Unai Emery says his “next dream” is to win a trophy with Aston Villa after celebrating his two year anniversary at the club.
Emery was appointed on October 24, 2022, with Villa outside the relegation zone on goal difference. The subsequent transformation has been exceptional, having, as Emery described it, achieved his “first objective” in qualifying for Europe.
“Hopefully we will improve more and more,” said the Villa manager, speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of the visit of Bournemouth.
“It’s been two years since I arrived here with the coaches. We were starting trying to be better in each moment. And we achieved some objectives quickly, but there is still a lot of work to do.
“It’s very important to work to keep it. This is the target with the players, coaches, owners and myself. But we have to enjoy what we are doing. I’ve enjoyed it a lot in the first two years.
“My first objective was to play in Europe. My second dream was to win a trophy and that’s what I have now. We are looking forward to continuing to improve.
“We are now playing a lot of matches and we are working more hours because we have to prepare more. But I can feel comfortable and confident.”
Villa will play their second home game inside five days following an impressive 2-0 victory against Bologna in the Champions League.
Emery admitted he has a concerted focus on ensuring his players remain at an intense level, having witnessed a drop-off in games following Champions League fixtures.
“We have to keep the objective and high standards we are setting,” said Emery. “This is the message to the players, the club and everybody. In other games after a Champions League game, I felt the players were tired and even a little less focused, now we must improve on everything.
“There were some doubts over the mentality I want when we played at Ipswich Town (a 2-2 draw). I told the players and I don’t want to repeat it. We always play to win and show it. We need to show hunger when we are on the field, playing each match.”
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