One match at a time for Unai Emery as Aston Villa enter key fortnight
Unai Emery has urged Villa to take it one match at a time as they look to prove their top four credentials in the biggest fortnight of the season so far.
Sunday’s trip to Tottenham is the first of five games in a 14-day period which will also see Emery’s men host last season’s Premier League top two, Manchester City and Arsenal, at Villa Park.
Despite sitting fifth in the table after recording the club’s best start to a season in 24 years, the Spanish head coach continues to claim his team should not be considered contenders for a top-seven finish, let alone a Champions League spot.
And though he acknowledges the opportunity is there to do something special, should they maintain their current form, he has warned his players not to get ahead of themselves.
He explained: “At the moment our objective is to try and get better and try to keep the position we are in now. It is no more.
“One of the things I have learned in my career is to try and focus on each match. If you are thinking two months ahead, how you are going to be, you cannot know.
“We are not contenders for the top seven but we want to be close to those teams. If we are playing and progressing and growing like we are showing, it could be a very exciting season for us.”
Sunday, along with the following Premier League match at Bournemouth, offers the chance for Villa to improve an away record which contrasts sharply with their home form, where they have won every match.
On the road, they have been less stellar taking just seven points from six matches and – even more surprisingly for a team who have scored at least three goals in every game on home turf – finding the net just six times and only twice in the last four matches.
Emery, who admitted to feeling re-energised after a trip to the USA to watch Villa co-owner Wes Edens’ Milwaukee Bucks basketball team during the international break, believes the disparity between home and away record is in some ways understandable.
“When you analyse games at the beginning we can understand as well how each team is having difficulties like us,” he said.
“We are analysing other teams in the top seven when they are away, it is more difficult than playing at home. It is not an excuse but it is something natural.
“Always, when you play away the home team are being very motivated and are feeling strong. The way we can improve is to be consistent and to build a strong structure with the ball and without the ball.
“We have to impose our game plan as well and I am very motivated for Sunday. The players are also motivated after the break.
“This morning we were speaking about how we can focus 100 per cent on the match and the three days we have to prepare. I think we are ready. At the end of the match we can analyse whether we were better than I was thinking, or worse.”
