Villa meet Arsenal today as the form team of the Premier League. This despite a summer market limited by Profit & Sustainability rules.
“We set our standards high. Being demanding in our consistency. When we are winning, the next day we are looking at the next match,” Emery said of his team’s turnaround.
“The message is to focus hard. This is the only key in our process. But the response of the players, they are the protagonists.
“We are facing these challenges collectively as well as individually. They are showing it together with this commitment. These are the standards we are setting to be comfortable to compete – and we are getting better.
“The beginning of the season was different, I don’t want to speak about it too much. But I won’t forget about it, because we must remind ourselves about it – and why we were being so poor with our performances. It was clear though, the circumstances that we had.
“In the August transfer window, we were perhaps the most punished team. We couldn’t spend money until the last moment, to get some players in on loan. I was so disappointed in that moment, and we were frustrated.
“But when we got the moment when everyone was here – and we could say ‘this is our season’. And the only thing we have. The only responsibility we had. We spoke about consistency – and the response was now there is no doubt, everyone is in the same place.”