Unai Emery

[Beard82]

We've won 4 of 6 games against Spurs under Emery.

The other two games were utter twattings though.

My point was he set up weird down there last season and we got away with the 1st half and somehow came in level. He changed it at half time and we won in the end, but then at home he changed us to match up to them and they gubbed us. Made a weird change down there this season and a strong position turned into a horror show.

It struck me a bit a bit odd and now we have him over thinking Crystal fucking Palace.

I love the fellow but I’m not sure he did much thinking about that today. We all knew exactly how they’d set up and he did nothing to counter it or make them change approach. The fact the team played like a bunch of duffers just exacerbated his approach.

Yeah - to me Palace went for "if its not broke dont fix it", an d we went for "maybe this time it will work".

[PaulWinch again]

We cannot control a game in the manner we seem to desperately want to. We play slow, give the opposition time and endless encouragement until we bollocks it up and concede anyway.

Away from home - and I sort of get it mid-season, but it’s a sprint to the finish now. We should be front foot all the time wherever we’re playing.

[cdbearsfan]

We can beat anyone at Villa Park. We can still lose to anyone elsewhere.

[LeeB]

We cannot control a game in the manner we seem to desperately want to. We play slow, give the opposition time and endless encouragement until we bollocks it up and concede anyway.

Away from home - and I sort of get it mid-season, but it’s a sprint to the finish now. We should be front foot all the time wherever we’re playing.

I said that earlier, ok in mid-season but it's a cup semi final, we can't make it up next bloody week.

[LeonW]

He keeps getting schooled by Galsner. Embarrassing on Emery considering the resources at his disposal.

[Rory]

He keeps getting schooled by Galsner. Embarrassing on Emery considering the resources at his disposal.

Honest question, as I don't know. What has he spent, outgoing vs incoming, since he's been here?

[LeonW]

He keeps getting schooled by Galsner. Embarrassing on Emery considering the resources at his disposal.

Honest question, as I don't know. What has he spent, outgoing vs incoming, since he's been here?

You just have look at the fact we’re up against it with UEFA. Not all Emery’s fault but we’re in the last Gerrard years in the books. And more pointedly: we’ve gone all out in January on Rashford, Asensio and the Chelsea defender which has irritated UEFA plus Malen permanently signed.

None of which countenances the fact that a manager with much less resources continually gets the better of Emery.

[dorsetvillian]

You would think Uni and his team would look at how other teams have beaten Palace this season and see how Villa can adapt. Palace play the same way in every game so it shouldn't be that difficult to see the obvious flaws they have. It seemed obvious that we were intent on playing the same as usual against them almost hoping rather than expecting a different outcome. It's just so odd that such a detailed based manager can be so wrong time and again against a fairly ordinary team as Palace.

[LeonW]

You would think Uni and his team would look at how other teams have beaten Palace this season and see how Villa can adapt. Palace play the same way in every game so it shouldn't be that difficult to see the obvious flaws they have. It seemed obvious that we were intent on playing the same as usual against them almost hoping rather than expecting a different outcome. It's just so odd that such a detailed based manager can be so wrong time and again against a fairly ordinary team as Palace.

It’s embarrassing tbh.,

[ChicagoLion]

You would think Uni and his team would look at how other teams have beaten Palace this season and see how Villa can adapt. Palace play the same way in every game so it shouldn't be that difficult to see the obvious flaws they have. It seemed obvious that we were intent on playing the same as usual against them almost hoping rather than expecting a different outcome. It's just so odd that such a detailed based manager can be so wrong time and again against a fairly ordinary team as Palace.

It’s embarrassing tbh.,

Inexplicable.

[Villan82]

Seen the post match comments about the league being our priority and I am even more angry.

Now we know why we were so passive yesterday in a SEMI FINAL. We obviously think Fulham at home next weekend is more important than lifting silverware.

Have we forgotten what football is meant to be about?

[ez]

But just recently he's been talking about the importance of winning trophies. Is he just making the right noises with that. Yesterday's game suggests so.

[Ian.]

He made an error with selection, but its ease to say in hindsight, it doesn’t mean he didn’t want to win the game.

We played crap, we didn’t play aggressive enough, we lost the ball in silly places which allowed them to pounce.

All the talk we didn’t want to win is bollocks. It was a really shit day at the office and for some reason or another nothing clicked. 70% of the ball, more shots on targets, 12 corners to their one, however they won the battle in the right places and were lethal with their four shots.

Really disappointing however we didn’t throw it on purpose.

[Villan82]

Have a look at the post-match on youtube.

Even if it wasn't deliberate how do you blow Newcastle away on a Saturday in the league and bottle an FA cup semi final against Crystal Palace a week later?

[django]

I think we were trying to slow the game down yesterday because of the previous games against Palace and to try and avoid the exact scenarios which resulted in their goals yesterday and previously. Turning the ball over either from misplaced passes or being dispossessed and then them springing quick counters.

We were looking to hit Watkins long when they pressed higher up and that looked like it might have had some success in the first 20 mins but we didn’t have any other angles to attack through when they sat deep against us.

Rogers in the middle can make things happen through his ball carrying, Asensio can drift into spaces when games are stretched (when Rashford is wide specifically it seems) but seems less effective when teams sit in against us. Rogers is wasted out wide as he’s not the trickiest or fastest winger for a full back to face and his physicality isn’t as much of a factor there.

That lack of options to pass to meant dwelling on the ball and probably fatigued Youri and Kamara giving the ball away and playing into Palaces hands.

I think we’ll need a change of approach next season as well as presumably some players moving in and out as these are issues which have come up at numerous times this season.

We played the high line last year and it meant we had a lot of the ball in the oppositions half and built pressure, later in the season teams started to pick us off and play direct balls through us. Emery abandoned that for this season and has tried to lure teams onto us by playing the ball round at the back so we can spring from there. It makes us too passive and  as the weeks go by teams fall for it less frequently. Palace were able to be patient and press our midfield into errors and having scored first they never needed to force the game in the way our tactics were relying on them to.

I think the selection yesterday highlights a weakness of Emery in recognising the importance of the physical battle against certain teams and I hope he addresses that and the passiveness in whatever reinvention PSR allows us to build next year.