Unai Emery

[Monty]

I want to say Burnley? But my dossiers and flow charts and walls of photos connected with a web of red string are all in my Villa Vault in a garage in Histon.

He's never played wing back. It was an awful idea last night. He's not been very good on the left side of midfield, as an actual left back it was one of the worst bits of rotation Emery could have come up with.

He's definitely slotted in at wing back. This season! We went to three at the back, Digne went off and there was John. It might have looked to some like he was still at wide midfield but I thought it was wing back.

[LeeB]

I want to say Burnley? But my dossiers and flow charts and walls of photos connected with a web of red string are all in my Villa Vault in a garage in Histon.

He's never played wing back. It was an awful idea last night. He's not been very good on the left side of midfield, as an actual left back it was one of the worst bits of rotation Emery could have come up with.

Look, in the long run experimenting with things like this will pay off, because at some piont in the future when considering his team selection for a crucial match he's going to think of playing McGinn left back, then remember this game and think 'Fuck that'.

[Bobby Boy]

I want to say Burnley? But my dossiers and flow charts and walls of photos connected with a web of red string are all in my Villa Vault in a garage in Histon.

He's never played wing back. It was an awful idea last night. He's not been very good on the left side of midfield, as an actual left back it was one of the worst bits of rotation Emery could have come up with.

If he wanted to give Digne a break, his only other options would probably have included bringing Lenglet into the team.  Makes more sense now.

So, why have we brought Lenglet in? If he can't be trusted in a home game against Everton then when else will he play?

He looked very rusty against Legia so maybe he's being given more time to get up to speed.

Next week's Conference League game would normally present an ideal opportunity for him to play but we can't mess around now.

Next year sometime, maybe?

[Risso]

I want to say Burnley? But my dossiers and flow charts and walls of photos connected with a web of red string are all in my Villa Vault in a garage in Histon.

He's never played wing back. It was an awful idea last night. He's not been very good on the left side of midfield, as an actual left back it was one of the worst bits of rotation Emery could have come up with.

He's definitely slotted in at wing back. This season! We went to three at the back, Digne went off and there was John. It might have looked to some like he was still at wide midfield but I thought it was wing back.

Well, it wasn't. Torres moved over a bit, and Cash dropped further back. Digne only went off in the 81st minute, in any case.

[chrisw1]

I want to say Burnley? But my dossiers and flow charts and walls of photos connected with a web of red string are all in my Villa Vault in a garage in Histon.

He's never played wing back. It was an awful idea last night. He's not been very good on the left side of midfield, as an actual left back it was one of the worst bits of rotation Emery could have come up with.

If he wanted to give Digne a break, his only other options would probably have included bringing Lenglet into the team.  Makes more sense now.

So, why have we brought Lenglet in? If he can't be trusted in a home game against Everton then when else will he play?

He looked very rusty against Legia so maybe he's being given more time to get up to speed.

Next week's Conference League game would normally present an ideal opportunity for him to play but we can't mess around now.

Next year sometime, maybe?

That's a good question.  In my opinion it was a panic buy out of desperation following the Mings injury and possibly the realisation Carlos just isn't up to it physically. 

[Monty]

I want to say Burnley? But my dossiers and flow charts and walls of photos connected with a web of red string are all in my Villa Vault in a garage in Histon.

He's never played wing back. It was an awful idea last night. He's not been very good on the left side of midfield, as an actual left back it was one of the worst bits of rotation Emery could have come up with.

He's definitely slotted in at wing back. This season! We went to three at the back, Digne went off and there was John. It might have looked to some like he was still at wide midfield but I thought it was wing back.

Well, it wasn't. Torres moved over a bit, and Cash dropped further back. Digne only went off in the 81st minute, in any case.

I thought Cash dropped into third centreback, Traoré dropped back to wingback on one side and McGinn on the other. I remember thinking 'this is bizarre'. Either way, it wasn't for very long as you point out.

[Risso]

So, not really much of a defence for using McGinn at left back last night then?! 9 minutes when he sort of might have shuffled back a tiny bit?!

[Monty]

Ha, no not particularly! Although my feeling was that, if he's filled in there, chances are he's spent some time in training doing positional stuff and whatnot. I'd feckin hope so anyway!

[Risso]

As Lee says, let's just pretend it never happened and hope that such decisions don't enter Unai's head again, bless him.

[Drummond]

I understand the weaker team tonight. We don’t have the squad to play at full strength 2 times a week. He’s been really let down by a few who have been given the chance to shine.
We aren’t a top 4 or 5 team yet but we somehow sit 6th and that’s down to Emery who’s a top coach.

I think it's because he's tinkering with the line-up for these games that's the issue. Playing McGinn at Left Back is just odd and the first time he's done it. The defence for games we aren't prioritising (and let's face it that's what's happening) just don't look like a unit. When the team is announced, we are left guessing and trying to work out who is playing in which position, that can't be good.

[pablo_picasso]

Ramsey and Moreno on the left were hugely influential in our success from late Feb onwards last season. We do play a passing game, which the majority of the regular home crowd have got used to. The difference now is, we haven’t got that pass pass pass, go..that Ramsey and Moreno both give us.

Although Tielemans is not working out for now, i actually think the summer recruitment was ok, i think Torres in particular looks classy as does Diaby. The issue is losing Mings, Beundia, Moreno, Ramsey as well as Carlos. Huge losses that only Man City levels of recruitment would cover.

If we can get Ramsey, Moreno and Carlos back in the next games and suffer no further serious injuries, Im pretty convinced we’ll start firing. Torres playing those out balls to Ramsey with Moreno overlapping is going to change the whole attacking emphasis.

I think Monty also said on this thread or another, about taking Cash out and moving Konsa over there, this relies on Carlos and Moreno being fit, but I wouldn’t  disagree with this. Cash was aggravating last night.

I think that this is a key part of our problem so far this season.

We are not just missing their quality passing though.

We are missing their pace, movement & direct running too.

Both while we are attacking and defending.

Without both of them on the side that we mostly attack, or draw opposition towards to create space in the centre, we are purely relying on possession of the football & our build up play is far too slow.

So opposition teams just reorganise while we are dallying about on the ball, get set with bodies sitting deep, & we are then trying to cut through a parked bus that has been clamped.

As we then attempt to progress forward trying to make something happen, it then makes it easier for pace to run in behind our high line.

And thats not just on the injuries.

Its also on the lack of depth to cover them when they are missing.

Which is a recruitment issue...

[Monty]

Yeah the more you think about it, and the more you watch us, the more you see that that whole left-side - Ramsey with his ball-retention in tight areas, Moreno's surging and demonic recovery pace, Mings' titanic covering presence, and the months of training and playing together they'd put in to reach that level of synchronicity - is something we're missing like a missing limb.

None of the solutions have worked. McGinn isn't Ramsey, shifting the operation to the right runs into Cash's limitations, Zaniolo looks shackled, Tielemans just looks bad, Digne is fine but slower and less technically secure than Moreno, and Torres is trying to adapt to a faster league, cohere with his teammates AND fill in for effectively the leader all at once, all while not possessing the pace on the turn or physicality of the man he's replacing.

Add into that the players not quite having gelled together yet and you can see the effect of the whole team, it's shape and its ideas.

[Drummond]

Yeah the more you think about it, and the more you watch us, the more you see that that whole left-side - Ramsey with his ball-retention in tight areas, Moreno's surging and demonic recovery pace, Mings' titanic covering presence, and the months of training and playing together they'd put in to reach that level of synchronicity - is something we're missing like a missing limb.

None of the solutions have worked. McGinn isn't Ramsey, shifting the operation to the right runs into Cash's limitations, Zaniolo looks shackled, Tielemans just looks bad, Digne is fine but slower and less technically secure than Moreno, and Torres is trying to adapt to a faster league, cohere with his teammates AND fill in for effectively the leader all at once, all while not possessing the pace on the turn or physicality of the man he's replacing.

Add into that the players not quite having gelled together yet and you can see the effect of the whole team, it's shape and its ideas.

Yet we've still managed 4 wins in the league so far, imagine when we've got them fully back... Torres pinging a pass forward to Ramsey to lay it off for Moreno.....

[Ian.]

We’re fast approaching our best calendar year in a very long time. We’ve played some of the best football in my lifetime and scored plenty of goals and kept more clean sheets than I can remember.

Even the very best can have a dip in form but we’ve been dealt a huge blow this summer with injuries to our inspirational leader and another very technical player, on top of two already injured key players.

Some of the comments I’ve read today are ridiculous.

I can understand people being frustrated. I went to bed in a foul mood after the match last night, and I imagine if I had posted on here at the time it might have been a lot less generous than this is going to be.

However, we do need a little bit of perspective, and you're absolutely right about this being the best calendar year for a very long time. That doesn't make last night acceptable, but it needs to be put in context. We have come an awfully long way in the last 12 months. And while there are understandable concerns creeping in, particularly around the cup matches, imagine if you'd have been told a year ago that one of your biggest concerns is that you're worried that we're not taking Europe seriously enough this season.

I think our biggest problem at the moment is the injuries, I really do. We can still put out a decent first team thanks to our recruitment over the summer, but we have very little in terms of backup. I know every team has injuries, but how many other clubs at the moment have so many first team players out? Ramsey, Mings, Moreno, Buendia, Carlos - that's half of a very good Premier League team. And what it means is that if we want to rest players, the quality drop-off is much steeper that it should be. Cash to Chambers, Digne to McGinn(!). The way we play, every player has to be completely at ease receiving the ball under pressure, and if you have one (or two, or three) weak links playing like we do, the opposition will smell blood and you're in trouble. That's what keeps happening to us, and that's what Unai needs to solve. The back up players either need to get up to speed (which is, I think, why he wants to play them, but it's costing us games), or we can't use them (which may not be sustainable over a long season).

I'm sick of complaining about injuries though, it feels like we're always hampered by them and it's a boring excuse - and not one that Unai has used, I hasten to add. What was that thread title from a few weeks back "I thought this sort of thing wasn't supposed to happen any more" or something like that. I felt that last night - lacklustre performance in front of a half empty crowd. But I'm expecting a(nother) reaction on Saturday in what will possibly be the biggest measure of how good a team we are this season (because I still have no idea). There will be a time, very soon, though that doing well in the league won't make up for dismal cup exits.

As always, very well put Boozey.

[Monty]

Yeah the more you think about it, and the more you watch us, the more you see that that whole left-side - Ramsey with his ball-retention in tight areas, Moreno's surging and demonic recovery pace, Mings' titanic covering presence, and the months of training and playing together they'd put in to reach that level of synchronicity - is something we're missing like a missing limb.

None of the solutions have worked. McGinn isn't Ramsey, shifting the operation to the right runs into Cash's limitations, Zaniolo looks shackled, Tielemans just looks bad, Digne is fine but slower and less technically secure than Moreno, and Torres is trying to adapt to a faster league, cohere with his teammates AND fill in for effectively the leader all at once, all while not possessing the pace on the turn or physicality of the man he's replacing.

Add into that the players not quite having gelled together yet and you can see the effect of the whole team, it's shape and its ideas.

Yet we've still managed 4 wins in the league so far, imagine when we've got them fully back... Torres pinging a pass forward to Ramsey to lay it off for Moreno.....

We have professionally dispatched 4 lower-half teams without ever really hitting fourth gear with any consistency. It's worrying in one way and impressive in another.