Unai Emery’s Pre-Tottenham Press Conference Highlights: Condolences, Team News, and Match Focus

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery addressed reporters ahead of the Premier League fixture against Tottenham on Sunday, scheduled for a 14:00 GMT kick-off. The following are the principal points from his press conference: Emery commenced his media session by extending sympathy to Valencia, following floods that resulted in over 200 fatalities. He stated: “I want to send my condolences. We had a tragedy in Valencia, I am very sad. All my condolences to the people affected and to the families of the victims. Hopefully, they can recover again quickly with everything that happened there.” Providing an update on the squad, Emery announced: “We had only one injured player and it’s Ross Barkley. He has a small injury, but he’s not going to be available for the next two weeks.” Emery conveyed his understanding for former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, concurrently asserting that Ruben Amorim, the prospective new manager, is deserving of the role. He commented: “I do not think the sacking of Ten Hag is a good thing, but this is football. Amorim I know about him. He is doing very good work in Portugal in Sporting Lisbon and if Manchester United decided to hire him, it’s because he deserves it.” Addressing the upcoming match against Tottenham, with Villa currently positioned fourth in the Premier League standings, Emery emphasized his commitment to focusing solely on Sunday’s game. He stated: “With my experiences, when I am thinking for the next match, I am wrong. My focus is on the next match and I am thinking only about this. Sometimes I am planning for the weeks coming or months, but I want to learn with experiences. I tell my players to try to be focused on the next match. It is about which players are the best to play the match against Tottenham. For me, the focus is on the match against Tottenham. Every match we are playing, we are trying to identify our corrections, our mistakes, our process and we are analysing how we are now and how are they, with the players they have.”