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EMI MARTINEZ’S WAKE-UP CALL! THE BRUTAL TRUTH BEHIND HIS CHELSEA AND ARSENAL BLUNDERS

Emi Martinez faces a modern goalkeeping wake-up call. Discover Emery’s "boxing gloves" theory as Villa prep for Nottingham Forest.

Emi Martinez’s wake-up call! The brutal truth behind his Chelsea and Arsenal blunders
Martinez undergoes intensive training before Forest clash.

Emi Martinez is getting a wake-up call about what it really means to be a modern goalkeeper, especially after his recent mistakes against Chelsea and Arsenal.

He’s been spending extra hours with Aston Villa’s coaches, trying to get better at dealing with high balls. Corners have been a problem—Villa have let in the first goal from set pieces in their last two games.

Villa did manage to turn things around at Chelsea, but Arsenal didn’t let them off the hook. They hammered Villa 4-1 and pulled six points ahead of Unai Emery’s team. Emery’s frustrated. He thinks goalkeepers just don’t get the protection from referees that they used to. He even joked that soon, keepers might have to be over seven feet tall—and maybe wear boxing gloves—to have a chance.

Emery said, “Maybe in the future we’ll need goalkeepers who are 2.2 meters tall. Maybe we need boxing gloves, too.”

He’s watching Martinez work with the goalkeeper coach, trying to keep up with the way football keeps changing. Referees look at these situations differently now. Usually, Martinez is strong in those moments—corners, long throws, all that. But when there’s pushing and blocking, referees are letting a lot more go. Emery’s seeing it in every game, even when Villa are attacking.

“At set pieces now, players are all over the keepers—pushing, blocking—and it’s not getting called as a foul. It’s getting harder. Sometimes two or three guys are blocking the keeper at once. That’s just how it is for every keeper right now,” Emery said.

He admits Villa can use the same tactics, but they’ve got to adapt and get sharper at defending those moments.

And you can bet Sean Dyche has been paying attention to Martinez’s struggles. Dyche brings his Nottingham Forest squad to Villa Park this weekend, with Simon Hooper set to referee. This won’t be an easy one for Villa’s number one.

SCATHING VERDICT: ANGE POSTECOGLOU CLAIMS TOTTENHAM ARE "NOT A BIG CLUB" TODAY

Ange Postecoglou claims Tottenham "isn't a big club" in a scathing review of their transfer policy following Thomas Frank's sacking.

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Ange slams Spurs for "tearing it up" after 2025 trophy.

Ange Postecoglou didn’t mince words about why Tottenham keep falling short. He says the club’s refusal to really compete with the Premier League’s top spenders holds them back, simple as that.

Postecoglou got the boot last June, right after he delivered a Europa League trophy and ended a 17-year wait for silverware. Now his replacement, Thomas Frank, is out too. Tottenham sit 16th in the league, just five points clear of relegation, and they’ve got league leaders Arsenal up next. Not exactly a fun place to be.

After Frank’s sacking, Postecoglou went on The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast and pretty much called out Tottenham’s whole approach. “If you look at what they spend and how they structure wages, they’re just not a big club,” he said. He saw it firsthand while trying to sign players; Tottenham just weren’t in the race for the big names.

In his first season, Postecoglou managed to get Tottenham up to fifth. But things went downhill. The next year, even with that Europa League win, they slipped to 17th. He’s convinced the club just doesn’t get what it takes to win, you have to take some risks, and they just won’t.

“I felt like the club was saying, ‘We’re one of the big boys,’ but honestly, they’re not,” he said.

Frank was Tottenham’s fifth full-time manager since Mauricio Pochettino left in 2019, even though Pochettino took them to a Champions League final. Fans are frustrated. Tottenham keep missing out on their transfer targets. Frank wanted Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest last summer, but that didn’t happen. Arsenal snatched up Eberechi Eze instead.

Postecoglou, who later had a short, rocky stint at Forest himself, thinks Frank might not have realised what he was getting into. “There’s no guarantee with any manager. They’ve had some world-class people in that job and still no real success. Why is that?” he asked. “What’s the real objective here? Did Thomas even know what he was walking into? Who knows? 

136-YEAR CURSE: BURNLEY AVOID MATCHING 1890 RECORD WITH A SENSATIONAL COMEBACK CRYSTAL PALACE 3-2 WIN

Burnley escaped a historic 136-year record! Read how Scott Parker’s men scored three in six minutes to stun Crystal Palace 3-2.

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Burnley overturn 2-0 deficit in six minutes to stun Crystal Palace

Burnley looked finished. Down 2-0 after just half an hour, with Jørgen Strand Larsen scoring his first goals for Crystal Palace, it pretty much felt like Scott Parker’s team were about to tie their old record: 17 top-flight games without a win, a streak that’s haunted them since 1890. For Burnley fans, the past three months have been brutal. Then, out of nowhere, everything flipped in six wild minutes right before halftime.

Hannibal Mejbri pulled one back. Jaidon Anthony levelled it. Then Jefferson Lerma, of all people, knocked in an own goal. Just like that, Burnley snatched only their second away win since promotion. It keeps their survival hopes alive, barely, but Parker knows they’ll need a few more miracles like this to actually stay up.

For Palace, this was a harsh wake-up call. Their big win over Brighton had just snapped a 12-game winless spell, and for a while, it looked like Oliver Glasner’s side were cruising to only their third home victory of the season, something that would’ve eased their relegation fears. But sloppy defending let Burnley right back in.

Burnley’s luck before kickoff didn’t exactly scream “comeback”. Parker had never won a league game in London as an away manager, and the team bus got stuck in traffic, pushing kick-off back by ten minutes. Palace, for their part, hadn’t lost at home to a promoted side since Sunderland thrashed them 4-0 back in 2017.

When Strand Larsen smashed in a gorgeous ball from Adam Wharton and then dived to head in Lerma’s cross after Kyle Walker messed up, it just seemed like Burnley were doomed.

But then Mejbri gave the visitors a lifeline, beating Dean Henderson with a sharp finish. Suddenly, Burnley were level. There was some debate about whether Lesley Ugochukwu handled the ball before setting up Anthony to score, but nobody could argue with the bottom corner finish – no chance for the keeper.

Then came the third: Bashir Humphreys’ header was stopped by Henderson, but Lerma could only turn the rebound into his own net. Palace trudged off at halftime to boos. Glasner sent them back out early, probably after some choice words in the dressing room.

Even with £35 million man Brennan Johnson on the pitch, Palace couldn’t break down Burnley’s defence. Daichi Kamada missed a decent chance, and Martin Dubravka’s save in stoppage time kept out Ismaïla Sarr. In the end, it was Burnley’s small but loud travelling support celebrating. Somehow, their team had pulled off a rare and badly needed win.

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