Emi Martinez says he takes no joy from teammate Bernd Leno’s injury even though it afforded him a first Premier League appearance in three years.
The German keeper was left in agony after appearing to twist his knee following an awkward fall caused by a mid-air push by Brighton striker Neal Maupay in the 2-1 defeat at the Amex. Incensed by the incident the keeper was quick to point the finger of blame at the Frenchman as he was stretchered off.
While Martinez looked sharp when he came on as Leno’s replacement, Maupay had the last laugh, scoring a 95th-minute winner before accusing the Gunners of lacking humility.
Assuming he’s fit on Thursday, Martinez has the chance to play consecutive Premier League matches for the first time since 2017. He says, he and third-choice keeper Matt Macey, will do their best to cover.
“In the goalkeepers’ union, you don’t want the other goalies to get injured because it can happen to anyone,” Martinez told Arsenal.com.
“We train every day together, we support each other, we’re really close, we even have a WhatsApp group for just me, Bernd and Matt – it is devastating to be honest.
“I wish him a speedy recovery and if he needs the rest of the season, me and Matt [Macey] will try to do a good job in the Premier League and try to cover him as much possible.
“The last time [I played] in the Premier League was three years ago,” he added. “But I wasn’t thinking about it when I just came on.
“I made a save straight afterwards. I am so disappointed for the result, I thought we deserved to be 2-0 or 3-0 up. But you just take it and learn from it.”
After the match, boss Mikel Arteta excused Maupay, who also had an unseemly coming together with Matteo Guendouzi at full time, from any blame.
“I believe that no player has the intention to hurt anybody and I believe in this case it’s exactly the same, it was unfortunate,” said the boss.
“Bernd’s injury doesn’t look good and we will have to assess him probably tomorrow, but it can happen on a football pitch. It’s a knee injury, I think he had a hyperextension of the knee and we have to assess the damage.”
Teams just know they can leave one on an Arsenal player, because teammates allow it.
Arteta used to organise rotational fouling at City to sort the opposition out, but now he has let this team revert to being weak. Let’s hope they learn a valuable lesson from this. No point causing trouble after the final whistle and getting a ban.
“Teammates allow it”? What do you wish? The players to beat Maupay to the ground and let him to the hospital? And what about our fabulous MA who said nothing during the press conference to at least support his GK and to at least underline Leno’s gesture to Maupay? When a shy and quiet guy like Leno does that kind of gesture, it DOES mean something and our great coach didn’t even reflect on that.
For all I love Arteta, I wish he inherited Arsene’s and Pep’s sarcastic jibes too. Like all the time Arsene routinely laid it down on Stoke
And Ferguson. I used to love the way old Arsene would wind Fergie up. Those jaws of his would speed up chewing that gum and that fucking red nose would turn purple. Good old Arsene. He was more intelligent than all the muppets masquerading as Premiership managers put together.
I am still so fucked off about yesterdays result. Some of the opinions I have seen being banded around social media by certain sections of the fan base massively highlights how bad a position we are in at the moment. I cant fathom how people cannot see that the academy players Arteta brought on yesterday are not good enough to play for Arsenal. And it’s honestly made me lose a lot of faith in Arteta’s lauded genius if he cant see it too. It couldn’t be abundantly clearer that Nketiah, Willock, Nelson all need proper loan spells… Read more »
Deluded.
“The players to beat Maupay to the ground and let him to the hospital”
Yes, actually. And then ensure that Maupay serves a multi-year custodial sentence for assault.
Not beat him to the ground, but two or three slides towards ankle / heel that earn our player a yellow and have the potential to injure Maupay wouldn’t be wrong. Basically he should get the feeling that he is targeted and could easily also leave the game on a stretcher. With that in mind, he won’t score the 2:1, I’ll tell you that.
Of course this has to be done smartly, risk no red and rotate the player who does these slides.
I don’t know why you have 2 down votes. This is how other teams have played against us for years but now they know they can do it without any retribution. Maupay had the ball a couple of times on the line perfect for a ball then man challenge but no we stood off him. Steve Round gave an interview in it he talked about trying to get a team spirit and collective responsibility. There is nothing better than a siege mentality to get pull a group together but I fear only a total rebuild will give character to this… Read more »
Going back in time Arsenal would have systematically made Maupay regret what he did by tough tackling. That soon sorts the men out from the boys.
This lot regrettably couldn’t punch their way out of a paper bag just throw toys out of the pram after the final whistle,
Clubs have been sorting us out for years but we don’t react in kind. If we did they would think twice in future.
We really need to man up and get stuck in.
It’s just typical of this collection of players. (Henceforth, I am now going to refer to them as exactly that, because, whatever else they may be, they sure as hell aren’t a team). 90+ minute mincers, who then want to take on the world at the final whistle. Pathetic.
Teammates don’t allow that type of behavior- officials allow it. Until the FA has more coherent standards and holds their professional referees accountable for poor performances or lapses in judgment, it will continue to happen.
Martinez wouldn’t disappoint. He has a lot to prove.
Our midfield on the other hand…..
Let’s not forget our defence. For me, they’re the reason this club doesn’t make any progress – regardless of who’s playing in midfield and up front. If we all had a pound/euro/dollar/whatever for every time Mustafi has cost this football club points/cup ties/ECL places, none of us would ever have to work again.
Thought he was good when he came on and I have more faith in him than i did in Ospina.
Hopefully the injury to Leno isn’t as bad as feared but I think having Martinez in nets is the least of our problems on the pitch.
Yep. Our very own Laurel and Hardy – Luiz and Mustafi. Not forgetting Groucho Marx himself, Granite Xhaka..
You have to feel for Martinez. Facing any opposition with our joke shop of a defence? No thanks…..
The Arsenal defence is the best shop window for a keeper in a European league. Martinez is the best backup we’ve had in years.
Not only the best shop window but the busiest. Harrods the night before Black Friday.
Leno is a loss, but Martinez is a really good mature backup. He’s a decent keeper, I’m surprised he’s still here to be honest.
I’m hoping holding, chambers, saliba and Mari can form a much better base next season. I’m reserving judgement until then.
Oh how terrible – poor Leno has a sore knee. Jesus. I cannot believe that anyone would get upset about that – except maybe Leno. What is it going to do? Disrupt Arsenal’s title push? Dent their hopes of European football? When there was no football it was nice – no feeling depressed, no frustrations just getting on with things in a difficult time. And now – because you feel compelled to follow these overpaid, brainless turds who very clearly don’t give a flying f*ck about anything except their money you are right back to where you were before. I… Read more »
The man is injured for fuck’s sake. He’s a human being – not some virtual cartoon warrior from a fucking kids’ shoot-‘em-up. You hoped Arsenal ‘would go bankrupt.’ What kind of fucking shit is that?! If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were a dyed-in-the-wool Spud. If you hate Arsenal so much, then run along up the Seven Sisters Road. With talk like that, they’d welcome you with open arms.
Oh who gives a shit?
Jesus christ the way you morons talk it makes it sound like he has just been diagnosed with a terminal illness.
He has a sore knee – he will survive in his luxury mansion and his financial future assured.
You people need a reality check – its football thats all. Nothing…
I assume you have a good seat in the new Spurs stadium. I just wonder why a Spud bothers to comment on an Arsenal site
Look, we’re football fans, yeah? Not fucking politicians. Footballers earn a lot. So fucking what? If you wanna go spouting your communism, then find a commie blog site – not an Arsenal one. You hoped we’d ‘go bankrupt.’ Fucking pillock.
Leon I think you have a point but your words fail you. After 3 months of lock down most sane people realise there is more to life than football. When blogs is posting recipes and dreams that only magic mushrooms could conjure there was an emptiness in our lives like a summer with no international tournament to distract us but football is back for some their life’s purpose is back for others especially without the fans it is a diluted return. Some are not back to work to have the banter and some are honing their Internet warrior keyboard skills… Read more »
Well, well, well. What do we have here? Snagger cosying up to Leon. Two little Spud Trolls together.
“Oh how terrible – poor Leno has a sore knee.”
Blogs, troll alert!
We’ve got two of them. Leon and Snagger. Dirty fucking Spuds. You can smell them a mile off.
Did you actually my post? Just because someone had a different perspective and opinion you try to shout them down . You need to get back on Grindr and relieve some of your pent up lock down frustration.
And you need to fuck off to White Hart Lane where you belong. Twat.
Now tell us how you really feel, won’t you?
Yes well, Leno is a pro football player, not a soldier on the frontline. So yeah, his injuries will be of the nature of a hyper extended knee, not a gsw. Also, he has been our best player this season so far. So show some respect.
You hope we go bankrupt? Mate, I don’t think you’re even a spurs troll. I think you’re following the wrong sport.
I trust Martinez to his word, just definitely not the defence
Good luck, Emi. I hope you make the most of the opportunity.
Good luck to our longest serving player. I remember when he was called Damian.
The very best of luck to Martinez.
Lord knows he’ll need it……
I think if we swap our back four with traffic cones, we might have a chance next match.
Mustafi would look the business in a Lollipop Man outfit. (Younger viewers go Google it)
Martinez this is your chance to be number one. What do you mean by “cover” so you hope to remain a perpetual number 2?
I mean, Leno’s injury is unfortunate but it’s an opportunity for you.
The mentality at Arsenal is sickening. It’s clear that some are just happy to sit back and earn their wages. Little wonder why they are all crap. Nobody could even stand up for Leno yesterday.
Hundred percent spot on! As long as their pockets are filled they do not care if they have less impact.
I both agree and disagree (respectfully) with this comment… spot on that it was shocking how no one stood up for Leno after such a dirty foul, but at the same time do you really expect Martinez to not recognize that his teammate is going through a tough time at the moment ? Of course he is going to talk about providing cover rather than come out and say ‘this is my chance to establish myself as the no1 keeper and I’m going to take it!’ Btw earlier in the season Martinez said he believed he was good enough to… Read more »
It’s clear that Maupay did set out to injure Leno. Claiming otherwise is just delusional.
I see this kind of shit all the time in hockey (the NHL, that is). You’ve got some dirty little pricks who go around making sketchy hits that most of the time won’t result in any serious injury–they just want to “send a message” or get in the head of the opponent, and often the refs let them get away with it. But one or two percent of the time their timing is just a little off and it results in a serious injury and people get all up in arms. But it happened because they were allowed to get… Read more »