ThisQuote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
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ThisQuote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
Well Pochetino has had since 2014, and Klopp since 2015 to develop his team, and neither manager has won anything with them yet. No clearer sign that Emery needs time before he is judged.Quote:
Originally Posted by Power n Glory
That too.Quote:
Originally Posted by IBK
Winning things is incredibly difficult. The cups owe an element to luck and the league is the best team. Emery could win something in his first year but also could win nothing in 5 years. What Pochetino and Klopp have done is shown continual improvement and if Emery can do that then we are doing well. To beat City to the league needs City really to fall down.Quote:
Originally Posted by IBK
If Emery can make our style of play more exciting and effective, get some wins against the top sides and just generally change the perception of us being also-rans, then he will be doing a good job. Improvement is something we haven't seen in years, under Wenger it was always stagnation and then eventually decline. Cups would be a big bonus but it will be what happens in the league and in Europe that will define Emery.
We are halfway there.Quote:
Originally Posted by AFC Leveller
I love this guy.
He has upped the standards, I think we are in very safe hands with him as our Manager.
I really like that he has a clear plan before each match, but also that he is willing and able to adapt when he realises things aren't working. No more robotic substitutions. He also seems to understand player rotation without killing momentum.
Plenty of positives so far.
Also Emeryball :bow:
Yep most def.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gooner23
Aye, we have played some great football on occasions this season.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
Emery is proving himself as a very capable manager (not that he was ever incapable, but more because of the uncertainty), I love watching him on the sidelines - it’s such a monumental change from having wenger sat in the chair with his arms crossed.
The team are starting to have that winning mentality that we have craved for the last 10 years, and he is absolutely key to that.
Ironically, Wenger going last season was the best thing to happen to us since Wenger arrived all those years ago.
He's doing a great job. There's still issues like our defending and the slow starts, but hopefully he will sort that out once he's had enough time to get his messages accross and had a couple of transfer windows to get our squad in shape.
Some good analysis here
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46044105
I was listening to the Arseblog podcast last night about Sunday’s game and they made the point that with a two week break now upon us, Emery has time to sit back and think about how to get the most effective set of players working well on the pitch
They made the point that at the moment he's still trying to fit square pegs into round holes, the most obvious example being Auba on the left which doesn't really work
So he now perhaps just needs to focus on a really effective 11 rather than trying to squeeze certain players in.
I think that’s a really good point and starting with Bournemouth away we need to see that he’s thought through how to get a cohesive team out there consistently, not just for something like the Liverpool game, and get us firing properly right from the first whistle rather than by making changes at half-time.
They also were asked a fascinating question about which players they thought were likely to be part of Emery’s long-term squad, and using the players that played on Sunday as a basis, from memory they thought the following:
Yes:
Leno
Bellerin
Mustafi (sadly)
Holding
Torreira
Xhaka (again, sadly)
Iwobi
Laca
Guendouzi
No:
Kolasinac
Mhki
Auba – surprising though you can see where they’re coming from given Emery is struggling to work out how to best use him and it’s unlikely he’d be happy being a supersub replacement for Welbeck
Ozil (although apparently he’s an ambassador for our new kit sponsor Adidas, so that might complicate things)
Ramsey
Clearly Nelson has to be a part of our future and hopefully Nketiah, also AMN, plus clearly we’ll have to replace Cech in the next season or two along with Monreal
If Mustafi, Xhaka and to some extent Holding are part of our long term plan and we're going to build a team with them, IMO we can forget of winning anything or even challenging, they are sub-standard, in the case of the 1st two error prone and frankly just not the kind of quality you need.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac76
That's my one reservation about Emery so far, sticking to players who aren't good enough, I don't really understand why a manager can't see certain players are liabilities, I understood with Wenger because he was blinkered and was out to prove the world and his dog wrong, but Emery doesn't have that excuse.
Kolasinac, Ramsey, Mhki I don't care about, we don't need them, Aubameyang scores goals so we need to keep him as long as he's still delivering, Ozil is Ozil brilliant one moment and poor the next, but can't see us selling him.
What about the young Greek CB, I guess he just doesn't rate him right?
He's going to have to make use of Ozil either way as he won't be able to get rid of him.
Mav is injured and has been for some time. Holding is a good player and I didn't think played badly against Wolves. Traore would have skinned anybody in Holding's position for their late chance....and I include Bellerin in that.
Holding is OK, but he's nothing special, I think we need a really top quality CB and then another young one who has the potential to be top class, that could be Mavropanos but it may not be, it isn't Holding though IMO and I personally think we need to stop settling.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
We could still get rid of Chambers, Mustafi and Koscielny (though I don't want him out myself) in the summer and Sokratis is no spring chicken so with that in mind.....even if you don't rate Holding, there's no reason to go fishing for a buyer.
Holding being here doesn't preclude us from signing a top Centre half. Being miserly / short of funds does.
I wanted us to sign one in the summer myself
I would be happy with...Mav, Holding, Sok +top CB and maybe another (Kos).
City aren't so far ahead of the rest because of their backline....it's all about their midfield and attack and collective play.
City are ahead because every single member of their forward line. starting from the DM is a scoring threat. Our front line is quite blunt in comparison. If Auba and Laca arent doing it, we are toothless.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
True but saying that look how many they've conceded this season and you'll see their defence certainly matters as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
you mean Mavropanos. not sure maybe he wants to work him through slowlyQuote:
Originally Posted by Özim
i'd stress this was just a fan podcast and to save time they just talked about the players used on Sunday
i think Sokratis woudl be part fo Emery's plans though clearly not too far ahead as he's getting on still i think he's really solid and would still like to see him ahead of Mustafi
i actually thought Ozil wasn't too bad on Sunday, he was trying to find a way through, but my one criticism of Laca is that he doesn't make enough runs or at the very least lead the line a bit more, if he's going to be in the CF position - it doesn't make it any easier for Ozil to try to create somethingQuote:
Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
City’s backline has really improved this season! They have conceded 1 goal after playing Liverpool, us, Spuds & United. 3 of those games have been away.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
Laporte & Stones both look the real deal this season TBH.
City are comfortably the best team in the league, I’d be shocked if they don’t retain the title.
I think City’s defensive record is as much to do with their attacking play, in that the opposition aren’t going to create much when they can’t even get the ball off them. They’re a very good team from back to front though, unquestionably.
We’ve played some nice stuff this season but it’s clear that we’re flawed and Emery will need time and at least another transfer window to fine tune his system. I think there are a fair few players who will be sold next summer if the opportunity is there.
Either way, with this current version of City, everyone is playing for 2nd at best. With the money they have, the manager they have and the fact their owners have UEFA in their pockets, it’s hard to see who will stop them. Every league is slowly turning into the SPL, bar Spain.
Could have been different if Usmanov had successfully bought the club with all the money he has and his willingness to invest, unfortunately we got Kroenke who isn't really interested in spending any money and in relative terms isn't even that wealthy.Quote:
Originally Posted by SMatthews
Maybe, maybe not. I’m sort of glad he didn’t. Man City are far smarter off the field than anyone else has been beforehand, which is an even bigger advantage. Rules don’t apply to them in any sense.
I'm not sure how smart they really are, they still haven't won the CL and Real won it 3 times in a row, this despite them spending a monumental amount, Chelsea did it, Man U won it, Liverpool won it but City haven't or indeed got anywhere near the final.Quote:
Originally Posted by SMatthews
Yes they've won the league, but in reality with the money and squad they have it's not that hard, they've bought the right players of course but they can basically buy anyone they want so it's not that hard.
yeah Pep needs to make the semis at the very least this year or it's a failQuote:
Originally Posted by Özim
Off the field, extremely smart. That’s what Chelsea didn’t and do not have. They have UEFA in their pocket. The rest will follow.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
That's about possession, technical superiority, midfield control and systematic fouling. Their defence comes down quite low in the list of factors imo.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
I didn't think Ozil was bad neither actually and thought Emery taking him and Iwobi off was the wrong decision.....but I am in a minority.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac76
I think Laca has lead the line well this season but he and Auba were a little bit statuesque in that game. It was not a good advert for the 2 up top campaign at all in the second half.
There was a stat last season that was worked out that stated had City not had a goalkeeper the would have still come 4th.
I don't know how exactly it was worked out and whether it substituted an outfield player for the goalkeeper but however it was derived....the stat pretty much says it all about how superior they are.
The CB's are definitely the weakest, least significant or most interchangeable part of their team though. That's not to say it is weak in itself, but where they are really ahead is in midfield and attack.
Maybe, but if you look they've also spent huge fortunes on defenders and goalkeepers, they didn't do that for no reason.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
I think stats like that are nonsense though to be fair as there's no way this can be proved, if they didn't have a keeper teams would play very differently against them and pepper their goal at every opportunity. They did have a keeper and he was a very good one at that and this in itself helped the defence and allowed the rest of the team to play safe in the knowledge that he would be there to save them if needed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
A great team is built from the back, yes they are very good going forward but defensively they're also very solid, they managed to blunt Liverpools attack which is probably the best in the PL.
Of course but my point is...their CB's aren't a class above above other top CB's in the league. Stones/Laporte are no better than Van Dijk, Alderweireld imo.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
Very true, but Van Dijk is probably the best CB in the PL and is top class, you don't have to have the very best, but you do need to have top quality CBs as they have.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice