Fulham coach Marco Silva praised the impact made by Unai Emery since taking over at Aston Villa. Since his arrival, Villa have won 12 of their 19 Premier League matches, propelling themselves into European contention. It’s a stark contrast to the side that were comfortably beaten 3-0 at Craven Cottage back in October, in what proved to be Steven Gerrard’s final game in charge.
Marco Silva said: “They showed a reaction straightaway after that match. Of course, Unai is doing a very good job. He is a great manager, I think he’s not surprised anyone. They are a really well managed team, and with quality. Everyone knew when the season started, the quality they have, what they want to fight for. You could feel during the summer with the type of players they signed as well, what they really wanted to fight for. They did not have a good spell in the beginning of the season, and after came the reaction. Very good players, as I said before, and very well managed by Unai. They are playing a different system and you can feel that they are much more confident right now. I think the results help them to be much more confident, some players are in a very good moment of form, clearly. The striker [Ollie] Watkins is a very good example, but not just him, I think I will be unfair if I just mentioned one player because collectively they are in a very good moment. They are strong, playing at home you know the type of atmosphere we are going to face at Villa Park, but it will be a good game for us as well because we will be able to challenge, and we like this type of challenge.”
Asked if the tactical plan from the last time we met goes out the window due to Villa’s new style, Silva was adamant that we will not stray from the philosophy that has served us so well this season.
Marco Silva said: “No, it will not be out of the window, because we have an idea and we are not going to change anything from our idea because we are going to face Villa, or a different Villa. That’s not the way we approach the games. The Fulham you saw that evening, without some players that are important for us, the idea was there and will not change. Of course, as Villa will adjust some things because they are going to play against us, we are going to adjust some things because we are going to play against Villa. We analyse them, we know they play slightly different, always the two strikers, the two wingers really inside as well. Not wingers really, the wide midfielders they play inside, and they do it well, that square in the centre of the pitch. These are the things that we have to adjust. About our idea that we saw that evening, we will not change anything because we are always trusting in our process, and it’s part of our process to keep improving on some of the things. We’ll be the same Fulham, trying to play in the same way, of course facing a different Villa because they are in a different moment. They are probably in the best moment of their season, and of course we have to adjust some things.”
