Emi Martinez

[brontebilly]

the best goalkeeper in the world?
No

Best keeper in PL for me. There's some very short memories on here. He made an unbelievable save at Soton only a few weeks ago that earned up two points.

[Villan82]

He's going to be off in the Summer I'm pretty sure but lets not look for angles to bash the manager when he does. This manager has got what it takes, he's going to get us back on the path towards being a stable, challenging club rather than the no mark easy 3 points we've been so often the past decade.

The negatives have been gunning for Emery for weeks. It's bonkers.

[pauliewalnuts]

the best goalkeeper in the world?
No

Did you see the other two contenders last night?

I said this last night on the other matches thread, but I can't believe how much love Alisson gets - he drops so many clangers.

[Behind Bluenose Lines]

I see sections of the media are selling him for us now: they can all fork off!

That 3rd goal last Saturday was bad luck, and I believe he wanted to help the rest of the team by forcing an equaliser and unfortunately for us, Arsenal got the ball back to score again. They've got previous, Emi & Unai, haven't they, and people are using that to stir it up.

If he does wants to go, just hope it's abroad, and not to anyone else here. I'm sick of us selling our best players!

Rant over.

[Rigadon]

Can't believe some of the talk on this forum sometimes.  We've got literally the best goalkeeper in the world, who's repeatedly said how much he loves the Villa, and people can't be rid of him quickly enough.

It's the defence mechanism I think. If ratboy can do it then I guess the view is anyone can.

There's something in that.  I know I feel differently about players being sold since Grealish, in that he was literally the least likely to leave based on a personal connection with the club (he clearly thinks he can make it all right again by rejoining when his legs have gone a bit), but still left.  I have no doubt Martinez will do the same, no doubt whatsoever, despite the fact he probably does like the club and feels a strong connection to it.

I'm not sure about 'best the world', but he is a good goalkeeper who'd be difficult to replace.  But perhaps not impossible in the way Grealish was. 

[Bent Neilsens Screamer]

Can't believe some of the talk on this forum sometimes.  We've got literally the best goalkeeper in the world, who's repeatedly said how much he loves the Villa, and people can't be rid of him quickly enough.

It's the defence mechanism I think. If ratboy can do it then I guess the view is anyone can.

There's something in that.  I know I feel differently about players being sold since Grealish, in that he was literally the least likely to leave based on a personal connection with the club (he clearly thinks he can make it all right again by rejoining when his legs have gone a bit), but still left.  I have no doubt Martinez will do the same, no doubt whatsoever, despite the fact he probably does like the club and feels a strong connection to it.

I'm not sure about 'best the world', but he is a good goalkeeper who'd be difficult to replace.  But perhaps not impossible in the way Grealish was.

Nail on the head for me and exactly the way I feel.

[Allan C]

I’m sick to death of reading people seemingly happy to sell our best players but then moan when we’re hovering around the relegation zone when we have a bang average squad going nowhere. Who exactly would we replace Martinez with??? He’s currently our only world class player so let’s sell him!!!! We should be building around him and showing our ambition to encourage him to stay.

[Bent Neilsens Screamer]

I see sections of the media are selling him for us now: they can all fork off!

If he does wants to go, just hope it's abroad, and not to anyone else here. I'm sick of us selling our best players!

I hope if it does happen it’s abroad as well but money could be a problem. A Villa podcast thought Chelsea and I could see that, we’d likely get the biggest fee possible the way that their throwing it around like confetti.

[Goldenballs]

He's our best player, I'd be fuming if we sell him. Keepers as good as him don't grow on trees, we'd end up with someone worse at actually keeping the ball out the net, but can kick it a bit better.

I actually don't think he's bad with the ball at his feet. He's no Ederson, but nobody else is. I'm sure he's set up a few goals with some cracking long balls or quick throws.

[OCD]

Not sure what's happened to Mendy at Chelsea. He had been one of the best keepers in the league.

[Mister E]

But Martinez has become a tactical problem with not releasing the ball quickly ... we should be playing quickly through the lines at every opportunity ... Martinez starting position behind a high defensive line needs to be at the edge of our box.

These are all good points, variously made in other posts but summarised well here.

[chrisw1]

I see sections of the media are selling him for us now: they can all fork off!

If he does wants to go, just hope it's abroad, and not to anyone else here. I'm sick of us selling our best players!

I hope if it does happen it’s abroad as well but money could be a problem. A Villa podcast thought Chelsea and I could see that, we’d likely get the biggest fee possible the way that their throwing it around like confetti.

Chelsea are well stocked with keepers.  You'd think Man U or Spurs would be the most likely candidates in the PL.

Personally I don't think we should consider selling him unless his relationship with Emery becomes untenable.  The net profit after we've replaced him won't be that much and I just can't see how FFP can be a problem given our net spend over the last two seasons is about £48m (according to Transfermarkt)

[chrisw1]

But Martinez has become a tactical problem with not releasing the ball quickly ... we should be playing quickly through the lines at every opportunity ... Martinez starting position behind a high defensive line needs to be at the edge of our box.

He's more than capable of this.  Look at his performance against Southampton
https://twitter.com/KeslerSZN/status/1628065582032596992?s=20

[Risso]

Like the rest of the team, he’s had a bad few weeks. But he’s one of a very select few who are good enough for where we want to get to. Put him behind better players than Mings and Konsa and we’ll see his true worth. He needs to cut out time wasting when we’re not winning though, god knows what that shit is about.

[KevinGage]

I’m sick to death of reading people seemingly happy to sell our best players but then moan when we’re hovering around the relegation zone when we have a bang average squad going nowhere. Who exactly would we replace Martinez with??? He’s currently our only world class player so let’s sell him!!!! We should be building around him and showing our ambition to encourage him to stay.

The preferred option is he stays, ofc.

But sometimes a player's own development outstrips that of the club. It's happened with Platt, Yorke, Barry and Grealish in my lifetime. Older fans will recalll Blanchflower and Gerry Hitchens.

Barry and Grealish stung in particular because, as a club, it felt we were on the right path at that time and they could achieve what they wanted with us.

In the case of Martinez, even the most optimistic Villa fan probably didn't think a long-time Arsenal reserve would go on to be spoken about as one of the world's best when he joined in 2020. The feeling in some circles at the time was we had overpaid, and with Heaton due to return from injury, it wasn't a position we needed to fill desperately.

The issue is, do we avoid deals like that and the Kamara one in the future - fully aware that such players will be away if we don't progress sufficiently?  Or do we step up the succession planning and invest the proceeds from any sale in suitable replacements? That last part we've usually struggled with.