Fixtures
- Aston Villa Vs. Brentford – Wed, Dec 4th 2024, 20:15
Unai Emery spoke with the media at Bodymoor Heath on Tuesday afternoon, to look ahead to Aston Villa’s Premier League meeting with Brentford.
The Lions will welcome the Bees to Villa Park on Wednesday evening (ko 8.15pm), looking to return to winning ways after draws in each of their last two home league outings.
Emery previewed the game with members of the local and national media, with the key lines from his pre-match press conference below…
On challenges…
“Always, finding solutions, when we are winning, when we are losing, when we are drawing.
“Of course, we are now clearly thinking only on the next match and trying to respect every team, trying to respect every competition.
“The Premier League is the most consistent competition for us. Trying to bring through it, the objective at the end of the season.
“Tomorrow, we are going to try to play, very difficult, Brentford, they are our opponent.
“They have one point more than us, and the challenge is Brentford.”
On improving our form…
“Work. The only way I know is work, even harder, and analysing deeply, everything.
“Sometimes we can score easy, sometimes we are not scoring easy. They are points in the way, but of course, when we are creating chances with the players we have, usually they are scoring goals. I am confident, even when they are not being clinical.
“Hopefully, tomorrow is a good challenge and a good day to recover scoring or playing well, trying to impose and dominate against the opponent. Stop them better than the last matches we did, maybe.
“This is my work. The solution is [to] try, through our work, to correct things, and try to recover after our work, confidence, playing, dominating, being successful, each one, with their qualities, and then of course at the end, winning.
“We are not thinking to win, we are thinking the process to win.”
On Brentford…
“Brentford, for me, is the best consistent team, or one of the best consistent teams in the Premier League for the last year.
“Playing tactically, improving. I knew when I was at Arsenal in 2018/19, it’s not the same Brentford I know now.
“They are improving, they are tactically as well adding a lot of things. They are playing very brilliant football with the ball.
“They are playing competitive. They can play long balls and score one goal, they can do one combination, building up, doing passes, progressing, and using their qualities to score a goal, different ways.
“I appreciate a lot, and respect a lot, their work, their coach, their players. It is a team two years ago when I arrived here, we finished the season in front of them [by] two points.
“Now, again, they are competing last year and this year, they are in front of us, they are a contender as well to be in the top 10, and now we are fighting with them.
“I like to play matches against every team in Premier League because every team, they have good players, good coach, proper history in the Premier League.
“Maybe not historically Brentford, in the Premier League, but the last years, they are being amazing in their work and their processes.”
On current mood…
“The confidence always is tested, trying to get balance. When we are winning, of course, the confidence is high, when we are losing, the confidence is under usually. But we have to be in our process as well, trying to understand each moment.
“Even, we can understand the better moments we had, or now, the matches we are not winning, but I am trying to focus with the players, how we are building the team, how we played, how we can get the same results playing how we were playing and how we are playing 1733241877 more or less, sometimes, small details we have to try to analyse deeply.
“This is the work. Small details, they are punishing us a lot.
“In football, to win, to lose, to draw, when, more or less, the table or the teams, they are so tight between to win, to lose. It is the details, and we are working on it.”
On a message to the fans…
“Enjoy. Try to get balance as well, like us, and tomorrow at Villa Park we will need them supporting us like they are doing.
“Of course, we will need their energy. Hopefully, they can transmit to us their energy and we can transmit to them our capacity to play, being motivated, being intense with good and positive energy and then playing intelligently.”
On expecting an open game…?
“I want to dominate, to control the game with our positioning, but I know it is going to be very difficult.
“Starting with their goalkeeper, he is playing fantastic. Playing fantastic in build-up, playing fantastic in long balls.
“They have very good players in different areas of the pitch. There are players, some fast players, some with good skill to play in combination.
“The attitude is always really competitive players, competitive way, how they are playing each match. I appreciate a lot, and I respect a lot.
“Last year, we have a very good example. We were winning 2-0 and in 10 minutes we were losing 2-3. Then, we drew.
“This is Brentford, more or less, but of course, tomorrow, hopefully we can get a clean sheet and we can play trying to dominate and trying to break their defensive position, because they are a very organised team.
“Their high press is really strong, their position defensively when they have to low block, they are doing fantastic as well. When they get in transition, they are good players in transition. When they are building up and keeping ball possession long, they are doing fantastic as well.
“It’s a really good match. This is Premier League. As a coach, my challenge here has a lot of ways, one of those ways is to play against ever team with the difficulty we are facing.”
