MY ACCOUNT
Unai Emery preached patience as he met the media for the first time as Aston Villa coach on Friday, but that did not stop him setting a “personal challenge” to bring silverware to Villa Park.
Emery started work as Villa boss this week having left former club Villarreal, where he achieved Europa League success in the 2020-21 season.
But initial ambitions will have to be more modest at Villa, with the side 16th in the Premier League table ahead of Sunday’s clash with Manchester United.
If results go against his new team on Saturday, Emery could find himself in the relegation zone by the time of his first match in charge.
For that reason, Emery had a dash of realism to go with his optimistic plans for the future on his return to the Premier League.
“My dream is to win a trophy with Aston Villa,” said the former Arsenal manager, who was asked if Villa could qualify for Europe this season.
“It’s my personal challenge at the beginning. And my second dream, my objective could be to play with Aston Villa in Europe.
“But now we have to start thinking only [about] the next match because we are not in a good position in the table now, and each match is going to give us a lot of information from the players and I want to test, to check individually and collectively the players.
“The next match is my only focus now, Sunday against Manchester United, and, of course, playing here at home.”
