Unai Emery

[eamonn]

Dwight got the winner at The Dell this day 25 years ago as part of our last 5 in a row. Villa go ahead through lil'Lee in his breakthrough spell (and peak of his career...such a fcuking waste...), Le Tissier inevitably equalises but Yorke wins the day on the hour mark as we zoom up the table to make Europe, just like 25 years later... :

[Drummond]

Without getting overexcited and not wishing to be hyperbolic but, I wouldn't swap Unai and his backroom staff for any others currently operating in the Premier League.

Right now, I think he is the perfect manager for us and I'd not have anyone else from anywhere.

Yes ok for now but surely to go super elite we will need Dwight Yorke type personality?

Someone who knows the club……

Well yes, there's always a exception....

[Monty]

Keep thinking about little things from the other day, like how we always seemed to have space in midfield on the half-turn, always seemed to find Moreno in space, what was with that? And thinking about it, I think he's identified a weak spot in Newcastle's press over on their right hand side and sucked them in, instructing Ramsey and Buendia to occupy certain spaces to receive the ball from the defence.

I keep hearing people, like Jonathan Wilson or that country singer the other day, saying the Emery's doing 'the simple things', 'keeping it simple', all that. In what way? How do they get 'simple' from every player at the club saying in every interview 'fuck me this guy does detail'? I think, if it isn't Guardiola making some grand tactical plan or Klopp inventing fancy-ass German jargon, then a certain type of analyst doesn't think it's complicated or even 'intellectual' (God help us). But Emery's coming up with incredibly precise and different plans for every game. How is this 'keeping it simple'? Silly bollocks.

[pauliewalnuts]

I keep hearing people, like Jonathan Wilson or that country singer the other day, saying the Emery's doing 'the simple things', 'keeping it simple', all that.

I heard him say that on the Guardian podcast yesterday, and then heard some other pundit on telly saying exactly the same, and it made me want to put my foot through the screen.

It's basically a lazy answer that shows they're not fucking watching.

Things haven't got more simple, they've got much more complicated because now every player knows exactly what they need to do, like you said.

[Ads]

That Bruno lad was slower on the press out of posoession, so our midfield were abole to compress into a box 4 and were able to consistently overload their midfield and beat their press. In possession, Dougie totally smothered him.

We do things in detail and very specifically, game to game. That requires a high level of preparation and while each individual component might seem basic, the whole machine is very complex to orchestrate.

[LeeB]

Wilson is a historian, not an analyst, and it shows

[Monty]

Well he's meant to be both, but yeah he's clearly much more the former than the latter these days.

[pablo_picasso]

That Bruno lad was slower on the press out of posoession, so our midfield were abole to compress into a box 4 and were able to consistently overload their midfield and beat their press. In possession, Dougie totally smothered him.

We do things in detail and very specifically, game to game. That requires a high level of preparation and while each individual component might seem basic, the whole machine is very complex to orchestrate.

I think its the way that our fluid movement switches from a variation 4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1 at the drop of a hat while attacking. The "wingers" of Ramsey & McGinn tuck in & that pulls the full backs into the middle, so then our wing back has the full run of their side. If their full back stays back wide to cover, lets say Moreno, then Ramsey tucks in & helps overload the midfield & he has a lot of space to manoeuvre. It their defensive mid follows Ramsey, then Luiz & Buendia become available & have free reign. Thats not to mention Watkins making more specific runs around the final third. Its all very fluid & quite beautiful.

Its obviously a lot more complicated than that, but it means we are getting a lot more body's forward in good space & we are taking advantage of that by scoring a lot more goals...

[eamonn]

Sutton and Dublin were the same on 5Live last night. The producer of the show is a Villa fan so was telling them to discuss the Villa more but the only insight they had was talking about Watkins simplifying his game. Bugger-all about the midfield dynamos or Moreno giving us new options.

[Risso]

The media have only just noticed that we've won a stack of games and are 6th in the table. It's a bit unfair to expect professionals who talk about football to actually have a clue about how we play and how he's achieved it yet.

[Rigadon]

Pundits (at least most of them, even the good ones) don’t know as much about tactics as they’d like you to believe.  I agree with the comment above having heard he same media talking heads (potential punathon alert)  saying we’re ‘keeping it simple’.  It’s total rubbish.  What we’re doing is far from simple.  In fact it’s the bloody opposite.   

[Bully2345]

I'd suggest they're giving the audience what they want. I love the Guardian podcast and not only is it unrealistic to expect them to have detailed knowledge on all 20 Premier League teams, I'd also be very bored having listening to them dissect every other team as well as Villa.

There are other podcasts and youtube stuff to get your deeper insight into Villa's tactics.

[Brend'Watkins]

Agreed, It's every tactic down to a minute level. The first goal for instance.  If you can't get the header on target head it towards the edge of the box as JJ will be there to get a shot away, you don't even have to look.

How I wish we could be playing the top two again as I think it suits us when teams come at us.

[Monty]

I'd suggest they're giving the audience what they want. I love the Guardian podcast and not only is it unrealistic to expect them to have detailed knowledge on all 20 Premier League teams, I'd also be very bored having listening to them dissect every other team as well as Villa.

There are other podcasts and youtube stuff to get your deeper insight into Villa's tactics.

They don't have to do that though, they just have to not get it wrong. I mean the cliché 'tactically astute' is right there, they don't have to work hard for it.

[pauliewalnuts]

How I wish we could be playing the top two again as I think it suits us when teams come at us.

I absolutely agree with this.

We are much better against the better teams who try and have a go, and struggle a bit against the bus-parking end of the market (compare the Newcastle and Forest games, for example). Also, the matches at Chelsea and Spurs. And Brighton for that matter.

I think we could well surprise a few people with results in our tough run-in.