Unai Emery

[ez]

I can't understand why he didn't change anything until the 60th minute and even then it was prompted by conceding the second goal.

[SamTheMouse]

He fucked up yesterday, but we're still lucky to have him.

[Ian.]

He fucked up yesterday, but we're still lucky to have him.

Yep, he did, I hate to criticise him as he’s done so so much.

The players too, some have been magnificent at times, Roger’s and Tielemans, but they had a shocker. Big Emi too, should have done better.

Gutted to lose like that. That’s football for you though.

[BC Villain]

Bottom line is that he's squeezed as much out of many of these players as he's ever going to.

Of the 11 who started.  He signed 4, Gerrard 2, Smith 4 and Bruce 1.  He certainly needs a complete rethink of the defence as its been an thorn in the arse all season, it's whether PSR will allow us much wiggle room if we don't make the CL.

[django]

I was saying this to my dad at half time. It seemed like if we put Malen on for Asensio and moved Rogers central, or if Rogers was too knackered a straight swap for Malen we could have gone for it a bit more. But on chances we’d had more than them, greater possession etc and I said apart from the goal I thought Emery would be reasonably happy with that despite the fact we looked so flat.

I think Emery was maybe looking at it as a game where there were few chances for either side and we were racking up corners. I think he didn’t want to stretch the game out of fear of playing to Palaces strengths.

I think what he’s tried to establish this season in trying to have more ‘controlled’ games is about keeping games like that. In games where we have the better squad of players he’s hoping that quality tells in those infrequent moments and in games where we are underdogs the limited chances gives us a chance to nick something in those moments.

It’s worked reasonably well, games like Juve, Bayern etc. but what’s most frustrating is we’ve looked at our best when we’ve just gone for it in games like Newcastle, PSG pt2.
At its worst like the last two games it’s like we just slowly allow ourselves to lose without ever appearing to go for it.

[PeterWithe]

I was saying this to my dad at half time.  ow ourselves to lose without ever appearing to go for it.

etc, etc

I make you right, but this approach doesn't seem to allow for world class players to lash one past you unexpectedly from miles out and its then really difficult to change the midset and get on the front foot.

[LeeB]

He fucked up yesterday, but we're still lucky to have him.

He did and we are, but yesterday is a massive mark against him in my eyes.

I know it's still raw but it was verging on unforgivable.

[PaulWinch again]

Maybe for you, but unforgivable seems a bit far to me. He didn’t deliberately chuck it, like Moscow.

[LeeB]

Maybe for you, but unforgivable seems a bit far to me. He didn’t deliberately chuck it, like Moscow.

If he had it couldn't have looked much different.

[Tony Daleys Shorts]

Mings for Torres he clearly got wrong as has been discussed to death.

Rogers playing wide right, just no. He’s best centrally so fucking play him centrally.

Garcia looked good the minutes he got a few weeks back but can’t get a kick, despite Cash being bang average, don’t get it.

Total tactical fuck up against Palace yet again. I thought Emery was all about planning and detail. Didn’t see any evidence yesterday.

Emery has a lot of credit in the bank but yesterday ate into it big time. It was an embarrassment.

[django]

I was saying this to my dad at half time.  ow ourselves to lose without ever appearing to go for it.

etc, etc

I make you right, but this approach doesn't seem to allow for world class players to lash one past you unexpectedly from miles out and its then really difficult to change the midset and get on the front foot.

Yeah I’m not sure there are enough weak teams in the Premier League for it to work for us effectively really. And palace definitely aren’t one of them. If we’d hung on for a few more points in a couple of league games we’d be in CL places and view it as a success probably. It seems to be a strategy that reduces games to finer and finer margins which is fine when you’re winning, frustrating when you’re not.


The teams immediately below us Bournemouth, Palace, Brighton can counter brilliantly but struggle in the league with consistency and get occasional hidings. Maybe that was more our approach last season but the higher up the league you go the harder it is to do thst as teams don’t go at you the same way.

Liverpool and to a lesser degree Arsenal can control and dominate games through their superior quality. Man City have shown this season that it doesn’t take much drop off in quality to a similar level to us and you can’t control games reliably.

Hopefully when the dust settles on the season Emery will look back at the Newcastle game and try and find a way to replicate that more often.

[PeterWithe]

True about the fine margins, in another world Eze doesn't connect as well or the Emi of last year moves his feet quicker and tips it over, we go in at the break 0-0 and all is going to plan.....

[olaftab]

The second we lost at Stockport we lost today.
Let's face facts, he doesn't give a tinkers cuss for the FA Cup and only dld this season because it was a route into Europe when we struggling to achieve it through the league.
We'll get into Europe now, I love Emery but the scars of today will only be healed by a trophy win and for the first time, I doubt it will happen.

You said rightly earlier that you always make or try to make a balanced comment and I know you do that. I can see how much this hurts, and I am there as well, that you have made a totally dippy remark.

[olaftab]

Walking back from the ground I heard someone say that Unai has been told that he MUST win all 4 and therefore he didn't want Spurs game to be squeezed in midweek. That's up there with the mother of all conspiracy theories.

[Ads]

People can and do spout all sorts of shite that they don't mean and that has no rationale in the heat of matters.