In the 4th round of the Premier League, Aston Villa will host Nottingham Forest. Villa manager Unai Emery held a pre-match press conference on Friday to discuss the team's injuries and preparations for the match.

On Cash and Manzanbi

Regarding Cash's situation, it's difficult to say much. We'll train this afternoon and see if there's any improvement. It's a minor injury, but he needs a few days to recover. We'll test him today.

Manzanbi is recovering very well. He started training with the team this week. Today we'll assess his training and his physical condition. Tomorrow I'll make a decision on the lineup.

From the Champions League to the Premier League

We give our all in every competition, but right now the Premier League is our priority. We've played three matches. Then comes the Champions League, then the League Cup next Wednesday, and then the FA Cup.

On the other hand, competing against our rivals means improving our results as quickly as possible, making full use of our current squad and the players' strengths, ensuring clear understanding of our tactical philosophy and requirements, familiarity with each other, and maintaining consistency in our play.

We're also strengthening team cohesion by integrating new players, adapting, improving understanding, and ensuring we meet our standards at every level—individually and collectively—in pursuit of excellence.

In both the Premier League and Champions League, we're aiming to reach our best form as soon as possible. Have we achieved that? Not yet. In the Premier League we're trying to improve our play, largely using the same squad with one or two adjustments, such as Mings and Pau Torres, but both are very important to us. Barkleys and João Gomes are used interchangeably. João played very well on Tuesday and won't be available tomorrow, but Barkley fully understands everything we want, both in attack and defense.

Tomorrow we'll take the next step, hoping to demonstrate our progress in the Premier League and see the match results. Looking at our Champions League performance on Tuesday, individual and collective performances justified our expectations. Our game plan was solid and effective, and we achieved it, which is very important. But tomorrow's match will be a completely different challenge.

Challenges, tests, demands, and opportunities—three points. The Premier League won't wait for us. We haven't accumulated enough points, and there's no point waiting for the next match. Dealing well with the current task is my job, my goal, and my mission.

Ahead of the Home Match Against Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest and we know each other very well, as we've played multiple times in the Premier League and also competed in the Europa League last year.

Forest's new manager Glasner is trying to implement his tactical system and philosophy. This coach has proven himself very well, already succeeding at Crystal Palace, and previously when coaching in Germany.

He's a successful coach, very competitive against us, and always delivers strong results. We've always found it difficult to handle Glasner's challenges, so I expect tomorrow's match to be very tough.

We need to consistently execute our tactical plan during the match, show resilience when necessary, strive to improve ourselves, adapt to their style, compete the way we need to, while respecting Nottingham Forest as a club, this team, and of course fully respecting manager Glasner.

On Villa's Progress

Yes, I see progress. But obviously, if we don't show that progress on the pitch, it's not progress. Everything we do in training must be reflected in tomorrow's match.

Of course, we're now into midweek fixtures. We have three games a week—Saturday, Tuesday, then Saturday, next Wednesday, and the following Saturday. At this stage you have relatively less training time; you must give players rest while trying to help new players adapt and address weaknesses through training.

We're in that state and process now, but tomorrow we must show how we're improving together. By maintaining a consistent starting XI, making some adjustments, adding new players, and of course some injured players we hope will be available tomorrow, we're hoping to help us achieve better results.

On Integrating New Players

Right now it's very important how they perform in training, and then we must also try to reflect that performance in matches. We're competing in various competitions—the Premier League, Champions League, and the League Cup next week.

Rebuilding the team is my main priority now. We work together as a team, analyzing each match individually and also individually assessing their performances. We show them our organizational structure, philosophy and plans, and how we've built this team over the last three years. Although we've used different players, the philosophy and plans haven't changed, and the players actively participate.

Our experienced players—Mings, Pau Torres, McGinn, Kamara, Cash, Maatsen—have been really crucial right now. They're helping their new teammates. This is very important because it's not easy integrating new players into our system. They need to feel comfortable and confident to perform these tasks.

The experienced players, especially captain McGinn, have shown excellent performances, as have Mings, Pau Torres, Kamara, and Buendía. They're all genuinely committed to the cause, which means a great deal to our team, and I'm deeply grateful for that. Of course, we also discuss this within the team.

Compared to Last Season

The players have shown us their ability to handle difficult moments. They did this last year, and they showed that same ability in the Champions League away match against Brugge on Tuesday. I hope the team can take another step forward tomorrow and improve. That's my challenge and what we're facing, but I'm completely confident in the players I have.

We have experienced players and young players with great potential, like George Hemmings, who has already shown this ability. Of course, he needs more training because he needs to improve his productivity, but his play is already close to what we expect.

The standard we set last year, we're holding to that same standard this year, and the players will certainly reach it. Some certainly are, but other players will eventually get their chance. That's the confidence I have and my belief. I believe in the players and, of course, the fans—everyone is patient.

Tomorrow, I hope we can unleash that huge energy again with the fans at Villa Park. Of course, we also need to transmit our energy, our actions, and our playing philosophy to them. At the same time, the fans must also try to give us their energy.

Переведено ИИ.

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