Emi Martinez

[Risso]

Now would be a good time to look at certain players' contracts and make sure there are no buy out clauses in them.

[Chris Harte]

Just read that Emi has been nominated for the Yashin Prize by France Football. I initially thought that'd put him in an exclusive club but it turns out he's one of ten nominees.

[Brazilian Villain]

Saw that on Twitter and well done to Emi.

As an aside when Chris Hollins was on 'Celebrity Eggheads' he was asked "In what position did Lev Yashin play?" 3 options as per usual e.g. a) Midfielder b) Defender c) Goalkeeper. He didn't know and guessed incorrectly which I found pretty astounding for a BBC sports presenter especially given his father and uncle both played international football.

[algy]

Cracking article in the DT about Emi’s penalty technique
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/10/01/trash-talk-stalling-tactics-emi-martinez-became-penalty-takers/

Any paste of this?

Trash talk and stalling tactics: How Emi Martinez became a penalty-taker's worst nightmare
Aston Villa's goalkeeper is a master of mind games, with his approach described as 'Machiavellian' by an expert penalty analyst

By Mike McGrath
1 October 2021 • 12:28pm

Emiliano Martinez has been branded the 'Machiavelli' of goalkeepers when it comes to facing penalties - and there is little doubt he would take that as a compliment.

His extreme ploys to distract shooters include trash talk, delaying going back to his line and visual distractions, and the results have been spectacular.

Most recently, it was Bruno Fernandes whose brain was scrambled by Martinez's antics. The Argentine walked up to Bruno before United's injury-time penalty but refused to engage directly with him, instead pointing over his shoulder at Cristiano Ronaldo, telling him that, as United's star player, he should be the one taking spot-kicks. Bruno duly blazed over the crossbar, Martinez danced a jig of delight in front of the Stretford End and Villa won 1-0, maintaining their impressive start to the new season. 

But that merely confirmed Martinez as the master of mind games when it comes to facing penalties: in the summer he got under the skin of Colombia players in the Copa America semi-final, helping Argentina win 3-2.

Geir Jordet, professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, has studied penalties for two decades and has never seen a case like Martinez.

“In the summer I saw Copa America goalkeepers were a bit more active than their colleagues in Europe. Martinez in particular, the way he handled those Colombia players in the semi-finals really got to me,” Jordet told Telegraph Sport. “It was the most extreme I have seen, accentuated by the empty stadium so you could hear the exchange between Martinez and the shooters. The penalty takers started talking to the goalkeeper. Then you know you are onto something. As a goalkeeper, you’ve already won if that happens.

“The translation of what he said came out, so you think ‘wow, this guy’s for real’. Then I saw the spectacle against United and I was mesmerised by this new way of doing it. He took it to the next level. It was such a cunning ploy. I call it Machiavellian. He doesn’t address Fernandes but all he is doing is communicating to him through talking to Ronaldo. It is so clever, yet so brutal and raw.”

Martinez was the penalty shoot-out hero for Argentina in the Copa America semis when he saved three penalties and sledged his opponents to distraction. His exchanges were translated and ranged from the gentle ribbing of "you look nervous, you are laughing but you are nervous”, to the less-subtle “I’m going to eat you”.

Jordet has studied penalties forensically, with his work highlighted by Dan Ashworth when he was at the Football Association helping to turn England into World Cup semi-finalists. Ashworth used data on the time penalty-takers took, which showed that those who rushed spot-kicks were more likely to miss.

On the role of the goalkeepers, Jordet lists five key aspects used to put off a taker. Bruce Grobbelaar used spaghetti legs as a visual distraction, while other tactics include physical or verbal confrontation, delaying or “social manipulation”, which Martinez used against United. In fact, he used all five weapons in the goalkeepers’ arsenal to get into the mind of Bruno.

Jordet says much of this is down to character. Tim Krul is a penalty expert who has his own way of putting off his opponent, while fellow Dutchman Edwin van der Sar was never flustered or angry yet managed to manipulate the situation with his delaying tactics.

“Edwin van der Sar was one of the fascinating studies. He is a different type of person to Martinez but found his own way by simply taking time to get in goal. There was no trash talk but he forced the taker to wait and marinate in his own anxiety. It was 1-0 to Van der Sar,” said Jordet. “Martinez put it all together. All those five strategies outlined, he used every one of them to perfection. It is fascinating and a little bit scary.”

Jordet’s obsession with penalties will strike a chord with England fans after their heartache in major tournaments, which was added to this summer with defeat in the European Championships final when they took Italy to a shoot-out.

Ashworth highlighted the time it took to take a penalty but other aspects include whether the star player is taking it, the type of penalty taken, what is riding on the outcome or even whether the player turns his back on the keeper before his run-up.

“It comes from a Norwegian who has not been to the World Cup in 20 years,” Jordet joked. His data comes from every penalty shoot-out in the World Cup, Euros or Champions League since 1976. It shows that English keepers are not cut from the same cloth as Martinez in terms of putting off opponents.

“Joe Hart did some of these things unsuccessfully,” he said. “In 2012, at the Euros [where England also lost to Italy in a shoot-out] he would talk and be quite active. But historically, the big English national team goalkeepers were fairly well behaved. But it is complex. It is a matter of what you are comfortable with as a goalkeeper and what type of person you are. There are not many like Martinez who could get away with what he does, because it is so far away from who they are.”

Next up for Villa and Martinez are Tottenham on Saturday: Harry Kane, you have been warned.

[PaulWinch again]

Now would be a good time to look at certain players' contracts and make sure there are no buy out clauses in them.

Yep and be renegotiating with the likes of Emi, Doug, and Ollie.

[cdbearsfan]

Martinez would be the one that worried me. There are shitloads of good defenders and centre forwards out there, and none of ours are at the world class level yet. There aren't too many amazing goalkeepers, though. Could easily see, say, Real Madrid being interested (I haven't bothered to check who their goalkeeper is so this may be a rubbish theory, but if not them, someone of their ilk or maybe just someone with loads of money like PSG or Newcastle).

[PaulWinch again]

Yes agree on Emi he’s exceptional and to me the one world class player we have - hopefully we have a couple who might make it but Emi is there now.

[Risso]

Konsa is the next closest to that level I reckon. Bailey possibly, but we've only seen him for 10 minutes or whatever.

[cdbearsfan]

Clean sheet last night in a 0-0 draw in Paraguay.

[john e]

How long a contract did he sign and how much left

[cdbearsfan]

Four years, expires June 2024.

Transfermarkt.co.uk is your friend for these sort of enquiries.

[purpletrousers]

Thank you Algy for the paste.

The Athletic had another in depth article by their goalkeeping writer.

It’s exciting, impressive and a relief to have him. I was describing the Man U action to my Mrs (a convert from that particular dark side) and she asked is it allowed, my response was yes and no, given there are limits/boundaries he’s obviously pushing.

I have to say there is a small part of me that would rather not resort to trash talking, I guess somehow it being honourable not to need to resort to such stuff, another part of me amazed we have one the best keepers in the world and likely the most interesting personality,  of the nominees newest to being a first choice and with so so much more to show.

I liked the sound of his happiness and loyalty not long ago, certainly hope we can tie him down for longer.

[john e]

Four years, expires June 2024.

Transfermarkt.co.uk is your friend for these sort of enquiries.

Cheers

[Brazilian Villain]

Yes agree on Emi he’s exceptional and to me the one world class player we have - hopefully we have a couple who might make it but Emi is there now.

For me the most important signing since we came back up, not just for his ability as love his attitude.

[olaftab]

I love his ability as a dancer.