With Paris Saint-Germain in third place in Ligue 1 and having failed to win their Champions League group, not everything has been going Unai Emery's way since he left Sevilla to take over at the Parc des Princes.
In an exclusive interview, the Basque coach discusses his first few months in the French capital, his hopes for the rest of the season and the blockbuster Champions League last 16 tie against Barcelona.

What stage do you find yourself in at PSG?

"I am excited, motivated and very pro-active. We have had a good first half of the season, with expectations of continual improvement and we need some more time. In the Champions League we put together a good group stage performance.

"We played well against Arsenal, even if in the end the home draw hurt us and left us in second place. In the league we are currently in third place, with the clear objective of winning the title. The team was superior to its rivals last season, but this year it is more even and we aren't so superior, which takes time to get used to.

"Yet I am optimistic and the club is also optimistic because they are confident and expect improvement."

Was the PSG job something you couldn't turn down?

"As a coach I have grown by taking on challenges at Lorca, Almeria, Valencia, Spartak Moscow and Sevilla. They have been difficult challenges, but ones which have helped me get better when I've overcome them. PSG represented an opportunity to advance.

"I had to take on challenges of a new language, new culture, higher demands and a new dressing room, but that's what growing is all about. It was a challenge I had to take on."

Did you expect the demands to be so great?

"Yes, that was the challenge. The first question I asked the president Nasser Al-Khelaifi was "what are you looking for in me?" and here we are."

Is a club like PSG only great if it wins the Champions League?

"It is a relatively young club, with new shareholders, although it has a lot of history and is the most important club in France. They are developing an extra dimension to the club. The president and the sporting directors are my age and want to improve and to do it with a coach who is also improving, who is young and who has already achieved some level of success."

From afar, there is a feeling that the club is urgently trying to win the Champions League.

"You don't win anything in September or in December, but you develop from there and we are in that process. The club wants to consolidate itself as a winning team in France and to take that success into continental competition, like the Champions League. PSG wants to go down this path, but time and progress will achieve it."

Is it accurate to say that PSG's style of play has changed with your arrival from a possession-based approach to a more vertical and direct one?

"There is continuity in the style of play, while we're working to improve some details. We are enhancing the continual progression in these players' capacity and quality. This is a team with a lot of positional play when it comes to possession, which is one if its strengths.

"We want to add the ability to look towards goal more often and to be become more offensively efficient. We also want to improve in defence. We know we have 60 to 70 percent of the ball in most matches, but we also know that in matches against strong rivals that will fall to 50 percent, for example against Barcelona.

"So we also need to improve the way we defend without the ball."

As a perfectionist, is the work the same now that you're in a dressing room with so many star names?

"I have already experienced world-class players at clubs like Valencia - David Villa, David Silva, Carlos Marchena - and Sevilla - Alvaro Negredo, Jesus Navas and Ivan Rakitic. When you arrive at a club the first thing you must do is meet the people and connect with the group of 25 humans.

"Afterwards you get to know them as footballers. Each player is unique, with their own culture and origins, and people are the same whether in the Segunda B or in PSG, with the differences coming in their footballing qualities. Here you come across winning footballers and you need to encourage them to stay hungry for success."

After six months in charge at PSG, have the players got used to you or are they still trying to suss you out?

"I learned at Lorca in the Segunda B that players are continually judging the coach's decisions, so that's nothing new. One of the pleasant surprises I've found is that footballers want to listen, learn and take in ideas. They want to be persuaded and they want to win. They understand that it is difficult, but they are committed. This is an incredibly committed dressing room and that gives me confidence."

Last season with Laurent Blanc the team won the league, the cup and the league cup. What are your objectives?

"We want to continue the growth of the club. The club has done great work and wants to keep progressing, with the expectation of winning more titles, becoming the main club in France and going on to become better known worldwide through the securing of titles. They want the team to excite, to transmit good values and to identify with the fanbase."

Is it unfair to think PSG is obligated to win the league given that it is France's richest club?

"The nice thing about the French league is coming across rivals who add difficulty, as that makes you better. If you win the league with a big points difference then the title can lose its value. Right now the level of Nice, Monaco and other teams like Marseille and Lyon makes Ligue 1 better. I want to be part of an open and competitive league, one in which the difficulty helps you win and one which also gains attention outside of France. That is good for the competition and for us."

Is Nice's position at the top down to what they've done or down to what PSG has not done?

"The reason is that the French league has a high level and Nice is a good team, one which is doing a good job with players such as [Mario] Balotelli. Then there is Monaco, which has become an important team with [Leonardo] Jardim's work and by deciding how they want to play with world-class players such as [Radamel] Falcao and [Joao] Moutinho. That is why it is a difficult objective to win the French league.

With [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic leaving, [Edinson] Cavani has taken over the goalscoring role with 19 Ligue 1 goals and six Champions League goals. Are you satisfied with his performances?

"Cavani has the challenge of becoming the offensive focal point of the team and he is achieving it. His work for the team is really good."

Will we see in the second half of the season the true level of [Angel] Di Maria, which he hasn't shown since he left Real Madrid?

"When a star player like Ibrahimovic leaves, the responsibility that other top players like Di Maria take on puts them even more in the fans' minds. He is a very experienced player and a very important one, whose performance has been good, while we all think and hope he'll get even better. I'm sure that will happen in the second half of the season."

What is Jese's current situation in PSG?

"Jese needs to play. When he has played I have been pleased because he has worked well and is involved with the team. Yet it is difficult for him to get the continual playing time that gives him confidence. So we have spoken about, and we will analyse after the break, the possibilities that are best for the team and best for him, keeping in mind what will help him meet his expectations as a footballer."

What can new signing [Julian] Draxler add to PSG?

"We have signed a young player who will give us directness and that final pass in the attacking phase, as well the ability to get closer to goal."

You have been speaking about challenges and the Champions League knockout tie is far from a small one, no?

"The Champions League is an international tournament in which PSG wants to strengthen, wants to become a candidate to win it and wants to use the tournament's magnitude to make PSG greater. Against Barcelona we have a challenge and a great opportunity to be able to take the next step. There is excitement, motivation and expectation."