Unai Emery

[john e]

I sit near the Holte End side of the ground and I always prefer it when we’re attacking that end not only because we’re near the goals if any are scored but it’s also a bit further away from watching Konsa prove what a none footballer he is at close quarters

[paul_e]

The negativity isn’t towards him. I think the vast majority are impressed with what he’s been able to do in a short span of time. But you can still be frustrated at aspects of our play despite the win. We were quite ponderous today at times and lacked real invention in the final third. We didn’t have a shot on goal until the second half which isn’t good enough at home. At the back we looked nervy while in possession and bringing the ball out. Those are all honest observations. But that’s not to say most of us don’t believe in him as the manager. On the contrary I think given his proven record he very much is and needs the time and resources to improve us.

His emphasis is clearly on retaining the ball, which nullifies the opposition.
A case in point for not going gung-ho in attack is the Palace offside goal when we lost possession high up the pitch and after that the whole team played a lot more pragmatic, with minimal long punts when there is nothing on; and it gave us the result we needed.

One of our players hoofed the ball from the edge of the box just before half time and he went mad at that. Brilliant, it's about bloody time.

that's the way I would play

It's all about control, he wants us to dictate the tempo and which areas of the pitch we play in. We're not there yet but it's pretty clear he's using this season to get the squad used dominating games.

[ventnorVillain]

He knows how he wants the team to play which, in itself, is an upgrade on the previous incumbent, I just think that at the moment some of the players are not technically proficient enough to execute exactly what he is looking for them to do on a consistent basis hence we are tending to lose as many as we win. This will hopefully change during the next 12 months as he starts (hopefully) to bring in his own players who will (again, hopefully) be upgrades on what we have already. This coming summer is potentially the most pivotal of the last 20 years, and the business we do will shape the direction of the club on the pitch for the next five years or so . At least we can start planning now without having to be looking over our shoulders. Hopefully.

[pauliewalnuts]

We aren’t losing as many as we win though - 12 league games, won 7 of them drawn 1 lost 4.

Those four we lost to include Liverpool Arsenal and Man City.

Averaging 1.83 points per game which over a whole season would have us 4th or 5th.

I think people tend to forget just how much worse we were early season.

[Risso]

It’s keeping it up with this group of players though.

[pauliewalnuts]

It’s keeping it up with this group of players though.

Of course it is, but just pointing out, we categorically do not lose as many as we win. Far from it, in fact.

[Ian.]

Well it’s so far so good. We’re far better now with this group of players playing this way compared to Gerrard’s system, or lack of.

We’re getting results and other that crazy game against Leicester we’ve beaten nearly every team in the league other than the top six teams.

That goal yesterday was actually nearly a perfect example of what he’s trying to get us to do. There’s bound to be the odd hiccup but surely when that happens the good work will outweigh the bad.

[KevinGage]

On the whole the football has improved and our games are more exciting to watch than with the chancer in charge.  3 more quality signings in the summer and I think he can really kick us on.

But and this is a big but for me.  If he screws up in the cups again next then I’d want him gone. 

I didn't follow the progress of his Villareal sides until the latter stages of their Euro campaigns. So don't know if he was picking close to full strength sides from the very outset or mixing it up.

But with his record of domestic and European cup success it would be odd if he started doing something totally different here.

I'm still miffed at how we exited both cup competitions this season. But if we - somehow - make Europe this year and have a good go at that, I'm not going to be calling for his head when we have our usual FA Cup 3rd round exit to Yanited.

[SaddVillan]

He knows how he wants the team to play which, in itself, is an upgrade on the previous incumbent, I just think that at the moment some of the players are not technically proficient enough to execute exactly what he is looking for them to do on a consistent basis hence we are tending to lose as many as we win. This will hopefully change during the next 12 months as he starts (hopefully) to bring in his own players who will (again, hopefully) be upgrades on what we have already. This coming summer is potentially the most pivotal of the last 20 years, and the business we do will shape the direction of the club on the pitch for the next five years or so . At least we can start planning now without having to be looking over our shoulders. Hopefully.

As Ventnor Villan says (now that we're pulling clear of the relegation battle), Emery will use the rest of the season to look at the squad and decide which players have the technical, tactical and mental capacity to play the way he wants.

Those that don't make the levels required will be moved out as and when replacements are signed or promotees from the Academy side come through.

I don't see many of the older loanees coming back (Keinan Davies/Wesley/Sanson/Marvelous or Kortney Hause) and it's more than likely that we'll also move on several youngsters too.

[ventnorVillain]

We aren’t losing as many as we win though - 12 league games, won 7 of them drawn 1 lost 4.

Those four we lost to include Liverpool Arsenal and Man City.

Averaging 1.83 points per game which over a whole season would have us 4th or 5th.

I think people tend to forget just how much worse we were early season.

In the last 6 matches we have won 3 and lost 3, so on recent showings we are losing as many as we are winning. If you factor in the cup defeats then we have won 7 and lost 6 and before the last two games had actually lost more than we had won. I have more faith in this manager than any other since Sir Brian, but this will be a longer road to success than we might think.

[Ian.]

On the whole the football has improved and our games are more exciting to watch than with the chancer in charge.  3 more quality signings in the summer and I think he can really kick us on.

But and this is a big but for me.  If he screws up in the cups again next then I’d want him gone. 

That team should have beaten Stevenage, but we was sloppy both ends of the pitch. Emery was fuming so I don’t think he’d intentionally send us out o get beaten.

[PeterWithesShin]

3 of the 4 league defeats have come against the sides currently 1st, 2nd and 5th. "Losing as many as we win" makes it sound like we're getting dicked by the likes Bournemouth and Everton every other week. Reality is we had one defensive stinker against Leicester, which happens to pretty much everyone.

[eamonn]

We aren’t losing as many as we win though - 12 league games, won 7 of them drawn 1 lost 4.

Those four we lost to include Liverpool Arsenal and Man City.

Averaging 1.83 points per game which over a whole season would have us 4th or 5th.

I think people tend to forget just how much worse we were early season.

In the last 6 matches we have won 3 and lost 3, so on recent showings we are losing as many as we are winning. If you factor in the cup defeats then we have won 7 and lost 6 and before the last two games had actually lost more than we had won. I have more faith in this manager than any other since Sir Brian, but this will be a longer road to success than we might think.

We're in the Champions League places under his tenure!

[Toronto Villa]

It’s keeping it up with this group of players though.

Of course it is, but just pointing out, we categorically do not lose as many as we win. Far from it, in fact.

Liverpool was a disappointing defeat of those four. Especially against an average Liverpool team not playing that well at the time. But it was very early on in his time. Leicester wasn’t good either with 4 terrible defensive errors in a game we should have won. The Man City first half wasn’t great but second half a lot better. And Arsenal we simply shouldn’t have lost. We played come really nice stuff that day and in a very Villa way crashed and burned at the end through our own mistakes.

[Lastfootstamper]

I don't think he'll be using games to assess squad players. I'll be quite surprised if we vary the starting XI at all unless out of necessity or rotating the trio of Buendia, Bailey & Coutinho. As much as I'd like him to get one, I don't envisage Duran getting a start. Similarly to why he's not packing the bench with kids, he's long enough in the tooth to know who is or isn't up to the job.