Antonio Valencia...

I think I've discovered the problem..

http://www.worldfootball.net/spieler_profil/bebe/

There has been some sort of body swapping experimentation going on at Carrington it seems

Seriously though, I thought he was better yesterday, you can't fault his application, took the fullback on once or twice too

yeah, he was better yesterday imo.

the final ball didnt always work but at least he was taking it on

maybe its a confidence thing

Originally Posted by silv

yeah, he was better yesterday imo.

the final ball didnt always work but at least he was taking it on

maybe its a confidence thing

Goal midweek helped, still wanting more from him though. He looks like he's carrying a injury but defensively he was excellent yesterday, lost Baines once in 2nd half but marked him out of the game.

So frustrating watching him.

He has all the power and pace to destroy full-backs, but just doesn't seem to use his ability at all. :shakehead:

There were glimpses of improvement yesterday, and he is usually stronger in the second half of the season, so fingers crossed.

He wouldn't be in my 1st choice team at the moment but I'd be tempted to play him on Weds just so he can help Raffers out defensively against Ronnie.

Originally Posted by Neo

So frustrating watching him.

He has all the power and pace to destroy full-backs, but just doesn't seem to use his ability at all. :shakehead:

There were glimpses of improvement yesterday, and he is usually stronger in the second half of the season, so fingers crossed.

I may be wrong here, but this all seems to have stemmed from when he broke his leg.

In other words, his bottle has gone.

Originally Posted by Fat Al

I may be wrong here, but this all seems to have stemmed from when he broke his leg.

In other words, his bottle has gone.

Tbf he launched into a crunching challenge with Baines yesterday without flinching, so he might be getting over it.

Originally Posted by Fat Al

I may be wrong here, but this all seems to have stemmed from when he broke his leg.

In other words, his bottle has gone.

Not strictly true, came back like a steam train, was brilliant for the remainder of that season, even had spells last season, this season not so much.

Originally Posted by Zorg

Tbf he launched into a crunching challenge with Baines yesterday without flinching, so he might be getting over it.

I £#%&!ing winced when they went into that

Originally Posted by Fat Al

I may be wrong here, but this all seems to have stemmed from when he broke his leg.

In other words, his bottle has gone.

He came back straight after the broken leg and looked quality though.

He's turned to shit since the start of this season. Fergie wouldn't have given him the number 7 otherwise.

I reckon he's got an injury. Wasn't there some story about his dodgy back or something a few weeks ago?

Originally Posted by dunk

Treatment?

Give him his old no. back & a squad place, hope that Nani is afforded a run as long as Valencia has had while producing £#%&! all in the way of goals or assists. Leave to compete over the season.

Alternatively - sell to Newcastle (or a.n.other) if they offer what he was bought for & put it in the Gareth Bale fund (additional top ups include retiring Scholes, Fletcher & selling Young on top of summer budget of £25m).

Originally Posted by Baron

Give him his old no. back & a squad place, hope that Nani is afforded a run as long as Valencia has had while producing £#%&! all in the way of goals or assists. Leave to compete over the season.

Alternatively - sell to Newcastle (or a.n.other) if they offer what he was bought for & put it in the Jack Wilshere fund (additional top ups include retiring Scholes, Fletcher & selling Young on top of summer budget of £25m).

Corrected

Originally Posted by Harri Jaffa

Corrected

Originally Posted by Baron

Teams have defended differently against him, and United have also adjusted the way they play. These are the main factors. Despite that he still plays his part in keeping the shape and his combination with Rafael makes United's right side thge best in the league imo. If he wasn't effective then he wouldn't have so many appearances for a team with so many points, it's as simple as that. People will obviously want to rationalise that actually it isn't as simple as that, but that's people for you...

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

Teams have defended differently against him, and United have also adjusted the way they play. These are the main factors. Despite that he still plays his part in keeping the shape and his combination with Rafael makes United's right side thge best in the league imo. If he wasn't effective then he wouldn't have so many appearances for a team with so many points, it's as simple as that. People will obviously want to rationalise that actually it isn't as simple as that, but that's people for you...

Scholes being less prominent in the side will hurt the wide players more than most given his pin point 40-50 yard passes to set up a one on one, but Valencia seems incapable, let alone willing to take a full back on consistently. & he has no tricks to fall back on when he isn't physically capable. Mentally... just seems a bit wet.

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

Teams have defended differently against him, and United have also adjusted the way they play. These are the main factors. Despite that he still plays his part in keeping the shape and his combination with Rafael makes United's right side thge best in the league imo. If he wasn't effective then he wouldn't have so many appearances for a team with so many points, it's as simple as that. People will obviously want to rationalise that actually it isn't as simple as that, but that's people for you...

How have teams defended differently against him? (not 'being funny'. Its a genuine question)

Originally Posted by Baron

Scholes being less prominent in the side will hurt the wide players more than most given his pin point 40-50 yard passes to set up a one on one, but Valencia seems incapable, let alone willing to take a full back on consistently. & he has no tricks to fall back on when he isn't physically capable. Mentally... just seems a bit wet.

Shameless repost

Valencia is finished at OT. Point in case, look how low our expectations for him have sunk. Nowadays taking on a left back a few times and completing a few passes outside of his usual knock back/inside range constitutes a good game? This is just not acceptable for this club and its rich tradition of wide play.

To be fair he did do a couple of things well yesterday, but I also remember thinking that the ball happened to fall for him in a manner that was kind to his extremely limited technique, and had it fallen a few inches more to his left he'd have been in trouble, as usual.

I predicted in July that Valencia was going to struggle this year and that his severely limited technique was going to finally catch up with him. He's strong, he's fast and he works hard, but that's not enough. At the top end of football managers do their homework, and how hard do you think it is to figure out that Valencia doesn't make incisive runs off the ball, likes to face up the full back and beat him for speed on the outside and if you show him the inside he's £#%&!ed? Even the fat Spanish waiter could do it.

Originally Posted by The Return of JC

How have teams defended differently against him? (not 'being funny'. Its a genuine question)

we need a chalk board to work this through to be honest, but it's all about angles. I think people are right obviously when they talk about Valencia being a bit predictable but it still takes 2 defenders, often with another one covering (low front stick/3rd man runner) to stop him.

United are clearly using different points of attack as well with RvP in the side, and they are top scorers in the division. Valencia has abben a very important player this season so far imo, even if his individual confidence has looked frayed at times. He has the same number of league starts as Cleverley, Evans and Rooney to put that in perspective. Outside of the defence only Carrick and RvP have more starts.

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

we need a chalk board to work this through to be honest, but it's all about angles. I think people are right obviously when they talk about Valencia being a bit predictable but it still takes 2 defenders, often with another one covering (low front stick/3rd man runner) to stop him.

United are clearly using different points of attack as well with RvP in the side, and they are top scorers in the division. Valencia has abben a very important player this season so far imo, even if his individual confidence has looked frayed at times. He has the same number of league starts as Cleverley, Evans and Rooney to put that in perspective. Outside of the defence only Carrick and RvP have more starts.