Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has a wealth of options at his disposal heading into a crucial fortnight of fixtures
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery(Image: Getty Images)
Unai Emery has revealed some Aston Villa players have been upset with their game time in recent weeks, but prefers that they scowl at him rather than simply accept his selection decisions.
Villa will move into the top five of the Premier League table if they beat bottom club Southampton on Saturday, before they take on Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final after losing 3-1 at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.
Following crucial league matches against fellow Champions League hopefuls Newcastle United and Manchester City, Crystal Palace await for Villa at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals.
Emery has an embarrassment of riches across the pitch, so much so that he is forced to leave some of his players out of the matchday squads, let alone from the starting XI.
“Now some of them are making faces when they are not playing.” Emery said. “But I prefer it. I prefer them making faces at me when they are not playing because they are not happy, than not having players to select or to choose between to play one match.
“And this is the level we are achieving now. Because two years ago it was not necessary to have two players for each position. We were only 12, 13, 14 players.
“And the other players on the bench were not playing. Only playing 11 players and more or less two more. And we were getting our objective. It was enough like that.
“But now, last year, we did not achieve because we did not have enough players to play. For injuries or different circumstances. And this year, the first part of the season, we had more or less the same troubles. We were not enough players.
“Or we were not fit players or we could not use every player facing the level we were demanding. And now, I think we are getting it. But of course, tomorrow, 11 players in the starting 11 and the other players on the bench. They can be angry but ready to play.”
He added: “This is the mentality. The mentality is to have enough players to get to the level we want. One of the problems we had before as well is when someone is not, for different circumstances, ready to play.
“Because he is angry or he is not focusing because he is not getting to the level we want. And the process we have and we are here trying to develop and to set this.
“To be demanding and to be as well with enough players to get it. And two players for one position when you are playing only one match a week. Sometimes it is not necessary.
“But when you are playing like now, we are playing and involved in Europe. We are involved in the Premier League and we are involved in the FA Cup semi-final. It makes sense.”
Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa high fives Unai Emery, manager of Aston Villa
Ollie Watkins is one player whose game time has been limited since the international break, having started only one of the club’s last four matches.
After coming off the bench in wins over Preston North End and Brighton, Watkins played an hour against Nottingham Forest before being dropped to the bench for Villa’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain.
Marcus Rashford replaced Watkins as the striker during his time on the bench, scoring a brace against Preston and netting the opener against Brighton last week.
Asked what Rashford provides as the striker, Emery said: “It is important to get balance defensively and offensively. His potential to adapt to our structure, with his skills and his pace, his capacity to threaten the opponent, where he is starting in our structure and then in the transition … It is a very important position.
“He is feeling comfortable on the left side, more higher than lower. He is not 100 per cent a striker or 100 per cent a winger, it is a mix. In our structure, we are needing him more to play closer as a striker.”
“I am explaining here our demands, our capacity to get stronger in our structure with two players for position,” Emery continued. “Some players were playing here in a row in the starting XI always and succeeding, being more or less always getting our objective and our demands. But we are adding players and more competitive in each position for the players.
“To have McGinn in the bench now is a possibility. To have Ramsey in the bench now is a possibility. To have Watkins in the bench now is a possibility.
“Of course, they are very important players. But the players have to understand it is not only to be very important players being always in the starting XI. Sometimes we are winning matches and the sample we have now is clear.
“A lot of matches we played the last two months we needed the substitute players impacting like they did and helping us to win. And three, four, five, six months ago sometimes we couldn’t get it.
“Now we have Pau and Tyrone Mings, we have Disasi and Konsa, we have Cash and Andres, we have Maatsen and Lucas, we have Tielemans and Barkley, we have Onana and Kamara. I want to remember it how he helped us a lot, Bogarde, playing matches as well.”
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