Dean Smith has praised Emiliano Martinez and the role he plays as a sweeper keeper for Unai Emery’s Aston Villa.
Following Aston Villa’s 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, the club’s promotion-winning boss was looking back at the game and the role of Emiliano Martinez.
Given the high line Unai Emery deploys, it required the World Cup-winning shot-stopper to race off his line and clean things up like Manuel Neuer in his prime.
Well, the stats suggest that Emiliano Martinez, since Unai Emery took charge, is not just the best at it in the Premier League, but the whole of Europe.
Dean Smith stated that it’s ‘surprising’ that the gap between Emiliano Martinez, who has swept the ball up 52 times, is big compared to Liverpool’s number one Alisson Becker (32), as he told Premier League Productions (27/11/23 at 10:45 pm).
The Brazil international is level with Newcastle United’s Nick Pope and Tottenham’s summer signing, Guglielmo Vicario, who joined from Empoli, is also on the list (26).
Sweeper keeper Emiliano Martinez
“He has got trust in his backline as a manager,” said Smith.
On whether Martinez being a sweeper keeper was in his mind when he signed him: “The fact that he can be a good sweeper keeper. But he also makes big saves as well.
“Villa have conceded some big chances away from home, some one-v-ones. And he is very, very good at it.
“But he also has a really good feel for the game. That ball in those (channels), he knows he is going to get to it first and he can just mop it up. It’s great as a defender to know that you have a goalkeeper who is going to do that. He picks his time. He isn’t doing it all the time. He just knows when the danger is.
“20 sweepings there (in comparison to the next player), which just goes to show the positions he gets into to be able to do that. We know Villa are going to keep a high line, so he is going to have to do that. What is surprising is the difference, of 20, between Alisson (Becker) and Emi.”
Best in the world
On world football’s biggest stage, Martinez showcased to the world why he is the world’s best.
Villa fans wouldn’t have been surprised to see or witness what he did because we have seen it far too often.
But he stood tall and produced the greatest moment of his footballing life by winning the best prize in the game.
Not forgetting that he was a key reason why we secured European football and are now sitting fourth in the Premier League table.
