Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has singled out goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez for praise this week, revealing that he’s perhaps the best he’s worked with.
The 31-year-old has firmly established himself as one of the best in the world with his form for club and country over the past couple of years in particular, and he has become a leading figure at Villa in our ongoing progression.
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Such are his high standards, he’ll be disappointed with the number of goals that he has conceded so far this season having allowed 12 in seven appearances, but he’s also kept three clean sheets and produced multiple saves that have proven to be decisive.
With his goalkeeping qualities combined with his leadership, organisation of the backline and his distribution, Martinez is a fundamental part of what Emery is building at Villa, and he has praised the Argentine World Cup winner this week for the impact that he continues to make in the side.
“I’ve had very good goalkeepers, but really, I think with Emiliano Martinez, I think it’s the best moment I can feel,” he is quoted as saying by BirminghamLive. “He is a goalkeeper adapting to each tactic we are trying to build. He is being very, very focused trying to defend our back four. He is doing very well.
“Sometimes we needed him to save us and he did it, still being important building our idea and style, trying to be comfortable in the way we are trying to play. He is very important for us because like I told you I think it’s very difficult to find a goalkeeper like him.”
An ongoing concern for many Villa fans is the drop off from Martinez to Robin Olsen when Emery decides to rotate and rest his first-choice ‘keeper, with the Swede struggling again to entirely convince in midweek in our defeat to Everton in the Carabao Cup.
While he made a string of key saves to keep us in the contest, his ability in possession has come under fire again given his involvement in the build-up to the first goal for the Toffees, and that makes Martinez’s adaptability and quality even more impressive, as he initially struggled in that area too.
However, he’s come through that and continues to show his class, and he’ll hopefully have less to do moving forward if we can build a strong defensive base on a consistent basis, but he’ll no doubt be ready to step up when needed too.
