Unai Emery

[Nii Lamptey]

Part of me wonders if it's about conserving energy. In our conference league season, we were much more gung-ho - High line, attacking at pace.... But massively came off the rails towards the end of the season when everyone was running on empty.

The more conservative style of play came in last season and... the slow, lethargic build up which we can't seem to shake off. I want the conference league style of play back - This new one is shite. 

[Drummond]

I want a blend. I want us to be unpredictable.

[Ian.]

Well I hope you're proud of yourself, Paulie! Getting a poor innocent soul banned 😉

Is it me, or is the air a bit clearer, the sun a little sweeter in here this morning? I hear birdsong, the babbling of the brook...

At the very least, the next iteration won’t do that mad punctuation thing.

He’s probably punching away at his keyboard working out the next name to fool everyone here. It’s a strange way to live your life.

[RamboandBruno]

Well I hope you're proud of yourself, Paulie! Getting a poor innocent soul banned 😉

Is it me, or is the air a bit clearer, the sun a little sweeter in here this morning? I hear birdsong, the babbling of the brook...

But who is now here to tell us over and over, day after day, Mings is better than Torres….

[Brazilian Villain]

I want a blend. I want us to be unpredictable.

Tim did offer something different, but in the end the boss decided he was expendable.

[Monty]

Well I hope you're proud of yourself, Paulie! Getting a poor innocent soul banned 😉

Is it me, or is the air a bit clearer, the sun a little sweeter in here this morning? I hear birdsong, the babbling of the brook...

But who is now here to tell us over and over, day after day, Mings is better than Torres….

I really don't think we're set for a sudden shortage of that.

[Drummond]

I want a blend. I want us to be unpredictable.

Tim did offer something different, but in the end the boss decided he was expendable.

That was predictable.

[Russ aka Big Nose]

Playing McGinn on the wing is still the most baffling thing Unai has done for me especially as we have actual wingers sitting on the bench
McGinn has many fine qualities but pacy winger he is not

Watching a team struggle for 2 games now with no pace or penetration (matron) sitting thinking yeah this is the way to go is utterly confusing and depressing I just don’t understand what’s going on
I know it’s not the only problem we have but it’s Really the most obvious mistake.

It might be a bit negative, though I don't think it is baffling. I think Emery uses SJM in wide areas to counter the opposition on occasions.

Fairly predictably the plan from Noocassel was to press/foul/chase when out of possession. And when in possession it was all about quick counter-attacks and playing for set-pieces. The attacking threat of Livramento was always going to be more to the fore than Trippier on the other side.

Using SJM to nullify that for an hour and then replace him with someone like Malen makes sense, though is certainly cautious - especially at home. UTV

[Dave]

McGinn also had one of his best games for us in the 3-0 vs Newcastle playing in pretty much the same position.

[PaulWinch again]

I understand the concept I just think it’s been proven to be overly negative to the point it entirely negates our attacking threat.

[paul_e]

McGinn out wide is fine in specific circumstances but when Rogers is on the other side and tucking in we become narrow and the midfield gets congested as we have, effectively, 5 players in the same area of the pitch.

[brontebilly]

McGinn also had one of his best games for us in the 3-0 vs Newcastle playing in pretty much the same position.

Exactly, he's had loads of great games for us there, we haven't played with wingers really under Emery so this debate "McGinn on the wing" is nonsense. Think it's his best position personally and he was by far our best player when he played there. But he needs an overlapping full back, Cash under clear tactical instruction not to.....The one time he did in the second half, he created a good chance for someone.

Malen came on the right and didn't go at the full back once from memory. At least Guessand tried. In a low block we have free up our full backs more and one of our CMs has to gamble a bit more to be a second striker like Platt or Lampard.

[ozzjim]

McGinn also had one of his best games for us in the 3-0 vs Newcastle playing in pretty much the same position.

Exactly, he's had loads of great games for us there, we haven't played with wingers really under Emery so this debate "McGinn on the wing" is nonsense. Think it's his best position personally and he was by far our best player when he played there. But he needs an overlapping full back, Cash under clear tactical instruction not to.....The one time he did in the second half, he created a good chance for someone.

Malen came on the right and didn't go at the full back once from memory. At least Guessand tried. In a low block we have free up our full backs more and one of our CMs has to gamble a bit more to be a second striker like Platt or Lampard.

I've said it on the transfer thread too, but an unexpected transfer I'd really love in the next few days would be a young box to box midfielder who likes to gamble into goalscoring areas. Ramsey was never robust enough to play centrally with the discipline needed, but finding a player that can progress through midfield at pace and then join into the box would be brilliant. Milner/ Dleph esque at their best. I thought Rogers had all the tools to become that player but he's struggling to find a best position for me at the moment