Unai Emery explains why Aston Villa 'can't waste a minute' in preparation
Unai Emery claims Villa’s players are spending more time in the classroom than on the training pitch due to their busy schedule of matches.
Saturday’s visit of Southampton is Villa’s fifth in a fortnight and they then have a break of just over 72 hours before they are back in action at RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
The hectic run means Emery has generally been limited to holding just one full training session in between games, with the manager admitting it has impacted the ability to make tactical tweaks.
Instead, more time has been spent in team meetings and video analysis with Emery telling his players they cannot afford to waste a minute they spend together.
He said: “I told the players we have to use every minute we have together in meetings or one day on the training field, trying to get time to work it.
“To prepare each match is difficult. Those (teams) who are not playing in Europe, maybe they have more time to train than us.
“We are playing in Europe and this week three matches in the Premier League and more players in the national team. We are not having time to work on the training pitch on things we have to improve.
“It is not an excuse, of course. But it is an example of how we have to be focused and try to understand when and where we are trying to introduce things tactically in each match.”
Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Brentford snapped an eight-match winless run but Emery is expected to make changes against the Saints, claiming the schedule makes it “impossible” to keep picking the same starting XI.
He continued: “I don’t want that (the same starting XI) anyway. We need to try and get our performances collectively with two players in each position.
“Sometimes there are players with still work to do to get the level we need. This is the process as well. Those players are working more individually.
“Now football is changing, it is not like 20 or 30 years ago. A lot of time we have to work individually with the players, through the video to try and then be together one day and being clinical in our work with them.
“We are trying to explain and show in 30 minutes a lot of things tactically so they can play and perform in each game like we want.”
