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The Argentine keeper – on loan at Reading – was angered by comments the duo made about former Gunners coach Gerry Peyton
Emiliano Martinez was left shocked by comments made by Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski about former Arsenal goalkeeping coach Gerry Peyton and has branded the pair ‘disrespectful’.
Peyton was brought to Arsenal by Arsene Wenger in 2003 and spent 15 years at the north London club before leaving in the summer following the Frenchman’s departure.
During his time at Arsenal, Peyton worked with numerous goalkeepers, including the likes of Jens Lehmann and Manuel Almunia, and was an integral part of Wenger’s coaching staff.
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But there were always suggestions behind the scenes that he could be difficult to work with, with Szczesny’s departure rumoured to be down to a fall-out with the Irishman.
And, in November last year, the Juventus keeper fuelled those suggestions during an interview he did alongside Fabianski – who also worked with Peyton at Arsenal.
Both keepers were far from complimentary about Peyton, with both visibly laughing as they described some of his coaching methods.
“Let me give you an example,” said Szczesny. “A delicate one, but it’s one of these. First, you laugh and then you are like, ‘I’m playing for Arsenal, and I hear stuff like that’.
“Before a Chelsea game, I hear this, ‘Watch out, Hazard, when shooting penalties tries to shoot to the corner opposite to the one you dive’.
“That’s funny, but then you analyse it and say, ‘Holy sh*t, he was for real’.”
Fabianski also had his say and, when asked to sum up what type of coach Peyton was, he added: “I don’t know what he was.”
The interview was widely shared by Arsenal fans and was picked up across the English media.
Martinez, however, who worked with Peyton for seven years at Arsenal having arrived from Argentina as a teenager in 2012, felt the comments made by his former team-mates were unfair.
The 26-year-old – currently on loan with Championship side Reading – told Goal : “I think that was really disrespectful what they said about Gerry. I don’t agree with what they said about him.
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“When I read that, it was a massive shock. For me, I have massive respect for Gerry. He made some really good keepers at the top level and had been at Arsenal for so many years.
“I improved so much with him. Obviously, Javi [Garcia] is there now, a bit more of a modern coach who wants to play out from the back.
“But in terms of Gerry’s positioning and handling, he was one of the best. So, for me, what they said was very disrespectful.”