Arsenal should have kept Emiliano Martinez to battle Bernd Leno for the #1 spot

I hate to bring up this subject, but I genuinely believe that Arsenal made the wrong decision in allowing Emiliano Martinez to leave last summer. Yes, Bernd Leno was the Gunners’ number one keeper and, of course, it was not his fault that he got injured. However, when called upon to fill in for Leno, Martinez was excellent.

The Argentine kept four clean sheets and helped Arsenal win the FA Cup with wins over Manchester City in the semi-finals and Chelsea in the final, having come into the side to general fan worry.

After ten years on the sidelines, Emiliano Martinez felt that he had earned the right for a starting role. Faced with a difficult decision, Mikel Arteta stuck with Bernd Leno and allowed Martinez to join Aston Villa for the chance to be a number one keeper. The financial aspect was crucial.

With eight league matches remaining in the 2020/2021 season it’s apparent that Arsenal are guilty of bad judgment. Martinez has been outstanding, while Leno has underperformed and made a series of bad mistakes.

https://twitter.com/emimartinezz1/status/1378788026051072005

Arsenal should have kept Emiliano Martinez to battle Bernd Leno for the number one spot

Arsenal went into this season without a solid backup for Leno. Unproven Icelandic keeper Alex Runarsson was brought in and looked hopelessly out of his depth in limited appearances. In January, Brighton’s Mat Ryan joined the Gunners on loan, yet so far he has made just one appearance.

Leno has been guilty of some howlers this season, especially when playing out from the back. These were on display in Europa League action when the German made mistakes in matches against both Rapid Vienna and most recently in the second leg tie with Olympiacos.

In the Premier League, he’s looked shaky, including recent away trips to Burnley and West Ham.

Although perhaps his worst moment in this campaign occurred in February at Wolves in that infamous match that saw David Luiz receive a red card just before half-time. Leno inexplicably handled the ball outside his area and joined Luiz on the sidelines.

https://twitter.com/Bernd_Leno/status/1365059903824527362

Following Arsenal’s embarrassing 3-0 loss to Liverpool, Arsenal legend Tony Adams said of the goalkeeping situation:

"“I wanted them [Leno and Martinez] to fight for the No.1,” he said. “If you’re going to win the league, major competitions, Europa Leagues, you need two good quality goalkeepers, but you can’t have a poor second-choice goalkeeper. “Something can happen, they get tired, concentration levels. We’ve only got Leno; we’re going to play him every single match now until the end of the season and he’s already for me a little bit burnt out.”"

The stats don’t lie – Aston Villa’s Martinez has performed better than Arsenal’s Leno

A look at the stats shows that Martinez has outperformed Leno in every category this season:

• Martinez has kept 14 clean sheets in the league which ties him with Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy for second. Only Manchester City’s Ederson has more with 17. Leno has just eight clean sheets.
• Martinez has made 104 saves to Leno’s 71.
• Martinez has conceded 31 goals to Leno’s 34.
• Martinez has a better goals-against average than Leno: 1.07 versus 1.17.
• Martinez has the best save percentage in the league at 75.4%. Leno comes in at number 14 with a save percentage of 68.3%.

Beyond stats, some of which are not within Leno’s control, If Arteta had kept Martinez around and allowed him and Leno to battle it out for the number one position, the Gunners would have had two keepers giving it their all to prove their worth. Of course, financially the club couldn’t turn down £20m for a goalkeeper with just 15 Premier League appearances to his name, but it’s had an impact on the pitch.

Instead, with Martinez gone, Arteta had to hope that Leno would repay him with performances worthy of a club such as Arsenal. Sadly, he hasn’t.