Emery Reflects on Aston Villa’s Performance and Top-Eight Aspirations

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery, speaking to Amazon Prime, expressed his satisfaction with the team’s display, stating, “I try to enjoy and always we want to improve and sometimes it is hard, but today the team were performing well, playing seriously and I was enjoying it.” He further commented on their resilience and consistency, adding, “We tried to overcome the mistakes we made and we did. More or less we were playing consistently. One mistake and they score but then we played very well. Champions League is very difficult and we have to expect that every team playing at home are feeling strong. We played with consistency and domination.” Emery also addressed the effectiveness of his substitutes, noting, “The idea when we prepare the game, the plan is also for the subs to help if we needed it. Watkins had a small injury and Duran scores. Buendia and Barkley scoring the third goal. This is what any coach would want.” Regarding Jhon Duran’s contribution, Emery remarked, “Sometimes he is very impassioned and we have to try to keep balanced with him. He scored a great goal and he works and we are trying to get the team strong with a tactical approach. His potential is massive. Tactically he is improving and today he played a fantastic 45 minutes.” On the tactical decision to push for a win instead of settling for a draw, the manager explained, “The last 10 minutes you have to be positive and try and use the players you have and the subs to try and get the victory.” Finally, Emery discussed the team’s objective for a top-eight finish, stating, “Today we were thinking if we won we could be a contender in the last two matches to be in the top eight. We achieved this option and we are going to try and get top eight. We are happy because we are in the top-24.”