Emi Buendia persistence must end vs Lille, he’s been terrible for Aston Villa again
Emi Buendia continues to receive the backing of Unai Emery despite several poor performances for Aston Villa.
The Argentine’s start to the season was the stuff of dreams, especially having been frozen out with a loan to Bayer Leverkusen last season.
He managed to turn his career around at Villa Park with several moments of quality in claret and blue earlier in the campaign.
That has faded away in recent weeks, and his performances have actually become a source of annoyance for many supporters in B6.
Emery opted to start Buendia away to Lille on Thursday, but he has once again been terrible as the half-time whistle is sounded.
Emi Buendia stinks again for Aston Villa
There have been very few positive performances in claret and blue recently, but Ollie Watkins and Buendia have been particularly poor.
Service has been hugely disappointing for the England international in the first half at the Decathlon Arena.
That has been largely down to the number 10, who has been terrible on the ball and has made life increasingly easy for the Lille backline.
The 29-year-old has taken just 22 touches across the first half, but has been dispossessed once and has failed to complete a single dribble.
That is only made worse by the fact that he has lost all six of his attempted duels on the night while committing two fouls.
The second of those came against Tiago Santos and was extremely lucky to have avoided a yellow card.
Buendia is having no attacking impact and looks to be a liability elsewhere, so why is he still featuring so regularly under Emery?
Unai Emery must change things at HT vs Lille
The forward line have been shocking against the Ligue 1 outfit, so there is no reason why a change shouldn’t be utilised at the break.
Tammy Abraham and Leon Bailey are watching from the bench as the likes of Watkins and Buendia struggle to do anything of note.
The Englishman would surely be a better option right now if Emery wants to get the ball up the pitch and make any opportunities count.
By sticking with Buendia, he seriously risks Villa getting the worst possible start to the knockout stages of the Europa League.
For even more Aston Villa news and opinions, head over to Football Insider.