Unai Emery

[SoccerHQ]

First time I've thought all season he's not going to turn it round this season.

Something has gone very badly wrong behind the scenes over the summer. Of course we can blame many factors but considering how wage bill is causing massive issues with UEFA it's a bit comical to see how expensive our bench was today.

I was expecting Harvey Elliott to start today. Even could've come on at half time given the amount of possession we were going to have.

While I understand Sancho isn't 100% fitness wise we are paying 80% of his wages and that is a huge amount so he needs to be playing sooner or later.

Given the comments after the game I fully expect both to start the next four with Rogers and possibly Ollie benched.

[N'ZMAV]

Rogers was a shambles. Watkins disinterested at times.

[andyh]

Rogers was a shambles. Watkins disinterested at times.

There is loss of form and then there is total meltdown.

To go from where he was in February, to today’s performance is bizarre.

[SamTheMouse]

I would rather stick by the the manager than (some of) the players.

I suspect we'll finish mid-table, and at the end of the season have a massive clear out. Too many of this lot are not up to it, or on their last legs (or will be, come May).

However, two things worry me. One is that, if you look at the players he usually starts, the majority of them are players who were here before he was. That does not give me confidence we'd sign players of the next level quality following any clear out, Monchi's hit-rate is so fucking poor. The other is, Unai will have been here a fair while by then, and is he going to be up to the challenge of totally rebuilding, and doing so under strict financial controls?

I agree with all of this. Clubs generally pot their managers when they reach this stage, but Emery is proven quality and I feel it's worth holding our nerve and seeing what happens. If that means effectively sacrificing a season, so be it.

However... When he arrived, we were a basket case but he was able to extract great performances from, effectively, Dean Smith's squad, and get us rocketing up the table. Given our current position, he's going to have to do the same this season. Yet I find myself wondering how the hell he's going to manage it, and that in itself is worrying.

[ChicagoLion]

I would rather stick by the the manager than (some of) the players.

I suspect we'll finish mid-table, and at the end of the season have a massive clear out. Too many of this lot are not up to it, or on their last legs (or will be, come May).

However, two things worry me. One is that, if you look at the players he usually starts, the majority of them are players who were here before he was. That does not give me confidence we'd sign players of the next level quality following any clear out, Monchi's hit-rate is so fucking poor. The other is, Unai will have been here a fair while by then, and is he going to be up to the challenge of totally rebuilding, and doing so under strict financial controls?

I agree with all of this. Clubs generally pot their managers when they reach this stage, but Emery is proven quality and I feel it's worth holding our nerve and seeing what happens. If that means effectively sacrificing a season, so be it.

However... When he arrived, we were a basket case but he was able to extract great performances from, effectively, Dean Smith's squad, and get us rocketing up the table. Given our current position, he's going to have to do the same this season. Yet I find myself wondering how the hell he's going to manage it, and that in itself is worrying.

With these players?

[DB]

It’s either the players not taking in what he wants and have lost a bit of faith in him….or he has lost his drive with us and is not as on it as he has been since day 1 with us. Either way, it needs sorting.

[SoccerHQ]

I would rather stick by the the manager than (some of) the players.

I suspect we'll finish mid-table, and at the end of the season have a massive clear out. Too many of this lot are not up to it, or on their last legs (or will be, come May).

However, two things worry me. One is that, if you look at the players he usually starts, the majority of them are players who were here before he was. That does not give me confidence we'd sign players of the next level quality following any clear out, Monchi's hit-rate is so fucking poor. The other is, Unai will have been here a fair while by then, and is he going to be up to the challenge of totally rebuilding, and doing so under strict financial controls?

I agree with all of this. Clubs generally pot their managers when they reach this stage, but Emery is proven quality and I feel it's worth holding our nerve and seeing what happens. If that means effectively sacrificing a season, so be it.

However... When he arrived, we were a basket case but he was able to extract great performances from, effectively, Dean Smith's squad, and get us rocketing up the table. Given our current position, he's going to have to do the same this season. Yet I find myself wondering how the hell he's going to manage it, and that in itself is worrying.

With these players?

3/4 of them will go in the next two windows.

I think the short term nature of our transfers in last two years and not properly refreshing the first 11 is really hurting us now.

Was watching second half of Arsenal game and someone like Martinelli is a forward I'd love us to sign. Still 23/24 but with vast experience in the prem and a player Emery gave a prem debut to.

How good it would've been in January if we'd managed to get him in some sort of swop with Ollie?

Instead we got rid of Duran which was a shame but understandable with his attitude and the fee and ended up with Malen who the manager clearly dosen't rate and Rashford got us bigger coverage but was a bit optimistic to think he'd want to come here permanently.

We've become too obsessed with PSR even with all the restrictions it's brought us. Constantly signing and then farming out young players because a club will pay us a loan fee. Nedeljkovic is someone who should've stayed in our first team squad and got more chances. Instead he goes out, we pay 5m to get Disasi for six months and he's discarded a month before the season ends and we're back to Cash being the only real RB option in the squad with Garcia AWOL.

Who's call was it not to sell McGinn to Everton as despite the many years of great service at prem level he's now starting to look past his best. Someone who will be 31 next month and on high wages and then we sell Ramsey two weeks later, that just smacks of short termism and not a great look for Emery if it was his call to keep McGinn at all costs.

There is a difference with wanting Emery sacked tomorrow morning (I certainly don't) but at the same time more closely scrutinising some of his decisions regarding the squad.

We really can't have a situation where we have about 400k a week just warming the bench week after week. I think Malen is a lost cause now but Sancho, Elliott and Maatsen certainly aren't. Those three need to be starting our next four games if their fitness is up to it.

[Ian.]

Maatsen should have played today, I don’t get why he’s not playing every week now. Elliot must be starting too, we’re too static and void of ideas.

[Chip Butty 111]

We needed a re fresh 12 months ago. Without the goals of Duran we would have been mid table at Christmas, and then Rashford and Asensio came in January and gave us a huge lift. It could be they papered over the cracks because now offensively we are dire. Nobody seems to want the ball in the final 3rd, and we pass it sideways without any movement up front until we inevitably lose it. Watkins having 6 touches, none near the penalty area by the 41st minute...and not touching the ball at all between the 24th and 41st minute..were frankly dreadful statistics...but caused by the midfield and 3 am's not being capable of creating anything. The quality of our attacking play is probably about league 1 level, and that's being kind. Thursday night in front of lots of empty seats is massive.

[Grumpy]

I've seen it all now, someone actually said 'get Nuno in'

I will never know why some here didn't try to enjoy the past three years. From the beginning, think it was the League cup game at Old trafford, there was one or too constantly critical of Emery and obviously it's been growing this calendar year.

Now here we are three years in and it's a proper crisis and the reality is, if Emery was to go, it genuinely would be somebody like Nuno coming in to replace him. Iralola will hold out for the Man U job, Glasner will hardly leave Palace when he has a shot at winning another trophy.

It would be somebody like Nuno and 12-18 months from now we'd be staring at the fact that we should have enjoyed Emery more when we had him.

This is a great take. Too many have been swept up in our success and rather than enjoy it, they’ve become entitled and expect constant progress.

I think the biggest issue is we couldn’t refresh the squad. Many are ready to go elsewhere it seems and a few others seem burned out now sadly.

[TonyD]

I’m think playing for England has turned Rogers and Watkins. 
This has totally undermined and unbalanced the team. 
We are really in the shit at the moment.
Unai needs to sort it out. 
I reckon he will walk if he can’t in the next couple of games.

[PaulWinch again]

This concern isn’t Unai specific, but it relates to him. I worry that in spite of everything apparently being lined up to serve him at the club I wonder if it’s actually working. There’s definitely a disconnect in recruitment - Malen is a good example. We have limited wiggle room on finances, why are we spending money on someone that at the very least the manager clearly has significant doubts about.

I also wonder whether there’s a lack of appropriate tension at play, in that normally the Sporting Director etc should help identify and appoint the manager. Doesn’t always work, but there’s a strategic vision/someone to answer to etc. But in our case it’s been done in reverse, and if you ignore the obvious continuity issues if Unai does leave I wonder if we’ve got an appropriately challenging voice involved. Clearly hasn’t been an issue up to now, as things have gone well, but it does raise some questions.

Hopefully it’ll correct, but our continuous approach of setting up in the same meek way game after game doesn’t suggest there’s an awareness/understanding of the need to change.

[Sexual Ealing]

This concern isn’t Unai specific, but it relates to him. I worry that in spite of everything apparently being lined up to serve him at the club I wonder if it’s actually working. There’s definitely a disconnect in recruitment - Malen is a good example. We have limited wiggle room on finances, why are we spending money on someone that at the very least the manager clearly has significant doubts about.

I also wonder whether there’s a lack of appropriate tension at play, in that normally the Sporting Director etc should help identify and appoint the manager. Doesn’t always work, but there’s a strategic vision/someone to answer to etc. But in our case it’s been done in reverse, and if you ignore the obvious continuity issues if Unai does leave I wonder if we’ve got an appropriately challenging voice involved. Clearly hasn’t been an issue up to now, as things have gone well, but it does raise some questions.

Hopefully it’ll correct, but our continuous approach of setting up in the same meek way game after game doesn’t suggest there’s an awareness/understanding of the need to change.

Yes.

[brontebilly]

This concern isn’t Unai specific, but it relates to him. I worry that in spite of everything apparently being lined up to serve him at the club I wonder if it’s actually working. There’s definitely a disconnect in recruitment - Malen is a good example. We have limited wiggle room on finances, why are we spending money on someone that at the very least the manager clearly has significant doubts about.

I also wonder whether there’s a lack of appropriate tension at play, in that normally the Sporting Director etc should help identify and appoint the manager. Doesn’t always work, but there’s a strategic vision/someone to answer to etc. But in our case it’s been done in reverse, and if you ignore the obvious continuity issues if Unai does leave I wonder if we’ve got an appropriately challenging voice involved. Clearly hasn’t been an issue up to now, as things have gone well, but it does raise some questions.

Hopefully it’ll correct, but our continuous approach of setting up in the same meek way game after game doesn’t suggest there’s an awareness/understanding of the need to change.

Emery has been sulking too, as much as any player. Calling the players lazy, that was a lazy team selection. Away to Sunderland do we really need Digne at left back? He needed to throw the likes of Maatsen, Sancho and Elliot into the team today. I get no sense he is trying to galvanise the group from his comments. Calling out Elliot post game is very strange.

[dorsetvillian]

Both Rogers and Watkins need to perform for Villa to play at the World Cup. Why would they down tools?