Fixtures
- Manchester City Vs. Aston Villa – Wed, Apr 3rd 2024, 20:15
Unai Emery spoke to the media on Tuesday afternoon ahead of Manchester City versus Aston Villa.
The club’s head coach was quizzed on several topics by members of the press, including his team news for the clash at Etihad Stadium.
Here’s what he had to say…
On team news…
“They (Jacob Ramsey and Ollie Watkins) will not be available for tomorrow.
“They have small injuries. Jacob Ramsey is not getting better like he wants and we are not in a hurry with him, and for tomorrow he is not available.
“With Ollie, it’s more or less the same but I think it’s a small injury. We are going to wait because with some days he could be available for the next match.”
On striving to improve…
“When I can play against the best teams, coaches and players, I’m very happy to get this challenge. Tomorrow is an exciting challenge for me.
“It’s an exciting challenge for the club, facing Manchester City in the position we’re in now, fourth. To be consistent is the challenge I have with my players.
“Losing or winning we have to get balance quickly and understand how we can develop as a club, as a team, as a player or as a coach, playing against the best players and coaches in the Premier League.”
On the challenge of facing Manchester City…
“Playing against the best team in the Premier League is the biggest test we are facing and tomorrow is one of the most important matches we are going to face.
“It’s a tough match and we are respecting them. Playing against Manchester City is very difficult and even more so playing away.
“Guardiola’s players are some of the best in the world, but we are very excited and very motivated. We are doing our way, trying to get better every day and add different players because we are having a lot of bad circumstances with injured players.
“We are always trying to be positive. When the players we have in the squad are in it’s because we believe in them and their capacity to respond when we need them. Now is the moment.”
On Pep Guardiola…
“He is the best coach in the world, for me. Analysing him in Spain, analysing him here in England, he’s a brilliant coach, a genius coach.
“He’s very, very competitive. The coach is a lot of things to be the best coach. You have to control a lot of things more than tactically, even being humble as a person and the management of the players in everything.
“He’s shown, in my opinion, that he’s the best. I always have a challenge with other coaches, and even when I was with Guardiola in Spain, beating them or not beating them to get better myself.”
On the type of match he expects…
“I expect a very difficult match and that we will defend a lot tomorrow. I expect that in case we can dominate the match at some points to play with personality and try to use our power when we are with the ball.
“I am expecting their best performance. Getting their best performance, we will have to play being successful in everything.
“This is the opportunity we have. Each point we are playing for in the Premier League is very motivating for us. Our opportunity to repeat playing in Europe next season is fantastic.”
