That’s according to former Arsenal star Emmanuel Petit, who hasn’t held back in his criticism of the Aston Villa star in an interview with Rothen s’enflamme.
Martinez endured a difficult evening in France on Wednesday as he and his Aston Villa team were beaten 3-1 by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarterfinals.
The Argentine received the expected negative reception from the crowd in the Parc des Princes, who had been waiting eagerly to show how much they dislike him from the moment the draw was made.
The Aston Villa goalkeeper is very much public enemy number one for French football fans after his antics in the World Cup final in Qatar in 2022 first started their rivalry.
Martinez has fanned the flames since that point and French fans and pundits are more than happy to criticise him at every given opportunity.
There is no apparent end to the ongoing feud, with neither party making an effort to bring an end to it either, but Petit believes the Aston Villa man needs to undergo some personal development first.
“I blame Martínez for going too far. Enough is enough,” he said.
“I’m the first to accept that teasing is part of football and life in general, but it shouldn’t constantly descend into denigration, it shouldn’t be disrespectful, it shouldn’t descend into harassment.
“We have the impression that in every match, we expect something out of bounds from him.
“I think he’s a very good goalkeeper, and he doesn’t need to give himself extreme motivation. But everywhere he goes, he leaves an exasperating image of his behaviour.
“He recently said in an interview that he never goes too far. The boy needs to undergo psychotherapy, to see a psychiatrist, because we don’t have the same definition of what is out of bounds. This guy, frankly, needs to learn to control himself emotionally.”
So, Emmanuel Petit there, in one breath insisting Emiliano Martinez has taken things too far, and in the next saying the Aston Villa star needs psychotherapy.
Tres bien Emmanuel, tres bien.
