Aston Villa ace Emiliano Martinez has offered a frank assessment of our season so far, and insists that silverware is a major objective ahead of our FA Cup tie this week.
The 32-year-old joined us in 2020, and has since gone on to make 185 appearances for the club, playing an integral part in our progress and success during that time to go with his achievements at international level and the individual awards and accolades he has received over the past few years.
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Martinez is a fundamental figure in the side and continues to be decisive week in and week out, and although he isn’t content with how the first half of our campaign went, both on a personal level but also collectively, he has looked on the positive side while reiterating that the squad is naturally striving to be better and achieve more.
The Argentine shot-stopper has never been shy in publicly discussing his love for Villa and how much he appreciates how the club has helped him get to the position he’s in now, and he is far from done in terms of delivering for the supporters as he insists that he is eager to end our wait for a trophy.
“I think it’s been good [season so far], not like how I want it to be, but we knew playing in the Champions League and competing in the top four in the Premier League was going to be tough,” he told VillaTV. “We had to sell some players, bring new players in, needed time to adapt. We’re doing well, three points from Champions League [places] and in the top six in the Champions League, so we want more, but we’re doing ok.
“I want to win silverware for the club. I want to have a cup run, I was very frustrated when we got knocked out of the Carabao Cup, I think the fans deserve to be at Wembley, so that’s something’s that been missing for this club for so many years. We got Champions League after 42 years, but I won cups so I know that feeling for the fans and for myself, so that’s something that I really want for the club.
“It’s amazing [the progress at the club since he joined]. When I came here, we weren’t in the situation that we are in now. I feel proud to be part of this journey, the season before I arrived we finished 17th, then 11th, 14th, 6th, 4th, you can see the progress at this club, with the owners, with the manager that we’ve got, it’s a really good time to be a Villa fan.Â
“It’s special [the atmosphere at Villa Park]. At home we’re strong, we don’t lose many games, lift the crowd because we know how important they are for us. The loudest I heard was the last five minutes against Bayern Munich. It’s really good to see Villa Park on fire, it makes our stadium really special.”
It’s always wonderful to hear Martinez speak about Villa and the supporters, as he always comes across as genuine and desperate to not only achieve things on an individual level, but to also deliver for the club and fans as he’s now firmly established as a legend at Villa and wants to continue to make history with us.
He’s right in that our Carabao Cup exit was bitterly disappointing as that cut off a possible path to silverware this year, but with West Ham Utd visiting us in the FA Cup third round on Friday night, this will hopefully act as a rallying cry of sort to get the players ready for a big cup night as we look to advance and keep our hopes of winning a trophy alive this season.
Naturally, it’s a fine balancing act for Unai Emery as we look to compete on multiple fronts with achieving European football always a major objective, but Martinez says what a lot of Villa fans are thinking, and it’s hoped that we can improve on recent years in terms of making a run in the FA Cup and staying in the hunt for silverware.
