Unai Emery speaks out as Emiliano Martinez continues to be linked with a deadline day transfer to Manchester United.
Villa head into the international break in 19th position and with just one point from three Premier League matches. The Villans have failed to score in any of their opening three top-flight fixtures for the first time since 1997/98, though much of the attention is instead on the situation at the other end of the field.
One of Villa’s most influential players both on and off the pitch, Martinez is the subject of a late transfer swoop from Manchester United, with personal terms already agreed. Birmingham World understands that - as of Sunday evening - no official bid has been made by United since an unsuccessful loan offer earlier in the window. That could soon change, however, with deadline day now upon us.
Martinez wasn’t even in the matchday squad for Villa’s loss to Palace, with new signing Marco Bizot instead named as the starting goalkeeper. Despite making an impressive debut in the 0-0 draw with Newcastle United a fortnight ago, Bizot really struggled against the Eagles as he conceded a penalty and could’ve done better for the two other goals.
Emery confirms Emi Martinez situation amid Man Utd approach
It’ll forever be an unknown whether Martinez playing instead of Bizot will have made a decisive impact against Palace, but there’s no doubt the transfer saga has had a negative influence on the squad. As much as they are all professionals and should be able to perform regardless of what’s going on with a teammate, Martinez is such a huge presence in the dressing room and his desire to leave has taken its toll.
Before the game, Emery wasn’t willing to speak about Martinez at all. When asked why the World Cup winner was absent, Emery simply replied with the name of Martinez’s replacement: “Marco Bizot.” Then, when asked to clarify where Martinez was, Emery replied: “Marco Bizot.” What about who the future goalkeeper will be? You guessed it. Emery said: “Marco Bizot.”
Birmingham World was able to get more of a response from Emery post-match, with a question on whether the Martinez speculation has had much of an effect on the morale. “It is not helping us,” Emery admitted. “This is one of the circumstances we are having now that is not helping. Tomorrow we will see how we are finishing the transfer window.”
Emery then delved deeper into why Martinez didn’t play and how the goalkeeper’s situation is just one of many occurrences that have made life tricky. “He was not available. We need the players focused and 100 per cent. He was not,” Emery added.
“We have a lot of circumstances that are not helping to be mentally like we were last year. But after tomorrow we are going to reset everything. Of course, a lot of players are in the break with the international team. This is one of the consequences of how we are improving, when we arrived there were less players in the national team – now we have a lot of players.
“When you are getting the level we achieved, sometimes when you are in a moment like now with one point after three matches, we are more frustrated than normal. But keeping balance is my message. I am confident after tomorrow how we are going to manage the group we have.”
Continue Reading