Unai Emery has laid out three clear rules his players must follow this season as key ingredients to have a successful campaign.
The Champions League draw was made on Thursday night as Aston Villa discovered their eight opponents for the league phase.
Fixtures included three eye-catching home ties against Celtic, Bayern Munich and a Villa Park return for Douglas Luiz at Juventus.
Unai Emery has warned his Aston Villa players about not letting their performance levels drop this season while sharing three key rules his side must follow to achieve success.
The three key rules Aston Villa must follow this season
When looking at how Newcastle United struggled to juggle domestic competition with Europe last season, it’s going to take a monumental effort for Villa to finish in the top four and go deep into the Champions League.
With several new additions to his squad, Emery is satisfied with the business achieved under PSR constraints, as Villa are set to sanction no further transfers on deadline day as things stand.
The focus for the Spaniard and his players is firmly on Saturday’s trip to Leicester City, as they aim to bounce back from their unfortunate 2-0 defeat against Arsenal.
Villa could and perhaps should have won all three points against the Gunners after missing multiple gilt-edged chances, with Emery now ordering a response from his squad.
Speaking to the media ahead of the Leicester match, the former Sevilla boss outlined three key ingredients for success and to replicate last years fourth place finish.
“To be successful like we were last year, of course it’s going to be difficult. But we are very, very motivated,” Emery said.
“And we know our way: Be intelligent, working hard always, be very demanding – more than last year.”
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The real key for success at Aston Villa
Unlike many other clubs, Villa don’t have the luxury of dipping into their pockets on deadline day as they’re being held back by PSR constraints.
This has seen their primary target Lutsharel Geertruida reach the brink of a move to Bundesliga giants RB Leipzig for £21 million.
It means that the Villans are left short defensively. Emery only has Kosta Nedeljkovic at right-back following the injury to Matty Cash while the injury to Diego Carlos means there are only two senior centre-backs to select from; Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa.
Emery highlighted the three above ingredients to achieve success and of course, they are very important. But, the world-class manager also needs a huge slice of luck to avoid injuries to key players, otherwise, they could slip below their targets.
For instance, if Ollie Watkins were to suffer a setback, then they’d be placing all of the pressure on Jhon Duran to deliver. Likewise, a freak injury to Torres or Konsa could see youngster Lamare Bogarde thrust into the starting lineup and that is a big problem.
