Unai Emery - our manager

[Rory]

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.

I know what you mean, but it took people about ten minutes after their promotion to portray Leeds as being 'back where they belong', and the media even have the brass balls to talk about Man City as if they've always been a superpower, rather than a division 2/division 3 basketcase.

In the PL era, even if we're being wildly generous to our opponents, based on average league position we may - MAY -  sit below (in no particular order) Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Newcastle, Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton.

Even including 2001-06 and 2012-2020 (both of which were the result of negligent ownership) I see no reason for us not to be established, permanent fixtures in the top half. In the most basic terms, that's just where we are, and for much of the past 20-odd years our results, performances and league finishes have been artificially low.

We need to get our fucking act together, for sure, but organically, and with or without the prolonged periods of owner-induced atrophy, we should not be finishing outside of the top half, as a minimum.

[ChicagoLion]

To be that, you need the right ownership, the right executives and the right manager. We have now got 2 out if 3. The jury still out on the executives!

[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

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.

100% agree

[Exeter 77]

I know the source for this is the Birmingham Mail but if true I can't see where this would leave Lange.
https://twitter.com/AVFCTheReligion/status/1618166910683693057?t=9oRLX0SB4I4EBVUBrv61Pg&s=19

[tomd2103]

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.

I know what you mean, but it took people about ten minutes after their promotion to portray Leeds as being 'back where they belong', and the media even have the brass balls to talk about Man City as if they've always been a superpower, rather than a division 2/division 3 basketcase.

In the PL era, even if we're being wildly generous to our opponents, based on average league position we may - MAY -  sit below (in no particular order) Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Newcastle, Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton.

Even including 2001-06 and 2012-2020 (both of which were the result of negligent ownership) I see no reason for us not to be established, permanent fixtures in the top half. In the most basic terms, that's just where we are, and for much of the past 20-odd years our results, performances and league finishes have been artificially low.

We need to get our fucking act together, for sure, but organically, and with or without the prolonged periods of owner-induced atrophy, we should not be finishing outside of the top half, as a minimum.

No one seems to be talking about us in the media at the moment, which is fine. Means we can just go about our business under the radar for the time being and hopefully push towards a European place finish.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

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.

100% agree

Spot on!

[chrisw1]

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

We didn't in the first half, they were the much better team.  The second half was more even, but Leeds still had a lot of chances.  It was a good win for us but by no means a dominant performance, we defonitely rode our luck.

[pauliewalnuts]

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.

100% agree

It should be easier to coach the mistakes out than the good stuff in. I don't think there is a cat's chance in hell he's going to get moved on any time soon, he's way off the bottom of the list of keepers.

[pauliewalnuts]

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

We didn't in the first half, they were the much better team.  The second half was more even, but Leeds still had a lot of chances.  It was a good win for us but by no means a dominant performance, we defonitely rode our luck.

You have to say though, is it luck if we keep on getting it? For example, Martinez has made some brilliant saves in recent matches to save us. Is that luck, or is it a reflection that he's one of the best goalkeepers in the world?

Good teams play badly and still win. Man United's years of dominance are a great example of that. How many times did they do precisely that, put in a stinker, win anyway? A lot.

We can't rely on that dynamic alone to get where we want to be - let's not forget, we're a good, well trained side that will get better with better players - but winning whilst playing badly is a good habit to have.

I much prefer it to playing well and still losing, which is what we've done a lot of in the last decade.

[Risso]

You have to say though, is it luck if we keep on getting it? For example, Martinez has made some brilliant saves in recent matches to save us. Is that luck, or is it a reflection that he's one of the best goalkeepers in the world?

Good teams play badly and still win. Man United's years of dominance are a great example of that. How many times did they do precisely that, put in a stinker, win anyway? A lot.

We can't rely on that dynamic alone to get where we want to be - let's not forget, we're a good, well trained side that will get better with better players - but winning whilst playing badly is a good habit to have.

I much prefer it to playing well and still losing, which is what we've done a lot of in the last decade.

Well they did have the ball in the net twice, and as we know it's quite conceivable that on another day VAR gets at least one of those wrong, especially the foul.

[LeeB]

You have to say though, is it luck if we keep on getting it? For example, Martinez has made some brilliant saves in recent matches to save us. Is that luck, or is it a reflection that he's one of the best goalkeepers in the world?

Good teams play badly and still win. Man United's years of dominance are a great example of that. How many times did they do precisely that, put in a stinker, win anyway? A lot.

We can't rely on that dynamic alone to get where we want to be - let's not forget, we're a good, well trained side that will get better with better players - but winning whilst playing badly is a good habit to have.

I much prefer it to playing well and still losing, which is what we've done a lot of in the last decade.

Well they did have the ball in the net twice, and as we know it's quite conceivable that on another day VAR gets at least one of those wrong, especially the foul.

Mings pointed out last week the work they're doing with playing the opposition offside, the goal ruled out at Southampton being a fine example as our defenders were in a perfect line when the ball came in, so again is it luck or a result of us being better coached.

And on the same theme, are Leeds unlucky, as I've seen them do similar in other games without getting results? No, I don't think so, they lack subtlety and get picked off.

[paul_e]

You have to say though, is it luck if we keep on getting it? For example, Martinez has made some brilliant saves in recent matches to save us. Is that luck, or is it a reflection that he's one of the best goalkeepers in the world?

Good teams play badly and still win. Man United's years of dominance are a great example of that. How many times did they do precisely that, put in a stinker, win anyway? A lot.

We can't rely on that dynamic alone to get where we want to be - let's not forget, we're a good, well trained side that will get better with better players - but winning whilst playing badly is a good habit to have.

I much prefer it to playing well and still losing, which is what we've done a lot of in the last decade.

Well they did have the ball in the net twice, and as we know it's quite conceivable that on another day VAR gets at least one of those wrong, especially the foul.

True but on another day 1 of our 2 penalty claims gets given as well. The main points though are that you create your own luck, by having a world class goalkeeper, by having the tactical awareness to play an offside trap, by making opposition defences have to make decisions and plenty of other things.

[OCD]

That work on the offside trap might have helped Watkins stay onside too. On those marginal calls, he's usually offside.

[ChicagoLion]

I understand the concern with the narrow results in a few of our games now.
The problem for me stems from not taking more of the chances to establish or increase our lead in those games.
Start doing that and we will start seeing comfortable victories.

[manic-road]

I understand the concern with the narrow results in a few of our games now.
The problem for me stems from not taking more of the chances to establish or increase our lead in those games.
Start doing that and we will start seeing comfortable victories.

Concern? I haven't heard any Villa fan that I have spoken to express concern about winning by a small margin, in fact they are happy as f*** at the moment.