Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday and news conference bits

In the past we were the side you wanted to play when things were not going as you’d have liked. We were the side to play when you needed a win, or that’s how it felt.

And we’ve never liked going to Old Trafford. Had I not added the head to head section on the site I’d not have been able to recall the last time we won at Old Trafford, but we do and you can see it here too.

And when you see the head to head graphic, if you wanted to describe Old Trafford as our bogey destination, I don’t think many would disagree. Not even Unai Emery has won there as Aston Villa manager.

The thing is and this is Manchester United at the moment, they just had a victory. They’re not looking to play a side for a win, they just did. And Manchester United today are not the Manchester United of 15 years or 20 years ago.

I shouldn’t write too much because I’ll get into trouble, but Manchester United could find themselves bottom of the table by close of business tomorrow if they lose against us and the three sides below them get a result. They could actually start tomorrow in the bottom three.

This isn’t the Manchester United of old and they’re probably still celebrating the win from last time out and Michael Carrick knows he’s getting sacked soon and so do all the players.

And until they sack the manager and they get another new manager in to give them a bounce, they’re going to be inconsistent. And that’s the Manchester United way, while they have people like Jason Wilcox making decisions the manager should be making.

I think I might have written too much but that’s just the way it is and everyone in football can see it. Ironically, they need to give a manager like Michael Carrick a proper chance, but they won’t and Eddie Howe isn’t the right choice or first choice to replace him, but that’s where they’ll end up and you only need to look at Newcastle to see what Manchester United are going to get with that decision.

I did write too much, but there you have it. It doesn’t mean tomorrow is going to be easy, Old Trafford is our bogey destination after all. But we do have a good chance and with Unai Emery as your manager, all supporters can feel optimistic about the future.

News conference bits from the BBC

• On the latest team news, Emery said Aaron Wan-Bissaka is “close” but they will have to review his fitness in training on Saturday.

• He added that Matteo Ruggeri is working alone but progressing well and all players other than Amadou Onana and the suspended Matty Cash are available.

• Reflecting on mistakes made in the defeat by Barcelona in midweek, he said: “We are making a lot of mistakes, not only in build-up. We have one opportunity, one chance to score and we are not scoring, it is the same mistake for me. And how we are trying to build our structure, the first objective is to feel comfortable doing everything in the pitch, so some mistakes are part of our process, our football, our idea.”

• On his ambitions for the future at the club: “My ambition is to keep the consistency and how we are improving, how we are building a lot of things positively. We are strong, being strong, keeping consistency in our process, so it’s a huge challenge but the club is involved in it.”

• He added that he had a “very good” and “very positive” meeting with Chairman Nassef Sawiris and he hopes they will be able to discuss a new deal next week.

• On how difficult Villa find it to travel to Old Trafford, Emery explained: “It’s Manchester United and we have very clear examples. We didn’t win one match there in the four years I am here. Travelling to Manchester to play against them, we have lost even in the first match we played in the Carabao Cup, we lost 3-2 four years ago, so it means for us it’s very difficult.”

• He also praised their opponents this weekend, stating: “Manchester United is a fantastic club. They are performing very good. Last year achieving to play Champions League. This year in the Champions League playing well. In the league they started a little bit not consistent but should recover in their consistency in the Premier League, hopefully not on Sunday against us. It’s a very, very difficult match.”