Most Aston Villa fans quietly assumed that we might have picked up a bit of a gem in the shape of goalkeeper Emi Martinez, simply given the anger and dismay we saw from their fans when it was announced he would be departing Arsenal for a new adventure with us.
It didn’t take the 28-year-old Argentine stopper long to prove that he had been a snip of a signing at the reported £16m rising to £20m price range.
It was brave of Martinez to do this interview ahead of such a big game for him personally.
But never doubt him! Two great saves and another clean sheet backs up what we all know. He's a top keeper.
His season in his own words so far: #AVFC #AFChttps://t.co/JwFMnoUOzU
— Gregg Evans (@greggevans40) February 6, 2021
Everyone has probably got their own favourite performance from Emi so far, but the facts are he has kept eleven clean sheets in 21 Premier League matches so far in 2020/21 and he’s got to be a hot favourite to claim this season’s Golden Glove award.
Is Martinez Your Signing Of The Season?
Yes
No
The West Ham United match isn’t an aberration when you look at the squad and consider other games, but for Emi it definitely was as you can make a good argument that he should’ve stopped all three of their goals that day.
Vital Villa’s Emi Martinez Forum Thread
That’s a sentiment he clearly shares as ahead of the Arsenal game on Saturday, he sat down to speak with The Athletic and the topic of West Ham came up.
“I conceded three goals from the angles that I never concede from. So (Friday) I faced 20 shots from those angles and nobody beat me. I want to improve and if I concede goals in a game then I can do something better to stop them.”
It should be noted that I believe this was an extra session where he asked for help from a couple of members of the squad, and they were happy to oblige. It again just shows the kind of spirit we now really do seem to have within the club.
The whole piece is a great read and Emi really comes across as humble, genuine but massively motivated and driven, but that bit about the extra training stood out – particularly as so many of us had pointed out on the Forum that he was too good to be letting three passed him like that.
Perfectly timed as well, as his performance against Arsenal was spot on.
🧤⛔️💪🏼🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/0Hf4iLf1hX
— Emi Martínez (@emimartinezz1) February 6, 2021
Previous Article:
