Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has revealed what he feels is his, and our, biggest challenge heading into next season and beyond.
Since being appointed in October 2022, the Basque coach has led Villa on a memorable journey as after finishing seventh in his first season and qualifying for the Europa Conference League, we secured fourth spot last year and will participate in the Champions League next season.
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Emery’s coaching, man-management and tactical brilliance have all been fundamental factors in our progress and development, and he’ll hope to continue to strengthen his squad this summer in order to prepare us for the new campaign and to keep building on what we’ve achieved thus far.
Naturally though, with expectation and demands rising, the Villa boss knows that the hardest part now will be to maintain our level and consistently finish in the top four, and he has emphasised that as being his biggest challenge moving forward, as he doesn’t simply want our Champions League qualification to be a one off and wants to show our quality on the biggest stage.
“Every day I am able to be on the phone for an hour and see myself some things about Aston Villa for next season,” he told El Diario Vasco. “I follow all the major leagues, but not watching games but following the results. I watch a lot of Premiership, but especially Aston Villa. Every time we play, it’s 75% about us and 25% about the opposition.
“The objective when I arrived at the club was to try to consolidate a team that would go to Europe on a recurring basis – and if we got into Europe, to try to consolidate the needs of the club’s youth teams. In that process we are doing it fast. In six months we entered the Conference, and in a year and a half we have reached the Champions League.
“Europe is always very difficult and even more so for English teams. History says that it is very difficult to keep up with the demands of the League and Europe. In fact, this year, the English teams have all been knocked out. The only ones who played in a European semi-final were us. So, I accepted it. Logically, Europe is always something that gives you recognition, it gives you enormous feedback at club level, at coach level, at player level.
“I wanted to play a final, I wanted to win a final, but I accepted that Olympiacos were better than us and that we were immersed in the fight for the Champions League and in the league, to get into the fourth, competing with Tottenham. We were short of strength, we had a lot of injuries along the way. I focused more of my strength, my energies, on trying, first, to get into the Champions League and, second, to try to play in the final.
“For Aston Villa, let’s see if we are able to maintain the Champions League. There are teams that have been entering and leaving, as can happen to Real Sociedad. My biggest challenge next season is to be competitive in the Champions League, not to participate one year as something anecdotal.”
As we’ve seen so far this summer, Villa are having to sell this month in order to initially address our PSR concerns, and so it will be a test for Monchi and our recruitment team to ensure that we end the transfer window with a stronger squad compared to the one we started it with.
Emery has proven that he can do a stellar job even with the players that he inherited and getting the most from them, but in order to make us increasingly competitive and improve further, giving him the tools and the players that he wants who fit his ideas more effectively will hopefully allow us to continue on our current trajectory.
Nevertheless, to replicate what we achieved in the league last season and to balance that with being competitive in the Champions League will be a huge test of both him and his players, and although his work ethic and commitment is second to none, we’ll hopefully be able to improve on last year and ensure that we’re a consistent presence at Europe’s top table moving forward under his guidance.