Aston Villa midfielder Jacob Ramsey has provided some interesting insight into the mindset of Unai Emery and his own targets this season.
Villa have won four of six Premier League games since Emery took charge, and although there has been disappointment in the cup competitions, there is a positivity around the club and it feels as though the Spanish tactician is starting to build something.
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Although he has missed time with an injury, Ramsey has – as expected – been a key figure in Emery’s plans thus far, and having now returned from that setback, he’ll be hopeful of cementing his place in the side again and starting to have a bigger influence on us moving forward.
The 21-year-old has two goals and two assists in 16 league appearances so far this season, and while he didn’t elaborate on what his personal targets are, he’ll no doubt want to top his best return of six goals in a Premier League campaign which he achieved last year, while he already has more assists in one single season than any previous.
Ramsey on his personal targets
“I set targets before the start of the season and I’ve still got 19 games to go in the league, so there’s a lot to play for and enough time for me to hit those targets,” he told Villa TV. “The injury set me back four or five weeks, but it came at a decent time with the winter break, which meant I only missed three games.”
Through his work on and off the ball, Ramsey has shown he is capable of being a pivotal player for us, and having established himself in Emery’s plans early on, it’s hoped that he now continues to go from strength to strength and there is a significant jump in his development under the current Villa boss.
However, it was fascinating to hear him talk about what the message from Emery is to the Villa squad after an impressive start, and what we’re potentially setting out as our objective this year. There is a good balance of simply staying focused on what’s immediately in front of us, but also knowing what we’re capable of with the current group.
Ramsey on Emery’s message to the Villa squad, objective for club
“Since the boss has taken over we’ve played some big games; we had the away win against Spurs,” he added. “Now the boss has said don’t get too comfortable. We’ve still got teams above us that we want to try and overtake.
“We’ve got some big games coming up and we’re looking forward to it.
“Everyone knows the ambition of this club, the minimum should be top 10 and then pushing up to Europa League football. It looks like we’ve got a chance this year so hopefully we can come out with that.”
Emery will undoubtedly be constantly challenging his players to improve and set a new level as we look to compete in the top half of the Premier League.
Key individuals like Ramsey will be fundamental in that process, but as we’re now also seeing, Emery is bringing in new faces to help him build his identity and preferred style of play at the club. In turn, there will hopefully be an ongoing and consistent progression that sees us continue to move in the right direction.
Ramsey is clear in his belief as to where we should be aiming to be and there are clubs ahead of us currently who we perhaps can compete with and leapfrog in the coming weeks.
However, perhaps the best line in those comments was Emery’s message to not get comfortable. Our biggest issue for so long has been consistency and improvement, and so if we want to kick on and make genuine progress, we have to deliver week in and week out, and hopefully Ramsey will be a driving force in that.