Emi Buendia

[Dave]

Strikes me as the sort of player who could become amazing with the right coaching.

But without it will spend the next eight years bouncing between the bottom six of the Premier League and top six of the Championship.

[LeeB]

Strikes me as the sort of player who could become amazing with the right coaching.

But without it will spend the next eight years bouncing between the bottom six of the Premier League and top six of the Championship.

I worry that like Adama Traore, with the best coaching in the world you can only lead the horse to water. I hope I'm wrong.

[Brend'Watkins]

I thought he was okay today, not great but had an eye for a pass which was effective at times. He was also better than Ramsey who was sloppy and wasteful throughout. Worked hard mind.

[PaulTheVillan]

Really like his work rate. Just don’t know where his best position is. Emery seems to have a structured shape, so I think his days are numbered.

[john2710]

More often than not he picks the wrong option, when he does pick the right option, the pass is usually misplaced. He's no further forward than he was 18 months ago.

If he's in the team as the link man it's not working. Like Cash, if he doesn't start to deliver Emery will bring in someone who can.

[Risso]

Strikes me as the sort of player who could become amazing with the right coaching.

But without it will spend the next eight years bouncing between the bottom six of the Premier League and top six of the Championship.

I worry that like Adama Traore, with the best coaching in the world you can only lead the horse to water. I hope I'm wrong.

I think you're right Lee. He's missing attributes that all of the coaching in the world won't fix. He's a decent player, but we overpaid for him, and I think that once that Emery starts to build his squad, he'll be one of the first casualties.

[Dave]

Like Cash, if he doesn't start to deliver Emery will bring in someone who can.

Alternatively, Emery is being handsomely paid to turn the £35m international for the current World champions into a better player than he is currently showing.

It's not always about throwing another record transfer fee at another attacker.

[Toronto Villa]

Strikes me as the sort of player who could become amazing with the right coaching.

But without it will spend the next eight years bouncing between the bottom six of the Premier League and top six of the Championship.

I worry that like Adama Traore, with the best coaching in the world you can only lead the horse to water. I hope I'm wrong.

I think you're right Lee. He's missing attributes that all of the coaching in the world won't fix. He's a decent player, but we overpaid for him, and I think that once that Emery starts to build his squad, he'll be one of the first casualties.

He’s a good player like Ollie, but Brentford and Norwich probably got an extra £15-20m more than they should have. Hindsight is ace like that though as it it undefeated. I’m sure West Ham fans think the same about buying Benrahma. Both he and Ollie will be a useful squad players but we can’t rely on them long term as starters.

[KevinGage]

Still the same questions about him we were asking when he first came in, he's not progressing. His workrate at least buys him time

He was better today. But for a supposed creative player his passing is well off.

I get the arguement that creative players will give the ball away more if they are attempting the unexpected. But even his basic passing is, at times, sloppy.

[tomd2103]

Still the same questions about him we were asking when he first came in, he's not progressing. His workrate at least buys him time

He was better today. But for a supposed creative player his passing is well off.

I get the arguement that creative players will give the ball away more if they are attempting the unexpected. But even his basic passing is, at times, sloppy.

Was good first half, but then gave the ball away far too often in the second half again.  Said on the commentary I watched that he went straight down the tunnel after getting subbed.

[Risso]

Like Cash, if he doesn't start to deliver Emery will bring in someone who can.

Alternatively, Emery is being handsomely paid to turn the £35m international for the current World champions into a better player than he is currently showing.

It's not always about throwing another record transfer fee at another attacker.

It's not Emery's fault that we overpaid for Buendia. I'm not entirely sure yet what Unai's 'system' will be when he gets his own players, but Buendia is going to be a tough one to make work whatever it is. You can see that Bailey is a classic winger, he's just an inconsistent one. He's got the pace and the skills to play wide in a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3. Buendia hasn't got the pace to play as a winger, isn't strong enough to play centrally, and his passing is mostly really sloppy. Getting him to cut that out would be a start, but even if he does, if we get another forward player in I think little Emi will be making way.

[Villan For Life]

His passing at PL level is very poor and he can be anonymous and goes missing. The first half against Leeds he may as well have been back home on the sofa watching the game on TV for all the effect he had. He improved after the break but he should be at least be trying to influence the game for the whole 90 minutes. There’s certainly better out there and I can see him heading to one of the sides that get promoted to the PL at the end of this season.

[Mister E]

It's not Emery's fault that we overpaid for Buendia. I'm not entirely sure yet what Unai's 'system' will be when he gets his own players, but Buendia is going to be a tough one to make work whatever it is. You can see that Bailey is a classic winger, he's just an inconsistent one. He's got the pace and the skills to play wide in a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3. Buendia hasn't got the pace to play as a winger, isn't strong enough to play centrally, and his passing is mostly really sloppy. Getting him to cut that out would be a start, but even if he does, if we get another forward player in I think little Emi will be making way.

Buendia certainly does not seem to have the physical attributes to be a star in this league even if he has moments of brilliance.
And, Bailey's occasional moments of brilliance do not mask the fact that he does not take on and beat his fullback very often and misses chances that a top player should be burying.
I think both are - at best - squad players in a world where we are actively seeking to make significant improvement.

[Clampy]

I was going to bring up Bailey. He seems capable of scoring belters but he had two really good chances again yesterday and he should be putting at least one of them away. I think he'll need replacing eventually. I think Emery might  bring in Zaha when his contract is up.

[oldhill_avfc]

Buendia, Bailey and Ings - reasonable punts with the Grealish money, but none have proved good enough on a consistent basis.  One down, two to go.