Unai Emery

[paul_e]

4 league games, 9 points and we've played the sides currently 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th.

and yetthere were people talking about the fans turning on him if we lost today because Martinez was on the bench.

[Ad@m]

The thing with this is it doesn't feel like a new manager bounce either.

He's not getting by on motivation alone. This is just the initial improvement from having an actual strategy and using most of our players to their maximum.

There's more to come (eg stop sticking Buendia on the left wing, get Ramsey and Cash back in the side, etc) and he hasn't even signed anyone yet.

[Villan82]

4 league games, 9 points and we've played the sides currently 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th.

and yetthere were people talking about the fans turning on him if we lost today because Martinez was on the bench.

There were some rather silly posts earlier today about Emery's team selection. We all saw those training pics, Martinez didn't exactly look 100%.

We won, we have a great manager and we have a top goalkeeper to come back into the side.

[nigel]

4 league games, 9 points and we've played the sides currently 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th.

This is why an elite manager is worth his weight in gold.

If only we’d gone for him to replace Dean.
In fairness it may have been too early for him.

[hipkiss92]

4 league games, 9 points and we've played the sides currently 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th.

This is why an elite manager is worth his weight in gold.

If only we’d gone for him to replace Dean.
In fairness it may have been too early for him.

He turned down Newcastle at the same time as he was intent on taking Villareal through the Champions League.

[LukeJames]

Whats impressed me the most is we have played different in all four games. We got it badly wrong last game with the high line but we got it bang on today.

[Dave P]

Gerrard had one formation regardless of how we were playing. Emery has about 3 or 4 formations per game.

[manic-road]

I'm so chuffed Emery is the Villa manager, two away games with six points and a home win against Manchester United.

It's chalk and cheese between the Gerrard team and the Emery team, we look a hard team to break down and look a threat every game.

[Rory]

The thing with this is it doesn't feel like a new manager bounce either.

He's not getting by on motivation alone. This is just the initial improvement from having an actual strategy and using most of our players to their maximum.

There's more to come (eg stop sticking Buendia on the left wing, get Ramsey and Cash back in the side, etc) and he hasn't even signed anyone yet.

Absolutely. And as others have said, you can't complain about 9 points from 12, given the fixtures. I rather like Unai.

[Martin Carruthers]

When did we last have a proper tactician in charge? Even when we've done well in recent years we've sent the first xi out and hoped for the best.

[Lastfootstamper]

He fits here, he just does. He's going to be the manager Lerner wishes O'Neill had been.

[jwarry]

I have absolutely no idea what system we were playing after the triple substitution but it bloody worked!

[supertom]

Aside from perhaps not making some changes quick enough against Liverpool, he's got most decisions bang on in the league. Some of his selections have raised eyebrows but for the most part tend to pay off. McGinn might still be a weak spot long term but he's looked a lot more effective playing as a wideman and we're also creating and driving players into the box. Better finishing against Liverpool could have made all the difference too, undoubtedly something he'll try to rectify in the transfer window just as much as the training ground.

If he can get some consistency out of the enigmatic Bailey, Beundia or Coutinho, he'll also get rewarded further, though I suspect we'll sign someone in the next two windows who more perfectly fits how Unai will want to play.

[KevinGage]

In my lifetime our best managers have been lowish profile types who just get on with it and don't play to the gallery.

Gerrard et al were more quotable. And there is a role for PR.

But this guy is an actual manager.

[Toronto Villa]

Whats impressed me the most is we have played different in all four games. We got it badly wrong last game with the high line but we got it bang on today.

I don’t think we got it badly wrong. They scored an excellent first goal. Yes we might have defended a little better but it was a super goal by them. But we had more than enough chances to be winning at HT. But I would rather we lose playing to win than lose being ultra conservative. Things we saw at the end of Dean and Gerrard. Scared football versus a defined strategy and tactics that can change game to game and as the game plays out.