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Narratives always pre-curse a football match, at whatever level. Who are the key battles? Who scores the most against a particular opposition? Etcetera, etcetera, it can get quite repetitive.
Yesterday, at Villa Park, the narrative was clear.
Aston Villa vs Arsenal. The perennial alphabet derby. But graphology is in no way important in comparison to the men standing between the sticks.
Poetically, former Bayer Leverkusen stopper Bernd Leno was unable to play for the Gunners, after an ill-considered handling of the ball outside of the penalty area, about half an hour down the road to Molineux. He was replaced by new signing Mathew Ryan, making his Premier League debut.
His counterpart, in luminous orange, was the man who took Leno’s place in absence last season. Damian Emiliano Martinez Romero – or as we know him, Emiliano Martinez.
Affectionately known as Emi, the Argentine was sublime for the Gunners in the latter stages of last season while Leno was sidelined with a knee injury. He was key for Mikel Arteta as Arsenal claimed their 14th FA Cup trophy.
This was after spending eight difficult years in the Gunners’ youth setup and as third choice goalkeeper, going out on six demotivating loan spells.
His role this season for Arsenal, despite making just one appearance, was trophy-earning. The Community Shield victory over Liverpool, in which they won on penalties after a dominant Liverpool performance.
It was clear that despite Emi’s brilliance, he was always second fiddle to Leno in the eyes of Arteta. Though Arsenal’s loss would always be another’s gain.
That ‘another’ would be early high-flyers Aston Villa, whom had a problem position between the sticks last season. A cocktail of poor form, injuries and new signings led to the Villains playing four different ‘keepers throughout the campaign.
Tom Heaton was brought in from Burnley in the summer, with a horrific injury keeping him out from New Years’ Day until September 2020. Orjan Nyland, Jed Steer and veteran Pepe Reina chipped in with the rest of the appearances, but all three were inconsistent and error prone.
With football starting in the Autumn after COVID-19 had halted proceedings, Aston Villa plumped for Emi in a £20 million move in September. It was bittersweet for fans and players alike.
“We probably could have got a bit more for him I think? Given the way he performed and in this current market, 20 million doesn’t feel like a substantial fee anymore, but I think it came down to his playing time.
“I don’t think he wanted to leave but I think he knew he had it tough competing with Leno. At 28 years old, he needs to be starting and I think he’s found a great side in Villa. I was sad to see him go but it was for the best.”
Aston Villa’s performances have significantly improved this season, with a direct correlation to Martinez’s arrival. Dean Smith’s men matched their points total from the entirety of 2019/20 with a victory over – oh – Arsenal. Yesterday in fact.
The Gunners have fallen short twice against Villa, with yesterday’s loss largely down to, A: a ridiculous error from Cedric Soares and Gabriel Magalhaes, and B: an outstanding performance from Emiliano Martinez.
The performance wasn’t filled with reel-to-reel, world-class ‘looking’ saves. However, Martinez’s stops were so vitally important and difficult, that it makes it even more impressive that it won’t be played back-to-back on Sky Sports for years to come. He made it look easy.
A cherry-topping save came from Granit Xhaka’s free-kick, in which he dived full-stretch to his left to tip over the Holte End crossbar.
But the stop I’d like to focus on is a more important one – from Nicolas Pepe in the second half.
After the introduction of Martin Ødegaard, the Ivorian winger was far more effective against both Matty Cash and Matt Targett – making the former look silly in this particular move.
He unleashed a powerful effort which struck the former Nottingham Forest man’s outstretched leg, deflecting its short pathway to goal.
It was in an awkward position for Martinez, but he managed, when it looked like it was heading through his legs, to scissor it away from danger.
Villa would hold on to their win after an early Ollie Watkins goal, thanks mainly to Martinez’s brilliance. But warm superlatives are not the only way to show the progress of the Argentine, and his importance to Aston Villa. Cold, hard numbers show similar results.
To plug in an accurate reflection, I decided to compare him to five other Premier League goalkeepers in David de Gea, Alisson, Ederson, Kasper Schmeichel and his former Arsenal teammate Bernd Leno.
Out of the six, Martinez has the highest amount of shots faced (expected because of the team he plays for) but has the best positive post-shot xG by some distance at +4.28, meaning that he should have conceded four more goals than he has done but is proficient at shot-stopping.
David de Gea (-1.3) is the worst of the six, with Leno the closest to Emi at +3.6.
Martinez has evolved his distribution alongside his always comfortable shot-stopping ability. He has completed 100% of his short passes and 99.5% of his medium length passes.
Throwing out these numbers are important, and add layers to the fact that at 28, Martinez has made serious strides. But the serious note and showcase for improvement is Aston Villa’s points total and league position.
At this stage last season, Villa sat in 17th with only six wins from 21 matches. They’d scored just 27 goals with 37 conceded.
Now, after 21 matches – they have four more wins, scored nine more goals – and more importantly, conceded 13 goals less. They sit ninth with 17 matches to go, and nobody would begrudge them a European place.
To have this level of an impact despite having such a dormant early career is truly credit to the work of Emi Martinez on the training field in London Colney with Arsenal, and at Bodymoor Heath with Villa. So much so that the latter look to finish above the former this campaign.
“It’s a weird feeling. I’ll wish most Arsenal players well, unless it ended in bitter circumstances. Emi deserved all the plaudits and he deserved his move to establish a first team place.
It’s a crazy season for everybody it seems, and from Leno’s recent error, it does make me wonder if Emi could have gotten a string of games and where things could have potentially led for him had he stayed, but I’m pleased for him overall.”
To quote Yazz, ‘the only way is up’ for both Aston Villa and their number 26. From backup to brilliance, Emi Martinez is one of the season’s most heartwarming stories.
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