Emi Martinez playing for Aston Villa looking annoyed towards a circle inset of Rob Green
Credit: Imago and Match of the Day
Max Wilkins
Wed 31 December 2025 7:10, UK
Rob Green was far from impressed with what Aston Villa did after Emi Martinez’s error against Arsenal.
Villa fell to defeat away to Arsenal on Tuesday as the 11-game winning streak came to an end away to Unai Emery’s former side.
There was plenty of controversy to discuss as the Premier League shared statements from the Emirates to explain various decisions.
Amadou Onana wanted a penalty against Arsenal to no avail, while Mikel Merino arguably should have been sent off for a second yellow card.
These decisions can’t overshadow a 4-1 defeat, with Martinez arguably to blame for how the second half went for the Villans in North London.
Emi Martinez looking down holding his hand out while playing for Aston Villa
Credit: Imago
Aston Villa changed after Emi Martinez error vs Arsenal
Villa weren’t happy with the scheduling around the Arsenal clash, as they were forced to travel to the capital just three days after their away win against Chelsea.
It’s hardly fair that in that same time Arsenal played two home games, but that wasn’t an excuse for how the Gunners opened the scoring.
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Martinez had a howler as he came out to catch the ball and was beaten to it by Gabriel as he found the net to kickstart a goal fest for Mikel Arteta and Co.
The Argentina international was at fault, but it is the tactical change from Villa after the Brazilian netted that annoyed Green on Match of the Day.
He said: “We knew it was coming. We’ve seen it at Brentford, and we saw it on Saturday at Chelsea. Martinez just gets preoccupied with the players around him. He’s got two around him, and he’s fighting, so he can’t come for the ball because he’s worried about what’s around him.
“Again tonight, he’s preoccupied, and as a keeper, if you’re going up among bodies, you’ve got to punch it. He doesn’t do that. Two minutes later, Villa react, and they’ve got their men in to protect Martinez.
“*This has been going on since the start of the season, so I don’t know why it takes mid-game against Arsenal for it to happen again for them to react. It cost them.*“
Martinez to blame for what happened vs Arsenal
Villa were excellent in the first half against the league leaders and just needed to continue that performance level into the second half.
That wasn’t possible in the end, but that was arguably due to the fact that their goalkeeper had dropped a clanger to hand the hosts the lead.
That went down as an error that led to a goal for the Argentine, while he made just four saves compared to the four he conceded.
A zero per cent ratio of punches has to come as a criticism, as he also failed to make a single high claim away at the Emirates.
Martinez has been bailed out in recent weeks, but this time it was a step too far for his teammates to come back and secure three points.
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