KentVillan

Think it depends on the game. There have been other games under Emery where he’s looked really dangerous in attack. Will benefit from competition from a specialist RB imo.

Felt much more confident with him receiving the ball and knocking it about than I ever do with Olsen in the side. Need to see how he handles a game where he has more shots to face, though. Definitely came out of that game with some credit.

I thought he was one of our poorest players in the main, lost the ball often, but he did take the goal very well. You have to trust Emery’s judgment though - he obviously sees enough quality there to persist with him, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he comes good for us.

Not much fun to watch. I thought Torres was our best player, played some nice progressive passes, but difficult on that pitch against a parked bus.

One of the worst games of football I’ve ever seen, including Sunday League

Yeah. Probably the worst mental health problems I’ve had in my life have been caused by a situation like this. Never let someone else keep you on hold while they deal with their own f**kedupness, it will make you go crazy too. But you can definitely say something like “you still mean a lot to me, I hope you feel better soon” and then crack on with your own life. It’s hard bc as long as you’re trying to keep the door open you’re not moving on, so I suppose it’s more about closing the door without slamming it in her face and locking it… if you get what I mean?

Yep, see my follow up reply, I think you're right. When I first read his post I hadn't realised it was such a long time without contact. Having said that, I don't think it's over in her head.

But sorry should also add - that doesn’t mean you should put your life on hold. Focus on yourself, try to move on, take up a new hobby or reconnect with old friends. Make life decisions as if it’s over. Start dating if you like. It’s for her to work this stuff out, not you. All you can do is try to drop the anger and blame.

@RoltaI think this will come back round. You’ve inadvertently triggered something that has really hurt her, but in an irrational way. I don’t think she was looking for an excuse to get out or anything, it’s something more genuine than that IMO, but still an overreaction. Bide your time and wait for the olive branch. Keep an open mind and try to talk it through.

Can’t wait to have him back. Been an amazing home run without him, but I think there’s been a few games where we’ve missed him. He’ll look even better with everyone else around him firing

I think Unai’s coaching team are also excellent at coaching flaws out of players (even mid / late career). His perception of innate talents vs coachable skills is different from a lot of managers. In Pau’s case though I think it is as you say, just the case that the defensive shape and balance of the entire side pretty much mitigates any issues Pau has with pace / athleticism, and then his natural talents are perfectly suited to how we want to attack. Some player. One of the most watchable players we’ve had at Villa Park.

Where did McGinn dig that out from, what a performance

Stones was superb in midfield last season when City won everything? Having said that, I agree in Pau’s case he doesn’t seem like a natural midfielder to me.

Interesting, hadn’t seen that. Unai would love that of course

Didn’t say it was terrible, but it’s miles off what Bailey is doing now - understandably, no criticism from me.

Yep, although I think fitness, form and confidence are a virtuous circle. Unless you get very unlucky with a nasty tackle, being in a good headspace tends to feed into fitness, recovery, enthusiasm, etc. It’s clear that it’s all starting to click for him, in the same way it did for McGinn. Would love to see same thing happen with a few more of our players - Tielemans seems to be getting there, I’m sure Duran can too.

Below the level of Man City / Arsenal / Liverpool / Man Utd it's fairly unusual though. Most teams have regular starting XIs and rotate for injuries / fitness. It's a new thing here to be regularly rotating players for specific match situations, and we're doing it with what is still a relatively thin squad compared to a side like Man City.

100% agree. Emery doesn’t drop players, he rotates them. And now we have the squad depth in a few positions to do this properly.

Of course, but the Bailey turnaround has taken a bit longer than some of the others, and players like McGinn had some credit in the bank from their performances in the Smith era. It does make you wonder if players like Zaniolo and Duran will start to find this kind of form soon.

Yeah some of the triumphalism on here is ignoring the fact that Bailey really did look poor for ages. Devoid of confidence, and making terrible decisions. He clearly had the raw attributes, but I think it's taken an elite coaching team (not just Unai) to bring the best out of him. He's still going to be one of those players who makes a lot of mistakes, but that's because his game is all about high risk, high reward gambles. What he's getting better at is knowing when not to gamble, when to get his head up, etc. I still think that chance first half would have been a tap in for Watkins if he'd played it across the keeper, but I suppose when you're in the kind of form he's in, you just go for goal. Watkins would have done the same.

His best performance in a Villa shirt, and great that he has Alex Moreno competing for that spot. We’re blessed at left back

It must be inspiring for him watching all these players only a few years older than him progress so much since he’s joined

The great thing is we’ve now seen this Villa side win games in every possible way under Emery. Scrappy park the bus tactics, high line, concede possession, dominate possession, etc. It really feels like he can keep adapting through the season, which is why I think it will be sustainable. And the individual coaching that is bringing the best out of players like McGinn and Bailey must be something special. Quite a few players we thought would be slowly mothballed and replaced have stepped up a level. The whole thing is just brilliant.

Majestic, and nearly scored an unbelievable goal. His range of passing is incredible for a centre back. Even if he’s not the perfect defender, he is so watchable … always feels like he’ll do something positive with the ball at his feet