Antonio Valencia | 2013/14 Performances

[NK86]

Thought he was brilliant in the second half. People slate him because he has a few (admittedly all of them) bad crosses, but out attacking play came from him and Evra, and then Mata when he came on. Remove Rooney's two goals and he would have been a 5 performance - one which was a penalty. Valencia drove our attack again and again. His link-up in front of goal was also terrific. In the second half he also started running at the defense at full speed, which was lovely to see.

Almost everyone was excellent in the second half, but when we needed that quality in the first, he kept fecking up good opportunities. Says all about him really at the moment. We cannot rely on him to help us open up defenses and put some good crosses into the box for us to benefit. When we are as great as we were second half, he comes into his own (well, sort of). Has been the story this season. All his decent performances have coincided when we have a couple of goals for cushion.
But to expect him to help us get the first goal or break a defense down like we needed in the first half, and he is nowhere to be seen except for when he tries to go through the defender's shin.

 

[Crumpsall Red]

Smash the ball against the defender time and time and fecking time again .... woeful

 

[Crumpsall Red]

Smash the ball against the defender time and time and fecking time again .... woeful

I said fu cking not fecking .... fu ck the advertisers

 

[NK86]

He needs to go in the summer, but he probably won't. Managers see something in him that we do not.

I had said earlier, as a back up to play in certain type of games, yes. But in games like today where we need to break a tough defense down, he should not be anywhere near the starting 11. If we need a wide player to stretch the play, we better buy a fecking good one this summer.

 

[Ekeke]

He is about 100x better when he passes the ball on the ground in short distances. When he crosses it, you know what is coming

Unfortunately every single team we play against know this.

 

[Rossa]

He just kept running and running until he eventually lost the ball. You can't just ignore the crossing part, he's a fecking winger.

I don't ignore it, and I agreed that it was awful. I still think he played well, and he didn't lose the ball more than others - he brought the ball into attack very well and assisted one goal. No doubt he needs to improve his crossing, but I thought he was good.

 

[Crackers]

He's very limited what he can do, but he's fast, strong and good at testing the full back when his confidence is high. Ideally, I'd like to see him gone but can't see us selling him.

 

[Ekeke]

Can a wide winger with his type of game really play that well without an ability to put a half decent cross into the box?

 

[Nighteyes]

I don't ignore it, and I agreed that it was awful. I still think he played well, and he didn't lose the ball more than others - he brought the ball into attack very well and assisted one goal. No doubt he needs to improve his crossing, but I thought he was good.

So, he messes up almost every single chance he had of putting in a decent cross, runs into defenders until he loses the ball and you think that's a good performance? We've been saying he has to improve his crossing for 2 years now.

 

[Devil may care]

Of the 5 I think we should ship out he's probably the one that will stay, but I hope we start to see a lot less of him, just not entertaining to watch or particularly effective until a team has broken down and there's acres for him to run into.

 

[Rossa]

So, he messes up almost every single chance he had of putting in a decent cross, runs into defenders until he loses the ball and you think that's a good performance? We've been saying he has to improve his crossing for 2 years now.

I didn't agree that he runs into defenders and lost the ball. I think his link-up play was good today, at least ten times that of Rooney for one, and he created many chances even if his crossing was a bit off. Does it matter if he creates chances by crossing or by link-up play passing and receiving into space?

Why you keep bringing up crossing I don't know as I've already agreed with you.

 

[NK86]

So, he messes up almost every single chance he had of putting in a decent cross, runs into defenders until he loses the ball and you think that's a good performance? We've been saying he has to improve his crossing for 2 years now.

That's the main worry. When it goes on for this long, it is no longer a case of him "trying to find it back". It will be like saying 'only if Torres can learn to score again, he will be a brilliant striker'. Somethings don't just come back automatically.

 

[crappycraperson]

I don't think he is good enough for United anymore. Some people can't see beyond him running at defenders with pace. But the end product is no where near where it should be.

 

[Rossa]

Also, Valencia at least gets into positions to cross. Look at Young on the other wing who seems incapable of doing so, even when players facilitate the entire left side for him - taking tunnel vision to new levels that bloke.

 

[bosnian_red]

Decent game from him. Needs to sort out hitting the first man with the crosses though. Looked good and confident running with the ball though, which is nice.

 

[Nighteyes]

I didn't agree that he runs into defenders and lost the ball. I think his link-up play was good today, at least ten times that of Rooney for one, and he created many chances even if his crossing was a bit off. Does it matter if he creates chances by crossing or by link-up play passing and receiving into space?

Why you keep bringing up crossing I don't know as I've already agreed with you.

Rooney was far better.

 

[NK86]

Also, Valencia at least gets into positions to cross. Look at Young on the other wing who seems incapable of doing so, even when players facilitate the entire left side for him - taking tunnel vision to new levels that bloke.

Is anyone saying that they rated Young's cameo over Valencia's performance? Valencia was shite in the first half and Young was shite throughout the cameo.

 

[Ekeke]

Also, Valencia at least gets into positions to cross. Look at Young on the other wing who seems incapable of doing so, even when players facilitate the entire left side for him - taking tunnel vision to new levels that bloke.

Well post Giggs we've always had a completely different setup on the left with Evra providing the width. You can see that Young mostly plays Evra in down the left and when hes played on the right he's crossed the ball in quicker and been more direct. That doesnt mean Young is good enough

 

[Rossa]

Rooney was far better.

The laughing smileys really are the epitome of good arguments.

Explain to me why Rooney was far better? Take away his two goals and what did he do? He had two nice flicks, that didn't amount to anything. He had two shots that any goalkeeper with the back to the ball should save, and he created nothing, zero, niet, for his teammates, even when he played as a playmaker. Instead he wasted possession with poor passing, broke up one touch passing with his terrible touches and gave the ball away outside our own box, which could easily have translated into a goal against us.

 

[Rossa]

Well post Giggs we've always had a completely different setup on the left with Evra providing the width. You can see that Young mostly plays Evra in down the left and when hes played on the right he's crossed the ball in quicker and been more direct. That doesnt mean Young is good enough

Evra was terrific today, and even then Young was able to create nothing. Valencia can do something on his own, not young-Giggs or even Januzaj levels, but something. Young can do nothing unless he gets heaps of support.

 

[SalfordRed1960]

Rooney was far better.

I know it is opinions, but I thought Rooney was poor today. Getting a few goals doesn't mean he played well. I would have taken him off at half-time and brought on Mata for him.

Anyway, back to the Valencia performance. As a lot have said on here, I agree he is far better when he comes in and does the short passes linking up play. His pace does scare the shit out of defenders, but as a winger his crossing is woeful. He is also the only winger that actually attempts to defend or tackle. I can not see him leaving any time soon.

 

[NK86]

The laughing smileys really are the epitome of good arguments.

Explain to me why Rooney was far better? Take away his two goals and what did he do? He had two nice flicks, that didn't amount to anything. He had two shots that any goalkeeper with the back to the ball should save, and he created nothing, zero, niet, for his teammates, even when he played as a playmaker. Instead he wasted possession with poor passing, broke up one touch passing with his terrible touches and gave the ball away outside our own box, which could easily have translated into a goal against us.

You cannot just "take away" the two goals he scored. Especially the second one which was created by himself and really helped us kill the game off and help us express ourselves more.

 

[Rossa]

You cannot just "take away" the two goals he scored. Especially the second one which was created by himself and really helped us kill the game off and help us express ourselves more.

He didn't create the penalty, he scored it, which he should do. The second one was very nice, albeit a little lucky as nobody was pressing him and he slipped whilst shooting. I can take away his goals when I talk about how well he played, which was great for 15 minutes and rubbish for the rest.

 

[Nighteyes]

The laughing smileys really are the epitome of good arguments.

Explain to me why Rooney was far better? Take away his two goals and what did he do? He had two nice flicks, that didn't amount to anything. He had two shots that any goalkeeper with the back to the ball should save, and he created nothing, zero, niet, for his teammates, even when he played as a playmaker. Instead he wasted possession with poor passing, broke up one touch passing with his terrible touches and gave the ball away outside our own box, which could easily have translated into a goal against us.

What a silly point. Why would I take away Rooney's goals? On the other hand had we had a mildly competent winger (heck even Young's crossing is miles better) we'd have banged in a couple more at least. Take away Valencia's strength and power and he's barely premier league standard right now.

 

[Cina]

Also, Valencia at least gets into positions to cross. Look at Young on the other wing who seems incapable of doing so, even when players facilitate the entire left side for him - taking tunnel vision to new levels that bloke.

It's hardly high praise to say someone is better than Young at something.

 

[VeevaVee]

Valencia looked a bit better today, specially once the whole team got going. Still can't get the bloody ball into the box though.
All in all he should be backup for someone better really.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

I can't help but imagine how much a good winger like di Maria might relish all that space and time on that right flank in our system.

We moved the ball so early to him so often and yet he can only get past the first man on half his attempts.

 

[Sixpence]

He must leave. Please. It gives me AIDS watching him doing the same thing relentlessly over and over.

 

[Ash_G]

He picked up second half but still frustrating for me. I get he brings a willingness to stay wide and pace (though he did come inside a lot) but his use of the ball is poor, we work a lot of openings on the right which are just being wasted atm.

 

[r0x0rwolfo]

He didn't create the penalty, he scored it, which he should do. The second one was very nice, albeit a little lucky as nobody was pressing him and he slipped whilst shooting. I can take away his goals when I talk about how well he played, which was great for 15 minutes and rubbish for the rest.

Hi, this is the post you quoted:

"Especially the second one which was created by himself".

Bye.

 

[NK86]

He didn't create the penalty, he scored it, which he should do. The second one was very nice, albeit a little lucky as nobody was pressing him and he slipped whilst shooting. I can take away his goals when I talk about how well he played, which was great for 15 minutes and rubbish for the rest.

Pretty much like Valencia then.. Good for 20 minutes and awful the rest.. At least Rooney has an account excellent goal to boot.

 

[Rossa]

Pretty much like Valencia then.. Good for 20 minutes and awful the rest.. At least Rooney has an account excellent goal to boot.

There's no doubting Rooney's stats and his ability to score important goals - I'm not trying to distract from that at all. What I'm saying is that people seem to look beyond his awful play because of those goals and assists.

 

[Tomuś]

Remind him how to cross a football and we have a good right winger back again.

 

[United22]

Does anyone here feel he could be a good CDM?

 

[Ash_G]

Does anyone here feel he could be a good CDM?

Definitely not imo. Can't have someone in that role who will try as hard as he does to avoid using his left. It's annoying when you play wide but a clear issue when you play central. You don't need carrick levels of ability on either foot but you need to be willing to use it when necessary imo. Plus he does tend to give away a lot of fouls and if his showings at right back are anything to go by he's not always aware of whats happening around him. It's one thing helping out the defenders but another to be a key part of the set up.

 

[Tomuś]

Does anyone here feel he could be a good CDM?

He plays centrally for Ecuador but throwing him into DM is a bad idea imo.

 

[Ducklegs]

His best game all season, which shows how low the bar is for him.

His crossing is an embarrassment.

 

[RDCR07]

Does anyone here feel he could be a good CDM?

He can't even use his left foot and you want him to be a central midfielder? You need to be comfortable on the ball if you want to play there and he is anything but comfortable. He can't even put in a cross and what makes you think he can be in CM and play proper forward passes.

 

[bugmat]

4 key passes (the most for us today) and instrumental in both mata's goals, 2 shots of 4 on target, 92% passing accuracy (4th highest), 3 tackles (tied for most), 0/5 crosses, 4/5 accurate long balls - 4th best player stats-wise after rooney, mata and another.

Shit - sell him.

 

[KanieKaned]

When he receives the ball on the wing he looks as though he is genuinely surprised that he's been given the ball in the first place. This is then followed by him not having a clue what to do for about three seconds maybe more. Then he just whacks it either sideways or backwards in the hope that something miraculous happens. I really wish the old Valencia would return. Valencia in rape mode was a beautiful sight.