Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has reiterated that his dream is to lead the club to the Champions League, and to win at least one trophy during his time with us.
The 51-year-old Spaniard made a superb start to life at the club last season, as despite taking charge in November with Villa languishing just above the relegation zone, he guided us to a seventh-place finish and potential European football this season.
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Having added more reinforcements to his squad this summer, Villa appear to be going from strength to strength, and Emery will undoubtedly be demanding further improvement and progress in every competition we feature in to achieve his objectives.
It was interesting to hear him discuss his main aims moving forward, as breaking into the Champions League places is evidently a priority, and he’ll be looking to add to his trophy collection along the way too to ensure his time with us is a memorable one.
“We have to be a candidate to be in the top seven, that is our challenge,” Emery told Sky Sports. “The present and the future for me at Aston Villa is try to play in the Champions League, that is my dream.
“Then, try to have the option to win a trophy, that is another challenge. My challenge here is to win trophies, minimum one trophy, but try to improve being a candidate for different trophies, in Europe, in the league, in the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup. We have to work a lot and we have to be very, very competitive if we want to achieve it.”
Youri Tielemans, Pau Torres and Moussa Diaby have arrived this summer to strengthen our squad, and the Spanish tactician will undoubtedly expect the trio to help to significantly improve our performances moving forward.
The Villa boss went into detail as to what they will add to the group, and it’s clear that their previous experiences and attributes will play an important part in helping us take that next step, and they were important factors in why they were brought into the side.
Emery also went on to discuss the tactical flexibility that he hopes to have this season, as we’ve seen in pre-season already how he will look to play with a back-three in possession at times, which turns into a back-four without the ball. With strong competition for places in defence with Torres, Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa and Diego Carlos all vying for places, it promises to be an intriguing battle and a fascinating watch.
“Each one has their characteristics but everyone has experiences and they’ve gotten trophies as well,” he added. “Diaby is trying to help us offensively, a player who can run behind and can as well give passes and goals. He’s not high scoring but he is a winger or second striker.
“Youri Tielemans’ experience is at a high level. Leicester played Champions League, they won a title and in the national team he is playing regularly. In the middle it is very important for us to add a player being consistent and with Youri Tielemans we have more capacity and versatile options to play with two or with three.
“Pau Torres at centre-back, he is going to help us in the build-up, he is going to help us have four players as a central defender playing sometimes as a two or a three. We are always trying to build up with three players, or defending with four. Sometimes we can spread out one right and left with a centre-back.
“Defensively we were very strong last year and we will try to keep doing the same and then with the ball try to improve things, I think we can do.”
Villa made important progress last season, as not only did results improve after Emery’s appointment, but we quickly established a style of play and an identity that had been sorely lacking previously.
With our patient, measured build-up play out from the back improving and with the players finding that balance between defensively solidity but also playing an exciting brand of attacking football as we progress forward with the ball into the final third, it’s hoped that it continues to develop and evolve to ensure we have a successful year ahead.
