Unai Emery

[Jareth]

48 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

On about 93 minutes I announced "I think we've won this" to the hilarity of my other half

Same!

[nick76]

49 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

On about 93 minutes I announced "I think we've won this" to the hilarity of my other half

I think I was later than that to be honest, i was just worried a dodgy decision was coming which started a few minutes of confusion ending in a draw.  Think I still have issues like Wolves a year or so ago and other games.  It’s rare I’m ever comfortable until the final whistle goes.

[Stevo71]

51 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

On about 93 minutes I announced "I think we've won this" to the hilarity of my other half

I was entering "draw" territory at that point

[CVByrne]

I like how flexible we are tactically based on game state. For Spurs it was keep them out and quiet the crowd. They have 3 forwards and two wong backs. Our wide Midfielders were prioritizing defence and we ended up with a back 6 often. With our two quick forwards as a counter attacking out ball. 

Halftime it's 0-0 and job done so far. Then in second half we get a goal and the game state has changed, then we know there will be even more space for attacks as they need to score now. Once we get the second we move to close up and go ultra defensive making changes.

It was different against Liverpool (and I suspect other teams) where when we are a goal behind we played a high defensive line and mid block this is to try win the ball back higher up the pitch to create more goal scoring chances. The plan for the Liverpool game changed very early on that game as we went behind and the game state was different.

Emery is a proactive coach. He will act when he feels that it is the best thing to do to achieve a result. Players are given detail about the roles they're asked to do and those can change mid game depending on game state 

[duke313]

7 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

I like how flexible we are tactically based on game state. For Spurs it was keep them out and quiet the crowd. They have 3 forwards and two wong backs. Our wide Midfielders were prioritizing defence and we ended up with a back 6 often. With our two quick forwards as a counter attacking out ball. 

Halftime it's 0-0 and job done so far. Then in second half we get a goal and the game state has changed, then we know there will be even more space for attacks as they need to score now. Once we get the second we move to close up and go ultra defensive making changes.

It was different against Liverpool (and I suspect other teams) where when we are a goal behind we played a high defensive line and mid block this is to try win the ball back higher up the pitch to create more goal scoring chances. The plan for the Liverpool game changed very early on that game as we went behind and the game state was different.

Emery is a proactive coach. He will act when he feels that it is the best thing to do to achieve a result. Players are given detail about the roles they're asked to do and those can change mid game depending on game state 

Good analysis of how Emery operates, still can't believe we have a coach who knows what he's doing, it's surreal.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

McGinn on the turnaround and Emery:

"It comes with confidence and the manager has given us a lot of that.

“There is a clear way of playing. Some players are in positions which are a little bit unfamiliar but he is finding strengths in people’s games we probably didn’t realise ourselves.

“He gives us a clear plan and it’s down to us to implement it properly. He is a top class manager and we just have to take on board what he is saying."

“He has a clear message to stay humble and that is what we will do. If we keep putting in the effort we have quality to hurt teams at the other end. Sunday showed that. He is stressing we have a big game Wednesday now to try and keep this going.”

“Every time I play for Villa I give 100 per cent and whether that is centre mid, up front or right wing I will do what the manager asks. Thankfully I am coming on to some better form.”

“It wasn’t that long ago we were only a few positions off the bottom. If we’d lost on Sunday we would still be in that little pack. We need to stay humble, stay focused. Yes, we can look ahead and dream a little bit but we also need to be careful.”

Edited January 3, 2023 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN

[Teale's 'tache]

I must admit I never expected us to look so well coached so quickly, already we are seeing partnerships appearing all over the pitch, players are backing each other up, showing for each other, helping each other.

Under Gerrard it felt like almost every player/position was being left exposed, even under Smith the defensive midfield/defensive area of the pitch was often left overrun. It felt like we were a man short sometimes. 

Now it's the complete opposite, it feels like we have an extra man when and where we need it, and that is down to the system and the coaching of it, every player is buying in to it and trusting the managers instructions and that tells you all you need to know about how good this guy is.

Some on here questioned if the players were good enough, if they had enough fight, I think what they were lacking was a real belief in what they were being asked to do. To have gained that belief from the players so quickly is very very impressive.

[rjw63]

36 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

They have 3 forwards and two wong backs. 

[villanmac]

He's the death of me on here. Whatever 11 he picks, formation he plays, player he signs or sells i have no argument. He could decide to flog Kamara and i'd just go with it. 

 

[andyjsg]

1 hour ago, Stevo985 said:

On about 93 minutes I announced "I think we've won this" to the hilarity of my other half

I did exactly the same.

"why are you so nervous?"

"wolves game last year",

"but there is 3 mins to go and they haven't looked like doing anything this half."

"Yeah but its Villa"

[MWARLEY2]

I love it when we go to this back 6 formation. Because it is controlled and on purpose. We arent being forced back. We go willingly into it and smother the oppositions creativity. 

Kind of reminds me of Bodyline. It will destroy the oppositions confidence when we play it. 

[Made In Aston]

2 minutes ago, MWARLEY2 said:

I love it when we go to this back 6 formation. Because it is controlled and on purpose. We arent being forced back. We go willingly into it and smother the oppositions creativity. 

Kind of reminds me of Bodyline. It will destroy the oppositions confidence when we play it. 

Traditionally, when teams go ahead and are trying to defend the lead they go deeper and invite pressure. Our setup floods the dangerous areas with our players and pushes the opposition into areas where they can't hurt us. 

[bannedfromHandV]

Have a feeling he’s going to stick with Olsen for a while.

He may feel it’s important to send a message that if someone does well they keep their place, he may also want to knock Emi down a peg or two to stop him from inflating his ego too far.

Its possible there is some hang over from the previous time Emi and he works together at Arsenal too, perhaps.

I dunno, could all be wide of the mark of course but the name checking during the post-match comments and some of the subsequent club social media stuff also highlighting Olsen makes me think he’s gonna be between the posts tomorrow night.

Will be interesting to see how this pans out over the coming weeks.

[catanzaro]

2 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Have a feeling he’s going to stick with Olsen for a while.

He may feel it’s important to send a message that if someone does well they keep their place, he may also want to knock Emi down a peg or two to stop him from inflating his ego too far.

Its possible there is some hang over from the previous time Emi and he works together at Arsenal too, perhaps.

I dunno, could all be wide of the mark of course but the name checking during the post-match comments and some of the subsequent club social media stuff also highlighting Olsen makes me think he’s gonna be between the posts tomorrow night.

Will be interesting to see how this pans out over the coming weeks.

I see where you are coming from on this point.. When I saw the quotes from McGinn about the fact he preaches to stay humble, I immediately thought of Emi.. Personally, I really hope he allows Emi to be himself and just gets him to be a little more thoughtful, rather than using a stubborn approach with him.. as you say time will tell..

[CVByrne]

49 minutes ago, Teale's 'tache said:

I must admit I never expected us to look so well coached so quickly, already we are seeing partnerships appearing all over the pitch, players are backing each other up, showing for each other, helping each other.

Under Gerrard it felt like almost every player/position was being left exposed, even under Smith the defensive midfield/defensive area of the pitch was often left overrun. It felt like we were a man short sometimes. 

Now it's the complete opposite, it feels like we have an extra man when and where we need it, and that is down to the system and the coaching of it, every player is buying in to it and trusting the managers instructions and that tells you all you need to know about how good this guy is.

Some on here questioned if the players were good enough, if they had enough fight, I think what they were lacking was a real belief in what they were being asked to do. To have gained that belief from the players so quickly is very very impressive.

Look a lot of it was down to playing players in roles which suit their strengths. Gerrard wanted to turn us into a possession side who build from back and dominate possession. That's still something we struggle with but having Luiz and Kamara as 6s helps us there as opposed to having only one of them under Gerrard. 

Also Emery is a lot more intelligent in how we play out from the back. Especially against high press teams by emphasizing how to draw on the press to open up space behind it for our fast players to exploit. I feel Martinez and Carlos into this team on a regular basis will add to our ability from the back. As does Young at RB and Digne at LB on terms of their long pass accuracy.

 

[stewiek2]

7 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Have a feeling he’s going to stick with Olsen for a while.

He may feel it’s important to send a message that if someone does well they keep their place, he may also want to knock Emi down a peg or two to stop him from inflating his ego too far.

Its possible there is some hang over from the previous time Emi and he works together at Arsenal too, perhaps.

I dunno, could all be wide of the mark of course but the name checking during the post-match comments and some of the subsequent club social media stuff also highlighting Olsen makes me think he’s gonna be between the posts tomorrow night.

Will be interesting to see how this pans out over the coming weeks.

It's brilliant man management. Olsen had a mare and rather than drop him or throw him under the bus as a few previous managers would, he's backed him. That kind of loyalty from a manager doesn't go un-noticed from other 'fringe' players in the squad.

[birdman]

Nice to see McGinn improving under Emery. Clearly a much happier player. He was very solid against Spurs and kept it simple with no blind passing! 

[CVByrne]

9 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Have a feeling he’s going to stick with Olsen for a while.

He may feel it’s important to send a message that if someone does well they keep their place, he may also want to knock Emi down a peg or two to stop him from inflating his ego too far.

Its possible there is some hang over from the previous time Emi and he works together at Arsenal too, perhaps.

I dunno, could all be wide of the mark of course but the name checking during the post-match comments and some of the subsequent club social media stuff also highlighting Olsen makes me think he’s gonna be between the posts tomorrow night.

Will be interesting to see how this pans out over the coming weeks.

It's clear he gives the team a huge amount of detail and prep. I would imagine he decided he will go with the players he had available during the world cup for Liverpool, Spurs and maybe Wolves as those were 3 games in 10 days. There's then a 9 day gap to our next Premier League game.

I believe this is why Cash and Martinez haven't started last two games because the team worked on restarts. Martinez and Cash won't have worked in those so Emery wasn't considering them for those games. 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

9 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

It's clear he gives the team a huge amount of detail and prep. I would imagine he decided he will go with the players he had available during the world cup for Liverpool, Spurs and maybe Wolves as those were 3 games in 10 days. There's then a 9 day gap to our next Premier League game.

I believe this is why Cash and Martinez haven't started last two games because the team worked on restarts. Martinez and Cash won't have worked in those so Emery wasn't considering them for those games. 

If we put sentiment aside, this plan makes total sense.

Also from a Man Management aspect. Everyone needs to be on the same page.

No ego's either.

[Sulberto21]

2 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

On about 93 minutes I announced "I think we've won this" to the hilarity of my other half

 

1 hour ago, nick76 said:

I think I was later than that to be honest, i was just worried a dodgy decision was coming which started a few minutes of confusion ending in a draw.  Think I still have issues like Wolves a year or so ago and other games.  It’s rare I’m ever comfortable until the final whistle goes.

VAR : hold my pint!!!!