Unai Emery

[RamboandBruno]

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.

I really wish we’d gone for it in that game!

[SamTheMouse]

We've been mooching around the arse end of the league for so long, Emery could sign eleven Ben Mees and play them all in goal, and I wouldn't give a shit as long as we started winning consistently.

[Rory]

We've been mooching around the arse end of the league for so long, Emery could sign eleven Ben Mees and play them all in goal, and I wouldn't give a shit as long as we started winning consistently.

Now now, come on.

The manager picked the team that twice took the lead against Man Utd on Thursday, but he should've known that eventually, player error would end up costing us the game. He should've known what the the final result would be and made decisions to change it.

The same manager picked the team and adopted the tactics that that saw us win 1-2 on Sunday. Yeah, okay, we did win, but what if we hadn't? He might've known what the final result would be, but what did he do to change what the result wasn't?

We concede three times and we lose 4-1. What did Emery do to stop that? Nothing. FACT.

Jury's out for me.

[Monty]

The team still was an eleven that, if need be, could be recalibrated into an attacking shape. We also did attempt breakaways but Brighton's entire thing is keeping the ball, so we didn't overcommit to pressing them as we were winning.

[Nunkin1965]

We've been mooching around the arse end of the league for so long, Emery could sign eleven Ben Mees and play them all in goal, and I wouldn't give a shit as long as we started winning consistently.

Now now, come on.

The manager picked the team that twice took the lead against Man Utd on Thursday, but he should've known that eventually, player error would end up costing us the game. He should've known what the the final result would be and made decisions to change it.

The same manager picked the team and adopted the tactics that that saw us win 1-2 on Sunday. Yeah, okay, we did win, but what if we hadn't? He might've known what the final result would be, but what did he do to change what the result wasn't?

We concede three times and we lose 4-1. What did Emery do to stop that? Nothing. FACT.

Jury's out for me.

It's in for me,
He's turned under performing players into a competitive unit and given us back to back wins in the league.
He's also adapted system to suit the situation and we've come out ontop in both games.
Its not going to work out week in and out but thats football.

That is an undisputable fact.

[Nunkin1965]

We've been mooching around the arse end of the league for so long, Emery could sign eleven Ben Mees and play them all in goal, and I wouldn't give a shit as long as we started winning consistently.

Now now, come on.

The manager picked the team that twice took the lead against Man Utd on Thursday, but he should've known that eventually, player error would end up costing us the game. He should've known what the the final result would be and made decisions to change it.

The same manager picked the team and adopted the tactics that that saw us win 1-2 on Sunday. Yeah, okay, we did win, but what if we hadn't? He might've known what the final result would be, but what did he do to change what the result wasn't?

We concede three times and we lose 4-1. What did Emery do to stop that? Nothing. FACT.

Jury's out for me.

[john e]

We've been mooching around the arse end of the league for so long, Emery could sign eleven Ben Mees and play them all in goal, and I wouldn't give a shit as long as we started winning consistently.

i've no problem with that view, at least your being honest about not being bothered playing anti football as long as it gets results
i've a totaly different view but like you i'm being honest about it

i've waited a long time for a foriegn manager with a brain and i hope we've finaly got one
but i do want the full package Mourinho football is not for me, thats probably where i differ from others on here
so good defense coupled with progressive attacking ball retaining football

so no i dont get excited about park the bus tactics, sometimes its nessasary but not as a default model for where we want to be
again if you dont mind how we play thats fair enough but i do
the same people who were lording the well drilled bank of 5/6 pointed out on match of the day as if it was some new genius way of playing football will be the same people moaning about Southgate in the WC when he does exactly the same thing, thats what pissed me off
anyone who says different is a arsehole hypocrite 😊

[Monty]

Park the bus means you come and set up just to eek out the meagrest, most brutally-obtained scraps in attack you can possibly manage. We were on the front foot for most of the game against Brighton, we just adapted to the situation to secure the win - not least because we're only a couple of weeks in and the new football isn't bedded-in yet.

How quickly we forget that we've conceded two in a week trying to play out short from the goalkeeper! What more of a sign do you need of what the football's going to be like?

[kippaxvilla2]

If you let Brighton play through you they possibly score at will. It was exactly the right tactic for the specific game. I didn’t notice us going ultra defensive against manure at home.

These players have seen off two managers and therefore there must be at least some question marks on their overall ability passed lower Premier League level. Yet in two games and not that many more training sessions he has turned them into a cohesive, organised unit and gained six points as a result.  I will take boring all day long.

[PeterWithesShin]

We've scored 5 goals in 2 games, against the sides currently 5th and 7th. We're hardly prime Arsenal under George Graham.

[boozey182]

We've been mooching around the arse end of the league for so long, Emery could sign eleven Ben Mees and play them all in goal, and I wouldn't give a shit as long as we started winning consistently.

i've no problem with that view, at least your being honest about not being bothered playing anti football as long as it gets results
i've a totaly different view but like you i'm being honest about it

i've waited a long time for a foriegn manager with a brain and i hope we've finaly got one
but i do want the full package Mourinho football is not for me, thats probably where i differ from others on here
so good defence coupled with progressive attacking ball retaining football

so no i dont get excited about park the bus tactics, sometimes its nessasary but not as a default model for where we want to be
again if you dont mind how we play thats fair enough but i do
the same people who were lording the well drilled bank of 5/6 pointed out on match of the day as if it was some new genius way of playing football will be the same people moaning about Southgate in the WC when he does exactly the same thing, thats what pissed me off
anyone who says different is a arsehole hypocrite 😊

I don't think the options are that binary, though. It's not a case of having a manager that plays progressive attacking football or having one that parks the bus.

To be honest, I do slightly share your concern about Emery - I think he is at his best when he is being slightly more cautious, or at least, when he is the underdog. That could lead to playing more defensively at times. However, to lump him in with managers like Southgate and Bruce is incredibly harsh. I think he is a very clever manager that will change our tactics based on so many factors - our opponents, the match situation, the players we have selected etc.

Take Sunday - we went a goal down and responded pretty well. The embarrassing mistake that led to their goal didn't stop us from playing the same way, we stuck to the plan and worked our way back into the game - actually playing a little more direct than we did against Man U, because we wanted Ings to split their Centre Backs to create space in front of them. Anyway, we played what I think is going to be our more natural game for the majority of the match, until we got ourselves in front. We made our first sub 15 minutes after we scored, on 69 minutes, which really signalled the change in tactics - to drop back for the last 20 minutes. Brighton are a team that dominate possession and cut through the space in defence - so we eliminated all of that space and they barely had a shot.

We didn't do this in either of the matches against Man United, because they play differently - maybe we should have on Thursday to have seen the game out?

Winning on Sunday was massive for so many reasons. Coming from behind, breaking our duck away from home, getting away from the relegation zone, to mood of the group going into the break etc. So all tactics were justified. But I don't think Emery is the type of manager/person to not think that about every match we play. Winning is the most important thing, and he will shape us in the way that he thinks will have the best chance to get us the win. Even if it means playing a 6-4-0 formation when we are 12 points clear at the top, or in an end-of-season dead rubber match. He wants us to win.

I wish I could tell you that playing defensively is just a temporary measure, but I don't think it is. However, that doesn't mean to say we won't play more attacking football when he feels that is the best thing to do. What I am confident of is that we won't go into any matches thinking "if we can just keep it tight and hope to nick one from a set-piece", or anything like that. There will be a detailed plan to win every match we play. As the players build confidence and get more accustomed to his tactics, hopefully we will see more attacking football. It will help when we have a run of easier fixtures as well, as we have been the underdog in all of his matches so far. At home to Wolves on the 4th of January will probably give us a better indication of how we will deal with being the favourites.

[rob_bridge]

Park the bus means you come and set up just to eek out the meagrest, most brutally-obtained scraps in attack you can possibly manage. We were on the front foot for most of the game against Brighton, we just adapted to the situation to secure the win - not least because we're only a couple of weeks in and the new football isn't bedded-in yet.

How quickly we forget that we've conceded two in a week trying to play out short from the goalkeeper! What more of a sign do you need of what the football's going to be like?

Indeed Game Management is different to George Graham back 6 and hoof forward hoping Ian Wright or Kevin Campbell to latch onto a defensive mistake

[paul_e]

We've been mooching around the arse end of the league for so long, Emery could sign eleven Ben Mees and play them all in goal, and I wouldn't give a shit as long as we started winning consistently.

i've no problem with that view, at least your being honest about not being bothered playing anti football as long as it gets results
i've a totaly different view but like you i'm being honest about it

i've waited a long time for a foriegn manager with a brain and i hope we've finaly got one
but i do want the full package Mourinho football is not for me, thats probably where i differ from others on here
so good defence coupled with progressive attacking ball retaining football

so no i dont get excited about park the bus tactics, sometimes its nessasary but not as a default model for where we want to be
again if you dont mind how we play thats fair enough but i do
the same people who were lording the well drilled bank of 5/6 pointed out on match of the day as if it was some new genius way of playing football will be the same people moaning about Southgate in the WC when he does exactly the same thing, thats what pissed me off
anyone who says different is a arsehole hypocrite 😊

I don't think the options are that binary, though. It's not a case of having a manager that plays progressive attacking football or having one that parks the bus.

To be honest, I do slightly share your concern about Emery - I think he is at his best when he is being slightly more cautious, or at least, when he is the underdog. That could lead to playing more defensively at times. However, to lump him in with managers like Southgate and Bruce is incredibly harsh. I think he is a very clever manager that will change our tactics based on so many factors - our opponents, the match situation, the players we have selected etc.

Take Sunday - we went a goal down and responded pretty well. The embarrassing mistake that led to their goal didn't stop us from playing the same way, we stuck to the plan and worked our way back into the game - actually playing a little more direct than we did against Man U, because we wanted Ings to split their Centre Backs to create space in front of them. Anyway, we played what I think is going to be our more natural game for the majority of the match, until we got ourselves in front. We made our first sub 15 minutes after we scored, on 69 minutes, which really signalled the change in tactics - to drop back for the last 20 minutes. Brighton are a team that dominate possession and cut through the space in defence - so we eliminated all of that space and they barely had a shot.

We didn't do this in either of the matches against Man United, because they play differently - maybe we should have on Thursday to have seen the game out?

Winning on Sunday was massive for so many reasons. Coming from behind, breaking our duck away from home, getting away from the relegation zone, to mood of the group going into the break etc. So all tactics were justified. But I don't think Emery is the type of manager/person to not think that about every match we play. Winning is the most important thing, and he will shape us in the way that he thinks will have the best chance to get us the win. Even if it means playing a 6-4-0 formation when we are 12 points clear at the top, or in an end-of-season dead rubber match. He wants us to win.

I wish I could tell you that playing defensively is just a temporary measure, but I don't think it is. However, that doesn't mean to say we won't play more attacking football when he feels that is the best thing to do. What I am confident of is that we won't go into any matches thinking "if we can just keep it tight and hope to nick one from a set-piece", or anything like that. There will be a detailed plan to win every match we play. As the players build confidence and get more accustomed to his tactics, hopefully we will see more attacking football. It will help when we have a run of easier fixtures as well, as we have been the underdog in all of his matches so far. At home to Wolves on the 4th of January will probably give us a better indication of how we will deal with being the favourites.

5 goals with clear and obvious plans on how to defend against both teams we faced:

Man Utd we let them have space deep and wide so they were drawn into lots of crosses that we handled fairly easily.
Brighton we put all the space in fron of us and stopped them playing through the lines and they had no idea how to respond. The only sight at goal they had in the last 20 (and injury time) came from a corner.

I'm all for having a manager with the brains to do this, even if it means that we spend 20mins (over 2 games) being defensive.

[eamonn]

In fariness it must have been more than that for Arsenal to be as successful as they were, under him.

[pauliewalnuts]

In all the discussion over the last couple of weeks in the media of his time at Arsenal, the thing that stuck with me was "but he did get that 22 match unbeaten run".

Struck me how casually that was chucked in, like it was no big deal. We think we're doing well if we stick together a 3 or 4 match run, let alone 22.