Really? Why? He is one of their best players. Moyes was stupid not to start him often. Moyes didn't know what to do or how to line up his team. That is why he isn't there. They have a ton of talent but he couldn't use then correctly.
One player I wouldn't take out is actually Antonio. I'd clean up with the Ferdinands, Nani's, Young's, Evra's, Vidic's, etc. But Antonio along with Rooney and possibly Van Persie should stay. They are fundamental to United's attack when the rest of the team plays their role the way they're supposed to. Antonio is someone who will play his heart out til he gets a black eye or plays on one foot. I'd never get rid of someone like that. Just my two cents.
Valencia made 40 appearances overall in each of his last two seasons with Fergie. So far this season, he's made 41 apps. Valencia and De Gea are the only two United players to have played in all 10 Champions League matches this season. Don't get me wrong, I'm not sad to see Moyes leave. But saying he didn't give Valencia enough playing time isn't completely true.
No way will Manchester United let go of AV25. ESPN commentators were saying that most of the goals scored by Manchester United this season had something to do directly or indirectly with Antonio Valencia.
Lol at that picture. Thanks for sharing. Didn't know that statistic. Pretty freaking awesome. At least some good news.
Partidaso from Valencia. Finally he played in his actual position and looked like his old self again. Attacked a lot more and he actually shot at goal! Not just once but at least four to five times! Gigs really trust him and knows how to play Valencia it seems.
Valencia played a heck of a game. I thought his crossing was good, especially the assist to Mata for the fourth goal. The commentators were saying what a big asset he is going to be for Ecuadors NT and Rueda in the World Cup. I agree. Did you guys see that awesome triangle play "joga bonito" with Mata and Chicharito? That was sick!
Heck yeah. Valencia did that tiki taka passing couple of times today. That one with Mata and Chicharo were the best. Seems like they really understand eachother well. Just beautiful. I hope the time he gets to spend with his teammates from Ecuador before the WC, he can teach them lots of his techniques he picked up in Europe, and the work ethic it takes to be a great player.
Man U just announced that Valencia is signed for 3 more years! Yes! I'm happy for him. Probably ends up retiring from Man U (maybe). Congrats Valencia! Hopefully you keep improving and learning.
So his injury really wasn't an injury but a precaution to avoid one, well done. Valencia got some major minutes in this USA road trip Man U had, I think LVG will use him. I said this before and I will say it again, through out his career Valencia has never been the star of his team nor the main offensive weapon, he's more like a work horse an unsung hero, he's just anther option to carry the ball forward and get a decent cross, we need to acknowledge this because once he becomes our main player, he's easy to predict. In my opinion the Best Valencia ever played in the NT was when Mendez or Benitez played, Benitez opened up the world for Valencia, during the World Cup Montero and Caicedo failed to attract defenders away from Valencia. One thing that keeps me calm is that Vizuete knows this, he will make sure to create offense through the middle of our attack which will eventually make room for our wingers, right now, Noboa's position is key, whoever is playing that role needs to create more offense than Noboa has done the last couple of years, Can't say how much Rueda influenced in Noboa's lack of offense.
I'm just not sure what's going on with this guy. Unfortunately I've run out of excuses. It's really frustrating to watch him play and just work hard defensively with no offensive contribution. To be perfectly honest, I thought he was protecting himself last season at Man United because the World Cup was coming, so I saw that as an excuse for his lack of attacking ambition. This especially made sense to me because he really raised his game when he played for the NT during the last qualifying matches. Now for the past 6 months he's been - I hate to say it - garbage both for the NT and for Man United. His World Cup was a complete and total disaster, ending with a deserved red card and letting his team and country down when we still had a decent chance to make it out of the group. Now in the games and clips I've seen in Man U's preseason, it's just more of the same. Hard work, tackling and aggressive defending. But no attacking ambition, no creativity, no goals and no assists. And a whole lot of passing the ball backwards. His lack of productivity is frustrating and clear as day to me, imagine Man U fans that have no loyalty to him due to nationality, they are rightly upset to see this when rival teams have wingers flying down the flanks, putting in crosses and cutting inside to create danger. I would like to know what's really going on. Is he happy with his level right now? Is LVG happy with what he's seeing? Are the other Man U players OK with having a winger that doesn't attack? Is he making a transition to playing wing-back? As far as the NT is concerned, he simply cannot continue to be automatic starter on the right wing. We have younger, hungrier guys in that position that are being left out. I'm not sure if this means he gets benched, tried in a different position, or not called at all...but I would support Vizuete if he takes any of these options.
I partly agree with you Manolo. I personally think we've seen the best Antonio already and at this point he's peaked and will either remain at this level w/ a few sporadic great games throughout the season, but not being the Antonio we were once used to seeing. He's not the young 23 year old that got transferred to Manchester. 6 years have passed by and he is now 29 years old. Now I will say that he does perform for the most part at an acceptable level. Kind of like Oscar Bagui does in Emelec...es cumplidor and his performances are acceptable. They may not be outstanding, but he's not the type of player to screw you over either. Like Barcelonista said, he's a working horse and coaches like that. Van Gal no lo pone de titular de gana. Compared to Rafael, Ashely Young, and Luke Shaw, Antonio es el mas regular de todos. The other guys are irregular w/ their performances and they'll either have great games or sloppy ones. Rafael and Young especially struggle to be consistent throughout a season. They'll have their moments y de alli se apagan por completo. That's why it's more likely for Antonio to start more games then the before mentioned guys...of course as long as someone like Cuadrado doesn't come in the picture and steal the spot light. At that point Antonio is in trouble. Now about the NT, I would say we'd have to see how Antonio performs with another coach. Although it is true he didn't perform well at all during the WC (which had me really disappointed), Rueda did place him in a role to just defend which only made his situation worse. I do believe that someone like Renato Ibarra is an ideal candidate to fight for the starting position with Antonio this qualifier, unless we find Antonio another position. But either way, it is too early to give a real analysis on Antonio as far as the NT goes. We are entering a new process y todo comienza de 0. All we can do is hope he does well in Manchester this season, and then start thinking about what he can offer us on the NT and what his role will be.
Let us remember that a coach can make or break a player, Rueda used Valencia too much covering Paredez mishaps, defense was his priority, Moyes as well, he wasnt the coach Man U needed. LVG seems to prioritize ball possesion, Valencia does that, he prefers a back pass over a los percentage cross every time. Man U has a ridiculous schedule the first 12 games, it's so easy that it wouldn't surprise me to see them get 27-30 points off from those games. with 3 tournaments being played Valencia will see playing time. I dont think he'll be giving up the right wing on the NT anytime soon, Vizuete has always praised him. In my opinion Valencia needs a Bolanos/Cazares player with him, this change would send Noboa to the bench so I don't know how much changes will Vizuete want to make during his internship, again I doubt he'll want to land on player's bad sides, he wont bench Valencia for sure.
Why Antonio Valencia Is Under Most Pressure for Man Utd http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2182991-why-antonio-valencia-is-under-most-pressure-for-man-utd-after-draw-with-burnley
Doesn't Di Maria play on the left/middle and Falcao as a forward? I don't think they play in Valencia's position at all.
I thought it was Bale the usual right winger for Real Madrid, with CR7 on the left and Benzema in the middle, kinda like forwards, in the midfield it was Xavi Alonso in the centre Modric on the right and Di Maria on the left
Yes, but only because Bale displaced Di Maria and after Oezil left they tried to play him in the hole as a CAM before switching to a 4-3-3. Under Mourinho; ---------Benz CR7----Oezil----Di Maria Under Carlo; CR7------Benz-----Bale Bench; Di Maria
As long as LvG continues with his preferred 3-5-2, Valencia will not be replaced. Falcao obviously is a striker but di Maria could potentially replace him but only in a 4-4-2 where the right winger has less defensive responsibility. The 3-5-2 requires the wide players to defend a lot which is perfect for Valencia if he could just remember how to attack! Right now all signs point to di Maria playing in the left side of a central midfield trio.
Di Maria just made two assists right now against the world champions - while playing on the right wing.