Unai Emery - our manager

[Monty]

I said it before, that this season's top 9 or so teams are each capable of killing each other or getting killed, mainly due to this obsession with high lines, squeezing play, winning the ball in midfield and attacking fast and hard. It happened to us against Newcastle and Liverpool, it happened to Newcastle against Brighton, it happened to Brighton against us - and I'm pretty cure it won't be the last absolute horsing dished out this season.

It also why I think it's going to be a lot tighter this season at the top end with the points a bit more spread out.

This may even include Man City, who've only played one 'big 9' team this season (though if you want to argue that West Ham have replaced Chelsea in the considerations I wouldn't go to the death over it).

Yeah I think so.

It might (holds breath, remembers to not get carried away again) mean that a team not necessarily thought of as title contenders could, under the guidence of excellent manager and with injuries going their way, maybe just win the whole thing.

Not naming names.

Yes indeed.

I mean, it definitely won't happen. But for the next couple of days, let's bask in the impossible dream for a moment.

[pauliewalnuts]

Away win…they’re better

Gerrardesque match preparation wouldn't you say?

I'm not particularly singling out Redsox but the sense of foreboding on this pre-match thread by the majority showed a distinct lack of faith in our club.

Good evidence. This from UKR is on par with "they should wipe the floor with us". One thing in UKR's defence is that he like American sports.

Well, it would be, if UKR was the manager of Aston Villa late last week.

I reckon the normal setting for supporters of almost all clubs is the nagging, seen-it-before doubt and loss of confidence prior to a match.

Especially after more than a decade of being utter turbo-shit.

[Monty]

We were coming off a poor defeat against Everton, we'd looked a bit lacklustre even in victory sometimes, and against the only two quality sides we'd played so far we were meek and overwhelmed. It's fine to worry, nothing to do with 'faith' - a guy like Emery doesn't give a damn about 'faith', it's about work, improving, getting it right.

Which by fuck he did the other day, and we're all incredibly happy.

[paul_e]

Think they've now conceded more than everyone but Sheffield Utd this season, and theirs is only warped by that 8-0 versus Newcastle.

I'd been holding back on criticising their defence until after we played them (for obvious reasons) but it amused me when they did a side-by-side of De Zerbi and Emery on Saturday and had a 'goals per game' value but completely ignored the defensive side of things. It's as if the entire subject has been made taboo so they can just claim how fucking amazing him and Brighton are.

Sounds a bit like a conspiracy theory too far for me. I followed the game on Saturday at various points via TalkSport commetary, TV and internet and I reckon I must have heard about how many months it is since Brighton have kept a clean sheet a hundred times over that couple of hours.

I don't listen to talksport but I honestly can't remember seeing anything remotely critical about how many they concede, just gushing praise for how great they are. It's not a conspiracy theory though, just an observation that someone who is a bit of a media darling has been given a bit of an easy ride over the problems with the way he sets them up.

[paul_e]

I said it before, that this season's top 9 or so teams are each capable of killing each other or getting killed, mainly due to this obsession with high lines, squeezing play, winning the ball in midfield and attacking fast and hard. It happened to us against Newcastle and Liverpool, it happened to Newcastle against Brighton, it happened to Brighton against us - and I'm pretty cure it won't be the last absolute horsing dished out this season.

It also why I think it's going to be a lot tighter this season at the top end with the points a bit more spread out.

This may even include Man City, who've only played one 'big 9' team this season (though if you want to argue that West Ham have replaced Chelsea in the considerations I wouldn't go to the death over it).

I don't think it will, I suspect Saturday was a bit of a perfect storm of them not taking chances, Rodri being out and leaving them a bit vulnerable on the counter and Wolves managing to score twice despite only getting 1 shot on target.

On the big 9 thing I really wouldn't be surprised if we see another season where there's 2 huge chasms in the table. 8-9 at the top followed by a midtable group of 6-7 and a bottom 4-5 with gaps of about 10 points between the groups.

[Monty]

I said it before, that this season's top 9 or so teams are each capable of killing each other or getting killed, mainly due to this obsession with high lines, squeezing play, winning the ball in midfield and attacking fast and hard. It happened to us against Newcastle and Liverpool, it happened to Newcastle against Brighton, it happened to Brighton against us - and I'm pretty cure it won't be the last absolute horsing dished out this season.

It also why I think it's going to be a lot tighter this season at the top end with the points a bit more spread out.

This may even include Man City, who've only played one 'big 9' team this season (though if you want to argue that West Ham have replaced Chelsea in the considerations I wouldn't go to the death over it).

I don't think it will, I suspect Saturday was a bit of a perfect storm of them not taking chances, Rodri being out and leaving them a bit vulnerable on the counter and Wolves managing to score twice despite only getting 1 shot on target.

On the big 9 thing I really wouldn't be surprised if we see another season where there's 2 huge chasms in the table. 8-9 at the top followed by a midtable group of 6-7 and a bottom 4-5 with gaps of about 10 points between the groups.

Agreed on both, though obviously hope that you're wrong on the former!

One thing not being mentioned enough by the way is that there's a very good chance 5th might offer Champions League qualification this year, which could be of use to us!

[Brend'Watkins]

Away win…they’re better

Gerrardesque match preparation wouldn't you say?

I'm not particularly singling out Redsox but the sense of foreboding on this pre-match thread by the majority showed a distinct lack of faith in our club.

Good evidence. This from UKR is on par with "they should wipe the floor with us". One thing in UKR's defence is that he like American sports.

Well, it would be, if UKR was the manager of Aston Villa late last week.

I reckon the normal setting for supporters of almost all clubs is the nagging, seen-it-before doubt and loss of confidence prior to a match.

Especially after more than a decade of being utter turbo-shit.

The initial point was to compare the preparation style of Gerrard and Unai. Gerrard: “Chelsea should wipe the floor with us”. Redsox “They’re better than us, away win”.  Both similar in approach but only one is a football manager supposedly.

[paul_e]

I said it before, that this season's top 9 or so teams are each capable of killing each other or getting killed, mainly due to this obsession with high lines, squeezing play, winning the ball in midfield and attacking fast and hard. It happened to us against Newcastle and Liverpool, it happened to Newcastle against Brighton, it happened to Brighton against us - and I'm pretty cure it won't be the last absolute horsing dished out this season.

It also why I think it's going to be a lot tighter this season at the top end with the points a bit more spread out.

This may even include Man City, who've only played one 'big 9' team this season (though if you want to argue that West Ham have replaced Chelsea in the considerations I wouldn't go to the death over it).

I don't think it will, I suspect Saturday was a bit of a perfect storm of them not taking chances, Rodri being out and leaving them a bit vulnerable on the counter and Wolves managing to score twice despite only getting 1 shot on target.

On the big 9 thing I really wouldn't be surprised if we see another season where there's 2 huge chasms in the table. 8-9 at the top followed by a midtable group of 6-7 and a bottom 4-5 with gaps of about 10 points between the groups.

Agreed on both, though obviously hope that you're wrong on the former!

One thing not being mentioned enough by the way is that there's a very good chance 5th might offer Champions League qualification this year, which could be of use to us!

Lets just finish in the top 4 just in case!

[Monty]

Lets just finish in the top 4 just in case!

Ha absolutely! Top 1, just to make sure.

[PeterWithesShin]

On the pre-match thread there were more votes for a Brighton win than a Villa win.

[Risso]

On the pre-match thread there were more votes for a Brighton win than a Villa win.

Which just backs up what Monty was saying above.

Hopefully we can maintain the consistency now, and put in a decent performance aginst Wolves and give them a good shoeing (whilst being respectful and demanding of course! ). Even under Emery it was a pretty shit performance last season, arguably the worst under him (last year).

[Dante Lavelli]

He really is a class act, less than a year in and look at us. If he stays with us for a few years and we continue to improve then this really could turn into something very special.

Here’s a question, how sustainable is the level of analysis and preparation that he demands of his players?  Is ‘analysis paralysis’ a genuine risk?

Whilst results improve and players see the upward tick I imagine they will go along with it but there must come a point where there’s diminishing returns.  Buying younger players with a higher ceiling to replace established stars/old pros might be the solution but the art will be swapping them at the right time like Ferguson used to do so well.

[pablo_picasso]

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

HOW VERY DARE YOU!!! 😉😂

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".

Same here regarding the conversation with other fans.

I usually tell them that its pretty fluid between a narrow 4-4-2 & a 4-2-3-1 when attacking & sometimes it can go to a 6-3-1 when defending, but its never static with any specific formation.

And the tweaks to the tactics, like Ramsey tucking in to allow Moreno to overlap, or he goes wide & takes an opposition player with him to create space in the centre, etc, etc, etc...

Or even more simple things like against Newcastle last year when we lobbed the ball over the top of their heavy press, etc.

Its never simple overall & its never static.

Which makes it all the more difficult to describe to other fans who don't watch it, lol...

[Risso]

He really is a class act, less than a year in and look at us. If he stays with us for a few years and we continue to improve then this really could turn into something very special.

Here’s a question, how sustainable is the level of analysis and preparation that he demands of his players?  Is ‘analysis paralysis’ a genuine risk?

Whilst results improve and players see the upward tick I imagine they will go along with it but there must come a point where there’s diminishing returns.  Buying younger players with a higher ceiling to replace established stars/old pros might be the solution but the art will be swapping them at the right time like Ferguson used to do so well.

Doesn't seem to be an issue so far with most of the players. When you see absolutely everybody at the weekend doing exactly what's asked of them, then they must be taking it onboard. I mean I love SJM, but I wouldn't exactly put him in the top tier of footballing intellects, and he seems to be coping with it just fine.

Look at Kamara as well. Absolutely hopeless for 2-3 games, but now back to doing what he does best. Digne and Cash have really stepped it up as well. If the players can't cope with it, I imagine they'll be moved on for ones who can, but so far that doesn't seem to be a problem.

[LeonW]

Emery is perhaps the first manager we’ve had in my lifetime where i’d say if we struggled at a point i’d replace the players rather than the manager.