Adel Taarabt vs Emi Buendia

[The Great Mass Debater 1,078]

In prior seasons I cannot think of a single player who dominated the Championship and was head and shoulders above the rest of the players in that league than Adel Taarabt.

Putting yellow-green glasses to one side and trying to nullify the Primacy/Recency effect, how does Emi compare?

Emi is being talked about in the 40-50m bracket, Im not sure what fees were flung around with him.

On the international stage Emi has a huge number of competitors for a place in one of the top international sides in the world so anything he achieves with them is massive. Taarabt never had that opportunity, though had he opted fro France not Morocco there would be equivalence.

The two have similar scoring rates with Taarabt scoring 26 goals in 109 appearances for QPR (34 in 157 if you include loan games) with Emi scoring 24 in 113. Not sure how assists match up.

 

Obviously very diffent players, but with Emi having won player of the year leading Norwich to the title I thought the comparison was worth discussing.

 

On another note how does Emi compare to Wes? Wes a Norwich legend and at the heartbeat of everything we did. Wes never really provided a direct goal threat, but Emi has clearly added this to his game this season (OK he scored goals when he was last in the championship and it may just have been the step up so it might be harsh to say it wasnt there before, but perhaps he was deeper in the Premier League with the focus being more on playmaking). Whenever Wes was out of the side I thought we lacked creativity, but when he did play it reduced the drect goal threat someone in his position might be expected to have. Yet Wes is such a Canaries legend again I thought the comparison was worth discussing.

If Emi moves this season he will have had 3 seasons with us, compared to best part of a decade with Wes. How does that compare in terms of legend status? I've heard many say Emi is the best player they have ever seen in yellow and green

[Surfer 1,547]

Emi is the best player ai have ever seen play for Norwich. The phrase “legends” deserves burying, it means fanciful stories about those who died centuries ago or never existed at all. 

[Terminally Yellow 2,448]

Wes > Emi.

Most will disagree.

[hogesar 9,618]

1 minute ago, Terminally Yellow said:

Wes > Emi.

Most will disagree.

Loved watching Wes and one of my favourite players of all time but Emi is some distance better and his career trajectory will prove that.

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

1 minute ago, Terminally Yellow said:

Wes > Emi.

Most will disagree.

Love Wes but it’s not even close for me, Emi is much the better player

[Trevor Hockey's Beard 526]

Defensively, with Wes in the team we had 10 players on the pitch, whereas Emi does a lot of defensive work - some of it very good. Wes was great, but IMHO Emi is the best player we've had since Martin Peters ( and no I'm not going to compare those two).

[AJ 1,218]

2 hours ago, Terminally Yellow said:

Wes > Emi.

Most will disagree.

Let's not forget that was also Wes in his prime - Emi is still very much developing and will go on to do a lot more than he is for us now!

Emi is a monster, defensively as important as his attack. For me that makes him a far more valuable and effective player than Taarabt. There's no doubt he had quality, but for me Emi is arguably one of the best players to have ever played in the Championship with his efforts last season. I would imagine Emi's chances created and assists would trump Taarabts performances

[vos 155]

Taarabt was fairly useful. Where is he these days ??

[hogesar 9,618]

12 minutes ago, AJ said:

Let's not forget that was also Wes in his prime - Emi is still very much developing and will go on to do a lot more than he is for us now!

Emi is a monster, defensively as important as his attack. For me that makes him a far more valuable and effective player than Taarabt. There's no doubt he had quality, but for me Emi is arguably one of the best players to have ever played in the Championship with his efforts last season. I would imagine Emi's chances created and assists would trump Taarabts performances

Worth noting Wes' best ever season for us was in the Championship with 10 goals and 7 assists.

Buendia has destroyed that with 15 goals and 16 assists this season, at a younger age.

[duke63 541]

The most influential player I have ever seen play for us was Martin O'Neill.

When he played he raised the team to another level.

However Emi is the most talented player I have ever seen in a City shirt. Never seen anyone else do some of the things he does with the ball at his feet.

 

[Mark .Y. 351]

I am happy to say that Emi is the best player I have ever seen in the yellow and green. Like all clubs, we have had some "greats" over the years but this guy has done things that none of those could do...............and done them consistently.

As others have pointed out, it's not just his sublime attacking skills, his defensive work has been incredible too. 

[Ken Hairy 3,760]

We all love Wes, but come on Emi is a far far superior player. 

[Thirsty Lizard 3,155]

Best player I've seen for us was Chris Sutton. He scored 25 goals in a Premier League season. Was transferred for £5 million which was a record for a British player at the time. To give you an idea of what that means in today's money the modern equivalent fee would be £90 million. 

[All the Germans 1,075]

5 hours ago, Terminally Yellow said:

Wes > Emi.

Most will disagree.

I don't think the use of the word "most" gives credit to quite how unanimous the general opinion is against that statement. And it's not even close; Emi by a country mile.

[Terminally Yellow 2,448]

55 minutes ago, All the Germans said:

I don't think the use of the word "most" gives credit to quite how unanimous the general opinion is against that statement. And it's not even close; Emi by a country mile.

That's because you're all heathens on this board.

Wes is the best player to put on the yellow and green since the turn of the millennium. 

When you're all clinging on to the three seasons Emi had with us, I'll be salivating over 9 seasons of Wessi in which he did it all for us.

And all this talk about Emi's career trajectory; I couldn't give a flying **** what he does at other clubs. For me, it's all about what you do as a Norwich player. And Wes is still king as far as I'm concerned. 

 

[Krul Mistress 36]

3 minutes ago, Terminally Yellow said:

That's because you're all heathens on this board.

Wes is the best player to put on the yellow and green since the turn of the millennium. 

When you're all clinging on to the three seasons Emi had with us, I'll be salivating over 9 seasons of Wessi in which he did it all for us.

And all this talk about Emi's career trajectory; I couldn't give a flying **** what he does at other clubs. For me, it's all about what you do as a Norwich player. And Wes is still king as far as I'm concerned. 

 

It's fine to be sentimental but that isn't really the debate. I have fonder memories of Steve Morison than Harry Kane but that doesn't make him a better player.

[Terminally Yellow 2,448]

3 minutes ago, Krul Mistress said:

It's fine to be sentimental but that isn't really the debate. I have fonder memories of Steve Morison than Harry Kane but that doesn't make him a better player.

I'm sorry, where are these rules by which you govern me by?

My opinion is he's better. End of.

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

3 hours ago, vos said:

Taarabt was fairly useful. Where is he these days ??

Benfica.

After a couple of years in the wilderness, banished to their B-Team due to his attitude and lack of fitness, not even getting Morocco caps and and looking to go down the David Bentley / Ravel Morrison path... he's been rejuvinated and returned as a deep lying playmaker, completely different role on the pitch, and is still a really classy player.

 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

6 hours ago, Terminally Yellow said:

Wes > Emi.

Most will disagree.

Don't even play in the same position so little point in comparing.

[Midlands Yellow 3,942]

Champagne to Pomagne is fair a comparison.

[Krul Mistress 36]

1 hour ago, Terminally Yellow said:

I'm sorry, where are these rules by which you govern me by?

My opinion is he's better. End of.

Glad that's cleared up.

[Tetteys Jig 830]

In an ideal world, Emi deserves at least a season of prem football in a competitive side like Wes had. I really think that if we kept him and got a couple more solid signings of Gibson standard and/or Skipp came back we would see Emi at full potential at prem level.

You still hear the whole "only 1 prem goal" blah blah blah and in some ways it's true, he does need to prove he can assert himself more on games at prem level but he needs the right players around him to enable that as proven when we play at championship level.

Emi is still very much unfulfilled potential with a far higher ceiling than Wes ever had but I think we saw Wes for his best years.

On that note, I'm still going for Wes purely on time at our club. I expect Emi to either overtake him next season with us or move to a big club and become an elite player of World football.

[Nuff Said 5,089]

I can understand there’s a debate about who is the bigger club legend out of Wes and Emi, but the better player? Emi, no further questions your honour.

 

Emi VS Maddison is a more reasonable “better player” debate surely?

[Jim Smith 2,314]

We can survive without Buendia. I think the Forest away performance was important in terms of showing that and was arguably one of our best of the season. It will need Dowell to really come good but we can do it. 
 

However in terms of the sheer volume of key passes I can’t really recall anyone like it. Perhaps Crook at his best but I can’t really remember a player we’ve had who plays so many chance creating through balls. That’s what we will lose if we sell so the question is can we replace that creativity with two or three players who perhaps create in a slightly different way. 

[The Great Mass Debater 1,078]

Imagine if Emi could take a free-kick

[Six Pack 92]

They are different players so you can't compare. Martin Peters, Sutton & Martin O'Neil have been mentioned - they play in different positions and have different skill-sets. I regard Hoolahan as one of the best players to have played for our club (I've followed since 1975). I think these last 2 championship seasons have seen the most spectacular football from our team in my lifetime of following but putting things into perspective. In the new era (where foreign players dominate the British game) we have been a yo-yo club in the Premiership with the exception of those 3 seasons from 2011-2014. Of course we can't foot it with the other clubs due to their wealth and superior footballing squads - we retained are status because we had special players like Hoolahan who could hold on to the ball and get the others passing it. We would lose if Hoolahan was left out - this was evident when Hughton left Hoolahan out of the team in that final season - we got relegated ! He (Hoohahan) didn't score many goals or make the final assist but he would be prominent in the buildup to a goal - good example was his role Pilkington's goal vs Manure which we won 1-0. Yes it was dreary stuff, unlike the football we are currently producing, but it was effective in terms results against the top teams. So you can't compare - if Buendia stays & plays in the prem as well as Hoolahan did - then it would go a long way towards the "legend" label. He's a great great player - no one denies that !  

[Fromage Frais 10]

On 21/05/2021 at 18:05, Thirsty Lizard said:

Best player I've seen for us was Chris Sutton. He scored 25 goals in a Premier League season. Was transferred for £5 million which was a record for a British player at the time. To give you an idea of what that means in today's money the modern equivalent fee would be £90 million. 

This is my line of thinking also.

Skill/Gifted vs Effectiveness.

EB is a wonderful player but in terms of effectiveness at the top level the jury is out his stock is higher no than after the relegation but if a team had wanted to pay 30+ million for him he would have been out the door.

Playing devils advocate they saw a very industrious player with top draw technique, pace not so much and not scoring enough goals which meant that whilst they would consider a good price for him he would be much more valuable to us.  

From back in the day the legends from 87 - 05 dined at the top table and Europe and it unlikely that we will see their like again for some time (if ever).
 

 

[Feedthewolf 4,844]

At his best, Taarabt was even better than Emi in terms of pure genius. Trouble is, his best was generally for about 10% of his playing time. For all the sullenness and bad attitude that occasionally blighted Emi's game for us in his first two years, Taarabt was a total loose cannon who played when, how and if he felt like it. Emi's a true team player with a phenomenal work ethic, and is a better all-round player.

Wes and Emi is a totally fair comparison conversation; Wes came through numerous different managers, many of them poor, and still looked a cut above even at PL level. Imagine Wes in his prime pulling the strings in a Farke team... just wow.

[mastoola 183]

How anybody thinks Wes is in the same league as Emi is beyond belief. Wes flattered to disbelieve. Gave the ball away to many times. Didn't create as much as everyone cares to remember. Never tackled back or added anything defensive to the team. No way Wes was a premier league player let alone a champions league player.

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

On 21/05/2021 at 20:59, Terminally Yellow said:

I'm sorry, where are these rules by which you govern me by?

My opinion is he's better. End of.

So if you could trade out Buendia now for Wessi - prime Wessi for arguments sake - would you accept the trade?

I certainly would not.