Yahoo News Unai Emery makes one thing clear about Robin Olsen as he addresses Emi Martinez absence
Unai Emery and Matty Cash have both picked out Robin Olsen's experience as one key quality which puts Aston Villa in safe hands heading into their first European semi-final since 1982, despite missing the world's number one Emi Martinez.
Olsen, who turned 34 earlier this year, brings a wealth of experience to the Villa dressing room having earned 73 caps for Sweden and a further 18 in the Champions League at club level, including at Real Madrid, Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Porto.
"Robin Olsen has been consistent and we needed him for different reasons," Emery said. "He is always ready to play and to help us. For example, I remember against Tottenham (in January 2023) when he played and we won. This is the idea we have with Robin. He’s always for us very important, to have the opportunity to play in case Emiliano can’t because he’s a very good professional, a very good man and everyone respects him a lot.
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"When he is playing he is being successful with his characteristics and the performances we want. To be here with Emi Martinez is very difficult but Robin is always very respectful of the situation and he wants to help us here with the moments we can give him to play.
"This is the first objective we can have for a goalkeeper, to accept it and be ready to play and to help us when we need, that’s what we need for someone behind Emi."
Cash, who was also in attendance at this afternoon's pre-match press conference, said of Olsen's experience: "Robin has played so many games for his country. He is a really experienced player. Emi is probably the world No.1 at the minute but Robin is a fantastic goalkeeper.
"When one drops out, another one comes in and Robin has more than enough experience. He has played loads of games this season and done really well. I am not the one to tell him he, he knows he is."
Emery continued: "When I arrived we are progressively getting more players in their national teams and I want to try to develop players. Some development helps them get into their national teams or even now playing in Europe.
"Someone they don’t have experiences, but we are here for the first time taking experiences together. The players who are in the squad this year, it is important to share or to have the first experiences together.
"To be in Europe is sometimes necessary to have some experiences to focus or to fight in some difficult moments. In Lille we had this and I tried to explain that we needed to be ready to play 90 minutes and then extra-time and even penalties."
