Fixtures
- West Ham United Vs. Aston Villa – Sat, Aug 17th 2024, 17:30
Unai Emery says every player played a part in Aston Villa’s victory against West Ham United to open the new season.
The manager, who also praised the away fans at London Stadium, was happy with what he saw in the 2-1 success.
Debutant Amadou Onana and substitute Jhon Durán bagged the goals as Villa headed home with three points.
“It’s fantastic,” he said.
“Our victory feels very good and I’m very proud of our supporters, they were here with us for our first match, travelling from Birmingham to London to support us.
“We felt their support in 90 minutes. The three points are very important for us and how we achieved that here, where it’s very difficult in West Ham’s stadium.
“The performance we got with different players in 90 minutes was fantastic, the commitment, the behaviour before the match, how they were focusing was fantastic.
“I am happy because we started the first match with three points, but now I’m focusing on the next match against Arsenal at home in Villa Park. I am very pleased with every player and how they played today.”
Emery utilised his squad to great effect in east London, with three of his changes creating the winning goal.
The Spaniard says Villa need everyone contributing to be successful this season.
He said: “Young players with potential. We finished with Jaden, Morgan, Ramsey, even Ian Maatsen; very young players.
“It’s very important their wish is to help and be ready to play and to perform like they did. There were different circumstances with the players because Jacob Ramsey was back after a long time not playing and he was very fit to play 90 minutes.
“He started on the bench but usually he will play a lot of minutes in the starting XI. This is the first step I want to do here: try to be competitive in the squad with the players we have and be ready for a long season in Premier League and Champions League and different cups.
“Today we are happy because we started really well but there is a lot of work to do and matches to play.”