Unai Emery

[Brazilian Villain]

I like absolutely everything I've seen so far from Unai....apart from that shiny coat.

Pete on the Holy Trinity channel said it'd look nice when it's finished, which I thought was quite appropriate.

He’s got everything pretty much right in a short space of time. Just a thought, it might be us that are wrong about the coat. Another couple of victories and I’m getting one.

I'm obviously not a fashion icon. But I want / need a new coat - and I liked it. Where can I get one ?

Fortunately, I was able to track down one of the finished ones for you.
https://www.flannels.com/bottega-veneta-shiny-nylon-down-jacket-606147

[eamonn]

His coat is sick! Half-puffa, half-gangsta.

[Risso]

I like a man who is prepared to wear an ill-advised choice of coat, it remindes me of me.

[Rory]

https://twitter.com/UnaiEmery_/status/1609653251057532930

Class act, although I am slightly disappointed he has Twitter. I like to think of him spending his free time reading Renaissance literature with a fine wine.

I do all that and still have Twitter.
Not mutually exclusive, Rory.

(I’d probably be a bit challenged organising the Villa midfield to outnumber Spurs’ though.)

Of course, my apologies, Lou 🙂

[boozey182]

I'm trying not to get over-excited, but it's difficult. He's everything I've wanted from a manager - he's pro-active and tailors his tactics to the opposition. We aren't good enough to play one way and let the opposition deal with it, not many teams are, so we need to be a bit smarter. We might just have the smartest manager around.

For a long time, a big complaint from fans is a manager putting square pegs into round holes - Emery doesn't seem think in those terms. While most managers are failing to assemble IKEA furniture, he's a carpenter, an artist, fashioning something new and original out of everything at his disposal to get the job done. Is this a pretentious way to describe Matty Cash coming off the bench to play slightly further forward? Absolutely. But something just feels different now. Our results under Emery don't feel like a new manager bounce. They haven't come from blood and guts performances; they have come from wholesale changes to how we play, and players following new instructions. They're being asked to do more, but you get the feeling that he's taking the responsibility for it. The team's performance is more important than the individuals, which is why, other than Kamara and Doug, you'd struggle to highlight any individual performance from our games - we've just been a better team.

Anyway, this is me trying not to get carried away. What I will say is that the next group of fixtures present a different set of challenges. We've been the underdog in every game so far, but we'll be favourites tomorrow night, at home, against a side that think they're our rivals. We'll need to change the way we play and the onus will be on us to break them down. I'm confident we'll do it, but it will be difficult with only a few days preparation. I would have thought the shift between how we set up against Liverpool and Spurs would be smaller than between Spurs and Wolves, if that makes sense.

I can't wait to see how we play though. It's so much fun being a Villa fan at the moment, guessing what team he'll pick from week to week. Plus in a couple of months, he'll need a more lightweight coat. Who knows what he'll come up with?

[LeeB]

I'm trying not to get over-excited, but it's difficult. He's everything I've wanted from a manager - he's pro-active and tailors his tactics to the opposition. We aren't good enough to play one way and let the opposition deal with it, not many teams are, so we need to be a bit smarter. We might just have the smartest manager around.

For a long time, a big complaint from fans is a manager putting square pegs into round holes - Emery doesn't seem think in those terms. While most managers are failing to assemble IKEA furniture, he's a carpenter, an artist, fashioning something new and original out of everything at his disposal to get the job done. Is this a pretentious way to describe Matty Cash coming off the bench to play slightly further forward? Absolutely. But something just feels different now. Our results under Emery don't feel like a new manager bounce. They haven't come from blood and guts performances; they have come from wholesale changes to how we play, and players following new instructions. They're being asked to do more, but you get the feeling that he's taking the responsibility for it. The team's performance is more important than the individuals, which is why, other than Kamara and Doug, you'd struggle to highlight any individual performance from our games - we've just been a better team.

Anyway, this is me trying not to get carried away. What I will say is that the next group of fixtures present a different set of challenges. We've been the underdog in every game so far, but we'll be favourites tomorrow night, at home, against a side that think they're our rivals. We'll need to change the way we play and the onus will be on us to break them down. I'm confident we'll do it, but it will be difficult with only a few days preparation. I would have thought the shift between how we set up against Liverpool and Spurs would be smaller than between Spurs and Wolves, if that makes sense.

I can't wait to see how we play though. It's so much fun being a Villa fan at the moment, guessing what team he'll pick from week to week. Plus in a couple of months, he'll need a more lightweight coat. Who knows what he'll come up with?

This.

I can't help but get over excited, the Spurs game was a masterclass, and the third time in the four league games we've totally controlled the game. I read a quote from McGinn this morning that was something like "he's finding strengths in our games that we didn't even know ourselves" which I absolutely loved. It's all so far removed from what we're used to, but it's what so many of us have been crying out for for years.

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

...it’s only going to get better under Emery.
He knows more about our players than he did 4 pl games ago. He knows how they respond after a defeat. The more he knows about them the better they will become and the better team we’ll be (and that’s without factoring in his own purchases). Exciting times!

[Drummond]

I'm trying not to get over-excited, but it's difficult. He's everything I've wanted from a manager - he's pro-active and tailors his tactics to the opposition. We aren't good enough to play one way and let the opposition deal with it, not many teams are, so we need to be a bit smarter. We might just have the smartest manager around.

For a long time, a big complaint from fans is a manager putting square pegs into round holes - Emery doesn't seem think in those terms. While most managers are failing to assemble IKEA furniture, he's a carpenter, an artist, fashioning something new and original out of everything at his disposal to get the job done. Is this a pretentious way to describe Matty Cash coming off the bench to play slightly further forward? Absolutely. But something just feels different now. Our results under Emery don't feel like a new manager bounce. They haven't come from blood and guts performances; they have come from wholesale changes to how we play, and players following new instructions. They're being asked to do more, but you get the feeling that he's taking the responsibility for it. The team's performance is more important than the individuals, which is why, other than Kamara and Doug, you'd struggle to highlight any individual performance from our games - we've just been a better team.

Anyway, this is me trying not to get carried away. What I will say is that the next group of fixtures present a different set of challenges. We've been the underdog in every game so far, but we'll be favourites tomorrow night, at home, against a side that think they're our rivals. We'll need to change the way we play and the onus will be on us to break them down. I'm confident we'll do it, but it will be difficult with only a few days preparation. I would have thought the shift between how we set up against Liverpool and Spurs would be smaller than between Spurs and Wolves, if that makes sense.

I can't wait to see how we play though. It's so much fun being a Villa fan at the moment, guessing what team he'll pick from week to week. Plus in a couple of months, he'll need a more lightweight coat. Who knows what he'll come up with?

This.

I can't help but get over excited, the Spurs game was a masterclass, and the third time in the four league games we've totally controlled the game. I read a quote from McGinn this morning that was something like "he's finding strengths in our games that we didn't even know ourselves" which I absolutely loved. It's all so far removed from what we're used to, but it's what so many of us have been crying out for for years.

Absolutely. I think this appointment is why I was so underwhelmed with our last few (countless) appointments. This is the real deal. McGinn is a perfect case in point; he's looked so much better in the last few games, and I can't help thinking it's because the manager is spending time with the players, talking to them and explaining their roles, rather than telling them to be more passionate, to run faster and tackle harder.

It took about 5 minutes of watching us versus ManUtd to see we had a plan, a system and it's getting better.

Sawiris has really gone out and done it and I'm over the moon.

[Drummond]

I said at half time, the second half will be season defining as Spurs always come out gunning, but we were PREPARED!

That's from the post-match thread.

The last word, our motto, seems to finally apply to us, doesn't it? I think it's perfect for this Villa under this manager.

[Brend'Watkins]

...it’s only going to get better under Emery.
He knows more about our players than he did 4 pl games ago. He knows how they respond after a defeat. The more he knows about them the better they will become and the better team we’ll be (and that’s without factoring in his own purchases). Exciting times!

Indeed. It makes you wonder what Gerrard was doing in his year at the helm.  Probably less than fuck all judging by the standard of play overall.

[Lastfootstamper]

You've got to admit it's got to take some bollocks to address your defensive shortcomings by going with a blatant flat back 6. With 2 holding in front!

[eamonn]

Gerrard and Emery's football-management brains are miles apart, it makes you wonder/worry how the hell Purslow went for Gerrard when any decision would have included key metrics related to tactical acumen.

[paul_e]

You've got to admit it's got to take some bollocks to address your defensive shortcomings by going with a blatant flat back 6. With 2 holding in front!

It isn't a flat back 6 though and I really hope '6 at the back' doesn't become an accepted truth about us in the media because it completely misses the point and ignores the fact that we've gone from:

Played: 11
For: 7 (0.63 per game)
Against: 16 (1.45)

to

P:4
F:8 (2)
A:5 (1.25)

It's a tiny sample size but right now our improvement isn't about the defence, we're scoring 3x the amount of goals compared to under Gerrard and nothing about how we're playing deserves to be tagged as ultra-defensive/6 at the back.

What that shape was is a perfect response to a team that's playing, effectively, 343. When you're numbering up in defence ideally you want a 'spare' central defender and for the opposition to be the same. Most teams would do that by keeping their wide midfielders higher up the pitch but that creates a space for teams to hit balls into the corners, giving them an out ball to get on th front foot (and making the wide defending all about pace on the turn). By getting them 10 yards deeper you make that ball much harder to play which keeps the play in front of you more.

[Risso]

Gerrard and Emery's football-management brains are miles apart, it makes you wonder/worry how the hell Purslow went for Gerrard when any decision would have included key metrics related to tactical acumen.

I think the idea was to try to get a young coach in who was used to working in a similar set up to what we were trying to implement. And after Gerrard's first four games in which he had an identical W3, L1 record to Emery, people were saying much the same things about him as they are now. It all went to shit of course, but here's hoping Emery is building something more lasting.

[LeeB]

You've got to admit it's got to take some bollocks to address your defensive shortcomings by going with a blatant flat back 6. With 2 holding in front!

It's not the first time we've seen a manager try it, against this opposition and on almost the same ground. The difference comes in having a plan that also offers threat and opportunity for our attackers.

I think it's been noticable since he came how when we're now attacking it's often into space vacated by by opponents after their futile attempts to unlock us grow ever more frustrated, pretty much exactly what was happening to us under Gerrard.