Antonio Valencia...

KM

I can't believe why he's lacking confidence.

Anyway it's even more irritating to see him being out of confidence when he suddenly went back to his usual self after the first two goals. But before our first two goals, he was awful.

DevilRed

Not sure how badly hurt Nani is, but surely he should get the nod ahead of Valencia for the next match?

R.N7

Was pretty underwhelming in the first half but improved a bit in the second half. "Unbelievably shit", "horrible, absolutely horrible" is a bit OTT.

Cantona07

Even at his worst he still seems average

Solius

All our wingers are playing like spastics.

wr8_utd

Valencia and Young would get no game time this season if Kagawa wasn't injured and Nani on his way out. This Valencia is absolutely unrecognizable. He's got zero confidence and refuses to take his man on and just gets the ball, holds it up and passes it on to Rafael who keeps racking up the assists. He was decent enough after our equalizer but horrendous before that. If we're going to continue to play 4-4-2 we really need him to hit some form really soon.

Amar__

As I said, completely out of form this season.

He was better in the second half, but it's not hard to have better half than his first one.

He was more frustrating today than Nani was in last two years.

Rafael overlaped him 100 times today.

Maciek

I wrote he had been shit as well, but some people, in my opinion, moan too much, and are too harsh. Well, sometimes.

Now I'm sure we won because you didn't happily sit back and you actually said something!

I'm always right

No, he was shit in that first half, not even close to average.

The second half was average.

I'm always right

Completely disagree, when Valencia is poor I find him the most frustrating winger at the club.

Ekeke

Didnt he play RB at times last season too? And he managed to find his best form at United

wr8_utd

Couldn't agree more. Nani at his frustrating worst can still pull something out of the bad like the finish vs Chelsea and also beats his fullback regularly. Valencia at his worst is of no use at all to the team and he doesn't even track back as much as he used to.

I'm always right

I guess it's all personal taste. Some people get frustrated with Nani for trying stuff that doesn't come off, I get frustrated at Valencia for trying nothing.

Ash_G

Yeah agree, only thing Valencia has is form or not he'll usually make sure we keep the ball, the trade off though is less of a threat when he's off form.

Varun_Utd

Same here.

Awful performance.

Orton

That's because he almost does nothing in an attacking sense, he always goes backwards if his crossing isn't working or if a defender shows him on to his left side. So predictable and frustrating.

Ekeke

Hmm... Hard to say. When he's playing poorly he tends to just not take people on and pass up the chance to cross the ball, but he keeps the ball fairly well. He tends to pass the ball around okay still.

Now personally I dont feel thats a saving grace because he's on the pitch to be an outlet and create oppertunities. I prefer a player like Nani who even in a bad game is trying things which may or may not come off. When they come off he puts a goal on a plate for someone or scores one himself. When they dont come off the crowd groans and maybe he loses the ball. But at least theres always that chance he'll do something to change the fate of the match. With Valencia its more like he's passing it for someone else to do something that'll change the fate of the match... Which is also a possibility.

So I guess it depends on your preference. For me trying to change the game and failing is more welcome than passing the buck.

R.N7

Every post of yours in the matchday thread I saw was complaints about the wingers, did you really have to stress it even more? Before the first half was over?

#07

On today's performance (and a few others this season) I'd be cool with dropping Valencia to go 4-3-3 so that the likes of Chico, Clev and Ando can get a chance to prove their quality.

SER19

very very poor lately. to put it in perspective remember him towards the end of last season where everyone was talking about him leading to blackburn away and he just demolished them too. should have made their teenage left back suffer but never even looked like he might get past him, or try to for that matter.

Hellboy

I hope it was just fatigue because he looked awful today.

Varun_Utd

He looked totally out of ideas tbh, didnt seem to have to do much with fatigue.

Randall Flagg

He needs to be cut slack. Even when off form he is a brilliant outlet.

Even if he does not produce, am oppositions left back has to be on his game.

Valencia sees so much of the ball he can hurt at any time. I love him

wr8_utd

On this season's performance I'd happily drop our wingers completely and play the 4-3-3 (Nani isn't going to get to play anyway)

Varun_Utd

Like today?

I really dont understand this. He wasnt even trying to beat the FB after a while. He saw plenty of the ball tonight and did fuckall with it.

He's a very good player, no doubt, but when he's off form, he offers nothing except a good defensive shift.

kouroux

Specially when we all saw that great run he made towards the end.Fatigue has never been an issue for him

Cina

The bit in the first half where he literally ran backwards for 30 yards away from his man instead of taking him on was just ridiculous.

wr8_utd

That's a problem. We should have more ideas than just giving it to him all game and hoping for a cross. I'd rather we gave the ball to Rafael more often as he often seems to put in a quality ball.

Varun_Utd

Remember that. Was awful to see. Ran 30 yards and then passed with his right foot when he could at any time have played a simple left footed pass even if he didnt want to try and beat the FB.

Randall Flagg

Erm, sometimes a good defensive shift is vital. But also the fact his power and pace gives our players options to look for him. Even if his end product comes to nothing it is hugely important to have this option.

Widnes

I've never quite understood they hype around Valencia, Don't get me wrong I find him to be a useful player and well worth his place in the squad. Sometimes it goes for him and he looks like a world beater but IMO he is at least as inconsistent as the next winger (if the next winger is Nani) he can waste a lot of good attacking chances also by just refusing to touch the ball with his left foot. Even last season I thought he was amazing for about 3 months in the season that's it.

RonaldoVII

Improved in the 2nd half but was still fairly poor. With Fergie saying Hernandez is starting next week I think Valencia could be on the bench.

Cina

Young is more likely to be on the bench seeing as he was the one who was subbed.

Valencia is SAFs lovechild.

wr8_utd

Doesn't do as much of that as he used to which makes his inclusion even more peculiar.

Siorac

Well if it's a choice between the two I'd keep Valencia, too. Young has the air of someone who's out of his depth at the moment.

Then again, I'm still a fan of the idea of just dropping wingers entirely. We've got a passable collection of strikers, we could use more of them.

paceme

No idea why people think Nani should get a nod ahead of him in the next game, he hasn't been any better

Randall Flagg

He has been brilliant for us since he arrived FFS.

You hate because he has nicked your butt buddies place.

KM

Yeah it's comical. Our wingers has been awful this season.

Varun_Utd

Its vital but a good defensive shift isnt why a United winger is picked vs the likes of Aston Villa. When he's off form like he's today, all he does is collect a beautiful ball from Scholes and then either fail to beat his man or run back 10 yards to pass it back to someone else. Nothing great about it. We were dominating possession in the first half but looked absolutely toothless because both our wingers were having a poor game. His defensive shift wasnt needed then. He was picked to put in a good offensive one and he didnt even get close. Love him all you want, you cant just brush off the fact Randall.

Cina

Randall, look back on the majority of my posts about Valencia and then say that again.

He has been poor this season and was poor today, simpler as that.

FWIW, I don't think any of our wingers should be starting games, I'm the one who made that thread after all