Press conference

Emery and Koscielny: press conference transcript

Unai Emery
Unai Emery

We rounded off our trip to Dubai with a 3-2 victory against Al-Nasr on Tuesday - and afterwards Unai Emery and Laurent Koscielny faced the media.

Our head coach and club captain discussed the performance, Mesut Ozil, the top-four race and more.

Read the full transcript below: 

Emery on the performance…

My objective with the players today in the first and second half was to get into their rhythm and continue with the work we’ve been doing recently. I think we did that.

 

Emery on how it compares to playing in London…

For us, we came here because firstly we have a big responsibility with our sponsors Emirates. We wanted to be here with a different weather, a different temperature. That’s good and we also trained with good facilities. We discovered all the things that we wanted to here, and we also played a good match with our supporters here. We have a lot of supporters here in Dubai and we also brought a lot over. It’s very, very positive.

 

Emery on Mesut Ozil…

Our first objective was to prepare for our next match against Newcastle and for the other Premier League and Europa League matches coming. They’re all very important for us. Every player is an important player. Some players are away with their national teams, others are here, and we have also had two weeks without a match so it’s important to keep moving forward in our training and in our matches. Every player is different but they all have lots of responsibility and they all work very well.

 

Emery on the top-four race…

It’s our objective but we know that we have to wait. We are working and being competitive each match. Now, in these next eight matches, we need to play with a lot of personality like we did against Manchester United. We know it’s going to be difficult because we are surrounded by other big teams but I think we are working very well and we are taking confidence to have chances in the last matches. Each match is our next objective and we think game by game. The next game is at home with our supporters against Newcastle, so it’s up to us to enjoy each match with the possibility of finding the three points. Afterwards, the second way of [qualifying for the Champions League] is through the Europa League. We can play for one title and then also to take another way to reach the Champions League. We are in a good moment in good confidence, and also in a good moment physically.

Koscielny on the trip...

We had a very good welcome when we arrived in Dubai. The people were very kind, so I think all the players and staff, we enjoyed our training camp here during the five days. We hope as well to come back next season! This stadium is a nice stadium, with a good pitch and for football players the most important thing is to have a good quality pitch. They have, so they have everything to play well in this stadium.

Koscielny on Al-Nasr’s performance…

They played very well in the first half with calm, with focus and after you know in football you need to work, work, work and if you do this you will play better and take all the confidence you need on the pitch for yourself. You will also have confidence as a team, and in the first half they played very well together, with good movement, so keep going, keep working and the results will come.

Emery on what this trip will do for the team…

We are going step by step and also for us it is getting better. The adaptation for us first and for all the players in their work is getting better and we are keeping confidence. The players are also showing they wish to do something important this year. The key is now, this break is key for the next month and we are focused for this last month.