Argentina are the World Cup winners and Emi Martinez is the hero.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper was brilliant in the final. He was decisive in the shoot-out and he made one of the World Cup’s great saves in the dying seconds of extra-time from Randal Kolo-Muani.
Martinez is, correctly, being heralded for his performance in the final, but Jamie Carragher believes that there’s someone else who deserves a bit of credit.
Indeed, the pundit states that former Aston Villa goalkeeping coach, Neil Cutler, shouldn’t be overlooked in terms of the influence he’s had on Martinez’s rise to fame.
Carragher is spot on, Cutler deserves a lot of credit for the work he’s done with Martinez.
Let’s not forget, the Argentine was a massively unproven entity when he arrived at Villa Park in 2020, but he’s grown in both stature and confidence since becoming a regular number one for the Midlands club.
It was just three years ago that this young man was playing for Reading in the Championship, but now, he’s a World Cup winner and a national hero – that may be the most incredible rise in football history.
Of course, a player doesn’t transform in such a way without the right level of coaching, and that’s where Cutler comes in.
Cutler did a fantastic job with Martinez, being praised as the best English goalkeeping coach around by the Villa star, but sadly, he left the club not long after Steven Gerrard’s sacking.
It remains to be seen where Cutler ends up, but whoever does hire him will be getting a fantastic coach.
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