Every word Unai Emery said about 2-2 Arsenal draw, Onana injury, Watkins' form and Maatsen sub
Unai Emery sat down with the media at the Emirates Stadium after Aston Villa's 2-2 draw with Arsenal.
After goals either side of half-time from Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz, Villa hit back with two of their own through Youri Tielemans and then Ollie Watkins. Here is every word Emery said in his post-match press conference...
Unai, your thoughts on the draw?
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"We showed resilience and mentality. How we reacted was fantastic on the field. This is the process we have. We have experiences and competing against the better teams like last year and two years ago. Today was a very good test against Arsenal, a favourite and contender to be with Liverpool to win the Premier League. Also a favourite to get far in the Champions League.
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"We did a really fantastic job. We are in a process and this point is very important in how we achieved it. I was thinking maybe we could get another goal to win and this is the mentality I want. The last actions, with VAR and Trossard’s chances, it was a difficult moment for us."
What was the thinking behind the tactical change involving Maatsen and Digne at half-time?
"Maatsen is here to grow up with us. I have to manage both players. Ian Maatsen started very well offensively and through him and Cash we wanted to try to get wide and deep in attack. We did that more with Maatsen.
"Defensively, of course, the task was difficult with Trossard and Martinelli. Yellow card for Maatsen. This is the argument I used to change him. With that yellow card, he was in risk. For 45 minutes, Lucas was fantastic and he got an assist."
Was Watkins due to come off before he scored?
"There are moments in the game. He did a fantastic job, Watkins. The first half and the second half until he scored his goal. I wanted to change him for Duran because I wanted a fresh player to continue doing the same work Watkins did. When he scored in that moment, I preferred to keep him on because he was excited. We had a possibility to play with both strikers, but that would be difficult in today’s game plan."
It must be nice to have that competition...
"It’s no problem, they are professionals. In that moment it makes sense and I wanted to win through Watkins and I wanted to win through Duran. Before the experiences we had, they did it. It is not because I am being upset."
What did you make of the VAR to disallow Mikel Merino's goal?
"I always respect VAR. Three weeks ago I didn’t watch the clear penalty [we didn’t get] at Nottingham Forest. I respected VAR. After the match, I watched it and it was as a penalty. The same is today. Respect VAR. I watched it [Merino] and it touched his hand."
What's the update on Amadou Onana's injury?
"I don’t know exactly. He was a doubt before the match. We have to test him tomorrow. It’s hamstring but I don’t know. He was not feeling comfortable or 100 per cent to continue."
