As a part-time hoplite I'll say is that the shield+polearm class may not be perfect, but it is by no means weak.
It's one of the strongest support builds available right now (arguably the most universally potent), being more durable than a pikeman and longer reaching than a 1h shielder. It can stop horses and is more versatile than a polearm without a shield - after all, you can still put the shield away at a whim!
Hell, I only have 2 shield skill and that's enough to turn my build into an arrow-resisting horse-rearing team-assisting menace.
If anything, a buff to hoplites should encourage use of the shorter weapons available to them, because right now there are really only a handful (around five) of viable hoplite weapons. Buff forks (okay, maybe not battle fork), buff shortened spear, buff spear, buff boar spear, buff staves, buff practice lance, buff double sided lance, un-nerf military scythe? Buff halfswording hoplites?!?