side. It will be interesting to see how Villa’s midfield matches up against Derby County’s in the play-off final because both sides have some very good young playmakers who can create plenty of chances.