Emiliano Buendía

[andym]

Nothing worked for him 1st half, although i will say at least he never hid and still tried to put himself about, which is more than can be said for others.

2nd half he was central to anything good we did.

Weirdly, although his nominal position was out on the right 2nd half, nearly all of his good work came down the middle; he seems to naturally gravitate there. However, if he's designated to play in the middle, he looks nowhere near the same player; it's like some strange mental block.

[M_Afro]

He was great second half. Our best player. Get the balance of the team right and he will be class. Our awful midfield is killing us. If someone offered me £15m plus for McGinn I would (regrettably) accept it. He is a top bloke and a decent player but he totally unbalances us.

[PaulC]

Saw signs second half that he can be a really good no.10 for us. A class above the rest of our team during that period. 

[Wezbid]

He might start lasting the 90 mins if he isn't covering ground that other players should be closing down. He nearly did a loop around Watkins first half. He's grinding so much off the ball he's fecked when he actually gets it. 

[VillaChris]

Not sure what the huge shock is, he's just not that good imo. I know people will go "stats at Norwich" but he's not the first player to look good in relegated team and championship and struggle to step up to team that wants to push higher.

Of course a player like him will always pop up during the season with some quality moments as he has done during games e.g. Brentford goal and the nice assist last week. For 30m + though you want someone who can constantly get oppo defences on the backfoot when he gets the ball in final third.

So far he's been less productive than Barkley was for us after his first 10 games so hopefully it's the opposite and he'll improve soon while Barkley just faded into obscurity.

[Keener window-cleaner]

Ppl have issues with him going off? Did you lot see how much he ran the whole game? The amount of sprints and pressing?

he proved his critics wrong today, he was strong and won the ball back many times, played so many delicate passes and created so many chances for us. He is a level above all others in this team with his vision and passing. Was finally played in a position where he could express himself and get the ball. I long so much for him to play in the same team as Luiz and Traoré so that he has at least some playerrs on the same level as him and can play football with. I thought Bailey would be one of them, but at least today he didn't show anything of that. 

[Tom13]

I love how he plays unpredictable passes that others wouldn't see. Guy is the least of our worries. He will come good, very good.

[PaulC]

3 minutes ago, Tom13 said:

I love how he plays unpredictable passes that others wouldn't see. Guy is the least of our worries. He will come good, very good.

Yes totally agree. hes a very very good player who will only get better. 

[Kuwabatake Sanjuro]

40 minutes ago, Tom13 said:

I love how he plays unpredictable passes that others wouldn't see. Guy is the least of our worries. He will come good, very good.

Especially if the next manager favours a more progressive possession based game.

[cbr600rr]

i think he will come good , he ripped up the championship.

when villa go down he must stay as he can do it in championship .

hes done nothing the prem ever , with villa or norwich .

at 40m its a snip when you think no one will buy him off villa & you have a ready made player for the championship.

in short -a clucking waste of 40m spent, very poor

[Follyfoot]

Some of that stuff he turned out in the second half with spellbinding.I reckon we’ve got a bargain

[Digavilla]

I am Villa for many years , i from an foreign land , i observe there’s a obvious difference preference for certain of players in the midland. 
I observe many here prefer their midfielder to do everything themselves, tackle / drive on / box to box , more steel, in the mould of Yaya Toure / Ian Taylor etc . 
The smaller creative type with technical skill / guile / movement / passing skill etc a ala David Silva / Foden is not appreciated as muchI. Wheteelse the London teams are more receptive to the smaller Modric/ Eriksen / David Silva etc of the world., City even erecting a statue for Silva..

Just a observation over the years 
 

[WHY]

Was better second half but yet another massive over reaction on here. When he plays better, he’s a no.10 when his rubbish, he’s being played in the wrong position. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a signing defended so much. There are times when he needs to release the ball earlier, isn’t good or strong enough to hold on to it. He’s a much better player when he plays on his instinct.

[Tom13]

3 hours ago, cbr600rr said:

i think he will come good , he ripped up the championship.

when villa go down he must stay as he can do it in championship .

hes done nothing the prem ever , with villa or norwich .

at 40m its a snip when you think no one will buy him off villa & you have a ready made player for the championship.

in short -a clucking waste of 40m spent, very poor

Yeah nothing in the Prem, just third in chances created behind KDB and Jack when he was with Norwich.

[rodders0223]

Smith still thinks he's a No.10 until he realised AGAIN half way through the game he's not a No. 10. He's been absolutely dicked about.

Fitness is a worry through the whole squad. It's the PL. Hard graft is expected and you shouldn't be framing after 70 mins.

[Zatman]

11 hours ago, VillaChris said:

Not sure what the huge shock is, he's just not that good imo. I know people will go "stats at Norwich" but he's not the first player to look good in relegated team and championship and struggle to step up to team that wants to push higher.

Of course a player like him will always pop up during the season with some quality moments as he has done during games e.g. Brentford goal and the nice assist last week. For 30m + though you want someone who can constantly get oppo defences on the backfoot when he gets the ball in final third.

So far he's been less productive than Barkley was for us after his first 10 games so hopefully it's the opposite and he'll improve soon while Barkley just faded into obscurity.

He was our best attacker last night

[gwi1890]

3 hours ago, Zatman said:

He was our best attacker last night

And defensive 

[roonst83]

He would’ve been great for us last season. 

Think he’s guilty of trying too hard and dwells on the ball too long. Clearly has a good footballing brain. Just isn’t working for him at the moment but then he’s in a team that’s clueless right now too. 

Edited November 6, 2021 by roonst83

[Keyblade]

I think he's still getting used to the speed of the league. He's in that trance that most of our team was at this stage in 19/20 including Jack Grealish. You can very obviously see his quality though. Once he gets to grips with how much time he actually has on the ball, he'll be absolutely deadly. I think only De Bruyne in this league can see and execute the through balls that he can.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

Playing him in his right position would be a start, rather than trying to crowbar him into the 10 spot to fulfil some weird fetish for having your midfield overran.