Life After Emery Begins

[scytheavatar]

Valencia were never that bad for relegation. They are a relatively big club in Spain. They had a bad season or two but were always a better team than their position showed. It's like when Big Sam walked into Everton near relegation and in the end finished what 8th or 9th. He had them safe after about 6-7 games.

Marcelino has been a manager in Spain for 20 years. If he has some top level about him why are Barcelona or Madrid not calling. Seems very much Emery. That level 4th/5th/6th maybe the odd cup run level but to take over a so called top team that many think we are and challenge seems unlikely.

Marcelino took over them in the season when they sold 10 players........... Valencia is one of the worst run clubs in the world. Them back when he took over finished 12th in the table.

Just stop thinking about challenging, our top priority now is to fire fight and get the club in the right direction. We can count ourselves lucky to be able to finish 5th or 6th next season.

 

[Rex Stone]

Just stop thinking about challenging, our top priority now is to fire fight and get the club in the right direction. We can count ourselves lucky to be able to finish 5th or 6th next season.

Proper relegation mentality that.

 

[14Henry]

I kinda agree with your point, even though I don't think Luiz is slow for his size, and Bellerin & Tierney are fast enough imo.

But we should first be working on our fundamentals, and try to build a balanced squad.

Against Norwich we've played with 2 CF (nobody does it anymore at the higher level) + no wingers (when they're the most impactful player on offense in the modern game) + Özil (who isn't known for his athletic impact) + Guendouzi (I rate him highly, but he's still not there yet in term of athlecism) + Willock (who's still weak) + Xhaka (who is one of the most static CM in the league) + Chambers (who doesn't have the body type to play at RB)
And then on the bench we only have Torreira (who's a midget).

This is a recipe for a disaster to happen.
We're puting too much blame on our CBs, even though they've been terrible, the lack of physicality in the team doesn't help, at all.

We need more athleticism in the team ASAP. We're getting bullied by any PL midfield it's embarrassing.
Any above average athlete can cut through our midfield with breeze.

On average, if you look at Liverpool's team, they're 2 galaxies ahead in term of pure athleticism. Their players are faster and much stronger than ours the comparison is not even fair.

I mean fast in the brain being able to think and move and pass quickly not slow.

But agree with most of your points.

 

[pacstud]

We should have signed Soyuncu but we bottled it as usual.

lol, AM bottled it worse. Never seen a more slagged potential signee.

Well, not worse, but the gurus here didn't want Lord Farquart either.

 

[Sanchez11]

Not if he had been managed properly and had some half decent defensive partner and structure in place. Jonny Evans and him look solid why? Because they have Ndidi a tall quick physical shield and 2 full backs who can defend as well as attack.

Very rarely do you see them getting countered and 4 defenders on the half way line chasing back.

Funny thing is we could of had both.

 

[Sanchez11]

lol, AM bottled it worse. Never seen a more slagged potential signee.

Well, not worse, but the gurus here didn't want Lord Farquart either.

I know i cant remember what i said in that thread tbf.

 

[Slartibartfast]

lol, AM bottled it worse. Never seen a more slagged potential signee.

Well, not worse, but the gurus here didn't want Lord Farquart either.

Was just thinking about how unpopular the Soyuncu links were. I think somebody called him the Turkish Mustafi.

But then no potential signings are popular unless they're proven world class players or youngsters hyped as future world class players.

 

[pacstud]

I know i cant remember what i said in that thread tbf.

Yeah, I'm too lazy but most were like "who tf is this guy" and then judged him on his face.

 

[Ceballinhos]

Was just thinking about how unpopular the Soyuncu links were. I think somebody called him the Turkish Mustafi.

But then no potential signings are popular unless they're proven world class players or youngsters hyped as future world class players.

And football fans tend to forget how much context is important to any player's developpement or performances.

I'm pretty sure Soyuncu would have struggled a lot in our team because right now, all the CBs we've been trying since Per/Kos look like clowns, even though most of them were at least ok, if not solid at their previous club.

Soyuncu is a talented young CB, and he's in a very positive context right now that allows him to display his qualities.

 

[DJ_Markstar]

Proper relegation mentality that.

Yup.

The squad is a top 3 squad, playing very badly and with no confidence and no system.

We're still a level or two below the likes of city on pure talent, but we're not even playing to our natural level let alone theirs.

 

[GoonerJeeves]

Not sure how you can call it a "top 3 squad", considering the central defenders and midfielders we have.

 

[scytheavatar]

Yup.

The squad is a top 3 squad, playing very badly and with no confidence and no system.

We're still a level or two below the likes of city on pure talent, but we're not even playing to our natural level let alone theirs.

This squad is not even on the level of Leicester's squad........ way too many fans overrate the level of talent in our squad. And even if we have a top 3 squad the actual level of our squad is lower than the individual talent put together cause we have such an imbalanced squad. When we get into the top 3 again not a lot of our current players will be still around.

 

[Rex Stone]

This squad is not even on the level of Leicester's squad........ way too many fans overrate the level of talent in our squad. And even if we have a top 3 squad the actual level of our squad is lower than the individual talent put together cause we have such an imbalanced squad. When we get into the top 3 again not a lot of our current players will be still around.

Leicester have no depth at all.

 

[DJ_Markstar]

Easy, this squad is good enough based on the talent of the players to achieve third place in the premier league, given the level of the opposition teams.

That's how I judge it, not sure what your criteria is.

 

[Ceballinhos]

Not sure how you can call it a "top 3 squad", considering the central defenders and midfielders we have.

Agreed.
I didn't think Leicester's squad would be that good and that well balanced tbf.

Our lack of athleticism is a huge bottleneck. I didn't think it would hurt us so bad, but it really does.

I don't think anymore we can hide or minimize our issues by coaching only.
This squad obviously can do better. But there are still huge concerns about our midfield & defence.

 

[Predicates]

I have a feeling that Poch would prefer United over us because they will give him the budget to get players that he wants and United have splashed the cash over the years,
Our board on the other hand have been reluctant to pay big money for players.

They may have more money, but the Manchester United job is a poisoned chalice right now. The squad is jumbled and unambitious, the upper management are inept, and their transfer policy over recent years has been badly coordinated. They gave very short shrift to the two world-class coaches (van Gaal & Mourinho) who were brought in to fix the rot, because even they couldn't deliver success with this inadequate group of players and dysfunctional hierarchy.

Don't get me wrong, United are still a big club, but they have massive problems which may be too daunting for Poch.

Also worth bearing in mind the difference between living in London and living in Manchester. Mourinho never settled in Manchester and lived in a hotel while he was managing United, and after he was sacked he returned to his home in London.

If it's Marcelino the board can go and **** themselves, are we just hiring him because he's mates with Raul? Or are we just going for the cheapest option? Or both?

I actually mentioned a while back, before the reports came out, that Marcelino would be on the shortlist as he fits Raul's managerial profile exactly: He is Spanish, has managed exclusively in Spain, and as a free agent he would be cheaper than some of the other names under consideration.

Not sure why people are calling him an 'Emery clone'. Just because they both are Spanish and have both managed Valencia before, that does not make them the same. Like how Enrique is not a Pep clone, even though they are both Spanish and have both managed Barcelona.

Marcelino has massively overachieved with both Villarreal and Valencia. He literally took Villarreal from the Liga Segunda to the Champions League in a matter of years, and guided Valencia back into the top four and won them the Copa del Rey. He has also been approached previously by Inter Milan and Lyon, so he's not an absolute nobody like some fans seem to think.

Obviously he's not guaranteed to have an impact in the Premier League, but he has a good track record and is known for improving his teams defensively.

 

[14Henry]

This squad is not even on the level of Leicester's squad........ way too many fans overrate the level of talent in our squad. And even if we have a top 3 squad the actual level of our squad is lower than the individual talent put together cause we have such an imbalanced squad. When we get into the top 3 again not a lot of our current players will be still around.

Correct. Make a team mixed of Leciester and Arsenal and more Leciester players get in.

It's ok having a better bench but that's no good if your starting 11 is muck.

Leno and Aubameyang are possibly the only 2 who would get into Leciester starting 11. That is no lie.

 

[UpTheGunnerz]

Correct. Make a team mixed of Leciester and Arsenal and more Leciester players get in.

It's ok having a better bench but that's no good if your starting 11 is muck.

Leno and Aubameyang are possibly the only 2 who would get into Leciester starting 11. That is no lie.

Leno
Pereira Evans Soyuncu Chilwell
Ndidi Torreira
Maddison
Auba Vardy Perez/Barnes

Fml ur right

 

[DJ_Markstar]

This squad is not even on the level of Leicester's squad........ way too many fans overrate the level of talent in our squad. And even if we have a top 3 squad the actual level of our squad is lower than the individual talent put together cause we have such an imbalanced squad. When we get into the top 3 again not a lot of our current players will be still around.

Its easy to be a doom monger because A) you'll never look like a deluded fanboy and think this makes you appear more intelligent and B) if we do turn it around and start smashing cvnts left and right its unlikely anyone will be calling you out for it given the turn of fortune.

Saying that Leicester have a better squad than us is something even most Leicster fans would be embarrassed to say. They have a good squad and are playing very well, but this is kinda silly.

 

[Ceballinhos]

Easy, this squad is good enough based on the talent of the players to achieve third place in the premier league, given the level of the opposition teams.

That's how I judge it, not sure what your criteria is.

Football is not only about raw talents and X and O.
you have to find the right balance, and right now, no matter how I think about it, I don't see how we can field a functionning midfield that can match Leicester's for instance.
We have no Ndidi in the squad to do the dirty work and protect our back 4.
With Bellerin being injured so much, we're forced to play players out of position. AMN & Chambers are terrible when they play RB.
We're playing the weakest midfield by far in the PL. And they're not talented enough to close the gap with their lack of physicality.

Even though Emery has been a failure at Arsenal, there are things you can't overcome. He's tried almost any possible configuration at midfield, and none of them has showed any promises.
When 95% of teams in the PL have faster/stronger midfielders that can bully ours, I don't see how you can overcome it by coaching.

Hell even Ramsey's loss was brutal, he was the only CM at the club with above average athleticism, he had an incredible engine, who can match the PL intensity.