“LET’S GO! Seven finals left; come on, let’s go,” was the rallying post-match tunnel cry from Emiliano Martinez as Villa secured their 7th win in 8 games against Newcastle United at Villa Park.
It was a snapshot of the team’s current mentality, led by the FIFA World Cup winner, whose personal rich vein of form has gone under the radar given the effort the whole squad has contributed during this amazing run.
“I’m the first one that can’t sleep. I look at myself and think ‘oh my god, 11 goals in three games” “But I never see the small picture, I always see the big picture. Since Unai came in, we’ve been solid defensively and not conceding many goals.
Martinez speaking after Villa’s run of three straight defeats to Manchester City, Leicester City and a humbling against Arsenal.
The ‘big picture’ vision, despite the three defeats, was that Villa were on the right track. The players had faith in the philosophy Emery was and is implementing, and although not felt at the time, these defeats, and in particularly the Arsenal game, where Emery was openly critical of his side’s performance – “I’m very disappointed, very frustrated, and embarrassed”; “we didn’t keep going in our game plan to try to control the game with ball possession,” – were a very good learning curve for Villa.
Martinez suffered a frustrating conclusion to that game. Jorginho’s late effort cannoned back off the crossbar, only to hit the head of Martinez and go in, and in a desperate attempt to make amends the keeper went up – without permission – for a corner, which resulted with Martinelli able to roll the ball into an empty net after a breakaway.
But Martinez is a ‘mentality monster’, driven in his quest to achieve his goals; his personality is infectious, and under the guidance of Unai Emery, it feels like it has spread throughout the squad. We’ve bounced back in fine style.
The FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year winner has now kept 6 clean sheets in his last 8 Premier League games, only conceding to a Saïd Benrahma penalty away at West Ham and a wonder strike from Leicester City forward Harvey Barnes (who always scores against the Villa).
In those last eight games,Emi Martinez has faced 30 shots on target, saving 28 of them. He recorded a 8.9 SofaScore rating for his performance in the 2-0 win against Chelsea.
Against Bournemouth Martínez wrote his name into the Aston Villa history books; his clean sheet was his 33rd to break the record for the most clean sheets after 100 games.
And during the unbeaten run, Martinez returned to Argentina for the first time since winning the World Cup and was greeted to an emotionally charged homecoming at a sold-out El Monumental in Buenos Aires in a friendly win over Panama. Martinez kept two clean sheets, as the 7-0 thrashing of Curaçao followed the 2-0 triumph over Panama.
Wins against Chelsea, Leicester City, Forest and Newcastle followed the international break with Martinez earning his 36th Premier League clean sheet against Newcastle, moving one ahead of Brad Friedel (35) into third all time in the competition for the club.
And although most fans were disappointed that goalkeeper coach and close friend of Martinez, Neil Cutler, was replaced by Javi García when Unai Emery took over, we’ve begun to notice subtle changes to Emiliano’s game.
As with Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings, Martinez’s confidence to start building attacks from defence has been noticeable with his distribution of short and medium passes; against Nottingham Forest. Martinez made 8 short and 31 medium passes at a 100% success rate, while only attempting 7 long passes, of which 3 were completed.
Against Newcastle, his improved speed of sweeping, awareness, and positioning were highlighted; he rushed out effectively to thwart a Newcastle attack while always remaining alert when called into action.
It’s been an incredible run, and with a new target, if there is one man you want in that dressing room who is in-form and focused, then it’s Emiliano Martinez. Seven Cup Finals, Let’s Go!
Enjoying this article? It’s FREE to subscribe to our profit-free site UTVPODCAST | The Website; you’ll receive instant email notifications of all released articles.
CONTRIBUTE TO UTVPODCAST | THE WEBSITE
Our profit-free site: UTVPODCAST | The Website is now accepting small donations, which will help to support the site’s ongoing evolution and running cost.
UTVPODCAST is pleased to partner with Official AVFC Store, Fanatics, and Kitbag. Throughout the season, we will bring you exclusive offers and discount codes.
