Unai Emery

[VillaTim]

Mings and Kamara returning i think will make a huge difference

[PaulWinch again]

Feels like Spurs have had our number last two times we’ve played them. It’s like there’s an arm wrestle for a while, but eventually pressure tells and then we buckle. The formations have been different, but the style has been the same. We might need to change something next time we play them.

[SoccerHQ]

Feels like Spurs have had our number last two times we’ve played them. It’s like there’s an arm wrestle for a while, but eventually pressure tells and then we buckle. The formations have been different, but the style has been the same. We might need to change something next time we play them.

Didn't we go with a back 5 in the March game?

[PaulWinch again]

Yep the formations are different, but we tried to frustrate and break in a similar way.

[aj2k77]

We've just lost our spark lately.

[PaulWinch again]

We've just lost our spark lately.

Definitely have - we’re patchy, have been all season in the league. Play really well for phases, but then completely drop off. You can get away with that more often against low end sides, but top 6/8 we need to be more consistent against.

[aj2k77]

We're not clinical enough and have been way too open and easy to score against. Not a good combination. 49 goals conceded in 28 league games this calendar year is pretty bad to be honest.

We need to look at changing it up because it's a consistent theme now.

[SoccerHQ]

Kamara will be back in the prem very soon from the start so we know from his minutes his presence alone makes us much harder to score against.

I also think in December we'll see Pau and Mings rotated depending on opposition.

What we need to be doing the next few weeks is using the players who are fit and can add more pace and dynamism.

I'd be starting Maatsen and Duran v Liverpool. If they do their jobs fine then they also start v Palace after the break.

No just dropping Duran because it might hurt Ollie's feelings. It's pretty incredible he's been here nearly two years now and I think he's still to start a prem game for us at VP so that needs to change soon.

[Beard82]

We're not clinical enough and have been way too open and easy to score against. Not a good combination. 49 goals conceded in 28 league games this calendar year is pretty bad to be honest.

We need to look at changing it up because it's a consistent theme now.

Wow thats a stat - sp basically were having to score 2 goals a game to avoid defeat

[PaulWinch again]

We're not clinical enough and have been way too open and easy to score against. Not a good combination. 49 goals conceded in 28 league games this calendar year is pretty bad to be honest.

We need to look at changing it up because it's a consistent theme now.

Wow thats a stat - sp basically were having to score 2 goals a game to avoid defeat

It’s not that surprising either - it feels like we’re always conceding daft goals.

[ChicagoLion]

We're not clinical enough and have been way too open and easy to score against. Not a good combination. 49 goals conceded in 28 league games this calendar year is pretty bad to be honest.

We need to look at changing it up because it's a consistent theme now.

Wow thats a stat - sp basically were having to score 2 goals a game to avoid defeat

Yep, that us a damning stat.

[PaulWinch again]

Unai is obviously brilliant, and a master tactician. I do wonder about our recent approaches against Spurs, and to an extent Chelsea in the second half of last year. It doesn’t feel that for teams who are good in possession and press high than letting them have the ball necessarily works. I think we need more control of the ball, otherwise it feels like a matter of time before our defensive issues are exposed. We do have a problem holding onto the ball in midfield.

[Villan82]

Unai is obviously brilliant, and a master tactician. I do wonder about our recent approaches against Spurs, and to an extent Chelsea in the second half of last year. It doesn’t feel that for teams who are good in possession and press high than letting them have the ball necessarily works. I think we need more control of the ball, otherwise it feels like a matter of time before our defensive issues are exposed. We do have a problem holding onto the ball in midfield.

When Unai first came in he made us very solid and hard to beat. The structure was a bit different and he even shut up shop away at Brighton for example. What we saw last season in terms of a free-flowing Villa was a contrast with that.

The pragmatic approach did work against Bayern.

I think it's a personnel issue at the moment. I hate the word 'transition' but we are in a mini transition. This time last year we were smashing everybody, Luiz was the King of Villa Park, Diaby and Bailey were there to use their pace while Rogers and Philogene were playing in the Championship.

If we could get things to 'click' we could finish stronger than last season

[Ads]

He's going to find a way to get the midfield balance right with Kamara, Onana and Tielemans.

It may well be, to keep the box midfield, that Kamara and Onana sit, with Tielemans at 10 and Rogers wider. I think all 3 need to play and we'll certainly be better for Kamara back in there.

Huge correlation between goals conceded post February, which isn't really surprising. Not that we were immune to heavy defeats before Kamara being injured.

Equally, Emery is adept at changing the system mid-season too.

[AV82EC]

We do pass out from the back so invite the press which is all part of the master
Plan but the better teams are then able to do a really aggressive press which nullifies this totally and means we struggle to gain a foothold anywhere other than in our final third. He needs to sort that out. Yesterday because of their super aggressive press we constantly had either Rogers or Ramsey in acres of space for a quick dink ball into midfield but that doesn’t seem to be part of the plan so we end up having to play imv riskier balls into feet around our own box. In the first half we seemed to do ok and maybe coughed up possession a few times to no great worry but second half it just became a constant catalogue of errors. I’m sure Unai and the team will sort it out but we need some better options as the better teams in the league have sussed it and press extremely high.