Emi Martinez ‘baffles’ BBC pundit after selfish Aston Villa moment vs Everton
Emi Martinez returned to the Aston Villa starting 11 to face Everton on Saturday.
Martinez was strongly linked with a Manchester United switch throughout the summer, but a Villa Park exit never came to be.
This resulted in potential Villa talks between Martinez and Unai Emery ahead of his return to the goalkeeper role in B6.
Emery backed the Argentine as he started for Villa in the goalless draw against Everton, as the claret and blue outfit continued their poor start to the season.
Martinez did manage to keep a clean sheet at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, but it was one moment self-centred decision that didn’t go down well on Merseyside.
Emi Martinez frustrates with Aston Villa decision-making
Martinez had been urged to apologise to Villa fans for his actions towards the end of the transfer window, but that hasn’t happened as of yet.
Instead, the 33-year-old put in a positive shot-stopping performance for the Villans, making a number of hugely impressive saves.
The most important and impressive of those came from a Michael Keane header, which the Argentine somehow flicked over the crossbar.
It was another action in the second half that was of frustration to former Villa man Stephen Warnock via BBC Radio 5 Live on 13 September.
The ex-left back was left annoyed as Martinez opted to pump a failed long ball forward as opposed to allowing a teammate to take up possession.
He said: “I just never understand that. You’ve got an outfield player in front of you, who’s five yards away, and you think you, as a goalkeeper, can play a better ball?
“That’s why you’re a goalkeeper, because you don’t have the ability to hit the same passes. It just baffles me.”
Steven Warnock was still impressed by Emi Martinez vs Everton
The BBC pundit may have been less than impressed by the former Arsenal man for his distribution, but his shot-stopping certainly went down well.
His stop against Keane was described by Warnock as an “outstanding and world-class save,” summing up how good it truly was on Merseyside.
This has already gone some way towards the Villa fans forgiving Martinez for his transfer activity, with many applauding him at full-time.
It will certainly be interesting to see how that atmosphere builds in the coming weeks, especially if Villa don’t change their horrific early-season form.
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