rubberman

41 minutes ago, Pongo Waring said:

I agree.  People are gonna be disappointed if they think Spurs, Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool are dropping points this week. I mean they could but they all have easy games. Its very likely we stay in 5th place.

Widening the gap with the likes of Chelsea, Man United, West ham and Newcastle (Teams below us) is a really possibility this week if we win. 

Above all its all in our hands, If we keep winning games, we keep close to the average of 2 points a game, We don't have to worry about the other teams results, 2 points per game gets you Champions League Footy in any season. 

Wouldn't be massively surprised to see Spurs held tonight at Palace. City possibly, though less likely, could draw at Old Trafford. Liverpool and Arsenal look like bankers as much as our game.

Would be great to get into the top 4. Do our business and keep the pressure on those above.

Will need to be patient and make sure no complacency creeps in. As ever, if we can get an early goal the floodgates could open, but might find it a frustrating afternoon with them sitting back. 

34 minutes ago, Jareth said:

Just cause and effect. He has caused a ripple and we are seeing its effect. 

More a tsunami than a ripple!

13 hours ago, stewiek2 said:

He said earlier in the week that he's learning so much from Unai and his coaches. Tonight showed that and more.

I think he fits pretty much the Emery archetype player. As well as technical skills, he has the intelligence to take in and apply what Unai wants/expects from him (as well as a willingness and humbleness to learn).

No room for billy big-bollocks egos here - all one team masterminded by Unai and his coaches.

3 hours ago, Pinebro said:

I don't want any attention or media recognition.

Going under the radar suit us.

I'd love for no one to talk about us.

I think that horse has bolted this week. Seems pretty much every outlet has done a piece on us, Unai, Ollie or Dougie and whether we can break into the top 4.

I find it refreshing and exciting coming from being pretty much invisible in the media. Unai has stated his target as CL qualification for the season, but equally I'm pretty sure he'll keep heads focused on the job and stop complacency coming in. Job's only 1/4 done so far.

Once we get Mings, Buendia, JJ and Moreno back I expect us to have much less of a settled 'first' XI and see a fair bit more switching around of the starters to effect different tactics against different opponents. It'll make us less predictable and I've no doubt even more effective. Emi will get his share of starts IMO, but it'll be horses for courses rather than a rigid first XI followed by subs on 60mins.

I'd go pretty much full strength to start and then bring key players off if/when we get in control. Better that than chasing the last 30mins with first teamers.

Same with Luton tbh. Don't want to underestimate them and cock things up by being complacent.

9 minutes ago, Zatman said:

They didnt

Oh boo then! Fake news... I blame too many red wines. Nothing to see here, move along. 

On 23/10/2023 at 15:07, rubberman said:

 

Just as a little bonus fact to this stat - all of the managers on the list (apart from Unai thus far) won the PL with these clubs. 

It is written! 

28 minutes ago, MSvillain said:

I can't find it now but he specifically called out 'relaxing' a little over the international break in the pre-West Ham press conference. 

His idea of relaxation is probably very different to mine though!

I think it's in the Times interview. Said he was going home to chill with the family in the Basque country for a few days. His mantra is 70% football - ie thinking about it 70% of the time, so he does allow himself a couple of hours off for Strictly or whatever!

Jan being notoriously difficult to get any value I can't see us doing much unless we get another serious injury in the next couple of months. Back up for RB is the obvious gap, but otherwise maybe only someone opportunistically that becomes available or a youngster who can be integrated ahead of next season. Think it'll be very quiet.

3 hours ago, stewiek2 said:

Damnit MNF just did a piece on us as their first major look at the weekend. That under the radar tag is truly over.

Saying that if there's one manager who I expect to not give a shit and shrug his shoulders and embrace the spotlight and pressure, it's the Don.

Radio 5 Monday night club also did the first part all on us and Emery. 

People taking notice now. 

25 minutes ago, turvontour said:

Anyone hear that stat on sky about managers with 2ppg or more after 20 or 30 games? They listed Ferguson, Mourinho, Pep, Kopp and a few others, plus now Emery.

1 hour ago, Pinebro said:

No media is praising our high line when we dominate but are very quick to bring it up when we lose goals to it.

It's pathetic. I actually get mad about it.

I'm sure at some point they'll get it. The only reason we lost goals to it to Liverpool and Newcastle was the early injuries in those games and it being so close to the start of the season we hadn't had time to drill the new members of defence as thoroughly. Don't see that happening again in such a major way. It's similar to when Emery first got here and the defence looked like an accident waiting to happen, but a few weeks of work and it became a well-oiled machine. I fully expect to see us having the most number of offsides against us again this season.

3 hours ago, TRO said:

Its hard to close down moving players......only static ones get negated.

On MOTD they were slagging off Paqueta for his lack of movement. Really obvious in the build-up to the first goal - he just stood and watched while Luiz ran off to pick up the pass and score. Highlighted the intensity that Unai has us playing with now.

20 minutes ago, VillaChris said:

Fully expect to win the two home games. Fulham can be tricky as they have a decent midfield but they have very few goals in them compared to last season with not replacing Mitrovic so they'll just play for a 0-0.

Unai doesn't do goalless draws.

Someone is going to come in with a massive £100m+ bid this summer if he continues like this. Not sure we'll be able to avoid that.

Next 3 games will be really interesting. Do our job and get 9 points and I can see us being second behind Liverpool - definitely opportunities for the others to drop a couple of points. (maybe!)

City - Utd a, Bournemouth h, Chelsea a

Arsenal - Sheffield h, Geordies a, Burnley h

Liverpool - Forest h, Luton a, Brentford h

Spurs - Fulham h, Palace a, Chelsea h, Wolves a

1 year in and still no 0-0 draw I think. Amazing stuff. 

2 minutes ago, KevinRichardsonsMoustache said:

Delusional as ever. Thing about Unai is, he wants total control of the club. What’s going on at Chelsea with that Boehly fella is the total opposite. Amazing how fans of clubs like Chelsea have so little ability to reflect on their own club!

Exactly. He has full backing and full control. He has great owners who will back him. And he's got us on a steeply rising path, a great squad and massive players still to come back. There is literally 0% chance he would leave this to go to Chelsea. I'm certain he fully believes he can take us into the Champions league and beyond. And I believe it too. 

He's going nowhere. 

Superb performance all round. Got a little nervous when ollie pulled the first chance, but once we went ahead it was smooth sailing apart from about 10 mins. 

What a position to be in. What a manager we have. Happy, happy days. 

Going to be tight I feel and we'll need to be patient. If we can grab an early goal it'll settle nerves, but I can see it being frustrating for a while. A win pre-break would be very nice indeed. 

If Southgate doesn't pick Konsa and Watkins after this performance then I don't know what else to say. 

Sat in  the sun in a beach bar in Croatia watching this. Couldn't be happier. Well played everyone. Superb performance. 

For all the worries about the highline, we've conceded the 6th fewest shots on target per game so far this season, despite the Liverpool and Newcastle games.  And tbh I think this is the same as when we first started playing it - it looked a bit shaky and took a fair few games for the defence (superbly marshalled by Mings) to stop being terrifying to watch. The new backline will get it under Unai as they get to know each other's games better and we'll look more solid as a result.