Unai Emery

[WallisFrizz]

5 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

i have thought this for a while, but never quite decided how to put it in to words, here goes tho.....

We look good defensively when we play Emery's defensive style (away from home tactic), but our defence is actually pretty poor (we just dont see it with this style of play), as those defenders are bolstered by the low block, high numbers in defence and they are nearly always "looking forward", which makes it much easier for them to do their job etc.

When we are at home under Emery we try to be more aggressive, play a higher line etc, then the defenders get less support, have to use their intelligence, and be aware of what is in front, alongside and sometimes behind them, and i think we have seen time and again it isnt something a fair few of our defenders can do, they simply arent good enough to do it.

my point is, the defensive tactic greatly hides our defensive weaknesses, and the attacking style greatly exposes them, its very similar to the problem Gerrard had, when we tried to play expansive, our defence got spanked over and over, then Gerrard reverted to defensive, and it improved, then he tried offensive after a while and we imploded again, not defending Gerrard at all, but i think both Gerrard and Smith suffered from this fact, and now its something Emery will have to contend with for now.

The positive though, is that Emery will stick with his style regardless i think, and over time the players that cant play the style(s) as required will be moved on, and im more than happy for us to instil a style and improve over time, i just hope we dont go back to flip-flopping between styles, i hope Emery sticks to his guns, which im almost certain he will, it might be painful to watch at times tho lol (until we iron out the problems).

Fair. What do you make of these comments then? Do you think he will hold his nerve and continue to play out?

 

[Villarocker]

I think today showed he's trying to still find his feet with these players. 

My worry about the transfer window was that maybe the club got a bit too comfortable with our league position. We know most of these players are vulnerable to collapse. I just hope that Unai doesn't get too carried away with these players and tries to get them doing things they're not capable of or competent at. 

I thought the decision to change Digne was odd. I didn't think he deserved to be changed. 

This isn't me saying that Unai isn't good enough or doesn't know what he's doing etc. I am merely saying that I hope he doesn't put misplaced trust in some of these as they may well let him down. 

[Wainy316]

The last two league games we lost we could have easily scored 10.  Once Emery gets his own personnel in we’ll be good.

[El-Reacho]

Quite similar to Liverpool game and both were after long spells without a game when Emery has had loads time to train with the players. I wonder has he been working on the more long term strategy in these longer periods without a game and the players are coming up short in the games so he’ll revert to a more short term fix again for next few games?

[catanzaro]

35 minutes ago, El-Reacho said:

Quite similar to Liverpool game and both were after long spells without a game when Emery has had loads time to train with the players. I wonder has he been working on the more long term strategy in these longer periods without a game and the players are coming up short in the games so he’ll revert to a more short term fix again for next few games?

I think you might be right 

[KentVillan]

1 hour ago, briny_ear said:

I lost a little bit of faith in Emery today (which, perhaps foolishly on  my behalf has been sky high). 

Needs a big response to win it back.

Ha, ok.

It's been pretty clear since the Liverpool game that Emery has two separate styles he wants to play. One of them (low block, low possession, counter) is working very well, and has seen us shoot up the table since he arrived. The other is probably going to take more time and require better players in key positions. But we know he can do it because unlike Gerrard he has a track record at the elite level.

I haven't lost any faith at all. He's been here for 3 or 4 months. It's very clear things are moving in the right direction.

I also don't see this as requiring "a big response". It didn't feel like a game where we showed any lack of commitment, or any tactical frailties. The players just didn't execute well in key moments, and maybe didn't get the rub of the green on a couple of occasions. Another day and that's 3 points in the bag.

Hard to see Emery as the problem on this occasion. Yes he could have played more defensive and tried to grind out the game, but he's trying to train the squad to play both styles. In the long run, that will be to our benefit.

[MaVilla]

1 hour ago, KentVillan said:

Ha, ok.

It's been pretty clear since the Liverpool game that Emery has two separate styles he wants to play. One of them (low block, low possession, counter) is working very well, and has seen us shoot up the table since he arrived. The other is probably going to take more time and require better players in key positions. But we know he can do it because unlike Gerrard he has a track record at the elite level.

I haven't lost any faith at all. He's been here for 3 or 4 months. It's very clear things are moving in the right direction.

I also don't see this as requiring "a big response". It didn't feel like a game where we showed any lack of commitment, or any tactical frailties. The players just didn't execute well in key moments, and maybe didn't get the rub of the green on a couple of occasions. Another day and that's 3 points in the bag.

Hard to see Emery as the problem on this occasion. Yes he could have played more defensive and tried to grind out the game, but he's trying to train the squad to play both styles. In the long run, that will be to our benefit.

[Pinebro]

Playing out from the back is the Spanish and Emery way of playing.

He is trying to turn a hoofball team into a possession based teams who control games.

We will keep conceding goals because of it in the starting phase of his tenure and that's ok.

Basically a bit of short term pain for long term gain. We need to just deal with it and get behind the team.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Pinebro

[Leeroy]

I'm confident he's far better than Gerrard but results have been fairly mixed so far if we include cup games:

Man U, Brighton and Spurs - brilliant wins and performances

Leeds, Southampton - we won but weren't great in either especially Leeds

Wolves, Liverpool, Leicester - poor results against Wolves and Leicester given where they are in the table and we were at home, and Liverpool result looks bad now given their results this season

Stevenage - absolutely awful result

[eholm]

Although I appreciate we are all entitled to our opinions, I am staggered that some people are even criticising UE. The guy has completely transformed this group of players and is trying to implement a high level tactical system to players that have had no coaching for a year and/or will not be able to adapt. Our players are not as brilliant as we think they are or as rubbish as we say they are - it’s somewhere in the middle…you know….for a MID-table team!!
 

He has only been here a number of weeks and obviously results will be inconsistent - we are a typical mid table team so that is an absolute given. If there are fans who can’t see what UE has already done and more importantly what he will improve going forward over the next 12 months then I simply do not understand that view. Has that patience we all prided ourselves on giving him in November already started to wain? Really??

UE is the best manager we have had in my 45+ years and I have no doubt whatsoever he will have us consistently challenging for European football within the next couple of seasons. This need for instant gratification is so tiring. Let’s be better than that. 

Edited February 5, 2023 by eholm

[VillaJ100]

1 hour ago, eholm said:

Although I appreciate we are all entitled to our opinions, I am staggered that some people are even criticising UE. The guy has completely transformed this group of players and is trying to implement a high level tactical system to players that have had no coaching for a year and/or will not be able to adapt. Our players are not as brilliant as we think they are or as rubbish as we say they are - it’s somewhere in the middle…you know….for a MID-table team!!
 

He has only been here a number of weeks and obviously results will be inconsistent - we are a typical mid table team so that is an absolute given. If there are fans who can’t see what UE has already done and more importantly what he will improve going forward over the next 12 months then I simply do not understand that view. Has that patience we all prided ourselves on giving him in November already started to wain? Really??

UE is the best manager we have had in my 45+ years and I have no doubt whatsoever he will have us consistently challenging for European football within the next couple of seasons. This need for instant gratification is so tiring. Let’s be better than that. 

Completely agree. I'm actually staggered. 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

Gave the forum a strategic miss last night.

Have we moved on from from the whole defense is shite, Leon Bailey is the worst footballer on the planet ( Would pay his wages to release him to Walsall etc ) , Ollie is League 1 at best,  Emery got it wrong and this is why we should have spunked money in the window yet?

[Demitri_C]

I think behind the scenes emery is livid with that result. You dint even see championship sides make as many pathetic defensive mistakes as we did yesterday 

[rodders0223]

3 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

I think behind the scenes emery is livid with that result. You dint even see championship sides make as many pathetic defensive mistakes as we did yesterday 

Like Stevenage. I think a few cards are already marked.

It's not even worth getting worked up about really. We'll finish mid table we are no better and no worse than that.

Unai will implement his style of play for the next few months and those who are clearly not capable will be gone.

[Demitri_C]

Just now, rodders0223 said:

Like Stevenage. I think a few cards are already marked.

It's not even worth getting worked up about really. We'll finish mid table we are no better and no worse than that.

Unai will implement his style of play for the next few months and those who are clearly not capable will be gone.

Yep i think he knows a lot of these players are not up to the task of where he wants to take us. They will either be sold or squad players come next season

[Vive_La_Villa]

As I said in the match thread that was pure complacency and there’s just no place for that against any team in this league. That’s under 3 managers now we’ve seen players being way to relaxed after a bit of good form.   It’s infuriating we can ship 4 to a Leicester team that I think was one of the worst teams I’ve seen at Villa Park this season. 
 

Welcome to the job at hand Unai.

[Tayls]

Got some serious figuring out to do after yesterday. If Kamara and Luiz are going to be pressured so easily like that and forced into errors, then we need to come up with a new system. Just the small matter of Man City and Arsenal next. Could be 3 defeats in a row. 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Tayls

[Tomaszk]

Feel a bit sorry for the boss in the home fixtures.

He keeps talking about wanting to get the fans onside. As a result you can tell we're much more front foot at home...and it keeps going wrong

We should have beaten Leicester. Had chances against Wolves and Liverpool. We'd definitely have beaten Liverpool if we'd played a bit more on the break IMO.

Right ideas from Unai. Just not the quality there (yet) to carry it out.

[Made In Aston]

1 hour ago, Tomaszk said:

Feel a bit sorry for the boss in the home fixtures.

He keeps talking about wanting to get the fans onside. As a result you can tell we're much more front foot at home...and it keeps going wrong

We should have beaten Leicester. Had chances against Wolves and Liverpool. We'd definitely have beaten Liverpool if we'd played a bit more on the break IMO.

Right ideas from Unai. Just not the quality there (yet) to carry it out.

At home, I think he needs to set the team up a little bit more how he does away until we can get some different defenders in. Judging by his post match interviews he sounds like he is thinking of adapting his approach, so am half expecting a more pragmatic home performance next time - Less entertaining and more compact. 

[bannedfromHandV]

I voted the managers’ performance as ‘good’ in the post-match thread. I thought in terms of how we were set up and general play we were good, we were the better team overall, easily. We should have scored more and definitely should have conceded less, all 4 goals came from individual errors (Bouba x2, Mings, Moreno), on another day at least three of those don’t occur.

I continue to be as enthused and optimistic as I was prior to yesterday.