Unai Emery gives Aston Villa players "clear plan" to allow fans to "dream" again
John McGinn has declared that Unai Emery’s “clear plan” has allowed Aston Villa to begin to “dream”.
Emery has won three of his first four Premier League games in charge of Villa and they are moving away from danger and into mid-table. McGinn says that Emery is even showing some players they can do things they did not even realise were possible after shaking up the squad and making them harder to beat.
Villa captain McGinn said: “Football is a funny old game. That is us winning three out of four. That comes with confidence the manager has given us a lot of that. There is a clear way of playing.
“Some players are in positions which are a little bit unfamiliar but he is finding strengths in people’s games we probably didn’t realise ourselves.
“He gives us a clear plan and if we implement it properly – obviously we need a bit of luck on our side at places like this – but we have been doing it to a tee. But we also need to be careful we don’t get carried away. It wasn’t that long ago we were only a few positions off the bottom.
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“If we’d lost at Tottenham, we would still be in that little pack. We need to stay humble, stay focused. Yes, we can look ahead and dream a little bit, but we also need to be careful.”
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Unai Emery has won three of his four matches in charge of Aston Villa (ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)McGinn was crystal clear that he was not comparing Emery to former boss Steven Gerrard’s reign as he insisted that players - including himself - did not do themselves justice under the previous manager.
However, McGinn says Villa’s win at Tottenham on New Year’s Day shows they are determined to listen and learn from Emery and push on under their new boss as they prepare to face Wolves on Wednesday.
McGinn, who is hoping a “pinch” he felt in his hamstring is not serious, said: “It's difficult to compare. As a midfield player, the things I learned from Steven Gerrard were priceless. He has experiences and information which were so priceless and valuable for a player like me especially.
“There are a lot of us, myself included, who did not perform under his tenure. It would be very harsh to compare. I was out of the team for a few games, so the challenge is to try and get yourself back in it. You can cry about it or get your head down and do what you do best.
“Every time I play for Villa, I give 100 per cent and whether that is centre-mid, up front or right wing, I will do what the manager asks. But you don’t get anything easy in this game, especially in this league. There are obviously challenges which will come. It is not going to be plain sailing all the time, the manager knows that.
“The other day (against Liverpool was a bump in the road, even though we could probably have nicked a point in the end. He (Emery) is a top-class manager and we just have to take on board what he is saying. He has a clear message to stay humble and that is what we will do. If we keep putting in the effort, we have quality to hurt teams at the other end. Tottenham showed that.”
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