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Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was honest about the club’s pitfalls despite the 3-0 FA Cup win at Preston.
Unai Emery believes Aston Villa are in much better shape to remain competitive across the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup this year thanks to transfer success, improved luck with fitness and bolstered squad depth.
The head coach has pinpointed fatigue and insufficient numbers as the main contributors towards Villa’s inconsistency earlier in the campaign, as well as the end of last.
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Now in the FA Cup semi-finals thanks to a Marcus Rashford brace and a Jacob Ramsey solo strike in a 3-0 win over Preston, Villa are growing in confidence and are in good shape to win their first major trophy since 1996. There’s also a two-legged Champions League quarter-final clash with Paris Saint-Germain to look forward to, while the Premier League top five race could go right down to the wire.
With Ross Barkley the only remaining player in the treatment room, Villa are finally beginning to say farewell to their injury woes. Emiliano Martinez, Pau Torres, Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa, Matty Cash, Amadou Onana, Boubacar Kamara, Leon Bailey, Jacob Ramsey and Ollie Watkins have all spent periods on the sidelines this season, so it’s a welcome change having a nearly fully-fit squad available.
When asked if he’s relieved to have so many options to select from, Emery said: “Definitely. Last year, we finished tired and not fresh with injured players. We only achieved the objective because we were consistent in 38 matches.
“This year, the only way we have is to finish as best as possible being fresh, being ambitious and demanding to play until the last minute in the competitions we are in. Recovering some players as well, we are always at risk of getting some more injured players. But if not, we are recovering every player, more or less.”
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Emery recognises importance of Villa’s lesser-used players
Although the victory over Preston was expected, there was still a job to be done and the atmosphere at Deepdale made things tricky, at least initially. The result - enough to set up a last-four meeting with Crystal Palace at Wembley - was pivotal, not only in advancing in the competition but also in sharing minutes around.
Emery so often illustrates the importance of making use of the whole squad and creating a sense of pride for everybody, no matter the significance of their role. This was certainly the case away at Preston as the head coach used all five of his substitutions.
“Today, I think was important as well, the second half when we had players to trust, to continue working in the same plan we had. I was watching the bench and we had players to do it,” Emery said.
“We play on Wednesday in a very demanding game in Brighton, we are going to play Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Those matches are very important and we need players.”
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Looking ahead to who he could select for those two games, Emery added: “Maybe the players who started today. Maybe the players on the bench. But to have players for 90 minutes, keeping our structure as strong as possible and physically strong as possible is very important.
“Then in the Champions League against PSG, we are in the key moment of this season. We struggled a lot this season in some moments we weren’t with enough players to compete in the level we are.
“Now is the moment for the players, for the club, for myself. I have the responsibility to do my best, practicing, preparing matches. I try to motivate the players in the right direction.”