Aston Villa boss has shared his working experience, including in The West Midlands, in the interview recently.
Aston Villa has just ended their 30-year title drought as well as returning to the Champions League last season, despite having a woeful start. Thanks to Unai Emery who is the key to their bounce back and all this success since his arrival in Bodymoor Heath.
Emery has guided The Lions to Champions League quarter finals in 2024/25, UEFA Conference League semifinal in 2023/24, FA Cup semifinal, as well as constantly finishing in the top six and qualifying to Europe. There was a rumor of him being Real Madrid’s target for next season.
Nevertheless, he played down such hearsay as he insisted on being content at Aston Villa. Recently, Emery states his work circumstance and goal in the Midland side in the interview with Despejadoz, as reported by Birmingham mail.
“At Aston Villa, we’re improving and evolving. I feel recognised professionally, and every year I want to keep improving. My goal is to enjoy my work like I did 22 years ago – every training session, every match preparation, every game, even in defeat.”
During the interview, Emery stated that winning silverware is the objective. Yet, it does not mean that clinching the Europa League trophy this season is enough. He still has the hunger to win more titles for his team.
“We want to win – every match, every competition. We’re going to play the Super Cup against PSG, and we want to win it, so we’ll prepare for that,”
“Aston Villa has a European Cup from 1982 and now a Europa League title. Our goal is to keep competing and winning. I don’t know if we’ll be able to match teams like Arsenal over a full season, but this year in December we were only two or three points behind them. What we lacked was more capacity and depth to sustain that level.” He added.
Emery is still under the contract until 2029. Thus, his commitment to the Lions is certainly good news for all the fans. The manager who spent most of his playing career in the second tier apparently revealed that he felt valued with Villa and his work is well respected. Such is something he might not have in Real Madrid, which might remind him of his dismal tenure in PSG, Arsenal and Spartak Moscow.
The 54-year old boss then explained the key of success in his past clubs, where he was highly valued. Interestingly, he excluded his spells in Le Parisien and the Russian Premier League giant.
“My process as a coach is always about understanding the level of each team and identifying how far we can go – what our limit is, and how to break through it.
“At Lorca, we were promoted to the second division. At Almería, we reached the first division. At Valencia, competing against Real Madrid and Barcelona with Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo was very difficult, but we finished third for three years and gained European experience.
“At Sevilla, I learned to love the Europa League. That passion and ambition became part of me. At Villarreal, it was already a strong club with a winning mentality, but it needed a few more steps. We won the Europa League and reached the Champions League semi-finals against Liverpool, which was something extraordinary.
“At Arsenal, a club that has grown enormously over the last 25 years, we reached the Europa League final in 2019 but lost to Chelsea. Recently, they reached another final and lost again, so that’s still a challenge for them.”
Let us hope Emery stays long in Villa Park, at least until his contract expires and delivers more and more trophies. The Spaniard could be the Lions’ legendary manager in history, should he be able to win more silverwares like UEFA Super Cup, FA Cup, EFL League Cup and probably Premier League or Champions League. In Emery we trust!!
The post ‘To enjoy my work, even in defeat’, Unai Emery shares his objective with Aston Villa appeared first on AVillaFan.com – Aston Villa Fan Site.
