augie wrote: ↑Fri Oct 27, 2023 7:56 amStep wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 8:45 pmArteta simply trying to be too clever. As noted in the first post on this thread all Gooners knew Martinez was better than Leno . All bar Arteta that is. Ramsdale needs a run in the team as Raya has not cemented it yet. Playing out from the back supposedly his strong point but he seems worse than Ramsdale in this respect. Also felt Arteta was wrong to keep Nketiah and let Balogoun go. Not convinced at all by Arteta 9n case you haven't guessed!!
No I dont agree with that at all - its the old adage that you are somehow a better player when you are not playing, and the same thing is happening all over again with ramsdale and raya. Martinez had a decade to establish himself at AFC and couldnt do it, and went on loan several times and didnt impress any club to come in and bid for him - he had a golden spell during covid (with empty stadiums) but even since he joined villa some of the mistakes he has made and goals he has conceded have been woeful. Not one of the 4 keepers mentioned are good enough imo
I go back to an earlier point I made, and that is that as soon as keepers started to be judged by how good they are with the ball at their feet, then football went down a slippy/wrong path - look around europe and try and figure out how many quality keepers there are in the modern football world, and I will guarantee you that you will struggle to name half a dozen. There are keepers who are great shot stoppers and can command their area on crosses, but are average/poor with the ball at their feet and fans will jump on their back everytime they make a mistake - my philosophy on management is that managers should try play a system that suits the players best, but trying to force a system where a keeper is expected to be like chippy brady with the ball at his feet is destined to fail imo
I agree with most of that augie, but not the part about Martinez. I know we won’t agree about the bloke, because we’ve been down this road before, but he was exceptional in those 13 or so games for us. In fact (and I’m not particularly one for stats) but during that spell his opta stats were significantly better than any other PL keeper, including the City and Liverpool ones.
It does seem odd that he’d been at the club for so long and made no impression…I genuinely knew nothing about him but his name…but when he came in for Leno he was a revelation. At last we had a keeper that commanded his area, calmed the defence and actually caught the ball, apart from making great saves. At the very least he had earned the chance to start the new season as number 1, but Arteta thought he knew best and kept Leno and sold Martinez…only to then discard Leno months later.
Not sure how you reach your judgement of him at Villa, because he’s performed very well and the fans love him. I can think of a couple of gaffs from a couple of seasons ago, but that’s all, but he’s made no end of cracking saves that would end up in the net against our keepers.
All that said, you’re bang on about the modern idea of judging keepers with the ball at their feet. Their job first and foremost is to keep the ball out of the net, to command their area and organise the defence. If they can play a bit, then all well and good, but it shouldn’t be the priority imo.
Played as big a part in our last cup win as Aubameyang
) and he backed ramsdale to win his spot back - I'm sure el basque will be delighted to have his judgement undermined by le cock like that 
