Everton boss Roberto Martinez has praised American keeper Tim Howard after the Blues became the Premier League's best defence over the weekend. The Toffees have only conceded 15 goals in their 16 games this season - the joint-least with Southampton - and Howard has the most clean sheets in the league with eight, matched only by West Ham United's Jussi Jaaskelainen.
The Spaniard told the Liverpool Echo: "When you are so dominant in possession as a team, you need great concentration as a goalkeeper because you can go 40 minutes without having a save to make.
"It happened at the Emirates and then you have two saves to make on the trot, and he was so fast and so quick and read the situation so well that they didn't look like good chances.
"Tim is a special footballer and human being at Everton, because he represents everything I want from a player. He has incredible professionalism, a great vision and he influences people around and he is someone as good as you will see in this league.
"Tim has been incredible in terms of understanding how we want to play and he has played an incredible role in how we want to start our play."
