Solid defensively. But going forward dreadful. Don't mind him being our back-up RB but would prefer Rafael is given another run. He is our best RB. I know McNair is the current flavour of the month but let's be honest, it was against Cambridge.
25
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 35
- Clean sheets
- 12
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 5
- Yellow cards
- 4
5 assists? I can only remember the one for Rooney against Liverpool, which was nicely done to be fair. He actually did really well in the build up for that goal too which makes it even more frustrating when you see him smashing every single cross low and hard into players shins. It feels like there's still a player in there somewhere.
One of the culprits who makes our play predictable. Like you said momentum just shifts to 0 and that allows opposition to get back into position. Its know wonder why most of hiss crosses are blocked. We need to players in the team who like to be on the ball, who have the confidence to get forward and exploit space in behind, he simply does not do it for me.
We need to rewire our heads. Valencia is not a winger anymore, he's a defensively reliable RB, our first choice RB who is good enough only on our side of the pitch.
He frustrates me as a winger but he seems more and more a proper right back. His positioning improved and he uses his body well.
He did cost us a few points due to being overrun at times last season but I don't have a bad feeling with him as right back recently. Hope he can prove me right in the coming big games.
He did cost us a few points due to being overrun at times last season but I don't have a bad feeling with him as right back recently. Hope he can prove me right in the coming big games.
Valencia couldn't cross a stationary object, Gary Neville must be horrified that his old slot is being filled by someone who cant overlap or cross. How the hell does Valencia offer more than Rafa at right back?
When he played RW with Rafael behind him the two had a good understanding. It's just a shame his final ball has deteriorated so much.
Awful. I'm sorry but this man has not been good enough to start for MUFC for at least 2 years.
At least 5 or 6 times he found himself in behind in fantastic crossing positions with time and space and delivered fecking nothing.
I'd be happy to see him move on in the summer. He runs alot and gets up and down the line. Otherwise not nearly a starting MUFC player.
At least 5 or 6 times he found himself in behind in fantastic crossing positions with time and space and delivered fecking nothing.
I'd be happy to see him move on in the summer. He runs alot and gets up and down the line. Otherwise not nearly a starting MUFC player.
He's fecking shite. I'm sorry...but he is.
His crosses are usually frustating but him, Blind and De Gea have been our backbones this year. Name another United player who has beat his man as often as Valencia has.
@red_7 I think it was the total opposite. He was one of the few with pace and power last season, he saved us a lot of points.
@red_7 I think it was the total opposite. He was one of the few with pace and power last season, he saved us a lot of points.
Could not disagree with you more. Very poor.
Paddy McNair in one game demonstrated how vital a full back who has abit of intelligence can be to a side's style and effectiveness going forward.
He had Rooney on the right wing in front of him and yet it worked beautifully. Valencia ruins so many attacks it is untrue. Defensively I can't fault him but he is not good enough going forwards for a club of this calibre.. his crossing is a car crash, utterly horrendous.
He had Rooney on the right wing in front of him and yet it worked beautifully. Valencia ruins so many attacks it is untrue. Defensively I can't fault him but he is not good enough going forwards for a club of this calibre.. his crossing is a car crash, utterly horrendous.
So his crosses don't frustate you at all?
Preston 1:3 Man Utd
Did well today I thought for the most part. A couple of assists (won't be credited for the second one though I think). He's gotten a lot better going forward this season then the last few.
Edit: Actually apparently that was Young who gave it to herrera. Never mind. Still decent.
Edit: Actually apparently that was Young who gave it to herrera. Never mind. Still decent.
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He was average for the most part, diabolical at times and decent in flashes.
So average overall.
If that hospital he played in the second half had resulted in a goal, he would probably of had to walk home.
So average overall.
If that hospital he played in the second half had resulted in a goal, he would probably of had to walk home.
You can never question his commitment and work levels, he did ok I thought bar a couple of defensive lapses, but I don't think our two nervy CB's helped him or Shaw at times, nothing excuse that dreadful backpass though, that was all his! 
I dont see what he does that Rafael doesnt do.
He doesn't get injured, that's about it. He's a solid enough option 'til we can bring in a new right-back in the summer.
Can we then sell him? Pretty please?
Valencia is useless shock horror
Some harsh comments, thought he was excellent today. Preston were clogging up the middle so we had to go to the flanks and Valencia had a huge part in both goals, the flick that found Young in space to assist to Herrera and then the classic Tony V push the ball past the defender and cross which found Fellaini.
Defensively was solid except for a couple lapses, but other than that shut down their left side as usual. The goal was caused by Herrera losing his man, as Tony was cutting out the danger inside.
Not sure what is expected these days as I think Tony is the least of our issues. Plenty of other area to focus on, unless we're bringing in a world class right back (can't think of too many realistic ones) I feel Tony with Rafael as backup are have us covered there.
Defensively was solid except for a couple lapses, but other than that shut down their left side as usual. The goal was caused by Herrera losing his man, as Tony was cutting out the danger inside.
Not sure what is expected these days as I think Tony is the least of our issues. Plenty of other area to focus on, unless we're bringing in a world class right back (can't think of too many realistic ones) I feel Tony with Rafael as backup are have us covered there.
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It was an improvement, but i cannot comprehend why he jogs upto defenders and stops 1v1. I know he did run at them a couple of times, but this is supposed to be natural winger, he should be running directly at the full back every single time he gets the chance. He's got pace and he's strong, if he was more positive going forward he'll skin his man even though he's the most predictable player in the league.
He was a great winger up until the point Scholes retired.
Valencia needs support from a midfield that will spread the play quickly so that he has a chance to get a run at his defender. He's finding it slightly easier at right back, but our passing is still too slow to get the best out of him. He'll never beat his marker with a trick so the pass into him needs to do that for him. If we can get Valencia level with the defender, he's still an extremely dangerous player.
Valencia needs support from a midfield that will spread the play quickly so that he has a chance to get a run at his defender. He's finding it slightly easier at right back, but our passing is still too slow to get the best out of him. He'll never beat his marker with a trick so the pass into him needs to do that for him. If we can get Valencia level with the defender, he's still an extremely dangerous player.
I'm a dangerous player when I'm free. I understand he lacks support, the passing is slow and there's no one overlapping to create overloads. However, there are times when he is 1v1 with a clear run at the defender, and he decides against driving at him and making something happen. That has nothing to do with our style of play because I'm talking about a distinct type of situation, and he should be trying to beat his man every single time.
I bet you don't have Valencia's pace and strength to hold off defenders.
He proved he could be one of the best wingers in the world when you play him the right way. He was never any good at beating players 1-on-1 even at his best. His style was always more physical than that, but it's being mitigated by the way we've set up in the last few years.
Neither does he at this stage to be fair.
I don't think he's lost much pace. He's simply unable to try a knock-and-run because his side of the pitch is so congested by the time the pass comes in.
No, I don't, which is why it's frustrating to not use it to it's full potential. You start driving at a full back 1v1 with the pace and power he has and get them back-pedalling, he doesn't need to have a repertoire of tricks to gain a yard for a cross or pass. I've seen him do it before, I'm not asking for anything out of the ordinary, he did it once tonight and it lead to a goal ffs.
You mention our play is slow and predictable and you're correct. Having him jog up to defenders, stop stationary and then pass the ball backwards is as much a contributor to that as it is a consequence of it.
Anyone else feel he's really physically declined lately?
Dante I always support Valencia but he gets one on one with defenders to many times and declines to take them on! Passing the ball sideways or backwards from 20-30 yards of the byeline. This is something you'd never see a Hazard Bale or even Sterling do I'd love if someone could pull stats on this. How many times he ops not to take a man on in the last 25 yards. It's horrible and really affects our play.
You can't be serious here? How many times in the last 2 seasons has Rooney found him on the right with all the space in the world to run at his full back only for him to turn back and pass it to Rafael?
I thought he did well against Preston. By the standards he's set in the last 2 years it was almost a world class performance.
Valencia imo was quite decent yesterday compared some of his previous games. Stats confirm the same as well. He attempted 61 passes yesterday, 2nd behind Blind, with 88.5% accuracy, again 2nd behind Fellaini with 89%. 4 long balls attempted, 4 accurate. 4 crosses, 2 accurate. 3 key passes, 3 interceptions, 3 clearances. Which shows he was well involved both offensively as well as in defense. He played a part in conceding the goal but will be harsh to blame him too much for that. Overall quite good performance. His physicality is added advantage over Rafael in defensive situations and he is lesser prone than Rafael to do rash things. I personally would love Rafael to be given more chances as he can be more creative going forward and link with forwards better but not too worried over Valencia at the moment. If McNair develops into a good RB, then we have a alternative waiting as well.
I would like to see Rafa get a few games under his belt, albeit stay healthy more than one game at a time, and show his quality. I still think rafa has something about him that sets him apart from placing Valencia ahead of him. Maybe its the fact he can use his left foot but still....so many times Valencia will beat his man and can cut back with his left and doesn't do anything with minus go back to his right. He reminds me of a Sunday league guy who you know can only use one foot(we all know exactly what Valencia is going to do and so does the left back) and still does it. He is mediocre at crossing and his short passing leaves a lot to be desired. At Least Rafa can link up something Valencia struggles at
This. He also had our 2nd most successful dribbles (3) after ADM. He had a good (not great) game as the only player down the right who had to both attack and defend constantly - his stats show this and his namecheck by LvG shows he is appreciated by his teammate and management if not the eFans online:
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Just no. He was awful in Fergie's last season when Scholes was still playing.
Eh? If there is one thing you can't accuse AV of is being unabe to pass short - he had our 2nd msot passes and 2nd highest passing accuracy! And 2nd highest long ball accuracy. Most of the linking up Rafael has done for us over his greatstint at RB has been with AV making the proper-weighted passesin their interplay...when Rafael had to play as a RWB this year running the flanks alone he struggled w/o that link up.
Some people seem to just want to narrate their own story of events rather than facts. The only thing AV needs to improve on (outside of using his lefty of course) is his crossing but yesterday it was improved - he made 4 crosses, our 3rd most attempts behind ADM (8) and Rooney (5)) and 2 were accurate (our most - ADM had zero and Rooney only 1) and one lead to the winner. And he's doing that playing as a defender not a winger or attacker as the other two so can't just run forward exposing our backline willy nilly.
His role in the team has obviously changed this year but people still expect him to play like a winger
Not so sure, think the stats flatter him here if you only look at the big numbers. 2 of his 3 dribbles were in his own half and of his 76 passes only 9 were closer to the goal than the halfway line. All too often he'd try and start to go past a player, only to turn back and pass it safely into centre mid. Good for your stats, but not a good performance.
I think the lack of penetration from both him and Shaw were a major problem yesterday. With no attacking threat from the full backs we were far too narrow. Thought he was better than Shaw though.
I think Tony gets a bit of a raw deal at times. He is pretty reliable at RB, perhaps more so than Rafael, especially if you factor in their relative availability. He is quick, strong, good one on one, decent in the air and can pass well enough. He has his limitations too obviously but I think they are much less of an issue when playing as a RB.
I'm a big fan of Valencia and thinks he gets a lot of unfair shit on here but I thought he had a poor game last night. His worst in a while. Even though he did get a good assist (that was an assist, right?) Some wayward passing, poor decisions and didn't defend their goal as well as he could have. If Van Gaal is picking on merit he has to be at risk of being dropped for our next game.
He's a solid option, and an absolute athlete. I like Valencia.