Unai Emery holds individual talks after Aston Villa developments
Unai Emery has made “efforts” to ease the pressure on his Aston Villa players this season, Jacob Tanswell says.
The Athletic reporter revealed that the Spaniard has changed his methods due to the congested fixture schedule, with the Villans in a good position to make it through to the knockout rounds in the Champions League after their win over RB Leipzig.
Emery has usually been intense in his approach and hard to get hold of, but recently, the 53-year-old has given extra days off and held individual conversations with squad members.
Writing in The Athletic [16 December], after the 2-1 loss to Nottingham Forest, Tanswell shared: “This time, Emery has made efforts to ease the pressures on players.
“This has included added days off in the week leading into games, citing the importance of rest and holding individual talks to gauge the players’ mood.”
Unai Emery makes Aston Villa changes
The Lions had an impressive start to the season, holding a place near the top of the Premier League table and beating the likes of Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Emery has had to contend with a few injury issues, though, and it looks like the lack of squad depth has been exposed at Villa Park after four months.
The Villans have lost four of their last seven fixtures in the English top flight, but still remain an impressive sixth in the league table.
With Arsenal and Manchester City’s form in decline, Aston Villa are still firmly in the race for the top four, but they can’t keep dropping points.
The Lions need to find stability once again, especially at the back, with the ever-so-reliable Emi Martinez also at fault for conceding goals due to errors.
Emery has helped the Villans make massive strides since arriving in Birmingham, and the Spaniard needs to find that balance again before there’s nothing left to play for.
In other Aston Villa news, Emery will be fuming at what Lucas Digne did against Forest.
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