gwi1890

Think he’ll force their hand eventually 

Just because some players like JPB visually seem better and more exciting i doesn’t mean they fit a system better otherwise Bertrand Traore would be starting every game for Villa over the likes of Bailey , Diaby, Watkins.The recruitment team clearly see that this young man fits within our plans.

9 hours ago, DJBOB said:

I wondered this for a while and watched as many of his matches at Villarreal and other clubs as well as his interviews and have only begun to understand it. 
 
It’s important to understand that Unai sets us up out of possession differently than a lot of the high press disciplines that Klopp influenced. Our first remit is to get in shape, do not allow passes through the middle, do not allow opponents to get into rhythm, and force them out wide. More Dyche than Klopp. 
 
Given our out of possession objectives, when we lose the ball, we do not engage in a frantic counter press. Maybe one or two players will make a token effort near the ball but everyone else will rush back into shape. 
  
Once the opponent has the ball, we generally engage them in 3 different phases. 
 
1) 442 diamond shape trigger press - look at the Brighton home win to see this at full effectiveness. When the ball is at the keeper, they wait for the keeper to pass which triggers the press from the strikers. One striker presses the ball and the other sweeps in behind to prevent a switch or pass back to the keeper. Luiz presses high on the CM’s to prevent easy passes in and the wide mid near the ball has to press hard against the fullback. The opposite side wide mid has the responsibility of the other half of the pitch. This is our only true high press scheme designed to trap the opponent on one half of the pitch and force an errant pass to capitalize on. 
 

2) 442 mid block - the objective here is to remain compact and tight, no passes in the block between the two strikers, the two CM’s, and the CB’s. Our wide mids block the half spaces and we stay narrow to force passes wide. Where we differ from our 442’s is that we basically invite teams to try and play over the top, trusting not only our defender’s pace, but also their ability to step up based on the shape of the passer, and of course Emi. 
 
Now - this is probably where people are a touch confused. High line = high press, right? There are a couple of reasonings behind this. One is to stay compact and avoid being overstretched and getting passes in between the lines. The other is to conserve energy and play the long game. You saw how Chelsea tired in their press in the second half.

The third is that there’s some game playing here by Unai. Is it better to force the opponent to a certain way of playing, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of playing that way? What I’ve noticed is that teams rarely cut us open with sweeping passing moves with tiki taka because of this mid block. It’s all very punt and run, a dangerous game but predictable and prevents the opponent from getting into a rhythm. 
 
3) 532 or 541 - usually with the lead or when we’re under the kosh. Kamara tends to drop and act as another CB with the aim to not get outnumbered on the back line, keep them out of the box (still stepping up - see Tottenham away) and keep them on the flanks. 
 
So hopefully that explains some of the high line = no press. Shape, disrupt opponent rhythm, force them to play a certain way, and conserve energy. 

Excellent analysis , imagine if Sky offered something like this.

3 minutes ago, Villa_Vids said:

I don't see it. I can feel De Zerbi suiting them more based on his attacking style. Isn't Emery considered as a defensive coach in Spain too?

No quite the opposite well renowned as an attacking coach since his days managing Lorca in the segunda division and then went on to build an attacking side that punched above their weight with Almeria , the same with Valencia & Sevilla and Villarreal. His teams have always punched above their weight and I think people tend to perceive his sides as negative solely because on what they’ve seen of those sides playing in the champions league against  superior opposition.

He was better last not at his best by a longshot looks like he’s lacking confidence at times. The talk about playing him in his “natural position” needs to be quashed, Emery knows what he’s doing.

Receiving a massive amount of abuse now on twitter. Big fan of his ability but can’t see this working out long term the fans turned him into the scapegoat long ago now and unfortunately he added fuel to the fire with what might have been an innocent tweet congratulating his friend. Would be nice if he did have a future here but for his own sake I hope he gets rid of the hangers on in his life and poor advisors.

2 minutes ago, PieFacE said:

Klopp leaving Liverpool at end of season. 

Just seen it. Gerrard to Liverpool hopefully

Loved the way he was always in space for the long shot when he had his hands in the air you knew it was coming. I doubt any team would give a villa player in this team that much space.

26 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

Nope. Expires summer 2025

Well it’s 2024 so …. It’s nearing the final year.

22 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

I think you have a fair point about the English, which is often overlooked.

As a matter of fact , Dougie's performance level increase seemed to coincide with his English getting better!

Think he even mentioned it in an interview. Might make it feel a little more difficult to be " one of the lads " without smooth communication.

Then again there are other South Americans in the team 

I hope we aren't just trying to find excuses for him, whilst he may just being a clearing in the woods 

I imagine that Spanish is widely spoken at the club given the amount of South Americans, Spanish, Basque and also non Spanish players that have played in La Liga at the club.

14 minutes ago, Herman22 said:

You’d have to think that Rowe is in the 20m plus bracket. Id assume that’s significantly more than we’d pay for Rodgers. 

Only a year left on his contract 

Unai wasn’t giving much away regarding his situation in the presser

4 minutes ago, villan95 said:

I do think there's a good chance he would play more at Chelsea tbf

At least until Nickolas Jackson returns from AFCON

Deeney sacked after 6 matches

We no longer have to put up with talk of teams taking out star players. I never thought the drama in the transfer window would transition into  our developmental prospects being linked away.

Speaking about him on Sky Sports now this is all heating up.

2 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said:

Seems a rather odd signing for a prospect who is doing ok in the Championship. His career development would probably be better if he stayed at Boro for a bit but the lure of the prem and a stack of money would be tempting. Has been on the books for 3 clubs and is only in his early 20s which doesn't bode well IMO, a lot of chopping and changing.

I swear I’ve seen this post 20 times over.

To be fair you’d think our fans would have learned being flashy  doesn’t always = a better player for a system otherwise we’d be starting Bertrand Traore over Mousa Diaby.

10 minutes ago, villanmac said:

He's not that kinda player to be standing out hete. He's strengths are more intelligence and link up rather rather then any outstanding skill or explosiveness. Hes not single handedly take it to Chelsea up front on his own.

His movement off the ball does look good, I think it's his footballing iq more than anything that emery has seen and of course at 6ft 3 ot whatever he's got enough about him physically to be a prem player.

This is exactly what people don’t get the expect highlights reel stuff instead of a player that fits into a system.

Hopefully Real Union can progress up the division with the help of our youth one fo the founding members of the Spanish Primera believe it or not .

17 minutes ago, Jas10 said:

 

I’m sure it was frustrating buying Finn Azaz for a mere 2million

2 minutes ago, islingtonclaret said:

 

The agenda is Unreal . Ollie sitting there on 14 goals and 10 assists 

remember when this guy was linked to us?