Emiliano Buendía

[Philosopher]

Poor today. In fact he has had more poor games than good ones recently. But because he works hard, and is plucky it often gets overlooked.

I like the man, but for where we want to be competing, he shouldn't be anymore than a squad filler. He is a poor decision maker. Overplays it, plays flicks to no one ( though occasionally they come off) constantly trying to play through balks whether they're on or not, lightweight, slow. It's frustrating to watch for me. He doesn't seem to assess things just looks for the through ball, if it isn’t on he ends up trying to hold on to it and ends overplaying or just giving the ball away. 

He just isn't that good. He's a good player for a lower midtable side. For a team competing in European competition a backup player at best. He is like Traore and Bailey some good moments but not enough, not often enough and between those moments is a lot of ball given away. 

[Thug]

25 minutes ago, Kiwivillan said:

It's beyond tedious especially after win, 10th game in a row unbeaten, and 5th in the league

Yh.

but Buendia and Dendoncker are shit you know.

[Philosopher]

Just now, Thug said:

Yh.

but Buendia and Dendoncker are shit you know.

They aren't shit, but they aren't particularly good either. Dendonker is a man for particular occasions. Buendia is so frustrating for me. I can't stand it when players give the ball away cheaply, and he just does it all the time.

[DJBOB]

8 minutes ago, Philosopher said:

They aren't shit, but they aren't particularly good either. Dendonker is a man for particular occasions. Buendia is so frustrating for me. I can't stand it when players give the ball away cheaply, and he just does it all the time.

He gives it away a decent amount but he also leads the team in chances created outside of set pieces (overall and per 90). 
 
There is a balance of types you need in the squad and while he can be improved, I too find it odd that he gets the most grief whenever he has a bad game. 
 
High risk, high reward. 

[Thug]

13 minutes ago, Philosopher said:

They aren't shit, but they aren't particularly good either. Dendonker is a man for particular occasions. Buendia is so frustrating for me. I can't stand it when players give the ball away cheaply, and he just does it all the time.

But the point is that you take the good with the bad.

On balance, he has a huge hand in our upturn in form.

For every misplaced pass, there is also him leading the charge to win the ball back.  Every single player should be applauded for their contribution to this unbelievable run, but there’s constant criticism of him.

’oh we need to upgrade him’ every game.

There is not one player in our team that couldn’t be upgraded ‘for where we want to be’.  Except Martinez.

 

 

[GlobalVillan]

Haven't read any recent posts. Just cane here to say I bloody love the little guy.

[NoCoder]

Big fan of Buendia and whilst I can get frustrated when he turns the ball over cheaply, that's the risk/reward factor with him. 

 

Our game against Brentford was a perfect example of things not coming off for him, but he was consistently pushing forward and trying to make things happen. He WANTS the ball and will seek it out if he's be out of the play for a while. He's also made some wonderful passes that he not been capitalised on by the receiver, and because those haven't been converted into goals, he gets very little recognition for that work.

[Delphinho123]

1 hour ago, NoCoder said:

Big fan of Buendia and whilst I can get frustrated when he turns the ball over cheaply, that's the risk/reward factor with him. 

 

Our game against Brentford was a perfect example of things not coming off for him, but he was consistently pushing forward and trying to make things happen. He WANTS the ball and will seek it out if he's be out of the play for a while. He's also made some wonderful passes that he not been capitalised on by the receiver, and because those haven't been converted into goals, he gets very little recognition for that work.

I’ve seen this excuse used for him a lot. I’m not saying he doesn’t try and get on the ball and affect games, at times he does, but losing the ball in the centre circle while dribbling into trouble can’t be excused because of ‘risk/reward’.

Also, playing a through ball when it simply isn’t on is not smart play and can’t be excused under the guise of ‘trying to make things happen’. 

If we get the Buendia replacement in the starting XI right in the Summer, we’ll be some side. He’ll still be a very good squad option, for sure. 

[CVByrne]

He's a good player, he's versatile and can play LM/RM or 10/SS and we know he has impact off the bench and always has. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

He’s a good player but he really annoyed me yesterday when he held the ball too long and got dispossessed what too many times. Stop doing that Emi!

[ferguson1]

I like the little fella but honestly if we have aspirations of breaking the top six next season and seasons after, I think we need better. Who I don’t know though.

[UpTheVilla26]

I'll harp on about how good Buendia is, all day long, to anyone who will listen. 

But he was poor last night. I think that was more to do with the fact Fulham seemed to just want to pack numbers behind the ball and he couldn't get in the pocket of spaces he will find.

When he did a few times - he did well - but too often he tried to do a little too much to force us on the front foot. 

I thought a few players had an off night to be fair, it was flat all round, but Emi has played huge part in this run and up turn in form and would be in my starting 11 every week. 

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by UpTheVilla26

[Philosopher]

6 hours ago, DJBOB said:

He gives it away a decent amount but he also leads the team in chances created outside of set pieces (overall and per 90). 
 
There is a balance of types you need in the squad and while he can be improved, I too find it odd that he gets the most grief whenever he has a bad game. 
 
High risk, high reward. 

Disagree! Look at Grealish, rarely gave the ball away for an attacker, but he was also the second highest creator in the league behind DeBruyne while at Villa. The best creators, know when to play penetrative passes and safe passes to retain possession. 

I'm not saying Buendia doesn't have his good points, but for a team aiming to retain possession, more than half the time he is a liability when it comes to keeping the ball.

Coutinho has the same physical limitations as Buendia, the difference is that he doesn't overplay it and makes better decisions. I'm convinced our attack would be better if Coutinho was in the team over Buendia. However the defensive contribution and workrate that Buendia gets through, is hard for Coutinho to match. Coutinho is fragile so that level of work leads to more injuries for him and his dodgy hamstrings.

If Jack Grealish was in this team instead I'd back us for top 4 next season regardless of summer signings. 

[Kiwivillan]

31 minutes ago, ferguson1 said:

I like the little fella but honestly if we have aspirations of breaking the top six next season and seasons after, I think we need better. Who I don’t know though.

We're 2nd in form table since Emery took over and Buendia has played majority of minutes. Go figure

[HalfTimePost]

16 minutes ago, Philosopher said:

Disagree! Look at Grealish, rarely gave the ball away for an attacker, but he was also the second highest creator in the league behind DeBruyne while at Villa. The best creators, know when to play penetrative passes and safe passes to retain possession. 

I'm not saying Buendia doesn't have his good points, but for a team aiming to retain possession, more than half the time he is a liability when it comes to keeping the ball.

Coutinho has the same physical limitations as Buendia, the difference is that he doesn't overplay it and makes better decisions. I'm convinced our attack would be better if Coutinho was in the team over Buendia. However the defensive contribution and workrate that Buendia gets through, is hard for Coutinho to match. Coutinho is fragile so that level of work leads to more injuries for him and his dodgy hamstrings.

If Jack Grealish was in this team instead I'd back us for top 4 next season regardless of summer signings. 

Yeah but Coutinho and Grealish are amongst the best attacking midfielders the league has seen.

I really like Buendia, he has his limitations sure, but we can't be frustrated we don't have him playing like Grealish or prime Coutinho.

[Philosopher]

6 hours ago, Thug said:

But the point is that you take the good with the bad.

On balance, he has a huge hand in our upturn in form.

For every misplaced pass, there is also him leading the charge to win the ball back.  Every single player should be applauded for their contribution to this unbelievable run, but there’s constant criticism of him.

’oh we need to upgrade him’ every game.

There is not one player in our team that couldn’t be upgraded ‘for where we want to be’.  Except Martinez.

 

 

He is in the team to help the team be effective in attack. But his effectiveness comes at the cost of our ability to retain possession, and apply pressure. If we keep possession better we don't have to defend as much. If we are also more effective with that possession, then that's clearly better.

Our attack is only really effective in the transition. This is why we pass the ball around so deep and and invite the high press. This can creat the holes and the space to pass through, and drags the opposition defensive line higher, creating more space in behind for Watkins. This tactic is working for us, but it's high risk, we have had a very nice helping of luck in our recent run, but you can't ride your luck all the time.

However when we are in possession outside our own half we normally  have to play the ball back to the keeper. We struggle to apply prolonged pressure, we struggle to break down low blocks. The Brentford match is.an example of how we struggle when A; the opposition high press is well executed, and B; when opponents get men behind the ball. 

What I'm getting at is, he is a player we have to improve on, if we are to improve the team. And even more specifically, if we can find a better player (suitable to the football we play) to put into the team instead it will make a huge difference to the football we play in a positive manner.

[Philosopher]

2 minutes ago, HalfTimePost said:

Yeah but Coutinho and Grealish are amongst the best attacking midfielders the league has seen.

I really like Buendia, he has his limitations sure, but we can't be frustrated we don't have him playing like Grealish or prime Coutinho.

Exactly, if we went to regularly be in the top six, we need at least one creative player at that level otherwise that is only a pipe dream. Buendia's performances aren't up to par with the results we have been getting.

We are doing brilliantly, but from watching Al the games, we are getting quite a bit of luck, and this run has been built on shear doggedness, and organisation. It's not really sustainable longer term. We need to add more quality to our performances, beyond this season.

[ferguson1]

24 minutes ago, Kiwivillan said:

We're 2nd in form table since Emery took over and Buendia has played majority of minutes. Go figure

Go figure what?  It’s just my opinion that I think we need better from our No 10 and most creative player next season and seasons after. You disagree, fine. Go figure.

[Kiwivillan]

10 minutes ago, ferguson1 said:

Go figure what?  It’s just my opinion that I think we need better from our No 10 and most creative player next season and seasons after. You disagree, fine. Go figure.

Also top of the table last 10 played

[ferguson1]

Just now, Kiwivillan said:

Also top of the table last 10 played

What are you going on about?  Is this all down to Buendia? Why don’t you do something useful and compare Buendia’s assists and goals this season against other midfielders?

Can you not grasp that other posters have a differing opinion?  I think we need better from what should be our most creative player and you disagree, great.  Enjoy your day.