Every word Unai Emery said about Marcus Rashford, Villa's transfer window, injuries and Tottenham
Unai Emery sat down with the media ahead of Aston Villa's FA Cup fourth round clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday (5:35pm).
He faced questions about the transfer window, Marcus Rashford's first week at the club and the upcoming cup clash against Spurs. Here is every word Emery said in his pre-match press conference...
Who have you decided to leave out of your Champions League squad?
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"The rules are that we can register three changes. We did more changes in the transfer window than we wanted. We lost one player more in the list as Jaden Philogene was a club-trained player.
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"We lost as well the opportunity through him to have one more [player in the squad]. We changed five players and only we can register three. We had to take the decision yesterday.
"They are out Andres Garcia and Donyell Malen. It was not a good decision I had to take. I spoke to Andres and Malen to tell them the decision. I argued my decision with them."
What is the team news for Sunday?
"We are going to work tomorrow, but at the beginning we have out Tyrone Mings and Pau Torres, Cash, Ross Barkley and Watkins. We are working without a game in the week and with the new players to practice and prepare for Sunday."
What are you expecting from Tottenham?
“Tottenham, the respect I have for them is a huge respect. They have some players injured and some doubts during the league season, but they have a very good team.
“The coach showed his capacity in playing very good football last year and sometimes this year. We lost against them in the only league match we played 4-1, and they played fantastic.
“On Sunday, I’m waiting for them, expecting from them their best performance. Yesterday we watched the match and we’re going to analyse not only yesterday but the match they played before.
“They can have some players out with injury but the players that are going to be available for Sunday are very good players. They have all my respect.”
How important is it to advance in the FA Cup?
“The most important thing for Sunday is how we can enjoy in Villa Park with our supporters one match like this. In this cup, it’s a very prestigious cup in England for a lot of supporters.
“It’s really special and very important to get through this competition being successful in some moments. We can be excited on Sunday to play at Villa Park with our supporters.
“The opponent is Tottenham and there are lots of things that are very positive and demanding for us about how we can respond.”
How has Marcus Rashford performed in training?
“I’m very happy with the transfer window we did and I’m very happy with him. The conversation I had with him was a very normal conversation between a player and a coach, speaking about football.
“The only thing I want from him is the best football. As a person, we’re introducing him into the dressing room as one player more helping us.
“His capacity and potential is still being a huge potential to exploit. I don’t want to know the reason why he’s leaving from Manchester, but I’m very happy keeping him here.
“I’m very happy to try and exploit and to help him to recover his performances individually and collectively. My challenge with him is a huge challenge. His challenge with us is a very exciting challenge.”
How do you assess the window?
“The transfer window in January is very difficult, but we were competing very well. Now, we have the challenge for the rest of the season to try to recover some good performances collectively and individually that we didn’t have in the first part of the season.
“In the league we’re not in a position where we can feel comfortable. Our objective and target is to be in the European positions. More or less, we are but not completely.
“We have to improve and get better performances in the league over the matches we’re going to play in the next month. We have a very good and motivated way in the Champions League, playing in the last 16, getting the performances we had or even better.
“We have the FA Cup and it’s one match on Sunday. It depends after the match if we can continue in this competition, but our objective in the FA Cup is to try to do a way for a trophy.”
