Unai Emery remains firmly of the belief that Aston Villa cannot only match their elite Premier League rivals for another season, but continue to grow and eclipse them. The Spaniard has led Villa to two successive years in Europe and next week they’ll welcome Bayern Munich to Villa Park for their first home match of the Champions League campaign.
Those nights to come will be a reward for the squad’s efforts to secure fourth place in the Premier League last term, at the expense of richer opponents likes Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. Last year, Villa beat champions Manchester City and completed a double over runners up Arsenal, showing they can mix it with the best.
Emery has had to green light deals he might not necessarily have set out to sanction at the beginning of the summer, having bid farewell to key man Douglas Luiz and also exciting prospect Omari Kellyman, but Villa were able to complete deals for proven young talents in Amadou Onana and Ian Maatsen, as well as secure returns of Ross Barkley and Jaden Philogene.
With the dust having settled, Villa have begun the new term in excellent style, winning five of their six matches in all competitions and aiming for a sixth against Wycombe Wanderers tonight. Emery will keep up the heat in training and demand the most from his squad, which he is confident can overthrow more clubs at the summit of the division.
“I will be demanding like I was before, because I know the only way is hard work. We can replace some teams that have more money than us. I believe in the players. I believe we can progress,” he told Sky Sports. “You have to be full of energy. I am going to try to be clinical as well with how we can manage the different competitions.”
As the EFL Cup kicks off, in between Champions League game-weeks and the ongoing Premier League campaign now in full flow, Emery is having to juggle his squad and ensure a balanced workload for as many players as possible.
“I like to play a lot of matches,” he added. “It is what we want. I like to enjoy different competitions. I like to be competitive. We are going to play a lot of matches and we have to be aware of how to manage that. I believe in every player and I want them to feel that. My confidence is 100% with every player and of course they have to try to respond to me with the same confidence.”
