Amadou Onana

[Monty]

I thought Onana was one of the better players yesterday before he went off, but quite right to sacrifice him for a more attacking player and nice that we have so many options to do so. Much better than a few years ago when our attacking change was always bring on whichever of Trezeguet/El Ghazi didn't start the game in place of the one that did.

It's so great that we're in a position where we can sub a good player playing well for tactical reasons.

[Footy-Vill]

El Ghazi and or Trez would be made into world beaters under Emery
I remember Trez scored couple of goals then got a knee injury and was out for long period never got back into it.
El Ghazi improved season in season out and took wonderful penalties.

[Risso]

Do you not think that perhaps, just maybe, that Emery is trying to make Onana into a world beater?

[PeterWithesShin]

I reckon it would have been interesting to see what Unai would have done with AEG. Although since that tweet his career has tanked.

[Dave]

I reckon it would have been interesting to see what Unai would have done with AEG. Although since that tweet his career has tanked.

Although he made it while he was barely getting a game for Mainz, so I think one could argue that it's just continuing along the same broad trajectory.

[VillaTim]

AEG scored one of the most important goals for us in the last decade if not longer

[JUAN PABLO]

I thought Onana was our best player in the first half , tried to break up wolves attacks and got some tackles in and helped keep us in the game , and I understand the sub too.

No way is he to blame for the Carlos cock up , I think Carlos should have passed it to Konsa anyway.


I think he is a great signing and worth the money  and cant wait for Kamara, Onana and Tielemans in midfield.

[Mister E]

El Ghazi and or Trez would be made into world beaters under Emery
I remember Trez scored couple of goals then got a knee injury and was out for long period never got back into it.
El Ghazi improved season in season out and took wonderful penalties.

This is a little irrelevant to this thread - maybe we need another thread devoted to Trez and AEG.
And, given your earlier comment,

Carlos pass came up short. Onana doesn't react though...

, you're batting on a sticky wicket. It's clear that Carlos screwed up in respect of the goal conceded.
I like that Emery removes Onana from the game when he thinks he needs to: it shows that the game is moving and shifting, and different finishers might be required.

[Drummond]

Amadou Onana: "I could hear Konsa behind me saying don't shoot, don't shoot. But I took my chance and it went in. He tried one in the first half and in the second half I was mocking him! He was like don't shoot and I'm like no, I'm not you mate!"

[Dave P]

I thought Onana was one of the better players yesterday before he went off, but quite right to sacrifice him for a more attacking player and nice that we have so many options to do so. Much better than a few years ago when our attacking change was always bring on whichever of Trezeguet/El Ghazi didn't start the game in place of the one that did.

Exactly this.  We need to stop thinking that being brought off = having a bad game and not starting = dropped.  We have a manager who knows the best situation at any time and, if it isn't working, can change it.  Onana was decent on Saturday, but we needed to be 20 yards further up the pitch which Ross Barkley gives you.  Keeping Onana on because he was playing ok, might not of won us the match.

[pauliewalnuts]

AEG was a productive player for us.

Could be excellent on his day, his day just wasn't regular enough for him to move up a gear. I reckon Unai would have probably addressed that.

[cdbearsfan]

Yeah, I wasn't really having a go at AEG or Trezeguet, just saying it's nice we have so many more options now.

[Drummond]

I think it goes back to the times (eons) when we were shit and the players on the bench were very definitely second best. When a player was subbed it was due to injury or being shit. Now we have depth and can change our lineup accordingly.

[pauliewalnuts]

Exactly this.  We need to stop thinking that being brought off = having a bad game and not starting = dropped.  We have a manager who knows the best situation at any time and, if it isn't working, can change it.  Onana was decent on Saturday, but we needed to be 20 yards further up the pitch which Ross Barkley gives you.  Keeping Onana on because he was playing ok, might not of won us the match.

Spot on.

We also need to stop thinking about 'starters' and back ups, too.

We're playing at least 48 games this season, and almost certainly more than that, Emery's job is to get us through them, using the squad at his disposal. If he doesn't do that, we've no chance.

The way he uses Digne and Maatsen (i know it's only a handful of games) for example, or the fact he's not worried about taking Onana off if he wants to change our shape.

We have a manager who excels at changing his set up to handle the opponents of the day, both before a ball is kicked, and during the match. He needs a squad, not 11 'starters'.

[OCD]

Being able to make 5 subs in a game is a massive, especially when you have this amount of games. When Emery plans his starting team, I imagine he plans his changes too (and then adjusts if need be). Part of our plan is to wear teams down and then to introduce pace to exploit tired opposition and it's been very effective.