Unai Emery

[Clark W Griswold]

To be fair though league wise it was one very shitty result against Leicester and one typical result against Man City and before that things were very good. I do agree that we looked a bit flat in both of those games and i do think we'll most likely lose the next 2 against 2 teams really needing a win.

It feels a bit like groundhog day to last season at the moment but the difference is we had a manager last season who had done little if anything of note as a manager and now we have someone who we know has it in him to make us a success. It's the old story about waiting to get his own players in and getting them playing his system but i'm optimistic that as long as he's backed properly we will see significant improvement this time. The crux of it though is if he is backed properly and i'll  believe that when i see it.

[Risso]

The results were better but the performances weren't great. We were rubbish against Leeds and lucky to win, and Southampton wasn't great either, with two VAR calls going our way.

[ChicagoLion]

Big game I think for our coach at the weekend. Would be a great one to win for him personally too. I thought our tactical setup in the first 60 mins v Man City were a joke so looking forward to some changes in personnel and team setup.

The piss poor performances are mounting up.

[pablo_picasso]

The results were better but the performances weren't great. We were rubbish against Leeds and lucky to win, and Southampton wasn't great either, with two VAR calls going our way.

I am in the camp that I would rather we had good performances over instant points. I always think that if the performances are there, then the results will take care of themselves.

Getting wins while playing poorly can be the sign of a good side, but it can also be that we got the rub of the green & the performances will eventually gather the results they deserve.

Although, & I say this with all the hesitation in the world, the players we currently have do not match possession football. Which is ridiculous how we have managed to gather one of the smallest, physically weakest, & not particularly fast sides in the Prem, who are not what we would label as technically proficient. One would hope that the squad issues will be fixed in the summer & performances & results will follow. Hope. If the summer doesnt rectify the squad in a big way, then we have all the right in the world to question where the fuck we are being taken by the owners & the imbeciles who work for the club.

Basically, the squad is shit... Its unbalanced. Its weak. Its slow. Its small. It lacks composure & technical ability. Whoever assembled it needs to be looking for their CV...

[Mister E]

When the season has become a 'dead rubber' following our FAC exit, it's difficult to evaluate our performance. Against Citeh, for sure, Emery got it wrong. But in other poor performances / results, many of the outcomes have been a result of poor decision-making by players on the pitch.
As ever, the next window plus season-start will tell us all we need to know about Emery and the club's appetite to progress.

[brontebilly]

The results were better but the performances weren't great. We were rubbish against Leeds and lucky to win, and Southampton wasn't great either, with two VAR calls going our way.

On the flip side, Emery did completely outfox EtH and Conte in our two wins there. Unfortunate to lose maybe to lose against Leicester and even Liverpool based on chances created. But we are starting to concede a lot of scoring chances per game and now goals too. Those basketball type games are not a sustainable way to succeed.

Keeping the same setup that Leicester rinsed on the counter attack for an away game v Man City (minus Mings too) was utterly ridiculous and we got predictably spanked.

[Chris Smith]

The results were better but the performances weren't great. We were rubbish against Leeds and lucky to win, and Southampton wasn't great either, with two VAR calls going our way.

On the flip side, Emery did completely outfox EtH and Conte in our two wins there. Unfortunate to lose maybe to lose against Leicester and even Liverpool based on chances created. But we are starting to concede a lot of scoring chances per game and now goals too. Those basketball type games are not a sustainable way to succeed.

Keeping the same setup that Leicester rinsed on the counter attack for an away game v Man City (minus Mings too) was utterly ridiculous and we got predictably spanked.

I don’t think you can draw any conclusions from the Man City game, the difference in the two squads is just too big. For us to get anything there they have an off day and we have to be at our best, neither of those happened. Leicester was a shocker but I doubt we’ll see another game where good players make such fundamental mistakes. I think to draw any conclusions beyond those two games is a mistake.

Emery took over a mid table squad that was under performing due to incompetent management. He’s stabilised us and removed the threat of relegation. His job is to build on that in the summer and have us challenging for the top 6 next year.

[Villan82]

The results were better but the performances weren't great. We were rubbish against Leeds and lucky to win, and Southampton wasn't great either, with two VAR calls going our way.

On the flip side, Emery did completely outfox EtH and Conte in our two wins there. Unfortunate to lose maybe to lose against Leicester and even Liverpool based on chances created. But we are starting to concede a lot of scoring chances per game and now goals too. Those basketball type games are not a sustainable way to succeed.

Keeping the same setup that Leicester rinsed on the counter attack for an away game v Man City (minus Mings too) was utterly ridiculous and we got predictably spanked.

I don’t think you can draw any conclusions from the Man City game, the difference in the two squads is just too big. For us to get anything there they have an off day and we have to be at our best, neither of those happened. Leicester was a shocker but I doubt we’ll see another game where good players make such fundamental mistakes. I think to draw any conclusions beyond those two games is a mistake.

Emery took over a mid table squad that was under performing due to incompetent management. He’s stabilised us and removed the threat of relegation. His job is to build on that in the summer and have us challenging for the top 6 next year.

Some common sense? That will never catch on!

[adrenachrome]

The results were better but the performances weren't great. We were rubbish against Leeds and lucky to win, and Southampton wasn't great either, with two VAR calls going our way.

On the flip side, Emery did completely outfox EtH and Conte in our two wins there. Unfortunate to lose maybe to lose against Leicester and even Liverpool based on chances created. But we are starting to concede a lot of scoring chances per game and now goals too. Those basketball type games are not a sustainable way to succeed.

Keeping the same setup that Leicester rinsed on the counter attack for an away game v Man City (minus Mings too) was utterly ridiculous and we got predictably spanked.

I don’t think you can draw any conclusions from the Man City game, the difference in the two squads is just too big. For us to get anything there they have an off day and we have to be at our best, neither of those happened. Leicester was a shocker but I doubt we’ll see another game where good players make such fundamental mistakes. I think to draw any conclusions beyond those two games is a mistake.

Emery took over a mid table squad that was under performing due to incompetent management. He’s stabilised us and removed the threat of relegation. His job is to build on that in the summer and have us challenging for the top 6 next year.

Good analysis.

[eamonn]

Yeah Chris, please post more often like you used to.

[LeeB]

Yeah Chris, please post more often like you used to.

Yes, Chris is the ultimate voice of reason on H&V, his posts are like a soothing balm.

[Risso]

He’s stabilised us and removed the threat of relegation. His job is to build on that in the summer and have us challenging for the top 6 next year.

The new manager bounce stabilised us and took away the threat of relegation after a few games, so why couldn't we have tried to start the building process this January? As it is, we're leaking horrible goals, are out of the FA Cup to a League 2 club and have a bench with two youth team keepers on it, while our star keeper is publicly saying he wants to move on. We showed absolutely no ambition this winter, which is really disappointing, and the manager is a big part of that.

[brontebilly]

He’s stabilised us and removed the threat of relegation. His job is to build on that in the summer and have us challenging for the top 6 next year.

The new manager bounce stabilised us and took away the threat of relegation after a few games, so why couldn't we have tried to start the building process this January? As it is, we're leaking horrible goals, are out of the FA Cup to a League 2 club and have a bench with two youth team keepers on it, while our star keeper is publicly saying he wants to move on. We showed absolutely no ambition this winter, which is really disappointing, and the manager is a big part of that.

Looks like we got two decent players in all the same. Ings gone and Digne on way out.

[olaftab]

It’s been very mixed so far under Unai. Some astute tactical games and some poor decisions coupled with horrific defending in the 5 losses he has endured so far. Conclusions CAN be drawn from poor play in all of those games including the lack of effort against Mancity. The outlook at end of Feb is that there will be no improvement result wise from the previous manager’s record however I am glad it’s Unai trying to sort out the future direction of this team rather than Gerrard.

[Clampy]

Yeah Chris, please post more often like you used to.

Yes, Chris is the ultimate voice of reason on H&V, his posts are like a soothing balm.

His posts are like him singing 'soft kitty' to make us all feel better.