Antonio Valencia...

prateik

I wouldnt anyway. Doesnt in any way mean Silva isnt fantastic.. but we dont play with a #10.. we play with 2 wingers and 2 strikers in most of our games.. One of those strikers loves dropping deep..

Again.. Silva is brilliant, just that he wont be played in his best position at United in our system. Val is vital to the way we play.

Cold_Boy

Valencia is our best winger now and even the PL's.

KGBhoy

Keep getting that first post when I click on the thread. Lol!

Jimy_Hills_Chin

14 starts 3 goals and 11 assists in the Premier League this year. Highly productive.

Hellboy

Best thing that happened to United transfer wise since Ronaldo left.

AttackingFlair

Probably. I'd add Smalling to that.

RonaldoVII

What's interesting is that Young has 14 starts, 4 goals and 9 assists which is hardly any different yet the opinion on Young is.

fanutd

But does Young look like a medley of Robo-cop and Terminator who loves to rape every left back he faces while having this face all the time :

Cheesy

It's very interesting indeed. I think the main difference with Young though is that he's generally been coming in and out of form at different times of the season. Valencia has generally been consistent when he's played for us to be honest.

What's also interesting though is that both players have only started 14 games in the league this season, when we've played around double of that now. Both men have been good, but without injuries and a consistent place in the team, they'd have probably been even better.

Godfather

That's why stats never tell the whole story

kouroux

Let's not forget that Valencia played at times at RB too.

Feed Me

A couple of Young's assists were laying the ball off a yard for Rooney vs Arsenal.

Valencia has been more consistent.

gooDevil

I thought Fergie might have gotten the wrong Wigan player after Palacios looked so good for Spurs at first.

I was wrong. He was a rough stone when he came here but now he's a diamond.

giggs-beckham

Is he world class?

adexkola

No.

Donut

If he could add a stepover into his arsenal he surely would be.

cinc

It depends on how you define world class. I'm pretty sure he's in the top10 of rightwingers right now, so I would say that he is.

Hellboy

He's by far the best winger in the league.

I'm always right

Far better than Nani? No he's not.

We're very lucky I think, when one seems to go off the boil the other seems to power into top gear. At some point both of them will hit top form at the same time and that's a frightening prospect for any defence.

AttackingFlair

As much as I dislike Bale, he's not far better than him either.

giggs-beckham

I think he's a worlclass athlete and a great player but I don't think he has worldclass footballing ability.

(however one would define this)

I'm always right

true.

Talking Vulture

Of course he's world class. And how is Nani better than him? Because he does a few fancy trick and flicks? Valencia in the side over Nani all the time for me.

reddevilcanada

He's arguably the best winger in England. If Nani and Bale are considered world class, then surely Tony is up there too.

Pogue Mahone

Aye, Bale's hot streak seems to have come to an end since he/Harry decided he was too good to play on the wing. 9 league goals and 7 assists so far this season is a decent return though.

Based on this season alone, I'd say Valencia and Bale have been more or less on a par, with Nani not as impressive.

Very difficult to draw conclusions beyond that. Bale is the youngest so has the most potential and Nani the most skillful on the ball. Valencia, however, has had to cope with a horrific injury and being asked to play a chunk of the season as a defender. I certainly don't think anyone can make any strong claims for any of the three of them to be out on their own as a better winger than the rest.

kiristao

The reason most people will rate Bale and Nani above Valencia is because they have flair that people like. Nani & Bale are both capable of doing something out of the ordinary which Valencia doesnt do.

Having said that, Valencia does the basic stuff so well and with such consistency that his effectiveness in a team is as much, if not more than, the likes of Bale and Nani.

Talking Vulture

Valencia has flair. Just because he doesnt so step overs and spins on his cock doesn't mean he doesn't have flair.

it takes a lot of skill to beat a man and get the ball into the danger zone and nobody does it better than Valencia

AttackingFlair

Doesn't Bale do the basic stuff well? He's similar to Valencia to be fair.

RedDevilCanuck

Nani has all the tools to be the third best player in the world.

Valencia is just a fuckin beast and has been solid since October 2009.

Valencia can also keep things simple, play RB and put in a hell of a defensive shift.

I would like to know his training/workout regiment.

kiristao

I am not saying he doesnt have skill. It does take a lot of skill to do what he does and he does that part better than most.

For me flair, is about step overs, outrageous volleys, Goals out of nothing, etc.. something you see Bale and Nani do. Dont remember Valencia ever doing it.

99 red balloons

Over the past two months, Valencia has moved himself up into the "world class" category. I genuinely believe this.

towcester_red

World Class is a big thing, I dunno, are there any better out and out wingers in world football right now?

Unplayable on his day.

He had this kind of form at the end of last season but then he was shocking in the champions league final.

Pogue Mahone

There's a couple of them at Bayern Munich, for starters.

Kelvin

I believe he is now our most productive and important player in the team after Rooney. We need him to keep up his good form..

KingEric7

I don't even care. It's almost reductive of Valencia to describe him just in terms of footballing ability. He's a fantastic professional, an absolutely top-notch winger (and player) and, above all, he seems a fantastic person.

Football would be much, much better for having more Antonio Valencias. I remember Steve Bruce's interview on him just after he signed for us - he was going on and on about him, dishing out all sorts of praise regarding his ability but, in particular, his character. It seemed fairly overboard at the time, but he seems vindicated now in lavishing such praise upon him. The agent situation just tops it all off.

He's taken it up a notch this year and, if it had to be argued, I do think he's one of the best in the world in his position, if not just for the sheer all-round contribution he offers. That's good enough for me but, at the risk of sounding cliche, I'm just glad we've got him. He's a thoroughly respectable footballer.

Sam

What's this about Pep calling him the best RW in the world? Anyone got the exact quote/link?

Pogue Mahone

Dave Whelan was very complimentary too.

adexkola

Why do you dislike Bale?

Commadus

Top wide men - Valencia Bale Ribery Robben Sanchez Nani De Maria - add to the list

Pogue Mahone

Ere yar.
http://www.elcomercio.com/deportes/f...639536084.html