Emi Buendia

[paul_e]

I'd have had them the other way round but I think them being the best 2 in the tournament is fair from what I've seen, both exceptional goals.

[cdbearsfan]

Not in World Cup squad, sadly. Obviously, the other Emi is.

[olaftab]

Bugger. The little genius will now never play at a world cup.

[Dogtanian]

Gutted for him. 

[Smithy]

That's massively disappointing for him.  I don't think he could have done any more this season. I don't know enough about the players ahead of him to know how big a mistake this is for Argentina, but I would be interested to know what the Argentinian press make of his omission.  Is it a "yeah, tough call but right one" or "what is he thinking?! He's been brilliant in the best league in the world and in European competition this season!"

[Dogtanian]

Does he feature much in the Argentina press?

I have done extensive research (I was on Snapchat for two weeks and had a brief conversation with an Argentinian lad who added me), and found that 100% of Argentinian football fans had heard of Martinez, but not Buendia.

[eamonn]

Ffs... they must have been reading this thread all season and seen how often he was slagged-off. Well done, lads.

[brontebilly]

Disappointing news but likely blow will be softened a bit by a new contract with us. Strange player to omit given the form he finished the season in.

[Hookeysmith]

Disappointing news but likely blow will be softened a bit by a new contract with us. Strange player to omit given the form he finished the season in.

I think an issue is the other little fella they have who plays 10

[Godfrey Brian]

Disappointed for him. On the other hand I do think that players returning from the World Cup with it's emotional and physical demands will struggle at times next season or be more susceptible to injury, so Villa may benefit from Emi's misfortune.

[LeeB]

Disappointed for him, but have a good few weeks off and come back playing like you finished the season kid.

[Brazilian Villain]

Disappointed for him, but have a good few weeks off and come back playing like you finished the season kid.

Agree with this. Knowing Little Emi, missing out on the World Cup squad may fire him up even more.

[SaddVillan]

MacAllister chosen and not Emi?

Swap club shirts and you know who'd have been picked.

[cdbearsfan]

They're completely different players.

[algy]

Disappointed for him, but have a good few weeks off and come back playing like you finished the season kid.

Yeah, overall it’s good for us, and it might be good for little Emi in the long run to have a longer break.

I think we’re going to go in to next season with very real ambitions of a title challenge. Not to say we’ll win that challenge, but with a post-Guardiola Man City and Man Utd having to compete in Europe rather than just the league … I think it’s not unreasonable that we might fancy a crack at top 2.

Could of course go completely tits up, it’ll be harder on us too being in the CL, but you’ve got to dream