Over the past several seasons, finding a reliable, talented No. 2 netminder has been a difficult task at Villa Park. While the club enjoyed the services of Sweden international Robin Olsen during that timeframe, Olsen was not able to replicate– or even imitate– the impact of top Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez.
Part of the issue with Olsen was his ball distribution, which is a paramount aspect of manager Unai Emery’s system, but to be fair, Olsen did improve in that category throughout the latter stages of his Aston Villa tenure. Still, when the club saw an opportunity to upgrade its backup goalkeeper position amid a flurry of transfer confusion surrounding Martinez, the West Midlands club wasted no time, bringing in established Dutch keeper Marco Bizot into the club for an undisclosed fee.
Since that time, Bizot played regularly during the pre-season in order to acclimate to Emery’s demanding system ahead of the club’s season opener against Newcastle. Martinez was ineligible to feature in Villa’s home opener due to a red card against Manchester United in the club’s final Premier League match of the 2024-25 season, so Bizot was due for an extended run of play against the Magpies.
Bizot with strong display in Premier League opener
Wearing the Claret and Blue at home, Bizot was tested early with a quick shot from Anthony Elanga on the breakaway in the 3rd minute, and the 34-year-old parried the shot safely away from the net. At the tail end of the 16th minute, Bizot turned away a blistering shot from Anthony Gordon off a set piece to keep the match scoreless.
Apart from those instances, Bizot made another key save and claimed three crosses during his Villa debut, and the Dutch netminder was also quite involved during the buildup, a staple of the Villa foundation. However, the match did offer a nervy sequence when Ezri Konsa was sent off on a straight red card in the 66th minute for impeding a clear attempt at goal from Anthony Gordon. Regardless, Bizot maintained control of the 10-man Villa squad and continued his effort to blank Newcastle, leading to an eventual scoreless draw.
Though Villa was only able to secure one point in its first match, Bizot logged an encouraging performance, one that may not have turned out so favorably if Olsen had remained part of the Claret and Blue. After the match, Emery offered his evaluation of the new Aston Villa goalkeeper in his club debut.
“[His performance was] fantastic,” Emery told Birmingham Live. “Fantastic because it was his debut at home against Newcastle. There are a lot of tactical ways we needed to do with the goalkeeper. He tried them and he was focusing to try to start two-one, three-twos with our centerbacks and midfielders, sometimes getting the fullbacks involved and getting the ball to [Ollie] Watkins.
“He took some risks and played with confidence,” Emery said. “His first save gave him confidence to play and feel strong in our structure. I am so happy because we need all of our players, and we will need him.”
Having served his mandatory one-match suspension, Martinez will be available to play for Villa against Brentford on Saturday, Aug. 23, but the emergence of Bizot as a more-than-competent backup goalkeeper should inspire belief in Villa’s prospects across four competitions this season. Bizot has Champions League experience from his time at Stade Brestois 29 last year, and that backlog of critical game time should prove valuable in Europa League, as Emery has been known to heavily rotate his squad.
Now, Villa finds itself in more of a 1-A, 1-B situation with Martinzes and Bizot as opposed to the clear-cut No. 1 and No. 2 arrangement between Dibu and Olsen from a season ago.