Unai Emery, manager of Aston Villa, addressed to the media following Emiliano Martinez’s 2-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest.
Unai Emery has described the non-negotiable treatment his Aston Villa players receive when they make mistakes, following Emiliano Martinez’s gaffe in Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Nottingham Forest. Martinez, who had just won the
famous Yashin trophy at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris, gave Forest their second goal when he flapped at Ore
l Mangala’s long-range effort and watched the ball land back into his own net.
Although not the decisive moment because Forest had already taken a 1-0 lead, Martinez’s gaffe heightened the mountain Villa had to climb. The men in claret and blue dominated possession for much of the second half but were unable to capitalize on the chances they created. Meanwhile, opposition goalie Odysseas Vlachodimos made some fantastic saves to keep his new club’s debut clean.
“We are all human, and we make mistakes.” “I never punish the mistakes of the players because I want to try to build confidence in everybody by practicing and doing everything well,” Emery said after the game in reaction to Martinez’s costly error. “Of course, when we play other teams, we have to outperform them, but we never punish mistakes.” “Not just for Emiliano, but for everyone,” Emery clarified.
Villa’s head coach, who is widely regarded as one of the top man-managers in the game, has chosen a pretty typical approach by disregarding Martinez’s gaffe at The City Ground. It’s not the first time the Argentina international has made an error this season, as he put the ball in his own net in last weekend’s 3-1 triumph against Luton Town. Martinez, who frequently expresses his frantic desire to win trophies with Villa, will be looking to rebound against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday evening.
