Pau Torres

Aston Villa’s Pau Torres says Unai Emery gets irate when his players don’t follow his instructions. 

The Spain international arrived at Villa Park from Villarreal in July 2023. This move took place several months after the manager left the La Liga side for Aston Villa in November 2022.

Torres played under Emery at Villarreal and was a key part of their Europa League winning squad during the 2020/21 season.

The defender has been in and out of the coach’s starting lineup in recent months, limiting his minutes in the league.

His Premier League stats for this season are as follows:

  • Appearances: 17
  • Starts: 15
  • Total minutes: 1,389
  • Interceptions: 0.6
  • Tackles: 1.1
  • Clearances: 3.2
  • Ball recovered: 4.2

The former Arsenal coach had a big influence in his decision to join the English club.

If there’s one Aston Villa player who knows the manager very well, it’s the centre-back. He played 382 matches so far in his career and majority of them [205] were under Emery.

Aston Villa’s chasing big goals

Marca had a detailed interview with Pau Torres and were curious to know what frustrates Unai Emery the most.

He said: “Ultimately, regarding the team, it’s when the game plan doesn’t work out as he intended or when the team doesn’t follow his instructions. That’s what bothers him the most.

“In the end, if the team shows the right attitude and tries to play the way we want, he knows we might win, lose, or draw, but we always have to give it our all.”

Aston Villa are now fourth in the table, a point behind third place Manchester United and five ahead of fifth placed Liverpool.

They can also secure a berth in the Champions League by winning the Europa League this season. The Villans first have to overcome Bologna to progress to the semi-final, and Torres says winning this competition is their objective.

He mentions this when Marca asks what will happen if Aston Villa were to win a trophy.

“Ultimately, it’s clear that, as a goal for the club to achieve stability, qualifying for Europe is the best thing that could happen. The only thing that people will truly remember is if we win a title,” Torres explained.

“This year [season] we have the opportunity; we’re in the Europa League quarterfinal, a competition we really enjoy. As you mentioned, last year we reached the FA Cup semifinal and also the Conference semifinal. We’re right there, on the verge of a final, and hopefully this year we can make it happen.”

Aston Villa remains fixtures this season

  • v Bologna [away] on April 9th
  • v Nottingham Forest [away] on April 12th
  • v Bologna [home] on April 17th
  • v Sunderland [home] on April 19th
  • v Fulham [away] on April 25th
  • v Tottenham Hotspur [home] on May 2nd
  • v Burnley [away] TBD
  • v Liverpool [home] TBD
  • v Manchester City [away] TBD

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