Emi Buendia was the storm we asked for against Everton

James Rushton -
“Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit.” - Gennaro Gattuso

Breathe it in.

That's Villa Park air you're inhaling. A paradise emerging from the suburbs, with the faint aromas of vinegar, curry sauce and frying potato welcoming in the faithful hoard once more.

Another season of it, then?

Today may as well be the first game of the season because it matters a bit more at Villa Park doesn't it? Bournemouth was a nightmare, and the meltdown that followed was valid - but there's no better way to banish that then a scrappy, yet solid, win against somewhat of an 'equal' in Everton.

The weather in the UK right now can only be followed by a storm, with vengeful thunder and splattering rain driven in as the price we pay for this heat (which should be enjoyable but that is a lie).

That storm came early and its name was Emiliano.

If you enjoy this issue, do us a favour and give it a share.

Storm Emi brings the pain

In the aftermath of Villa's beating of Everton, Steven Gerrard admitted that 'nobody' is more of a fan of Emi Buendia than himself.

He's dead wrong, because I am. I am the biggest fan of Buendia.

The gaffer spoke about Emi's absences being injury related - which is fair enough, when you consider we're only a few seasons removed from injecting Jack Grealish and James Chester full of god-knows-what to get them through games. Villa have the depth to make such decisions, and as proved by the Bournemouth match, Gerrard will make them.

He might be inclined to play Emi no matter what going forward though. He came on and Villa were a little different. There was energy, aggression, and most importantly, impact. Buendia entered the match late, and made it his match.

He was picking out through balls that were simply on another dimension to anyone else. These passes didn't exist before he was on the pitch, not even to Phil Coutinho.

It's not simply the case of a defence-splitting pass, Emi was putting ley lines down through Everton's back-line. They were unstoppable. They will be studied by future scholars for the art of the through ball is esoteric when it comes to Buendia. He's something else, and is a true master of it.

The Argentine was the great multiplier, getting what he needed from a link-up with Ollie Watkins to bag Villa's second and final goal. It was the perfect way to cap it off for both himself and the team.

It was so close to falling apart as well. Villa were carting off on a victory lap when Luca Digne ended up putting the ball beyond his own keeper barely seconds after Buendia stopped blowing kisses to everyone after HIS own goal.

Everton threw the kitchen sink at a depleted Villa who lost Matty Cash and Diego Carlos, but they didn't really expect Tyrone Mings and Calum Chambers to be up to the task. Two mega blocks later, and Villa were walking away from an uncomfortable end-of-game with three points after some trademark Martinez shitehousery.

I won't speak about Graeme Souness (classless wanker) and what he said about Ty last night. I've said my piece on Twitter and he doesn't need attention and our world doesn't need a meltdown.

But truly, Mings deserves respect. For one, he's a Villa player. For two, he's another human being. The way Tyrone is talked about in general is very distasteful, and that's before you leave the edges of our own fanbase.

His superb block came with the criticism 'that he was walking back', from the part of the fanbase where Elf Bars have replaced any sort of critical thinking process at all. Mings isn't immune to criticism, but he should be immune to shite armchair criticism that turns into a rather nasty narrative about our big man at the back.

Truth be told, anyone who wears the shirt deserves it. They are our reps on the pitch.

He's not the perfect player, but then again Villa aren't the perfect club, nor we perfect fans.

The result though? Perfect.

I asked for aggression, and dynamism, and resilience. I think we got that today, and I'm happier with the outlook at B6 going forward.

Odds and Holte Ends

  • Football can be brilliant comedy sometimes - such as when Everton 'scored' and flew into a group celebration directly in front of the linesman. Of course he was going to bring his flag up.


  • Danny Ings thrived today - can't wait to see what he does for us going forward. Ollie Watkins also came out of a fairly middling game with two assists as well.


  • Boubacar Kamara. Enough said.


  • Diego Carlos will be a big miss. I think he was imperious today and really helped Mings' game. Here's hoping it isn't an achilles injury.


  • First opening home game without my dad today. Gutted. It's good to go with my brothers, but I loved going down with him. Oh, don't worry - he hasn't kicked the bucket, he's just passed out in a festival field somewhere probably on the Old Rosie. Have a good weekend Neil <3.


  • FPL scoring sucks absolute shit - John McGinn and Lucas Digne involved in the build-up to our goals and they get NOTHING for it. The assist metric is broken anyway.


  • Final annoyance is the whole 'what were you moaning about it was only one game' referring to last weekend's uproar. Folks, it was a DIRE match. It can only be described as apocalyptic. It was ok to be big mad.