OPINION
Ian Holloway gave a five-step guide about how to win the Championship play-off final ahead of Aston Villa clashing with Derby at Wembley on Monday.
The currently unattached manager shared that a side needed a player capable of producing some magic during the final and pointed out that Derby had one in the form of Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson.
Holloway claimed that the 22-year-old winger was a potential game changer and compared him to Charlie Adam, who helped Holloway guide Blackpool to victory in the 2010 play-off final.
“One player needs to do some magic,” wrote the manager for the Times.
“Murray scored 30 league goals in 2012-13 and I lost him to injury in the play-off semi-final.
“Wilfried Zaha stepped up and won a penalty and Kevin Phillips converted.
“With Blackpool I had Charlie Adam, who could change a game. Derby County have Harry Wilson.”
Given that Holloway’s claim about Wilson is more than justified as the 22-year-old is deadly from free-kicks and has scored 18 goals in 48 outings for the Rams while on loan from Liverpool this season, the Villans are surely sweating even more about trying to contain him on Monday.
Holloway knows what it takes to win a play-off final and if he believes Wilson is capable of guiding the Rams to victory at the expense of Villa, he has a chance of being right.
The Villans were likely fretting about stopping Wilson already as he is the type of player you could keep quiet for 80 minutes only for him to pop up with a stunning goal in the 81st.
This is because Wilson has tendency to fire shots from distance (Source: WhoScored), which means even if Villa’s defenders keep him out of the box, he still may score.
Also when you consider that Holloway doesn’t mention Aston Villa having a player capable of magic, wrongly or rightly, it should be enough for them to be nervous regarding the clash against the Rams.