Unai Emery - our manager

[Risso]

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

I don't think it's possible to train to the standards that VAR uses on offside calls though, sometimes it's millimetres.

[eamonn]

I never felt we had control of the Leeds game. Our attacks came from counters, we were struggling against their pressing and intensity. We improved in the second half, probably because they tired themselves out a little plus their wildcard on the wing, while still causing problems, was more of a known quantity when the coaches reviewed the first half with the team in the dressing room.

I don't want to see teams like Wolves and Leeds come to VP, press us relentlessly as we struggle to get into their half. We're probably a ball-playing centre-back, another midfield option as comfortable as Kamara on/off the ball and another outball option on the wing, away from beating intense pressing and being better at it ourselves.

[OCD]

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

I don't think it's possible to train to the standards that VAR uses on offside calls though, sometimes it's millimetres.

No, there's an element of luck when the margins are that fine. But how many times have we seen Watkins clearly offside. I imagine the forward players would have been part of some of the drills that the defenders worked on.

[pauliewalnuts]

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.

There's a good shout we'll be way better once we start to convert more of the chances we do create in any case.

[olaftab]

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.

No concern on winning by a goal and League results are decent however Unai has messed up in both cups. I am annoyed about that and when Stevenage take the field against Stoke it will hurt.

[Risso]

My concern such as it is, is that we appear to have very little room for error at the moment. We can't afford any more injuries whatsoever, as we already have seen a bench with two keepers and two completely untried kids on it. If Watkins picks up a knock, then we've absolutely nobody as it stands who can come in and replace him, as Emery has said that Duran isn't ready to be thrown in. So far we've done a good job of freeing up space in the team by getting rid of Ings, Sanson and Bednarek and loaning out Archer, but that's only once side of the equation and the more important one is actually replacing them. I'd much rather have Ings than nobody, else in the cicumstances of a Watkins injury we're faced with the thought of having Bailey up front as a lone striker, which fills me with no confidence whatsoever.

[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.

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.

Try reading this thread.

[paul_e]

My concern such as it is, is that we appear to have very little room for error at the moment. We can't afford any more injuries whatsoever, as we already have seen a bench with two keepers and two completely untried kids on it. If Watkins picks up a knock, then we've absolutely nobody as it stands who can come in and replace him, as Emery has said that Duran isn't ready to be thrown in. So far we've done a good job of freeing up space in the team by getting rid of Ings, Sanson and Bednarek and loaning out Archer, but that's only once side of the equation and the more important one is actually replacing them. I'd much rather have Ings than nobody, else in the cicumstances of a Watkins injury we're faced with the thought of having Bailey up front as a lone striker, which fills me with no confidence whatsoever.

but lets not forget that we have a week and  a half until our next game and every day seems to bring a new story of players we have bids in for and 'wonderful offers' we've put in front of people.

If the window closes and we still have clear gaps then it'll be a legitimate concern that many people share but there's literally nothing to suggest that would be intentional. I get the argument that it's best to get the replaacement in first but I'm not sure that's always true and I'm certain that sometimes it's not going to be possible to do things that way round. For example maybe West Ham were determined to get Ings in for their game at the weekend so made an offer with a deadline to work for that, as we were happy with the offer and for him to leave we didn't want to jeopardise it by missing that deadline.

It's also worth noting that someone has to sell before they buy for the domino effect to kick in, if 'you' are the key move that kicks off loads of other activity then you have to accept that and there's an argument that brinkmanship when you're in that position makes the risk of not getting a replacement before the window closes far higher.

TL:DR - transfer windows are complicated and sometimes you have to take risks.

[pablo_picasso]

My concern about our playing style is that we cannot continue to play like we did against Leeds for example, & continue our excellent form.

Performances matter, as once you have that sorted, the results should then take care of themselves over time. However, & while Im cautious about being too optimistic, but, I feel as if some of our performance issues are alleviated by the facts that we have at times played some really good football.

And part of the rougher performances have been more down to the fact that not all of our players have the technical or mental qualities needed to play in Emery's system.

As time passes, & he gets more of his own people in, I feel that the positive elements of our performances will become more consistent & the negative will become the anomaly...

But I am still cautious about being too optimistic. We are Villa after all & I have been a fan for over 40 years, so I know we have form for raising expectations & then crashing them down in spectacular fashion.

[Clampy]

I'd like to see us be a little less tippy tappy around the opposition box but other than that, its encouraging so far. The goals will come and so will a few players. The players already here seem to have bought in to what Emery wants to do and it's a million miles from that Fulham debacle which was that bad, Gerrard was gone within an hour of the final whistle.

[Risso]

My concern such as it is, is that we appear to have very little room for error at the moment. We can't afford any more injuries whatsoever, as we already have seen a bench with two keepers and two completely untried kids on it. If Watkins picks up a knock, then we've absolutely nobody as it stands who can come in and replace him, as Emery has said that Duran isn't ready to be thrown in. So far we've done a good job of freeing up space in the team by getting rid of Ings, Sanson and Bednarek and loaning out Archer, but that's only once side of the equation and the more important one is actually replacing them. I'd much rather have Ings than nobody, else in the cicumstances of a Watkins injury we're faced with the thought of having Bailey up front as a lone striker, which fills me with no confidence whatsoever.

but lets not forget that we have a week and  a half until our next game and every day seems to bring a new story of players we have bids in for and 'wonderful offers' we've put in front of people.

If the window closes and we still have clear gaps then it'll be a legitimate concern that many people share but there's literally nothing to suggest that would be intentional. I get the argument that it's best to get the replaacement in first but I'm not sure that's always true and I'm certain that sometimes it's not going to be possible to do things that way round. For example maybe West Ham were determined to get Ings in for their game at the weekend so made an offer with a deadline to work for that, as we were happy with the offer and for him to leave we didn't want to jeopardise it by missing that deadline.

It's also worth noting that someone has to sell before they buy for the domino effect to kick in, if 'you' are the key move that kicks off loads of other activity then you have to accept that and there's an argument that brinkmanship when you're in that position makes the risk of not getting a replacement before the window closes far higher.

TL:DR - transfer windows are complicated and sometimes you have to take risks.

I get all that, but sometimes you just have to move heaven and earth to get things done. There might be a week and a half until our next game, but there's only 6 days until the window shuts, and if we want two signings then we really need to start seeing activity this week I'd argue. I just think there's a great opportunity to build on Emery's amazing start. He's clearly a brilliant manager and so these results don't feel like "new manager bounce". If we stick with the squad as it is, I fear even he won't be able to maintain the run, and we'll tail off. Then in the summer when the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs and Newcastle are spending big, we'll be back to hoping for a top half finish again. Go for it now, what's the worst that can happen?

[Toronto Villa]

The thing is there might be legitimate activity behind the scenes. Just not being made public. But yes it would have been good to see those players training already versus still waiting to be signed. One week less of integration won’t make that much of difference but given our outgoings it would be useful to have them getting to know the other players and staff. I’m still highly confident players will be bought. Emery didn’t come to the club without those assurances.

[Drummond]

I like his style, I like what he says, and so far he does what he says he'll do.

We're linked with better players than we've been linked with in the recent past, and Moreno and Duran were both highly rated before coming. The remainder of this season is a great opportunity for us, I just cant' decide whether it's too early, because given the squad we have, an extra pile of games when we conquer Europe and both cups next season as well as winning the league may take it out of them a bit.

[Risso]

The thing is there might be legitimate activity behind the scenes. Just not being made public. But yes it would have been good to see those players training already versus still waiting to be signed. One week less of integration won’t make that much of difference but given our outgoings it would be useful to have them getting to know the other players and staff. I’m still highly confident players will be bought. Emery didn’t come to the club without those assurances.

I agree one week less of integration isn't important, I'm just worried (hopefully needlessly!) that we'll bring nobody in and there's no new players TO integrate!

[eamonn]

I'd like to see us be a little less tippy tappy around the opposition box but other than that, its encouraging so far. The goals will come and so will a few players. The players already here seem to have bought in to what Emery wants to do and it's a million miles from that Fulham debacle which was that bad, Gerrard was gone within an hour of the final whistle.

Fulham fans were so wrong when they sung he was getting sacked in the morning.