Unai Emery - our manager

[PaulWinch again]

40 mins? Maybe I’m misremembering but I don’t think shutting the game down came anywhere near that early.

[Eckybloke]

Defensive at the right time is fine, my concerns have generally been what if it doesn’t work and they equalise/go ahead?  Do we have the options to turn it around or is it too late? 
Now, I think/hope we have the manager with the tools to turn it about and it’s potentially exciting.

[john e]

In hindsight I wish Emery had gone all out attack, which would have suited the seagulls and and perhaps we would have lost 5 or 6,,we been shit before he come

Would we
We’d thrashed the pants off man utd a week earlier playing that way
So I suppose it shows we can play in different ways and styles which is a good thing obviously

I just don’t like defensive Football never have done never will do it might be my Achilles heel but there we go

[Bad English]

But I won’t be fawning over Southgate Allardyce footballany time soon and I know you’re all going to say it’s A different thing and I’m getting confused but it’s not it’s fucking six at the back defending a one goal lead for nearly a whole half And I won’t be a hypocrite

[CT Villan]

uno en el agujero que dices?

[PeterWithesShin]

Fun fact. Gregory and Atkinson both did 3 full seasons. Gregory had a higher goals per game ratio in those 3 seasons.

[john e]

Fun fact. Gregory and Atkinson both did 3 full seasons. Gregory had a higher goals per game ratio in those 3 seasons.

Good fun fact
Still prefer BFR

[OCD]

I wouldn't prescribe those tactics in many scenarios long-term. When he's only just come in, had a handful of sessions, not had chance to bring in his own players and when we were being dragged into trouble, I think it's fair enough. Instead of going into the break on 12 points, we're now on 18 points and looking up the table again with a few weeks to work on things on the training ground.

[Smithy]

In hindsight I wish Emery had gone all out attack, which would have suited the seagulls and and perhaps we would have lost 5 or 6,,we been shit before he come

Would we
We’d thrashed the pants off man utd a week earlier playing that way
So I suppose it shows we can play in different ways and styles which is a good thing obviously

I just don’t like defensive Football never have done never will do it might be my Achilles heel but there we go

I don't think anyone "likes" defensive football, I certainly don't. And if Emery ends up playing a Southgate-esque five at the back with two sitting midfielders in front of them, I'll be VERY disappointed. 

But Saturday wasn't a "defensive performance" apart from the last 25 minutes - which in my book, is fine.  Would I prefer us to have "gone for it" to win 3 or 4 1 instead of holding on for a win? Of course, but I recognise the premier league isn't fantasy football and that's not how the game works, unfortunately.  I wish it did. The reality is that the more you attack, the more exposed you become at the back, so there is a decision to be made about how much you want that extra goal vs how much you want to avoid conceding one.  As others have said, the opposition will play a big part in that equation too. 

Even teams that dominate the ball and are excellent at attacking from all angles, like Man City, get caught on the break after leaving gaps at the back, as evidenced at Brentford this weekend when they were pressing for a winner.  Do you think we would have conceded 3 in the last 10 minutes against them at the end of last season if we'd been as defensively well-organised as we were at Brighton? Maybe, but I think we'd have been much more solid and wouldn't have collapsed.

There will come a time when we try to shut up shop towards the end of a game, and it won't work, and we'll lose a lead, or worse a game, and then people will rightly be very unhappy about it.  But being able to "park the bus" effectively is a great skill for a team to have if it has ambitions of playing at the top level.

But for the avoidance of doubt, if we find ourselves STARTING games like that, I'll be disappointed.

[pauliewalnuts]

I wouldn't prescribe those tactics in many scenarios long-term. When he's only just come in, had a handful of sessions, not had chance to bring in his own players and when we were being dragged into trouble, I think it's fair enough. Instead of going into the break on 12 points, we're now on 18 points and looking up the table again with a few weeks to work on things on the training ground.

His immediate pressing concern coming in was exactly like you said - get us away from the relegation zone in time for the break and build from a position of promise rather than one of increasing desperation.

I reckon if you'd asked us two weeks ago if we'd be willing to play 10-0-0 for 180 mins across those two matches if it meant six points from six, every single one of us would have taken it.

It's entirely about necessity with where we are, and he's absolutely played a blinder.

I'm so tired of seeing us take leads and then just spunk them away effortlessly because we don't change our shape to reflect the game. Emery has done that more than once in the same game and we're seeing the benefits.

[LeeB]

Villareal played defensively and knocked Bayern and Juve out of the European Cup, with a squad that on paper would be tipped to be in the relegation zone over here.

That's Bayern, who we've beaten once for the greatest night in our illustrious history, and Juventus who knocked us out the following season beating us in both games.

I'll take defensive football if it means we start playing (and beating) these teams again.

[pauliewalnuts]

That's Bayern, who we've beaten once for the greatest night in our illustrious history

85 minutes of which we spent defending for our lives.

[LeeB]

That's Bayern, who we've beaten once for the greatest night in our illustrious history

85 minutes of which we spent defending for our lives.

Yes indeed.

[LeeB]

Mind you, if we'd had to sub Martinez after 5 minutes for Olsen Christ knows how many it would've been.

[pauliewalnuts]

Mind you, if we'd had to sub Martinez after 5 minutes for Olsen Christ knows how many it would've been.

If we'd had Martinez in nets in Rotterdam, we'd probably still be playing all the injury time added on to account for all the timewasting shit-housery he'd engaged in.