Emi Martinez has been ordered to wake up to the harsh reality of modern goalkeeping following his high-profile blunders against Chelsea and Arsenal.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper has been putting in extra work with the club’s coaches to improve under the high ball, after his uncertainty at corners saw Villa concede the opening goal in each of their last two matches.
Though Villa fought back to win at Chelsea, Arsenal ran out 4-1 winners to move six points clear of Unai Emery’s men. Villa boss Emery believes goalkeepers no longer receive the same protection from referees as they once did and joked they may soon need to be more than 7ft tall to cope.
Emery said: ‘In the future, we will need ‘keepers at 2m 20cms (7ft 2ins). Maybe we need to get boxing (gloves).
‘He’s working with the goalkeeper coach about how football is changing. It is changing in the way referees interpret these situations. Usually, Emiliano Martinez is showing us his power in those situations – corners, or long throws.
‘When the opponents or pushing or blocking, the referees are more or less being soft in their decision about how they want to manage it. We are seeing this in every match, also when we are on the attack.
Unai Emery must get better at defending from set-pieces as attackers are not being penalised for touching them, says Unai Emery
The Aston Villa boss warns goalkeepers will need to be seven foot tall and wear boxing gloves
‘At set pieces players are touching the ‘keepers, they are pushing the ‘keepers and it is not a foul. It’s becoming more difficult. There are two or three players blocking the keeper. This has been the case for all goalkeepers in recent times.
‘We can also use tactics like that but we need to adapt and get better at defending those situations.’
Martinez’s struggles in the last two matches are certain to have been noted by Sean Dyche, who takes his Nottingham Forest side to Villa Park on Saturday. Simon Hooper is due to referee the game.
