Unai Emery insists his Aston Villa rotation policy is for the good of the team as he declares ‘I want to be a small family’ and targets performing across several fronts
- Unai Emery believes changing his Aston Villa squad is in the best interests of the team
- Villa next host Luton after their Europa Conference League victory at AZ Alkmaar
- Listen to the latest episode of the ‘Mail Sport’ podcastIt all starts!‘
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery insists any rotation policy is in the best interests of the team.
Villa host Luton in the Premier League on Sunday after Thursday’s 4-1 Europa Conference League win over AZ Alkmaar.
Moussa Diaby, Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres are in contention to return after being benched in the Netherlands, despite a goal-scoring performance from Youri Tielemans and a rare start for Barcelona loanee Clement Lenglet.
“This is the reason we have to separate each competition and focus on each match with the idea that we have to build a team,” Emery said.
“We need players to try to be ready to play and perform when we play in the Premier League, when we play in the Conference League.
Unai Emery has insisted that any rotation policy at Aston Villa is in the best interests of the team
Villa defeated AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League last season and then hosted Luton
‘It’s not about trying to play with different players in different competitions, it’s about wanting to be ready together with the players and deliver together when we change players.
“I want to be a little family. I want everyone to have feelings for our fans and try to make our hearts strong by defending the Aston Villa shirt, Aston Villa’s history and the present.
‘That is the emotion I want to create and share with our supporters. Then I want to be very, very demanding and ambitious.
“To achieve our ambitions, we work hard and continuously improve our capabilities, collectively and individually, and build our mindset to compete and win.”
Villa have won their last 11 home league games, while Luton arrived at Nottingham Forest after a late 2-2 draw.
‘I respect them enormously. I watched the game against Everton (a 1-0 win) and the draw at Nottingham Forest last week after they lost 2-0. Their response was amazing,” Emery added.
“We have to make an in-depth analysis and prepare our game plan, adapt to it and respect it. Then we have to impose our idea and try to find their weakness in our ability to build our structure offensively.’
