Aston Villa press conference notes: Boss’ impassioned speech, what he ‘hates’ and Chelsea prediction

Aston Villa news from BirminghamLive s Unai Emery answers questions from the media ahead of his side’s FA Cup fourth round replay against Chelsea at Villa Park

In a news conference held at Bodymoor Heath earlier this afternoon, Unai Emery addressed the media in advance of Aston Villa’s FA Cup fourth-round replay against Chelsea on Wednesday.

Two weeks ago, Villa and Chelsea drew 0-0 at Stamford Bridge. Since then, Villa has gone three games without losing to the Blues. A win at Villa Park will guarantee a home fifth-round match on Wednesday, February 28 against either Plymouth Argyle or Leeds United.

Prior to the match, Emery’s team defeated Sheffield United 5-0 at Bramall Lane, but in the process, they lost important defender Ezri Konsa to injury. Pau Torres and Nicolo Zaniolo have both recovered to full fitness, but the center back will be sidelined for around four weeks.

EMERY IS NOT PICKING AND CHOOSING

Villa are the favourites to win the Europa Conference League this season, but will only be one game away from Wembley if they manage to win two home FA Cup ties in a row. Both present brilliant opportunities to end the club’s long wait for silverware and Emery gave an impassioned speech about the importance of taking each competition seriously.

Asked if he’d prefer to win the Europa Conference League or FA Cup, Emery responded: “It’s no way. It’s no way. This question, no way. We have to focus. I don’t know where the opportunity is but you have to try and get opportunities and in the Premier League, it is 38 matches. 38 matches. 38 matches!

“You can make a mistake and you can react. In the FA Cup, it is the same, but it is only one opportunity. It’s tomorrow. One or the other? No, I prefer tomorrow. When we played Everton in the Carabao Cup it was the same. Only how we can manage the season. I have to try and manage the players and the moment and the competition when they are coming.

“We are in February and it is a great opportunity tomorrow. Very difficult, but great opportunity. Then, after the match we can be happy or not. Then, we are going to face another competition.

“But there is now way we have this mentality in our mind, trying to select. I told at the start of the season, and it is the same now, what is the first objective? Premier League.

“Why? Because in 38 matches you have to be consistent. At the end, it is through the competition you can achieve your first objective, playing in Europe. Then, we have another objective of trying to win a trophy.

“We have to confront every competition, which I much appreciate, and it is really tough for me to answer this because, of course, moving on to the next round and possibly the semifinals is a chance. We might be getting near to the final, so maybe it is the top concern right now. However, you forfeit everything if you lose in the semifinals!

“Playing in the third round or semifinals makes little difference in the end. You won’t receive a trophy in the end, which is why the Premier League is the most significant. After securing the top spot, you are granted access to Europe.

“Before here as well we have some bonus because we are getting the ten, nine, eight positions. I don’t like. I want something. A trophy, playing in Europe. I need to feel something. FA Cup is a way yes, but only one team wins at the end. It is difficult. But we are going to face tomorrow focusing only this match.”

EXPECTING ‘BEST’ CHELSEA

Mauricio Pochettino is under increasing pressure following Sunday’s 4-2 loss to Wolves at Stamford Bridge. Villa has never gone four games without conceding against Chelsea and has preserved a clean sheet in each of their last three meetings with the Blues across all competitions. This is more than they had in their previous 26 matches with Chelsea.

Emery anticipates nothing less than a tough challenge at Villa Park on Wednesday night, even though he is favored to cause Pochettino more suffering.

“I hope Chelsea does well,” he stated. “We were there, but we had a lot of trouble in the first half. Compared to us, they were superior. We enforced our strategy and idea in the second half. We didn’t deserve to win, but we had opportunities to score and prevail.

“Given that Chelsea advanced to the Carabao Cup final, I expect the best from them tomorrow. The fact that they are not in Europe makes this competition extremely significant.

They are becoming better with their new coach, but they still lost to Liverpool. Wolves defeated them with excellent play. My only exception is if they execute to the best of their abilities tomorrow.”

BOUNCING BACK FROM DEFEATS

Every time Villa have tasted defeat this season, they have responded by winning. It was the case at the weekend, when the Blades were put to the sword against Villa at Bramall Lane, losing by five goals.

Asked about his side’s mentality to respond to setbacks, Emery said: “I don’t know if it is because we have improved our mentality. I am very demanding with it and hate to lose matches.

“I want the people to be angry when we are losing and working harder to recover again our win. We reacted very well last week, because our loss against Newcastle was very hard.

It demonstrates to us that every game is really challenging, but it also relies on whose team we should respect above all else. Newcastle demonstrated their superiority over us. When we drew there, Chelsea demonstrated to us that they could be superior to us.

“They could surpass us once more tomorrow. Everybody has to give it their all and concentrate solely on the game. Initially, me.

“We can lose, of sure, but I don’t want any surprises on the field as we had against Newcastle last week. They could win, of course, but I admitted to the team that it was my fault and that perhaps I wasn’t at 100% like I had been when we defeated Newcastle in this same spot last year. We must exert more effort than others if we wish to advance and raise our level.”