Unai Emery

[Monty]

Absolutely tonnes of tactical nouse went into Saturday, but I liked the long ball variation we had from Martinez, mainly in the first half.

Dougie would drop deep into the 18 yard box, to drag a Brighton midfielder with him, so we had a longer ball in toward Zaniolo in acres of space. Dead simple, but it was just one of multiple variations we deployed.

Absolute genius.

This is the thing about Emery.

When I talk to people who support other clubs, they sometimes ask about what formation he prefers and I find myself saying that he genuinely sets us up differently pretty much every game to match the opposition, and to that extent, it's not really about formation, it's about what he has the players do on the pitch.

It's pretty remarkable really, he and his team put so much effort and preparation work in to every match. It's not going to work every time, but to be taking 2 points per match over a long period of time is truly excellent, especially when you factor in he has done this here, whilst starting with a team of shattered confidence stuck in 17th place.

McGinn said in his post-match that not only has Emery educated the players, but also the fans - and I think he's completely right. I know I feel like I've been sent to school, that's for sure! All of the above-mentioned stuff here, the idea of these little strategies to deal with specific opponents, the real purpose of the shape of a team (as opposed to just 'what formation', because as players don't stand still on a pitch all formations are nominal), all of this.

He's just a different level, and I find it difficult to explain how good he is to fans of other clubs. I'm genuinely more impressed by his job with us than Guardiola's given the relative resources available, and right now it's starting to rival Klopp, who I think did the best pound-for-pound managerial job at the top of the Premier League since Wenger first came in. If we get into the Champions League, it'd be equal.

[paul_e]

Absolutely tonnes of tactical nouse went into Saturday, but I liked the long ball variation we had from Martinez, mainly in the first half.

Dougie would drop deep into the 18 yard box, to drag a Brighton midfielder with him, so we had a longer ball in toward Zaniolo in acres of space. Dead simple, but it was just one of multiple variations we deployed.

Absolute genius.

This is the thing about Emery.

When I talk to people who support other clubs, they sometimes ask about what formation he prefers and I find myself saying that he genuinely sets us up differently pretty much every game to match the opposition, and to that extent, it's not really about formation, it's about what he has the players do on the pitch.

It's pretty remarkable really, he and his team put so much effort and preparation work in to every match. It's not going to work every time, but to be taking 2 points per match over a long period of time is truly excellent, especially when you factor in he has done this here, whilst starting with a team of shattered confidence stuck in 17th place.

Yeah, I've had this discussion with people at work "it sort of starts as a 442 but you very rarely see us with 2 banks of 4 in either defence or attack, instead every player gets a few 'jobs' and they all get drilled on that rather than the shape".

[malckennedy]

The best in play decision Unai made on Saturday was to replace Zaniolo with Ramsey at 3-1. Frankly, Zaniolo was very poor again, losing possession on virtually every occasion. Ramsey’s introduction changed things at a shaky moment in the game - I hope he is fit enough to start both of our next two matches.

[Brend'Watkins]

Gerrard’s match preparation was the same as anyone on here posting comments on a pre-match thread.

[VILLA MOLE]

Gerrard’s match preparation was the same as anyone on here posting comments on a pre-match thread.

I AM INSULTED 

[LeeB]

Pound for pound is the right phrase, I think he's pound for pound the best manager in the world right now.

[Risso]

Pound for pound is the right phrase, I think he's pound for pound the best manager in the world right now.

I would have included De Zerbi in that conversation, but in boxing terms after the weekend he's flat on his back seeing stars, like Anthony Joshua getting in the ring with prime Mike Tyson.

[RamboandBruno]

Absolutely tonnes of tactical nouse went into Saturday, but I liked the long ball variation we had from Martinez, mainly in the first half.

Dougie would drop deep into the 18 yard box, to drag a Brighton midfielder with him, so we had a longer ball in toward Zaniolo in acres of space. Dead simple, but it was just one of multiple variations we deployed.

Absolute genius.

This is the thing about Emery.

When I talk to people who support other clubs, they sometimes ask about what formation he prefers and I find myself saying that he genuinely sets us up differently pretty much every game to match the opposition, and to that extent, it's not really about formation, it's about what he has the players do on the pitch.

It's pretty remarkable really, he and his team put so much effort and preparation work in to every match. It's not going to work every time, but to be taking 2 points per match over a long period of time is truly excellent, especially when you factor in he has done this here, whilst starting with a team of shattered confidence stuck in 17th place.

McGinn said in his post-match that not only has Emery educated the players, but also the fans - and I think he's completely right. I know I feel like I've been sent to school, that's for sure! All of the above-mentioned stuff here, the idea of these little strategies to deal with specific opponents, the real purpose of the shape of a team (as opposed to just 'what formation', because as players don't stand still on a pitch all formations are nominal), all of this.

He's just a different level, and I find it difficult to explain how good he is to fans of other clubs. I'm genuinely more impressed by his job with us than Guardiola's given the relative resources available, and right now it's starting to rival Klopp, who I think did the best pound-for-pound managerial job at the top of the Premier League since Wenger first came in. If we get into the Champions League, it'd be equal.

There was a period quite early on in the first half, possibly still at 0-0, when there was interplay in and around our own six yard box, between Martinez, Konsa, Cash I think, as Brighton tried to press. It produced applause and appreciation from the holte end, whereas 10 months ago (or Wednesday night versus Everton) this would of brought high anxiety amongst screams of ‘get it out!!!’

The man, the humble genius, has educated us all.

[Chico Hamilton III]

Put it this way, if it wasn’t for the miracles that Emery has been performing over the last 10 months, there would be serious unrest down the Villa at the moment. Imagine having shit ticket prices, shit shirts, shit badges, shit ideas for the Holte and a shit manager as well? Can you imagine how ugly it might be? Emery has pretty much single handedly ensured that won’t happen. Unlike any of the money men who run the club.

[Drummond]

I think that's why they invested in him.

[LeeB]

Pound for pound is the right phrase, I think he's pound for pound the best manager in the world right now.

I would have included De Zerbi in that conversation, but in boxing terms after the weekend he's flat on his back seeing stars, like Anthony Joshua getting in the ring with prime Mike Tyson.

It was like Homer getting in the ring with Drederick Tattum.

[Drummond]

I think what the last two games have shown is that lots of the right preparation means we win, and win well, see Brighton. If we don't, and against others who do, then we get done, see Everton.

The question for us all is what we want to see, because give the right preparation, we can set out and win everything, but even Emery and his team only have so much time to give.

[paul_e]

Pound for pound is the right phrase, I think he's pound for pound the best manager in the world right now.

I would have included De Zerbi in that conversation, but in boxing terms after the weekend he's flat on his back seeing stars, like Anthony Joshua getting in the ring with prime Mike Tyson.

It was like Homer getting in the ring with Drederick Tattum.

Saturday confirmed my suspicion that he can setup a team to attack but in doing so he leaves a lot of gaps for the opposition to exploit. He's been there for just over a full season (39 league games now) and they've conceded 62 goals, that makes for some exciting games and the 80 goals they've scored do hide it a little bit but elite teams don't concede 1 and a half a game.

You could put it down to Brighton having poor defenders but his record in Serie A is similar.

For contrast Emery has conceded 37 in 32 with us and that includes terrible results against Leicester, Arsenal and Newcastle accounting for more than a third of them.

[LeeB]

I'd like to see how he copes under some pressure without the world blowing smoke up his arse.

I suspect it won't be pretty and it will most probably be someone else's fault.

[Rigadon]

I'd like to see how he copes under some pressure without the world blowing smoke up his arse.

I suspect it won't be pretty and it will most probably be someone else's fault.

100% this.  I think he (and they) might implode.