Unai Emery

[clash city rocker]

Yes 20 first team quality in total, not 20 new players in the transfer window.

Yeah, we're not Forest.

Or Chelsea.

I know Chelsea have been big spenders this year, but I didn't realise quite how much. I saw this morning they've spent £460m on 14 new players since the summer. It's bonkers. Two of those are loans (that still cost £15m).

That's to improve a side that finished third.

With a stadium smaller than ours

Plus a manager not as good as ours.

[Villatillidie25]

https://twitter.com/OP4C/status/1617831529513897985?s=20&t=3_ox2wNzbl3NhpmotEahmA

Watch that, from the Southampton match.

He has us playing some seriously good football. My first thought watching it was how much difference a cool head up front would make.

Some great play in there but what it really highlights is how big a part Luiz plays in everything good we do. The first move on there he has 3 touches but all 3 he opens up the play. The only bit it doesn't show is a little bit of skill he did in the 2nd half where took a touch with his right and passed with his left in a fraction of a second to get out of trouble, the commentator mentioned it as quick feet but it's the sort of thing that if someone like De Bruyne or Messi did it we'd have been seeing it all over the place.

Also looks like Buendia stitched a lot of it together. He was the one breaking the lines in almost all the clips

[chrisw1]

Yes 20 first team quality in total, not 20 new players in the transfer window.

Yeah, we're not Forest.

Or Chelsea.

I know Chelsea have been big spenders this year, but I didn't realise quite how much. I saw this morning they've spent £460m on 14 new players since the summer. It's bonkers. Two of those are loans (that still cost £15m).

That's to improve a side that finished third.

They are laughing in the face of FFP regulations, it's an absolute joke.

[Clampy]

Yes 20 first team quality in total, not 20 new players in the transfer window.

Yeah, we're not Forest.

Or Chelsea.

I know Chelsea have been big spenders this year, but I didn't realise quite how much. I saw this morning they've spent £460m on 14 new players since the summer. It's bonkers. Two of those are loans (that still cost £15m).

That's to improve a side that finished third.

They are laughing in the face of FFP regulations, it's an absolute joke.

I read somewhere that they are getting round it by giving new signings long contracts.

[Villan For Life]

Yes 20 first team quality in total, not 20 new players in the transfer window.

Yeah, we're not Forest.

Or Chelsea.

I know Chelsea have been big spenders this year, but I didn't realise quite how much. I saw this morning they've spent £460m on 14 new players since the summer. It's bonkers. Two of those are loans (that still cost £15m).

That's to improve a side that finished third.

They are laughing in the face of FFP regulations, it's an absolute joke.

I read somewhere that they are getting round it by giving new signings long contracts.

UEFA are changing the FFP regs to prevent them and others doing similar in the future:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64383217

[paul_e]

https://twitter.com/OP4C/status/1617831529513897985?s=20&t=3_ox2wNzbl3NhpmotEahmA

Watch that, from the Southampton match.

He has us playing some seriously good football. My first thought watching it was how much difference a cool head up front would make.

Some great play in there but what it really highlights is how big a part Luiz plays in everything good we do. The first move on there he has 3 touches but all 3 he opens up the play. The only bit it doesn't show is a little bit of skill he did in the 2nd half where took a touch with his right and passed with his left in a fraction of a second to get out of trouble, the commentator mentioned it as quick feet but it's the sort of thing that if someone like De Bruyne or Messi did it we'd have been seeing it all over the place.

Also looks like Buendia stitched a lot of it together. He was the one breaking the lines in almost all the clips

Yep, when Buendia gets it right he's very good, unfortunately a reel of his mistakes in the game would be just as long and would involve giving the ball away cheaply far more than he should.

I worry |I might sound like I'm being a hypocrite now though so I think it's important to clarify how I look at Bailey and Buendia in this setup.

Bailey is in the team to be a maverick, to try to break lines by beating his man and conjure things from nothing. Whether he's doing that job as well as he should be is debateable but it's how I think we want him to play, to use an example it's a similar role to Mahrez or Saka.

Buendia should be much more central to our play, getting more touches, playing more passes and generally trying to use his work rate and movement to create angles and open space, much like De Bruyne or Odegaard.

*To be clear I'm not comparing ability here, just the place within the system.

If Bailey gives the ball away every other time he gets it that's ok because his role is largely to be a pressure valve, we've had a bit of possession and not got anywhere so give it to him and see if he can create an opening. Buendia is more integral to our play and, as you say, he pops up in the middle of moves fairly regularly. For that role it's much more important to make smart use of possession so when he is sloppy in his play it has a much bigger impact on us than when Bailey is.

[Percy McCarthy]

Yes 20 first team quality in total, not 20 new players in the transfer window.

Yeah, we're not Forest.

Or Chelsea.

I know Chelsea have been big spenders this year, but I didn't realise quite how much. I saw this morning they've spent £460m on 14 new players since the summer. It's bonkers. Two of those are loans (that still cost £15m).

That's to improve a side that finished third.

They are laughing in the face of FFP regulations, it's an absolute joke.

I read somewhere that they are getting round it by giving new signings long contracts.

Spoilt bastards. I’d be happy with £200 million before close of play.

[paul_e]

Yes 20 first team quality in total, not 20 new players in the transfer window.

Yeah, we're not Forest.

Or Chelsea.

I know Chelsea have been big spenders this year, but I didn't realise quite how much. I saw this morning they've spent £460m on 14 new players since the summer. It's bonkers. Two of those are loans (that still cost £15m).

That's to improve a side that finished third.

They are laughing in the face of FFP regulations, it's an absolute joke.

I read somewhere that they are getting round it by giving new signings long contracts.

The problem with this plan is that if this doesn't work they've got a lot less wiggle room for a longer period than if they weren't being twats. Not that it matters because the top 6 don't seem to have the rules applied to them in the way that other clubs would, which is why the whole thing is bullshit.

[Beard82]

The thing with Chelseas spend is there seems to be no strategy behind it at all.

I mean - we have had strategies behind our transfer activity - most haven't worked, but there seems to be a plan behind them

[BC Villain]

https://twitter.com/OP4C/status/1617831529513897985?s=20&t=3_ox2wNzbl3NhpmotEahmA

Watch that, from the Southampton match.

He has us playing some seriously good football. My first thought watching it was how much difference a cool head up front would make.

Flies in the face of the salty bastards from other clubs who've accused us of playing anti football

[Astnor]

It s the sign of a good manager when he sees the same as the fans that some players arent good enough or dosent fit and then remove them from their places. Eg: Ings, Sanson, Cash, Bednarek, Chouthino. What Olsen and Marvelous does in the summer I dont know.

[astonvilla82]

https://twitter.com/OP4C/status/1617831529513897985?s=20&t=3_ox2wNzbl3NhpmotEahmA

Watch that, from the Southampton match.

He has us playing some seriously good football. My first thought watching it was how much difference a cool head up front would make.

Flies in the face of the salty bastards from other clubs who've accused us of playing anti football

watched the Leeds game on MOTD on Sunday morning and couldn't believe what I was watching, it's though we never turned up

[Percy McCarthy]

https://twitter.com/OP4C/status/1617831529513897985?s=20&t=3_ox2wNzbl3NhpmotEahmA

Watch that, from the Southampton match.

He has us playing some seriously good football. My first thought watching it was how much difference a cool head up front would make.

Flies in the face of the salty bastards from other clubs who've accused us of playing anti football

watched the Leeds game on MOTD on Sunday morning and couldn't believe what I was watching, it's though we never turned up

Heard some prick on Sky this morning saying we’re more or less safe.

[Drummond]

People have that perception of us because of what they've seen for the last decade and a bit. It's going to take time to shift that view of us. When was the last time we finished in any sort of decent position in the Premier League? It really pains me to say it, but it's true.

I think there are plenty of savvy enough people out there who realise the potential we have, and most of them hope we won't fulfil it.

[Toronto Villa]

Been saying that for ages whenever anyone gets upset at our coverage in the national media. I don’t think there is a bias against us. We’ve been mostly shit and irrelevant for the better part of 3 decades. We pop up every so often to make a little noise, but the we disappear up our own arses through any number of spurned opportunities to push on. Stop being shit for a decent amount of time and we won’t be ignored. Man City and Chelsea were massively irrelevant until they started winning everything. We don’t have to do that to be noticed. We just need to have a sustained period of competing near the business end of the table.