Unai Emery is leading his men into their final game of their US tour against Nashville SC. Times have been tough in the transfer window, but the manager was bullish about the prospects of a settled setup. He feels "the squad we are building is strong" as he pursues targets in England and Europe.
‘Our structure, more or less, is now here’
The Villans seek to bounce back from a painful end to a season that showed so much promise. They have kicked off with the foundations of fixtures against American teams from a developing league.
“*MLS teams are improving a lot. They are preparing for the **World Cup*and football is growing up here. The level we are facing playing against MLS teams always is a really good challenge for us.”
The preseason provides a platform for players to build their fitness after the summer break. Many members of the first team earned their first minutes against **Eintracht Frankfurt**or St. Louis City SC, so the manager had to rely on the youth to take the team through the first weeks of their prep.
“We did two steps different. Firstly, we started with a lot of young players because we have a responsibility as well to give them chances to be with us, to know how we are working, every day how it’s going. And the level we want to achieve, as well with the younger players.”
The third and final outing of the tour takes place today as **Aston Villa**take on Nashville SC. This fixture will not be too far from their base in Tennessee, where preseason plans are coming together.
“The second step we are doing and finishing on Saturday against Nashville is to try to get fit, again, with the players how we can build our structure for the season. Some young players are still with us, maybe the squad can change in the last month or last weeks in August for the transfer window.”
Emery expects his squad to be more or less the same as the selection he has available at the moment.
“Overall, our structure, more or less, is now here. We are playing with our target not being the result. Our target now is to try and play, sharing players, not focusing on the starting XI, focusing a little bit more for our structure, our overall structure we want to achieve with the players in our squad.”
The manager made clear that he expected a fight from an outfit competing in front of their fans.
“It is the last match for us in Nashville. They’re going to play, demanding from us a lot because they are at home with their supporters. Every team we face here want to show their capacity, test their level with our team. We will play trying as well to compete, thinking how we are building our team.”
‘Our structure is the most important thing’
Villa got their act together with the help of some loanees across March and April to be in the hunt to achieve goals on three fronts. However, they bowed out of the **FA Cup**semi-final through a 3-0 loss against the cup winners, Crystal Palace. Even worse was the final matchday of the Premier League: **Newcastle United**held onto fifth spot despite a 1-0 defeat to **Everton**as **Man United**beat Villa 2-0.
But the group have to try and forget those bad memories and move on to chase new opportunities.
“The energy, everyday, you have to work to get it. The commitment we have here has been so strong. The objective we have here is still very ambitious. Playing in Europe, we face another competition.”
Emery took charge of a team lying in the bottom five of the table in November 2022 and guided them into the top seven, earning a place in the Conference League. He then balanced a run to the final four of this tournament with a charge to reach the top four in the league, and last season, they exited the Champions League quarter-final to Paris Saint-Germain despite a 3-2 victory in the second leg.
The Spaniard has a wealth of experience in European football, and he looks forward to leading his players in the Europa League, a trophy he lifted three times at **Sevilla**and once with Villarreal.
*“It is very demanding. We played Conference League,, **Champions League**and now we play Europa League. It’s very important for me, for the club and for all of the players, I think that it is the same.”*
However, his opinion has not changed about what the top target is for the team during this campaign.
*“The **Premier League**is always the first objective because it is the most difficulty league in the world. But also to be contenders for other trophies: Carabao Cup, FA Cup or Europe is very important. There is still a lot of work to do and I am very excited with the objectives we are facing this year.”*
The manager is proud of how his players are performing against some of the more established elite.
*“We are achieving our objectives in front of teams that start being contenders more than us to be in Europe: Tottenham, Man United, last year Newcastle United. Those teams have a great power to try to beat us and they are signing very important players. But our structure is the most important thing.”*
The PSR pinch is hurting in the Midlands, but Villa attempt to push through with their internal affairs. New deals for Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara are at least tying down some of the squad.
“How we are keeping, extending some contracts of the players and then being clinical in our decision to get some players to join us. I think that the structure we are building is strong and our challenge is again to try to get better in those things than our contenders to be in the top seven or be in Europe.”
The 53-year-old offered his thoughts on how the rivals are stacking up for the fight to get into Europe.
*“We always face it and ready to do our best. That’s never different. The only difference compared to last year maybe is how some teams, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, **Tottenham**are signing some players, really, very good players. But the **Premier League*is a tough league for every team.”