My MOTM, he was relentless down his side, a T-800 RB.
25
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 43
- Clean sheets
- 19
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 6
- Yellow cards
- 7
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Don't think he put a foot wrong today - clearly buzzing about what Jose said about him.
One thing that frustrated me today was when he got to the edge of their box and just dwelled on the ball without really figuring out what to do and then it all boiled away.
Other than that good game again, always atleast a 7/10 player old Tony.
Other than that good game again, always atleast a 7/10 player old Tony.
It felt like even the fullback was getting caught off guard when he was crossing it in with his left foot
Was just coming in to post this and he did it quite a bit. Hope he doesn't make a habit of it.
There was one move in the last 10-20 minutes where Valencia trapped a ball and took it in his stride in one move before charging up the field and relieving the defence from the pressure it was under.
It was a fantastic piece of skill. A very underrated part of his game is how good his first touch is.
It was a fantastic piece of skill. A very underrated part of his game is how good his first touch is.
You must miss that until recently, but every past United managers rated him for a reason: he's one of best at protecting the ball under pressure. He has best protective controlling first touch too. With him we always have that extra solidness even him playing as winger.
At one point he had a ridiculous first touch to bring a difficult ball down and then he went on to flick it around the opponent. It was so beautiful 
http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-F...low-defenders-for-Inside-United-magazine.aspx
One word for Valencia....
One word for Valencia....
best rb in the world, started to cross with his left and sometimes its even better than his right... still expecting little better delivery but I think ppl are little bit harsh on this topic as he used to be a winger and he plays like that going forward while being super super solid defending, due to his superb physicality, good first touch, experience and decent dribbling abilities hes able to keep the ball under pressure which is very valuable and little overlooked like someone stated. I wish shaw got fit quickly so we can be as good on the other side of the pitch
Didn't see the game today. Did he actually put any good crosses in the box today?
Now I'm not suggesting that we should play that way, but merely making an observation that Valencia would be an absolute beast in any formation with 3 players in the back line.
When we need a goal, ultimately Tony is involved in making it....
Yes and at least half of them were with his left foot.
The only RB in the world who gets judged on his crossing ability. For RB, his crossing is more than good enough.
You're gullible to think those were the left foot crosses.
What really happened is that he pulled few rabonas with his right but due to his immense speed for the naked eye it looked like he's crossing with his left.
That's just simply untrue.
All of our full backs are judged on what they bring to the team attacking wise as well as defensively. People criticize Shaw and Darmian for not contributing enough to the attack too.
The problem I have with Valencia is that he's a key part of our attacking game. We always seem to look for him. And for someone who is involved so heavily in so many of our attacks his end product really isn't good enough. You could say we shouldn't really rely on our RB so much in an attacking sense and I'd completely agree with that but the fact of the matter is that we do.
Well both parts really, but I meant more the 'only full-back who gets judged for his crossing' part. I remember it used to be a huge bug bear with Evra, and at the same time Chelsea fans used to criticise Ashley Cole for it. Those two were probably the best in the world at that time. If they got criticised for it then everyone did.
Your post make me realize that among the fullbacks that I have often watched, only Maxwell, Marcelo, Sagnol and Dani Alves are/were consistent crosser of the ball. It's not that common.
Looking at this pragmatically, who would you bring in that would provide this end product and offer all the other traits that Valencia does?
I don't want to replace Valencia, I just wish we played in a way that wasn't so reliant on him.
Although Walker owns the right side for Spurs in a similar way to Valencia does for us and his end product is better. But we'd have no chance of getting him. Or we'd at least have to pay a ridiculous amount of money.
Constant shuffle on LB spot also contributes a lot to that issue IMO.
Just get a right winger (Mkhi?) so that Valencia doesn't have to do two jobs.
Walker put in a great cross yesterday but his end product isn't that great either. Valencia could very much do with practising that sort of cross though, the whipped ball between defenders and keeper.
Oh criticism of crosses is completely fine. It's the people who judge him by just those moments that I find ridiculous. And Valencia is actually a better crosser than Evra ever was.
I have very little problems with his crossing give he's a RB. Hes also now moved on from smashing it at the shins to more loopy ones which always gives players a chance.
Both good comments. I never have liked Mata on the right altough I accept it's had its uses at times.
Having a similar left back (Shaw hopefully) doing what Valencia can just gives the opposition so much more to think about. They don't have to think much about overlaps on the left as Blind and Darmian don't offer much in attack.
He's a key part because we don't have a right winger. Not really his fault. He does his job very well. There's no better RB in world football.
Absolutely, which is why I'd love to see Shaw get a run of games for us. Not a great crosser himself (not even a good one really) but to have pacy fullbacks on both side who aren't afraid to run past their winger would at least make us a lot less predictable.
Yeah, they're the exact kind of crosses I'd love to see more of from us. Even if it can't reach one of our own players they're an absolute nightmare to try defend.
I agree with that. I'm not really criticizing Valencia here, I'm criticizing our tactics.
Very much agreed.
Would kill to be a fly on the wall during the conversation between Mourinho and Shaw.
I'm not sure there's anything wrong with the tactics either. He's not out primary tactic. It's only when we struggle to create chances do we resort to pinging it out to him. When you pass it to him, expect him to beat his man and then put a good cross in on a consistent basis its not surprising he falls short of expectations.
I think its a little bit about incredulity as well.
I think someone like Rado_N said the other day that Valencia had proved the doubters of his signing wrong, but I don't really agree.
He's become a very competent right-back, in a way that I would have said he didn't have in him less than two years ago, but ultimately he's playing there because he's no longer good enough to play as a winger.
When you think about it it is downright strange. We signed a player to play as a winger, he played very well there for about two seasons and put in threatening crosses regularly. For some reason he lost that ability, but - to his credit - managed to transition himself into a very good full-back and remain useful to the team. Yet, despite his path to full-back, the biggest weakness of his game is the thing that he was initially bought here to do! It's hard to get your head around.
It's unfair to Valencia, but the circumstances by which he became a full-back are always going to lead to people scratching their head and going: 'You used to be a winger, how are you so shit at this part of the game?!'
I spent 2 years on here relentlessly criticizing his performances and selection in the team. Once you forget why he's playing playing there you have to realise that we genuinely have someone there who's the best in his position.
His crossing gets so much stick because people still see him as an ex winger. No other RB receives that level of scrutiny.
At least google knows:
I just dont understand how we leave him always all by himself on the right wing. He gets no support whatsoever, yesterday, only Herrera tried to help late in the game. And it seems he's our only real attacking plan, so much goes through him
Now I know you lying. Anyone care to give an honest assessment?
Seriously? He actually used his left? Don't think I've seen him do that in years.
Genuinely. Instead of going down the outside, he cut back and delivered a few good in-swingers with his left. Good deliveries.
Exactly. Walker and Rose being the best example.
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