Aston Villa news from BirminghamLive as Unai Emery gives Manchester United his full focus over Christmas
Unai Emery’s Christmas plans, or lack of, prove just how committed he is to his job with Aston Villa.
He has led the club’s remarkable ascent up the Premier League table over the past 13 months and deserves to be recognised as the manager of 2023. Only Manchester City have won more points than Villa this calendar year, while only one point separates them from top spot at Christmas.
No team in the Premier League have won more games than Villa this season and only Pep Guardiola’s treble champions have claimed more victories in the past 40 games since the start of the year. Emery’s side are unbeaten in their last ten games in all competitions, having also qualified for the Europa Conference League last 16 earlier this month, and make the trip to Old Trafford on Boxing Day in search of a win which could increase their nine-point cushion inside the top five.
Villa failed to take the opportunity to climb to the Premier League summit on Friday night as they drew 1-1 with Sheffield United, but Nicolo Zaniolo’s 97th minute equaliser ensured the club’s unbeaten run at home extends to nearly ten months. After the stalemate at Villa Park, Emery was asked about his plans for Christmas ahead of his side’s meeting with Manchester United on Tuesday night.
“I really am focused on the match on Tuesday and I will enjoy it [Christmas] a little bit, but I will face the match on Tuesday focusing on it,” Emery said. “The main thing for me and the most important thing is to prepare the best as possible the match.
“I am going to enjoy Christmas after the match on Tuesday, or even after the match against Burnley because when we are playing matches, the most important thing is to prepare and try to focus.
“We are going to train tomorrow [Saturday], rest on Sunday and will train on Monday. The rules are trying to enjoy, but keep in good balance being available to play with a good mentality on Tuesday.”
Despite dropping points to the league’s bottom club, Emery is rightly delighted with the start to the campaign his team has made. But while the season is only at the halfway mark, he insists Villa must continue to strive for improvement to achieve their ambitious goals this season.
“We are happy and I am proud of our work, but I want to finish on Tuesday trying to face Manchester United about being in this moment better than them in the table.
‘They are contenders to be in the top seven or the top four more than us. This is a good match for how we can face them, how we are with them until the day 19 how we are facing the teams we are competing with to be there.
“For example, it is the same in Newcastle when we lost and we played in Tottenham, we won, played Chelsea and won.”
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