10 March 2023 , 22:30
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Unai Emery has jumped to the defence of time-waster Emiliano Martinez, declaring: “He is just managing the game.”
The Argentine World Cup goalkeeper has been booked five times in his last 10 matches as Premier League referees carried out their threat to clamp down on the unsporting behaviour. Martinez, who was also cautioned during the final against France in Qatar for his antics during the penalty shootout, is a serial offender.
However, Emery said that his No.1 had done nothing wrong. He said: "Emi has experience, is intelligent and is a very good goalkeeper. He is taking time when he is with the ball to play, but I don’t think it is wasting time.
“I think he is taking time for the team because maybe in some matches, we are struggling defensively and they are attacking and he had to reduce the danger.
"He was thinking we need to take time to control the game like we planned. Sometimes, you can manage to control the game - keeping possession of the ball - but I do not think it was wasting time."
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Asked if his opinion was out of whack with officialdom who have him marked down for the offence, Emery side-stepped the question, adding: “I like the referees here in England, I like a lot. They are very good, professional. They are defending football and people who want to protect the game.”
Do you like Emiliano Martinez's style of goalkeeping? Have your say in the comments!
Emiliano Martinez is know as an expert at the dark arts (Alex Dodd - CameraSport via Getty Images)And Emery said he was a fan of the work Pierluigi Collina was undertaking in claiming down on time-wasting. Ironically, FIFA’s head of referees, Collina, cited Villa’s game against Brentford earlier this season - when the ball was in play for just over 43 minutes - as evidence that time was being wasted with the ball out of play.
Emery added: "I love football with a passion and I like the game to be honest - to try and play the full 90 minutes without wasting time. Someone spoke about the possibility of doing what they do in basketball to use all the time efficiently. But I don't know if that's the solution because I haven't studied it.
"Of course, I agree that if something can be done to help play for 90 minutes, and to cut out time-wasting efficiently, then I'd prefer that. I completely agree with what UEFA are trying to do. I want to play. I want to be honest. I want to respect football.
"I played a lot of matches in Spain, where there was tactical time-wasting, when opponents would do everything slowly to try and waste time like that. But I've never liked that approach."