There was a time when Emi Martinez’s position at Aston Villa was unquestioned.
Trumpeted as ‘the world’s no.1’ when the pitchside announcer was reading out the teams at Villa Park, the Argentine’s name was one of those that attracted the loudest roar.
There can be no doubt that the World Cup winner - and two-time winner of FIFA’s best keeper - remains hot property.
His commanding presence has always bred confidence throughout Unai Emery’s backline.
He was a major reason why Villa managed to gatecrash the top four party and qualify for the Champions League.
Along with Ollie Watkins, the two have been equally important as the resurgence under Emery’s charge has been maintained.
Cracks Appearing for Aston Villa Star Emi Martinez
Emiliano Martinez after being sent off for Aston Villa against Manchester United
But dare it be trotted out that while Martinez still possesses enormous credit in the football bank because of a fine body of work, the first cracks are beginning to appear.
It was only 16 months ago that the 33-year-old pledged the best years of his career to the club.
But since then, considerable water has passed under the bridge, culminating in what took place at Anfield on Saturday night.
The narrative was that Villa had pieced together a five-game winning run. Liverpool were on a losing streak and scoring the first goal was always going to be important.
Martinez served up the kind of brain-freeze moment that enabled the Merseysiders to drag themselves over the finishing line, in large part thanks to Mo Salah’s opener.
There are those who will say this is part and parcel of modern football. That Villa have rarely been caught out like this. And, what’s more, Martinez has saved way more points than he has given away.
All of that is true.
But the fact remains that while Martinez remains the No.1 - that title can be disputed.
Little by little, the overwhelming aura has diminished.
Starting at the end of last season, there can be little doubt that the profit and sustainability issues that blighted Villa’s summer spend had been flagged up to agents of certain players.
The inside track was that Villa would have to sacrifice one of their most valuable assets to keep within the financial parameters that were demanded - by UEFA rather than the Premier League.
Martinez was one of them. Jacob Ramsey was another. Potentially, had it come to it, striker Ollie Watkins could have found himself on the way out.
That explains why the South American was in such an emotional state following the final game of last season against Spurs.
If your agent tells you that you’ve got concrete interest from, say, Atletico Madrid, and the club is trying to cash in, why wouldn’t you wave a tearful farewell in front of the Holte End?
The only problem was that any move wasn’t forthcoming. Which kinda left the big shot-stopper in limbo.
Now, that’s all well and good. This is modern-day football, after all.
But it weakened the relationship between Martinez and Villa’s fans. Not by much.
However, he may have been painted as the villain in this scenario. Supporters don’t generally work around nuance but was the player the primary mover in this, or the club?
Of course, all of this came on the back of a performance at Old Trafford on the final day of last season that played a major part in Villa’s failure to cement one of the places in the enlarged qualification for the Champions League.
His sending-off was avoidable - but he wasn’t alone in making the mistakes which cost Villa dearly.
And he has so much positive credit in the bank that it’s difficult to point the finger of blame in his direction.
However, that was then - and this is now.
Marco Bizot Impressing at Villa Park
unai emery
One of the major reasons why Martinez appeared rock-solid in his position is that the alternative, Robin Olsen, wasn’t.
For all the fact that the ex-Arsenal man looked like confidence was seeping forth from every pore, the opposite was the case with the Sweden international.
Olsen didn’t enjoy the opening leg of the Europa Conference League semi-final against Olympiacos and that appeared to knock his fragile confidence further.
The Swede departed for Malmo in the summer and his replacement, Marco Bizot, signed for just £5m from Brest, has looked a more than capable understudy.
The Dutchman started impressively in the opening day draw with Newcastle United.
And he has continued in similar fashion - being the man-of-the-match in Villa’s away victory over Feyenoord in the Europa League last month.
At 34 years of age, Bizot has the experience not to be fazed by either the Premier League or European competition - and it shows.
Villa face another heavy schedule during the next two months.
They have 12 fixtures now before the New Year and Martinez is likely to retain Emery’s faith by being first-choice in them.
He remains front and centre in his manager’s thoughts.
But errors such as the one at Anfield won’t help his cause, moving forward.
Every footballer is only as good as their last game.
Martinez doesn’t have reason to worry just yet. But Emery does have an alternative.
And hopefully for Villa, that might bring about the required response from their No.1.