Henry Martín, transformation at its maximum value

Club América managed to put together a solid team in the regular phase and one of the important pieces in the tournament was Henry Martín. The Mexican went from being criticized for his lack of goalscoring to becoming the team’s most decisive footballer, which has already led him to have the highest value of his career with 4.9 million dollars, according to Transfermarkt.

It was coach Miguel Herrera who signed him for the capital team in 2018, after directing it in Tijuana, a team that let him go along with other elements (Carlos Vargas and Joe Corona) in exchange for the experienced Pablo Aguilar. From the beginning, the Mexican coach clarified that the role of the Yucatecan would be more revulsive, however now he is the undisputed starter and went from being worth 1.6 million to 4.9 since he arrived at the club.

In this championship, Henry Martín did what no forward had achieved in the team since the Apertura 2016 and that is to reach the ‘double digit’ in the regular phase, something that Silvio Romero achieved with 10 goals, however the injuries did not respect him, He left the team just six months later and few imagined the ‘hole’ he left in one of the most demanding teams in the country.

America invested millions in search of goals but without success

At this point it should be noted that, at the time, he competed for the title under the command of Santiago Solari, however, none of the scorers took the position convincingly from the perspective of the Argentine. Unfortunately for the team’s ’21’, he saw many attackers parade before receiving his great opportunity and this meant a strong investment for the Eagles board.

After the departure of ‘Chino’ Romero, America has spent 63.6 million to hire offensive players to date. Of this figure, 25 million were in forward centers, having failed elements such as Nicolás Castillo, Roger Martínez himself who was converted to a winger and who remains on the squad as well as Federico Viñas, who only his first season was highlighted.

For his part, Martín did not mean any expense for the team and the player’s patience paid off, since he already signed the best tournament of his career where he has added 13 goals and six official assists. However, the path did not look so promising until a few months ago when they even placed him as one of the players with the option to leave the squad already with the tournament started.

Martín, from criticism to good numbers

The striker confessed that his losing streak led him to feel depressed. The criticisms were constant about his performance and even increased with his constant calls to the Mexican team where he was dragged by the bad moment of those led by Gerardo Martino. The pressure in a team like América is not easy, however it is something that a footballer must be prepared to deal with.

“A club like America, with a lot of presence, does impose and the player has to be 100 percent,” said Enrique Inzunza, a psychologist with a master’s degree in physical activity and sports psychology for El Economista. Regarding what Henry Martín had to work on to overcome his losing streak, he assured that there are several factors: “You have to work on motivation. concentration, managing anxiety and self-confidence, however if something characterizes the players who are in the first division it is their character, most of them must be foolproof”, he explained.

Precisely the mental issue is, from his perspective, the difference between the players who stay in a club -like Martín- and others who leave after a few months without being able to advance in their career. He also emphasized that the bad streaks as well as the good ones are not eternal, so it is essential to be mentally prepared for when they pass.

To conclude, he assured that both the closing of Liga MX and the World Cup can be two sources of motivation even though they are completely different events.

“They can go hand in hand very well (both tournaments), you can make an excellent intersection if you are in good shape and thus maintain that curve (rising performance) so as not to slow down (…) in the mental field you must take advantage of the good moment both to finish well in the league and for the start of the World Cup”, he concluded.

yoshua.navarro@eleconomista.mx