Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has praised Douglas Luiz for his recall to the Brazil squad, but insisted he’s capable of contributing more still.
The 25-year-old enjoyed an impressive season last year, and has continued that fine form this season and has firmly established himself as a pivotal figure in Emery’s side.
READ MORE: Villa ace seen in part of training as Emery provides return timeline
Having struggled to showcase his qualities in a deeper, more defensive midfield role prior to the Spaniard’s arrival last October, Luiz has excelled with more freedom in an advanced role that requires him to dictate tempo and possession for us, and to control proceedings with his technical and tactical quality.
With six goals and one assist in 17 appearances so far this season, he has made a crucial contribution in the final third in addition to what he provides week in and week out as part of our overall performances, but with his assists down from last season, Emery continues to demand more from his midfield ace.
“It (the recall) is very important and I am very happy for him. But I am also demanding with him, very demanding. He is progressing and playing well. He is playing more consistent at home than away,” he is quoted as saying by The Express and Star. “I was speaking with him and told him he is very important for us and Aston Villa and progressing a lot but I also said: ‘You can do more. I am going to try to push you to do more.’
“Of course, I am very happy for your call-up and think it is very important for you and the club as well.
“I think he can take more responsibility in our build-up. Of course, he is scoring a lot of goals but he can add more assists, as a midfielder for our strikers. He can be more of a protagonist with the ball, I think.
“For example, on Sunday at Nottingham Forest I was waiting for more from him with the ball when we were in possession. I was wanting more and demanding more. The last matches we played away at Wolverhampton, Alkmaar and Nottingham are three examples where he could do more.
“Every day in our meetings, I am being demanding with everyone. But speaking now about him, it is very good news he is in his national squad but we can get more from him.”
While that might seem harsh to some given just how much progression and improvement we’ve seen from Luiz as he has matured and developed into a fundamental player for us, it’s just another great piece of insight into Emery’s mentality and ambition to be the best.
He evidently recognises not only how important Luiz is in his side and to the way he wants us to play, but he has identified that he can still be better, and that will benefit the Brazilian international, Villa and Emery in achieving what we want to achieve moving forward.
It’s that high-level mentality and winning drive that will hopefully lead us to success in the coming years, and there is little doubt that Luiz will be at the heart of that given how he is so well-suited to the football we want to play with his intelligence on the pitch as well as his ability on and off the ball.
Villa face a crucial clash with AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League on Thursday where we could take a big step towards qualifying for the knockout stage, before we host Fulham on Sunday afternoon looking to bounce back and get back to winning ways in the Premier League ahead of the international break.