Unai Emery

[paul_e]

Yep, what Chris said.

At one point this year we went , I think, 7 or 8 games in a row without fielding the same back 4. It's really hard to get a functioning offside trap from that.

Even at the weekend we were fielding a brand new back 4 and then had to make a change in the first half before Maatsen even came on. It's not a great surprise that our defenders are a little out of sync.

[boozey182]

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what's going wrong at the moment. I'm still not over the frustration of Saturday - everything about it irritated me. Our players, their players, the ref, the weather - it was a miserable way to spend the afternoon.

I think a lot of our players just aren't good enough to play how Unai wants them to play - and he has to take some of the responsibility for that. Rogers isn't as good as we need him to be yet, and that's not his fault. He's had an incredible 12 months, but if Unai is going to play him for 90 minutes every game, he needs to win us more matches. Watkins needs to finish more of the chances we create. The centre backs need to move the ball quicker and stop more shots. The full backs need to create more and stop crosses. Tielemens needs to take more responsibility on and off the ball. McGinn and Ramsey need more consistency. Onana needs to be fit for a run of games. Bailey needs to find any kind of form. Malen, Rashford and Asensio need a goal or an assist to get things moving. And, perhaps the elephant in the room, Martinez needs to be a lot better than he's been this season, both in terms of his shot stopping, and also with his distribution. He misses a lot of opportunities to play a slightly longer pass, which shifts the pressure to the centre backs.

We're too easy to play against. We fail to match teams physically, we concede too easily and we don't take enough of our chances.

There are mitigating circumstances for most of the above, but we're getting to the point of the season now when the 'why' isn't really important. We have missed a huge opportunity over the last month or so, which has probably given us too much to do in the league this season now. Other than two wins this week, which is unlikely, I can't see us challenging for the Champions League spots, and we can't really have any complaints. We just haven't been good enough at all this season, and our league position (bottom of the 'not complete shit' league) is definitely fair.

Unai will get it right, and he will have learned a lot from this poor run/season so far. He's already addressed some aspects of it with our January signings, and I still believe that we will get better as the season goes on, but I can't help but feel that it will be too late. It feels like a waste of a year, but maybe this was to be expected? He's trying to get us to play in a way that controls games more, and that relies on the players being able to do things that some of them don't seem to be able to do every week. Was his plan largely with the Champions League in mind? If so, our style does seem to work better in Europe than domestically. Does he change the tactics now to try and help them out, or does he stick to his guns, ready to get rid of them that can't do it in the summer? Will we have enough of as squad if he does that?! Is he being too stubborn?

I don't think that Liverpool and Chelsea, particularly, are anything special, and if we were in any kind of form, I'd be quietly confident about these two matches. Maybe it will only take one or two players stepping up to completely change the why the team is playing, but there are so many players that haven't been playing well this season that I just can't see us getting much this week, unfortunately. Which would be another missed opportunity.

[Sexual Ealing]

Cracking post, that.

[kippaxvilla2]

For a name like Boozey he doesn't have post some sobering stuff.

[olaftab]

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what's going wrong at the moment.

My friend I am very impressed with your analysis in this post however I do take umbrage with your first sentence. We are in the last 16 of Champions League and the FA cup. We have done that by seeing off likes of Bayern, Juve, Bologna, West Ham and Spurs. Just think about that.

[Clampy]

I think it's fine to pick out a few flaws but to say it's been poor is laughable.

[Meanwood Villa]

It's been a strange season, I don't think we've played that well for most of it truth be told. Champions League and FA Cup are the bonuses at the moment but the bread and butter of the league has been very hit and miss.

[ChicagoLion]

Agree with Boozey,our form over the season and even during games is so inconsistent.
I still do not think that we have an identity in the way we had in prior seasons. Whatever the plan it isn't working in the PL and I struggle to understand why UE has not addressed the problem of conceding every game and usually twice.

[LeeB]

Cracking post, that.

I concur, the opening paragraph in particular was exactly how I'd felt, I was fucking fuming when I got home Saturday night.

[boozey182]

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what's going wrong at the moment.

My friend I am very impressed with your analysis in this post however I do take umbrage with your first sentence. We are in the last 16 of Champions League and the FA cup. We have done that by seeing off likes of Bayern, Juve, Bologna, West Ham and Spurs. Just think about that.

Well this is all Unai's responsibility as well, I'm afraid. He's shown me how things could be. As that protest song against safe standing goes "if I hadn't seen such riches I could live with being poor".

As I said, I'm still really frustrated from Saturday. I maintain that we haven't really played well for a full match all season (Bayern and Man City are the notable exceptions), and it's all the more frustrating because I think there's a massive opportunity this year, with so many clubs struggling. We took full advantage last year, and we're not this year.

Of course, if you put everything in perspective from the last decade or so, this is the peak. But I have to have perspective in every other aspect of my life. As a football fan, I want to dream. I want glory, and I'm getting tired of having to manage my expectations. We've got the best manager we've had in my lifetime - let's try and be one of the best teams in the country. Midtable is poor - I want more.

[RamboandBruno]

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what's going wrong at the moment.

My friend I am very impressed with your analysis in this post however I do take umbrage with your first sentence. We are in the last 16 of Champions League and the FA cup. We have done that by seeing off likes of Bayern, Juve, Bologna, West Ham and Spurs. Just think about that.

Agree, its an excellent post/analysis, but also agree trying to work out ‘whats gone wrong’, for any of us, is ignoring that as things stand in mid-Feb, 8th, 5 points off 4th, champions league last 16 and great chance of getting to the FA cup QFs, is not a season where we have to analyse whats gone wrong, maybe why the league campaign isnt as good as last year.
Also agree beating Liverpool seems unlikely, dont agree beating Chelsea in their current form is unlikely

[Meanwood Villa]

Six points off 4th and getting wider by the week

[Drummond]

Cracking post, that.

I concur, the opening paragraph in particular was exactly how I'd felt, I was fucking fuming when I got home Saturday night.

And me. I'd spent 2 hours in the cold watching my lad at football training, spent two hours driving down. Got wet and cold. Watched that shit result. Then stood around for another couple of hours after the game waiting for autographs, and got fucking colder.

The best bit was seeing my lad's smile when he got a couple of autographs.

Garcia, Kamara, McGinn and McInally.

The rest of the players all sloped off and wouldn't stop. I get they may have had plans and were pissed off too but there were a lot of kids desperate to see their idols.

Those players I mentioned did themselves and the club proud. Kamara thought about going, and he had his young kids with him but came over and signed some stuff too.

[eamonn]

Yep, what Chris said.

At one point this year we went , I think, 7 or 8 games in a row without fielding the same back 4. It's really hard to get a functioning offside trap from that.

Even at the weekend we were fielding a brand new back 4 and then had to make a change in the first half before Maatsen even came on. It's not a great surprise that our defenders are a little out of sync.

But at the beginning of the season the same defence that played the high-line last season were all fit, weren't they? And I don't think we bothered with it then.

[ROBBO]

Unai himself says we are still in the building phase, so far so fast, my worry is that our two best players last game are on loan.