Budgets, Barkley and Tottenham’s most important transfer – every word from Aston Villa’s Unai Emery

Unai Emery sat down with the media at Bodymoor Heath ahead of Aston Villa's Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday (2pm kick-off).

Villa will be looking to return to winning ways against Spurs after drawing to Bournemouth last weekend and then being dumped out of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday. Here is every word Emery said in his post-match press conference...

Before the press conference got underway, Emery said a few words about the tragic flash flooding which has taken more than 200 lives in Valencia in recent days.

"I want to send my condolences. We had a tragedy in Valencia. I am very sad and all of my condolences to the people affected. To the families of victims and hopefully we can recover quickly what happened there."

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What do you make of United’s appointment of Amorim?

"Firstly, when I arrived here my first message to the players was that I was sad, because when a coach gets sacked it’s not good. It is the same at United with Ten Hag. It is not good news but it is football. We have to accept as coaches when things happen like that.

"I know something about Ruben Amorim because we played sometimes. He has done great work in Portugal with Sporting and if United decided to appoint him, it is because he deserves it."

It’s a big week ahead of Villa. What are your thoughts on squad rotation?

"With my experiences, when I am thinking for the next match … I am wrong. Now my focus with these experiences too, is to only prepare the next match, only thinking 100 per cent on it. I am planning for some weeks when they are coming [matches], or even months.

"But I wanted to learn with my experiences and thought is always to be focused for the next match. It is not about rotation, or which players are better to play for the match we are going to play against Tottenham. Even playing a match like we will play, we have one more training session left and an injury can happen or if a player is sick. For me, the focus has to be on Tottenham."

The last time you played Spurs your side lost 4-0. Does that still hurt personally?

"We are respecting the past we did, playing at home and away against Tottenham. Every match we play we try to identify and correct mistakes in our process. Now I am analysing how we are now and how are they with the players they have and in the new season we are doing.

"Tottenham is playing very well and they deserved more points than they have now. They beat Manchester City at home, playing with lots of players who will play on Sunday. Their style and idea is so, so strong. They have individually brilliant players. They signed Solanke and he is giving them a lot more ways to attack and be stronger than last year.

"They are the favourites in front of us for the season and for the match on Sunday. We are competing and we are really being confident, how we are doing our way. We even lost last year against them. We are trying to use a stronger structure to face them on Sunday. We are very excited and motivated, our fans, myself, the coaches, players and the club how we are increasing our level to be contenders with Tottenham, City, Chelsea and Newcastle. Competing with them to be in the top seven, top six or top five."

Are Tottenham your main rivals for a Champions League spot?

"They are favourites. We have some advantage in the table, but that can be different after Sunday. Hopefully we can keep our competitive way we are doing. Of course, we have to adapt to them. They are going to impose themselves on us in 90 minutes and we have to stop them and try to dominate them in our idea and set-pieces.

"They are favourites with Chelsea, Manchester United, with Newcastle, and of course, Arsenal are getting better, Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool. Hopefully we can keep it [top four] for a long time."

It’s two years to the day since you started working at Villa. Do you feel more pressure now because you are competing towards the top of the league?

"I am feeling us increase our standards like something being demanding and something we want. We are trying as well to get these demands being comfortable, feeling in a good position when we are keeping this level in the table through the Premier League or the Champions League. It is really fantastic to try and feel it in our demands, which are increasing.

"I never feel it negatively, like pressure, damaging us. We want to feel something like it is comfortable, really happy and keeping the same level in our demands, more and more trying to get even better."

What is the team news?

"We trained today with some players only, other players were resting. Today was good. Tomorrow morning we will train again and hopefully we will have available the players who were on Wednesday. We have only one injured player, Ross Barkley has a small injury and won’t be available for the next two weeks. Everyone else, I think they are available and they are completely 100 per cent ready for Sunday."

You’ve finished above Spurs twice in the last two seasons - why is it that they are more likely to finish above you this season?

"Because in the beginning, how we can do a list with the teams in front of us with the [transfer] budget. At the beginning. Of course, the budget is not enough to be favourite, but the difference between them and us is still being a big gap. Of course, we are not thinking of it but I have to tell everyone that there are other teams in front of us at the beginning.

"But we are competing and progressively getting better, keeping the same level we are trying to set as a target. The players, the club each day we are sending the same message inside. To keep it, it is really the greatest challenge we have in the Premier League playing against those teams."

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