Emi Martinez is Aston Villa’s undisputed number one and someone who is writing himself into the legendary books.
When the 32-year-old first joined Aston Villa in 2020 from Arsenal, he hadn’t been a regular number one at club level and had zero international caps to his name.
Then fast forward to the present, Martinez is playing a key role in Villa reaching the Champions League and also winning the World Cup, plus Copa America (twice), with Argentina.
Regardless of what Villa’s star man does in his career from now on, he will forever be remembered for his heroics in Qatar that helped Lionel Messi become a World Champion.
David James labelled Martinez as a ‘monster’ and how he has ‘character’ which is a dying breed amongst goalkeepers in today’s game.
But the former England international raised an interesting point about shot-stoppers in the Premier League ‘weirdly’ no longer being able to make ‘top corner saves’.
James thinks it’s an art that is going out of the window, but he feels someone like Martinez has it in his locker, as he told Seaman Says.
Aston Villa’s goalless draw against Manchester United on Sunday put many fans to sleep, but Bruno Fernandes hit the woodwork from a free-kick, with Martinez getting his fingertips to it.
That save was mentioned by James as he was lauding and applauding Martinez’s style and big-game character in today’s game.
Emi Martinez making top-corner saves
“It’s interesting, if you were to look at Premier League goalkeepers over a number of years now, there aren’t many characters,” said James.
“If you go prior to that (ten years before), there were characters around in the game. He has character. Everything about him is character. A big game player. It’s almost like ‘I want to be in the biggest games’ – I think he is a monster, in the sense that if the ball is in the air, he will come for it.
“The free-kick from Fernandes, even though he didn’t have to save it. He was there. There’s not many keepers that I see in the Premier League now, who are capable of getting into the top corner, weirdly. Just think about the last time you saw a top-corner save. I don’t see top corner saves in the Premier League and it used to be quite common. Now, they are missing – Martinez will get there because he can get there.”
Emi Martinez the world’s number one
You will hear it from all corners of Villa Park on a weekly basis ‘Emi Martinez, the world’s number one‘. There isn’t anyone better.
Villa reached the Champions League after a long time, but fans are also waiting to win that much-craved trophy.
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You sense, with a man like Martinez in between the sticks and someone with the genius mind of Unai Emery, then this is the club’s best chance to end that wait.
Whether it’s the League Cup or doing the unthinkable, winning any trophy would be seen as a huge success and it has been a long time coming.
