Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
AJ

Will selling Emi Buendia make us a better side?

Recommended Posts

Like many on here, I am fairly disappointed with Emi leaving. In a lot of ways it was inevitable, I just thought we might get one more season given we got promoted as champions guaranteeing him a season of PL football at a club he's loved by the fans and management alike as a star player. But mainly, because I feel like he deserves to do better than going to Villa. 

Now the dust has settled a bit and a few days have past, I started to think about the implications that his departure will leave which bought me onto the question of whether Emi leaving will actually make us a better side? Were we relying too much on Emi to provide the good? Will other players step up in his absence?

A few seasons ago we sold arguably the best young attacking player in English football to Leicester for a tidy sum, along with the Murphy's. We used that money to balance the books and reinvest in a whole host of talent that saw us sign the likes of Vrancic, Stiepermann, Hernandez, Leitner, and a angry argentinian named Emi Buendia. The overhaul saw us go from midtable nobodies to league champions as we became a far better squad having sold that outstanding talent! Unfortunately we had overspent to get that far, and took some calculated risks that saw us barely improve the squad and sadly fail to do ourselves justice in the top flight.

When we got relegated with barely a whimper, I was happy we managed to keep hold of our prized assets despite the vultures swirling around our talented youngsters. Seeing Emi and Cantwell benched whilst their heads got turned, and seeing Godfrey sadly depart but getting a superb move to Everton to follow in similar footsteps to James Maddison, and then seeing us allow Jamal to jump ship to Newcastle to cash in on his promise.

Fast forward to now and looking back it was arguably some very shrewd but good business by Webber once again. We've replaced a shaky Godfrey with the brilliant and reliable Gibson, who along with the brilliant capture of Skipp allowed us to plug some worryingly leaky holes in our defensive unit. We replaced Jamal with a fully fledged Greek international who when he entered the team shored up that left side no end, as well as adding an attacking threat we had lost with Jamal leaving. Arguably both players at the time were big upgrades on Jamal and Godfrey, they might not have the same high future potential, but they can deliver the goods now and that's what matters, plus we still had some money left from those deals to cover the inevitable off-set of losses from the pandemic in terms of tickets and merchandise. 

Add into that the fact we have been nurturing Dowell over the season which saw him come in towards the end and start to put in some impressive performances in that front 4, that leaves me thinking even with Emi going we arguably have far better and more balanced squad than we did starting our PL adventure 2 seasons ago. We still have the entire summer window to go, and if we do pocket an initial £33m from the sale of Emi but keep hold of remaining main assets and Aarons and Cantwell it is leaving me cautiously optimistic Webber can once again pull some rabbits out of his hat and bring in some new magic. Rumours of Skipp here for another season already swirling, mention of a talented winger coming in to replace Emi.

I'm not foolish to dream... am I?

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Gutted that Emi has gone, especially to Villa! But yes it could mean we will have a more balanced team going forward. I feel like we maybe relied too much on Emi last season.

Edited by Satriales

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Losing him doesn't make us a better side, but it does afford an opportunity to build a team that's less reliant one one player, and improve the levels across multiple positions. Who we bring in now and how well they integrate is so crucial.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think it can make us stronger with more depth. The problem having one star player is that you’re one bad tackle from losing them for the season. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 minutes ago, Branston Pickle said:

I think it can make us stronger with more depth. The problem having one star player is that you’re one bad tackle from losing them for the season. 

Or with Emi one bad tackle from him and a red card!

  • Haha 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

One man going means an opening for others.  Am really looking forwards to seeing who steps up and becomes the main man. My money is on Cantwell if he stays, which I hope he will, but I'd have a side bet on Idah, who I think is ready to give it a good go next season.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Not to state the obvious, but it all depends on the replacements.

It could, with some really shrewd business and a lot of luck, but no guarantees.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The main issue is finding a winger as good as him, which won't happen. We can find a good winger, I have no doubt, but it's still a case of finding one. Right now we have Hernandez and Placheta fighting to be 2nd choice, with Martin on the fringes or prehaps no longer being involved at all. Of course, as of right now Cantwell is our 1st choice. Is he a good player? Yes. Is he good enough for the Prem? Last time out seemed to say no, but I would say he now has the experence and the drive to be our 1st choice.

 

But is that good enough? Time will tell.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

No your not foolish to dream AJ, it’s a mindset I’m trying to get into but huge doubts. Do you think Spurs will be better without Kane? Possible but I’m thinking not and as a comparison I think we were as reliant on Emi as Spurs are on Kane. I also think your defender comparisons are a bit yellow and green tinted. Gibsons been great but to say a much better replacement is forgetting that your comparing premiership performance with championship. If Gibson was indeed so much better wouldn’t he be lining up in a three lions shirt instead?. Stating the bleedin obvious but we need some outstanding recruitment with the money and for those players to excel to be able to look back as we have eventually with Madders and say it worked out well

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
21 minutes ago, Son Ova Gunn said:

No your not foolish to dream AJ, it’s a mindset I’m trying to get into but huge doubts. Do you think Spurs will be better without Kane? Possible but I’m thinking not and as a comparison I think we were as reliant on Emi as Spurs are on Kane. I also think your defender comparisons are a bit yellow and green tinted. Gibsons been great but to say a much better replacement is forgetting that your comparing premiership performance with championship. If Gibson was indeed so much better wouldn’t he be lining up in a three lions shirt instead?. Stating the bleedin obvious but we need some outstanding recruitment with the money and for those players to excel to be able to look back as we have eventually with Madders and say it worked out well

Agree with most of this. Gibson was in the England squad before he was ignored at Burnley. IMO he is a much better centre back than Godfrey ever was for us. I can't really comment on Godfrey's performances at Everton but he played like a headless chicken for England the other night!

Not conceding goals in the PL is (obviously) crucial to having a chance to stay up, so getting Skipp again, or someone as good in that position, is more important for me than keeping Buendia.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
10 minutes ago, Branston Pickle said:

Quite!

I half expect him to get sent off against us.

As we all know from interviews from former players playing against your former club is much more about mentality and psychology than anything or any other match.

 

Knowing Emi's love of flopping to the floor, sulking, getting angry and screaming at the ref I feel the same way- If our players start targeting him and take him out over and over I really do expect things could very well turn nasty

Edited by cambridgeshire canary

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

With all successful teams it has to be greater than the sum of its parts! That is/was why we have been so good with Farke.

There are too many examples of teams buying one or two standout expensive gems and simply falling apart and/or not playing to their strengths.

So yes. Emi has gone but it gives Webber/Farke every opportunity to make an even better TEAM.

 

There will be new heroes, new surprises packages and some disasters too. Lets enjoy the ride. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

With SW and DF in charge ?

Totally.

Sure there will be less eye catching through balls but im 100% convinced of a lot less OMG moments that blighted us two seasons ago when last in the prem.

 

 

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 minute ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

It amazes me how many people seem to think replacing a £33million player with a £10million player will prove easy and abs barely impact our team…

But what about 2 or 3 £10m on players in areas that are possibly holding us back ?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Mr Tea said:

But what about 2 or 3 £10m on players in areas that are possibly holding us back ?

That remains to be seen - and I hope it works. But let’s be realistic-  a very average premiership player now costs more like £15 - £20million and £10 million is a top champ level budget. 
 

if we keep selling our premiership quality players and investing in those on their way to that level- we will have a healthy bank balance but struggle to compete. We will have settled for being a production line for the top 20 clubs instead of aiming to be one of them. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
10 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

It amazes me how many people seem to think replacing a £33million player with a £10million player will prove easy and abs barely impact our team…

I suspect the so called big six fans might naively say the same - how can Spurs replace say Kane say with a mere £33M player ?

It's a risk whatever team you are and how you integrate / get the most out of new players. Only fools buy player on a price tag.

Emi was always going to leave and be difficult to replace, possibly Max and Cantwell too. I'm very sure succession plans exist.

Onwards and upwards.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
38 minutes ago, Son Ova Gunn said:

No your not foolish to dream AJ, it’s a mindset I’m trying to get into but huge doubts. Do you think Spurs will be better without Kane? Possible but I’m thinking not and as a comparison I think we were as reliant on Emi as Spurs are on Kane. I also think your defender comparisons are a bit yellow and green tinted. Gibsons been great but to say a much better replacement is forgetting that your comparing premiership performance with championship. If Gibson was indeed so much better wouldn’t he be lining up in a three lions shirt instead?. Stating the bleedin obvious but we need some outstanding recruitment with the money and for those players to excel to be able to look back as we have eventually with Madders and say it worked out well

When Spurs sold Bale, they bought the likes of Eriksen, Chadli, Paulinho, Chiriches, Capoue, Lamela & Soldado. A bit hit & miss. Unlikely we'll be shopping for that calibre of player, but our recruitment will likely be fairly hit & miss too, as always. Huge pressure on Webber & his team to recruit successfully in the next two windows. The whole spine of the team needs attention to be competitive.

The OP is understandably looking for the bright side after selling our standout player. Emi leaving, while not surprising, is still a tough one to swallow after the positivity of being promoted as champions. And then this avoidable BK8 business. We need some good news!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I’m sure they do and those that don’t will go backwards not forwards. That is the point here/ before we even kick a ball we just took away our most creative player. It’s taken us backwards with a massive hole to fill (at what cost?) when we could have added a couple and been stronger. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't think it will sadly. If we had the reputation and budget to attract Ajer/Tosin, Armstrong, Pereira and Elliott & Skipp back on loan with the proceeds then perhaps I'd change my mind

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

As @Feedthewolf noted in another thread, this was the starting line-up for our first match under Farke.

Gunn; Franke, Zimmermann, Martin; Husband, Vrancic, Reed, Maddison, Wildschut; Jerome, Watkins.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions about the direction of travel, but the phrase "sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards" springs readily to mind.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 minutes ago, TheGunnShow said:

As @Feedthewolf noted in another thread, this was the starting line-up for our first match under Farke.

Gunn; Franke, Zimmermann, Martin; Husband, Vrancic, Reed, Maddison, Wildschut; Jerome, Watkins.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions about the direction of travel, but the phrase "sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards" springs readily to mind.

I guess my point is that I fear we are now undoing all the good work because we have hit our ceiling due to funding issues and this is- again - going to damage our chances of taking the opportunity promotion has granted us

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 minute ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

I guess my point is that I fear we are now undoing all the good work because we have hit our ceiling due to funding issues and this is- again - going to damage our chances of taking the opportunity promotion has granted us

Could have easily argued that with the sale of Maddison (less so, we were financially in trouble), but we basically sold him for over £20m and got Buendia in for a tenth of that to start with before add-ons and the sell-on clause. Then you could argue that we financially gave ourselves some security by selling Godfrey and Lewis, but we improved our defence with Gibson and Giannoulis at a considerably lower rate.

I don't think you'll find a replacement anywhere near as tenacious, creative and technically proficient as Buendia (not in our financial bracket anyway), so looking at a potential signing as a Buendia "replacement" could potentially be a path to disappointment. I suspect we'll go a more prosaic route with the signings, and look to at least compete on physical terms more than last time with the likes of Cantwell and Dowell charged for the technical excellence.

Sometimes, in looking at season results, fans lose track of general trends. On and off the pitch, we've come a very long way in four years, and not all of this is reflected in the league standings.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

We won't be able to answer that until the transfer window has shut, hence why I'm not wetting my panties over this like so many until Aug 31st.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
42 minutes ago, Mr Tea said:

But what about 2 or 3 £10m on players in areas that are possibly holding us back ?

That remains to be seen - and I hope it works. But let’s be realistic-  a very average premiership player now costs more like £15 - £20million and £10 million is a top champ level budget. 
 

if we keep selling our premiership quality players and investing in those on their way to that level- we will have a healthy bank balance but struggle to compete. We will have settled for being a production line for the top 20 clubs instead of aiming to be one of them. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
15 minutes ago, Ken Hairy said:

We won't be able to answer that until the transfer window has shut, hence why I'm not wetting my panties over this like so many until Aug 31st.

Glad you have dry knickers Hairy Ken. But, with all respect, we now need a massive signing just to stand still and with a rumoured £30million spend and with us always struggling to land our targets at this level- I just don’t see it. Not peeing my panties - just frustrated that we are not showing a bit more ambition 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The gap between the Chumps and the EPL is enormous. Last time we kept all our players, were struck by injuries, didn't have the cash for improvements and came up well short of survival. Buendia wasn't the key to survival last time, so why would he be this time. He is a better player now, but also a known quantity. This time the £33m gives us some cash to restructure an excellent Chumps level team into a functioning lower EPL side. Without it, we have a Chumps team, Buendia and perhaps only a couple more trying to keep us up and he is simply not good enough to carry the team.

Whether we will be a better team, who knows. We could still get hit by injuries and come up short but it does give us a better chance.

FWIW I am more worried about replacing Skipp

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, sgncfc said:

Agree with most of this. Gibson was in the England squad before he was ignored at Burnley. IMO he is a much better centre back than Godfrey ever was for us. I can't really comment on Godfrey's performances at Everton but he played like a headless chicken for England the other night!

Not conceding goals in the PL is (obviously) crucial to having a chance to stay up, so getting Skipp again, or someone as good in that position, is more important for me than keeping Buendia.

Spot on, Godfrey may have a lot of future potential but Gibson is a far better player for us NOW which is what I said in my original post. Godfrey will go far, but he has a lot to learn as you've quite rightly highlighted with his England performance. He's been similar for Everton but gets away with it surrounded by better players who can help him learn and improve. He wouldn't have that luxury at Norwich as the pressure would be on to perform. I also completely agree getting Skipp back, or someone close to his ability is just as important as getting a replacement for Emi. We know Pukki, Cantwell and Dowell can score goals. It does make me question getting rid of Vrancic though for a goalscoring midfielder but I'm sure we have plans in the works.

 

55 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

It amazes me how many people seem to think replacing a £33million player with a £10million player will prove easy and abs barely impact our team…

I'm not suggesting this at all, but if we can sign some semi-decent players to keep us up then it's job done for now, isn't it? I understand that Emi might have been the difference between scraping survival and finishing midtable, but if we can still scrape survival that is still a good result for us. And those £10m players might also go on to be worth 2 or 3 times that in a few seasons times if we invest wisely. We sold Godfrey and Jamal and bought in Skipp, Gibson and Dimi who are better than those they replaced and still had change left at the end of it all. It is going to be much harder with replacing Emi, but replacing him with 3 decent players might still improve the squad overall.

 

7 minutes ago, BigFish said:

The gap between the Chumps and the EPL is enormous. Last time we kept all our players, were struck by injuries, didn't have the cash for improvements and came up well short of survival. Buendia wasn't the key to survival last time, so why would he be this time. He is a better player now, but also a known quantity. This time the £33m gives us some cash to restructure an excellent Chumps level team into a functioning lower EPL side. Without it, we have a Chumps team, Buendia and perhaps only a couple more trying to keep us up and he is simply not good enough to carry the team.

Whether we will be a better team, who knows. We could still get hit by injuries and come up short but it does give us a better chance.

FWIW I am more worried about replacing Skipp

There is a very good point here. Buendia really struggled last time out in the Prem. He didn't perform at all. He scored once, didn't he? Yes he's improved tenfold but there's a lot more to the team than Emi Buendia. Yes he got a lot of goals and assists last season, but if he hadn't played someone else would have scored some of those goals, and got some of those assists. Law of averages and all that jazz. If we are relying on Emi that much then the foundation of the team is wrong, and selling him to bring in several players for the same money could be good business in balancing the squad and improving the quality overall. Injuries did us over last time, the squad depth is much better this time around already with the summer window still to come

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I agree that skipp is more important in terms of a gap from last year- he protected the back four and is the reason we were defensively so much better. Fingers crossed he returns for loan 2

i disagree Buendia isn’t hard to replace. He creates almost all of our goals 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...