Unai Emery

[ChesterDad]

9 hours ago, Zatman said:

Agree nearly everybody wins away to Man City

You’re right of course, maybe the manner of the defeat is what hurts? Clearly not helped by conceding so early and not having Mings to rally the troops.

I’m willing to put it down to a very bad day at the office ( hopefully )

[RichW]

Be interesting to see how our form fares over the next few weeks. 5 wins out of 7 was obviously not going to be sustainable, wouldn't be surprised if we go 4 games without a win before we play Palace. This group have shown they are capable of going on poor runs of form under both previous managers but i'm optimistic Emery will give us a decent second half of the season which will see us finish where we are. 

[TRO]

I think he needs to do some hard thinking in the Summer...

An Injection of some new thinking needs to be employed.

The recruitment team, concern me, they don't give me any confidence, they are looking for the right types of players.

[Tom13]

2 hours ago, ChesterDad said:

You’re right of course, maybe the manner of the defeat is what hurts? Clearly not helped by conceding so early and not having Mings to rally the troops.

I’m willing to put it down to a very bad day at the office ( hopefully )

Took the words outta my mouth. It was a very depressing, soulless (as someone in the match thread nicely put it) performance.

Obviously Emery needs time.

[Strog]

47 minutes ago, TRO said:

I think he needs to do some hard thinking in the Summer...

An Injection of some new thinking needs to be employed.

The recruitment team, concern me, they don't give me any confidence, they are looking for the right types of players.

Our recruitment since promotion has been average hence our position and aside from JJ no one else has really come through from the youth.

Our scouting network seems to be an issue as well.

Hopefully these issues will get addressed but it will take time.

We really cannot compete with the big teams right now in every aspect; so for me, the top 7 is a pipe dream.

Unai needs the right tools, if not given how can he build us to compete.

Edited February 13, 2023 by Strog

[TRO]

3 hours ago, Steero113 said:

In fairness, what I've seen from Moreno and Duran from extremely limited playing time looks spot on. 

We have no idea who else they tried for in January (Jan is a nightmare to try to entice players), but the two players that we have signed under Unai have looked promising to say the least. 

This goes back, way before UE but he needs players to fix this, coaching alone, won't suffice.....even though good coaching is essential.

Edited February 13, 2023 by TRO

[andym]

I think he's immediately keyed in on what we are lacking; not the usual cliches of height, toughness etc, but pace, particularly when attacking. Speed is crucial in being able to move defences around and create openings, particularly when a side is sitting in.

Buendia, Coutinho, Traore, Digne when he gets forward etc; none of them are quick. Bailey must be one of the slowest 'wingers' out there. We've invested millions in supposed creative players who can't beat a man in a foot race.

The biggest concentration of pace in our side is probably at CB with Mings, Konsa (and Carlos when fit), which is a big problem. 

Emery's first two signings are quick and dynamic, and add in the likes of Ings quickly being shipped out, its pretty obvious to me he wants way more mobility in the side.

 

 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

What's frustrating is that a couple of weeks ago we were well clear of the teams behind us.

Our toughest games now happen to coincide with the teams behind us picking up form and gaining points on us.

At this point I just want us to get to the 40 points and see what else is possible for the season.

He himself said his first remit was/is to keep us safe, then push on.

[TRO]

7 minutes ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

What's frustrating is that a couple of weeks ago we were well clear of the teams behind us.

Our toughest games now happen to coincide with the teams behind us picking up form and gaining points on us.

At this point I just want us to get to the 40 points and see what else is possible for the season.

He himself said his first remit was/is to keep us safe, then push on.

That has to be the first target.

[ChesterDad]

8 hours ago, Strog said:

Our recruitment since promotion has been average hence our position and aside from JJ no one else has really come through from the youth.

Our scouting network seems to be an issue as well.

Hopefully these issues will get addressed but it will take time.

We really cannot compete with the big teams right now in every aspect; so for me, the top 7 is a pipe dream.

Unai needs the right tools, if not given how can he build us to compete.

I’m not sure I completely agree with your assessment of players coming through.

Would you not consider Tim, Cameron and dare I say his name Carney?

I would say all 3 have a very good chance of a career at the highest level albeit possibly not with us in the case of two of these 

[Zatman]

1 hour ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

What's frustrating is that a couple of weeks ago we were well clear of the teams behind us.

Our toughest games now happen to coincide with the teams behind us picking up form and gaining points on us.

At this point I just want us to get to the 40 points and see what else is possible for the season.

He himself said his first remit was/is to keep us safe, then push on.

the gap has dropped to a point in the last 2 weeks

[DJBOB]

If you zoom out - January was largely succesful in terms of more or less keeping us out of the relegation scrap. I remember when Gerrard was still manager - I was most worried about the 6 pointers this period. With the win at Spurs, we get 10/12 for a great January return.

February with Leicester, City, Arsenal, Everton - I would've had said 6 at minimum so we'll fall short there.

March with Palace, West Ham, Bournemouth - here's another big test as these are classic games we would slip up. Teams at or below our level with two of them at home. 6 would be good - 9 would be perfect.

April with Chelsea, Forest, Newcastle, Brentford, Fulham, United - this is tough list with 3 at home and 3 away. On the face of it, you're hoping for 6-9 points.

May with Wolves, Spurs, Liverpool, and Brighton - not an easy ending either. 3 or 4 points would be alright.

That would put us at or about 46 points which is one more point than last year.

Really emphasizes the  failure Stevie had picking up easy points against the bottom half teams in the beginning of the year (dropped 10 points against Bournemouth, West Ham, Leeds, and Forest) and  and how his stay was supported by simply playing teams below us. 

Lots of work for Unai ahead of us and this summer.

[ChesterDad]

10 hours ago, TRO said:

I think he needs to do some hard thinking in the Summer...

An Injection of some new thinking needs to be employed.

The recruitment team, concern me, they don't give me any confidence, they are looking for the right types of players.

I think he knew what he was inheriting TRO 

I think he is far too sharp of a manager to not know.

I have little doubt that plans are afoot already to bring in his own players.

I believe we still have some high points in this season to look forward too.

I just can’t help but think that Leicester defeat cost us more than 3 points - I think it may have zapped some of the new found confidence - added to the worst showing under UE yesterday - confidence must be shaken and with Arsenal next, it’s not likely to return anytime soon 

[Strog]

1 hour ago, ChesterDad said:

I’m not sure I completely agree with your assessment of players coming through.

Would you not consider Tim, Cameron and dare I say his name Carney?

I would say all 3 have a very good chance of a career at the highest level albeit possibly not with us in the case of two of these 

We don’t need to agree. I want nothing more than to see some youth come through and genuinely challenge for a first team spot but it doesn’t seem likely. In regards to the players you mentioned, I expect Tim to be our best hope but he’s still got a way to go.

We can’t compete financially due to FFP so we need to get some youth through to help the first team squad.

I hope Unai gives the younger players  a chance. There’s no better opportunity to try one or two, who have made the squad recently, once we are mathematically safe.

Edited February 13, 2023 by Strog

[KMitch]

1 hour ago, ChesterDad said:

I’m not sure I completely agree with your assessment of players coming through.

Would you not consider Tim, Cameron and dare I say his name Carney?

I would say all 3 have a very good chance of a career at the highest level albeit possibly not with us in the case of two of these 

 

8 minutes ago, Strog said:

We don’t need to agree. I want nothing more than to see some youth come through and genuinely challenge for a first team spot but it doesn’t seem likely. In regards to the players you mentioned, I expect Tim to be our best hope but he’s still got a way to go.

We can’t compete financially due to FFP so we need to get some youth through to help the first team squad.

I hope Unai gives the younger players  a chance. There’s no better opportunity to try one or two once we are mathematically safe.

Not sure why you guys think Tim is going to be amazing for us...  QPR fans think he's shit and were very happy he was dropped for Johansen a few weeks ago.  Hasn't had a good game for them since Beale fooked off to Rangers.  

[Zatman]

16 minutes ago, KMitch said:

 

Not sure why you guys think Tim is going to be amazing for us...  QPR fans think he's shit and were very happy he was dropped for Johansen a few weeks ago.  Hasn't had a good game for them since Beale fooked off to Rangers.  

Could be the fact that QPR have a clown in charge when unsurprisingly we have improved since as he was apparently the brains of the Villa operation this season

[Leeroy]

56 minutes ago, DJBOB said:

If you zoom out - January was largely succesful in terms of more or less keeping us out of the relegation scrap. I remember when Gerrard was still manager - I was most worried about the 6 pointers this period. With the win at Spurs, we get 10/12 for a great January return.

February with Leicester, City, Arsenal, Everton - I would've had said 6 at minimum so we'll fall short there.

March with Palace, West Ham, Bournemouth - here's another big test as these are classic games we would slip up. Teams at or below our level with two of them at home. 6 would be good - 9 would be perfect.

April with Chelsea, Forest, Newcastle, Brentford, Fulham, United - this is tough list with 3 at home and 3 away. On the face of it, you're hoping for 6-9 points.

May with Wolves, Spurs, Liverpool, and Brighton - not an easy ending either. 3 or 4 points would be alright.

That would put us at or about 46 points which is one more point than last year.

Really emphasizes the  failure Stevie had picking up easy points against the bottom half teams in the beginning of the year (dropped 10 points against Bournemouth, West Ham, Leeds, and Forest) and  and how his stay was supported by simply playing teams below us. 

Lots of work for Unai ahead of us and this summer.

For me:

February: 3-4 points (if we lose to/draw with Arsenal we really need to beat Everton to end the month with a positive at least)

March: 7 points should be the aim

April: I think three are games we should be looking to win (Forest, Brentford and Fulham) and draw at least one of the others so 10 points, but Brentford away may be tricky so maybe 8 points

May: we can beat Wolves but they're playing well currently, Spurs are also beatable, we always do well against Brighton, I think 5-6 points is doable

We also play Leicester away and after our horror show against them at home I'd expect us to get a draw. 

 

That would put us on anything between 52 and 56 points and I don't think that's unrealistic but of course we need to start performing much better than we have been. We have 1 more point than Gerrard had in 22 games last season and considering we have a far better manager in terms of pedigree now then I'd be disappointed if we only ended up with one more point in total by the end because that would be a similar end to the season as we had last year and many were far from impressed with that, it would also make it harder for us to attract our targets in summer. 

 

Unai is a proud man, he will not want to have a 13th, 14th or 15th placed finish on his CV with Aston Villa. He has a track record of finishing high up the table with all his teams whether in his first or last season and he will want to finish 10th or higher this season I'm sure, or at least no lower than where we are now. And while this squad isn't what we all want it to be, it's good enough to maintain its position in the table at the very least from now until the end of the season.

[DJBOB]

8 minutes ago, Leeroy said:

For me:

February: 3-4 points (if we lose to/draw with Arsenal we really need to beat Everton to end the month with a positive at least)

March: 7 points should be the aim

April: I think three are games we should be looking to win (Forest, Brentford and Fulham) and draw at least one of the others so 10 points, but Brentford away may be tricky so maybe 8 points

May: we can beat Wolves but they're playing well currently, Spurs are also beatable, we always do well against Brighton, I think 5-6 points is doable

We also play Leicester away and after our horror show against them at home I'd expect us to get a draw. 

 

That would put us on anything between 52 and 56 points and I don't think that's unrealistic but of course we need to start performing much better than we have been. We have 1 more point than Gerrard had in 22 games last season and considering we have a far better manager in terms of pedigree now then I'd be disappointed if we only ended up with one more point in total by the end because that would be a similar end to the season as we had last year and many were far from impressed with that, it would also make it harder for us to attract our targets in summer. 

 

Unai is a proud man, he will not want to have a 13th, 14th or 15th placed finish on his CV with Aston Villa. He has a track record of finishing high up the table with all his teams whether in his first or last season and he will want to finish 10th or higher this season I'm sure, or at least no lower than where we are now. And while this squad isn't what we all want it to be, it's good enough to maintain its position in the table at the very least from now until the end of the season.

Yeah I think 46 would be a minimum approach. No doubt there will be some surprise wins ahead of us. I'm just really more interested in our matches in March. I know Unai can set up a good counter-attacking side against the big teams (provided we don't do silly things like give up corner goals in the 5th minute) but how is he going to get this Villa side winning at home against teams happy to let us have the ball? If we want to make Europe - getting those points are crucial.

[Strog]

12 hours ago, KMitch said:

 

Not sure why you guys think Tim is going to be amazing for us...  QPR fans think he's shit and were very happy he was dropped for Johansen a few weeks ago.  Hasn't had a good game for them since Beale fooked off to Rangers.  

As I said, Tim has a way to go. I guess that tells us what we need to know about our home grown talent.

The likes of K Young, Feeney and Swinkels have made the bench this season. Can Unai get them to reach their potential, time will tell?

[romavillan]

Just seen his post match interview after the City result. We are very lucky to have this bloke, everything he said is bang on the money as to what we need to be doing going forward. He stresses he wants to use everything that happened in the match to learn, develop the players and the system to be better in the rest of the season.