The fact that no one bar him and Bailly in our backline are guaranteed starters speaks volumes. Before last season he wasn't even a fullback, last season he barely got to play to his potential because of the pins in his feet and now he's worked his arse off he's EASILY the best fullback in our squad.
25
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 43
- Clean sheets
- 19
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 6
- Yellow cards
- 7
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
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Some argue that Bellerin is better, but that is mostly based on future potential.
Some argue that Clyne is better, but that is based on the better end of nothing.
Some argue that Walker is better, and although they are somewhat similar players, Walker really is all about his pace, and where I think Valencia is about as fast, he uses his athleticism much more wisely. I also think he is much better in possession.
To me, this season, Valencia is the RB in the league.
With Rojo and Jones playing so well, are you sure that Bailly is guaranteed as a starter? I think Valencia might just be the first name on the team sheet along with Pogba and Ibrahimovic.
In my eyes he is, not sure. You make a valid point though.
He is. Valencias technique is insane. His first touch is among the best. You could shoot the ball at him out of a cannon, and he'll just kill it dead. His passing and ball retention is incredibly underrated. He has been transformed as a defender. His positioning and anticipation are very good now. He's very good defending one on one as well. Teams don't seem to get any joy attacking down our right.
I don't think there are many outstanding full backs in the league at the moment, on either flank. Certainly not at the level of Cole or Evra of years gone by. I wouldn't trade Valencia for any other current PL right back though.
He's the kind of player you don't quite appreciate until he's gone. A bit like Park, in that sense.
He dropped his agent soon after he signed for us because he didn't feel he needed to transfer anywhere else after signing for a club like United. Mad respect for that.
He dropped his agent soon after he signed for us because he didn't feel he needed to transfer anywhere else after signing for a club like United. Mad respect for that.
I must say, I vehemently argued in the past that he was a bad defender (which I still stand by) but he's vastly improved to being a very competent defender. I'm still not convinced his instincts are still fully there when the ball is played behind him and around him, and he could probably use his size better defending back post crosses but overall he's good. Almost unbeatable one vs one.
Love this guy.
With Valencia I have this beautiful feeling of comfort this season. On and off the ball. I know he won't give the ball away cheaply and I know that there is no winger out there burning him for pace or in pretty much any other way.
Our player of the year so far
West Ham 0:2 Man Utd
Another powerhouse outing from Tanky V.
Shocking miss (use your left foot tony ffs) but otherwise very solid
Must admit, thought he looked like he needs a rest today. Only going by the high standard he's set himself this season.
He must be knackered! Was unimpressive today for mine - showed more reluctance to drive forward than usual, especially when we sorely needed width in the first half.
Hopefully we can strengthen in this area over the summer/some competition for the place wouldn't go astray.
Hopefully we can strengthen in this area over the summer/some competition for the place wouldn't go astray.
Terrible miss, but another good performance from Valencia.
Valencia still has an issue with the defensive line which we saw with Antonios chance. Will be rested against Reading surely.
A good attacking right back would set this team over the top. He gets so much ball in good attaching situations and does nothing.
Hard to believe he used to a be a winger. Is actually better defensively than going forward these days.
Hard to believe he used to a be a winger. Is actually better defensively than going forward these days.
What really angered me was when he broke up our defensive line. He really needs to learn that. Apart from that I thought he was good. Quite an impressive miss though
What he said
Aztec Behemoth Leviathan
I think he and everyone that played the last game were exhausted. I'm not so sure we need to buy big for RB coverage. We have Shaw to come back at LB and Darmian can & does play RB, so can Blind and we have some good youngsters coming through that might just make the grade?
Came in here to say the same thing. He runs up and down that wing all game, every game. It's bad that we don't have anyone to replace him or give him a rest when needed.
Shocking miss though.
Appalling miss but generally fine.
It's not a surprise he's not scored for 3 years with finishing like that.
It's not a surprise he's not scored for 3 years with finishing like that.
A little credit to Randolf ... super reaction save. Has it really been 3 years? Wow
TBH, he should be scoring. He had a lot of the goal to aim at, and he made it a savable shot when it really should have been buried. But yeah, would be nice to see him get some rest next.
Agreed. He is absolutely diabolical in the final third and easily our most frustrating player in attack. (Defensively sound though so no complaints there). If he isn't stopping completely and then dribbling back and passing it backwards he's slowing it down so much that he eventually gets double marked and like a bonehead just looks down and fennels it in anywhere without even looking.
Seem like fatigued and affected his concentration at time. Shocking position for Antonio chance (West Ham). Some unusual loose first touch (IIRC recover the ball well), but lack energy at time compare to his usual performance.
We never got to see a replay of the situation Valencia was flagged offside, that was a really great run, especially for a right back. I'm not convinced that was correct.
I thought he was our best player after Rashford. His defending and going forward were equally good. It's funny that WHU decided to attack Valencia's side than our left side and we know that both Rojo and Darmian aren't very good with a left back role. The Antonio's chance wasn't his fault alone, it was pretty much the back four fault. Missed understanding. The centre backs played offside but him and Rojo left back played onside. They might need to work this one out in training.
He's better than Bellerin
Much better.
Would never have believed he could have become as good as he is at RB.
Enormous credit to Van Gaal, I suppose, for spotting this, but even more to Tony V for actually achieving what he has these past 18 months....
Enormous credit to Van Gaal, I suppose, for spotting this, but even more to Tony V for actually achieving what he has these past 18 months....
I think Mou takes most of the credit here for sorting out so many of his positional issues with crosses, back-post defending, and 2v1 plays which persisted under LvG but have almost disappeared this season.
Darmian in tougher games, Fosu-Mensah when we need pace and attacking threat from that wing isn't bad cover.
when I looked at bellerin who was doubted to be league's best rightback for some time I have to say, Valencia is twice the player he is... His strenght is on completely different level and it helps him to keep the ball under pressure even though he's very one footed, but he learnt to use that turn ith his outside of the foot quite well despite looking pretty limited avoiding his left at first..
his crossing also got better or he just doesn't seem to hit his first player that often, I guess it is also down to the fact that we move players forward and he has an option for a pass or the cross to find Ibra or whoever is there or just drive with the ball infield which can look quite onedimensional particularly when he cant really cut it back to his right when in speed but he's always in control of the ball. Valencia NEVER looses possession which is quite an asset too my favourite in him along with keeping the ball under pressure, as much as Rafael was great fullback and better at some other aspects of the game, he'd never bombed forward or shield the ball like Tonyo, you never feel that LAV is gonna be outmuscled and dispossesed, certainly helped him that he played as a winger, his dribbling is very good even though he doesn't really leave players behind him..
Love this LAV
his crossing also got better or he just doesn't seem to hit his first player that often, I guess it is also down to the fact that we move players forward and he has an option for a pass or the cross to find Ibra or whoever is there or just drive with the ball infield which can look quite onedimensional particularly when he cant really cut it back to his right when in speed but he's always in control of the ball. Valencia NEVER looses possession which is quite an asset too my favourite in him along with keeping the ball under pressure, as much as Rafael was great fullback and better at some other aspects of the game, he'd never bombed forward or shield the ball like Tonyo, you never feel that LAV is gonna be outmuscled and dispossesed, certainly helped him that he played as a winger, his dribbling is very good even though he doesn't really leave players behind him..
Love this LAV
Fosu-Mensah is not a fullback, he hasn't looked good at RB and Darmian is a huge drop in quality. We need to find some decent cover for Valencia in the summer, someone who can challenge him.
Why does he need to be challenged? Seems like we should either buy the best early 20s RB we can find and let him take the backup minutes for a year or two then grab the job when Valencia loses it or he surpasses him, or we should just chill, address more serious problems in the squad and not waste money or further reduce squad continuity and then in the summer of 2018 or even 2019 if Valencia is very good again next year, spend big on a long-term answer at the position and hopefully get a star who can slot in right away, like we did with Pogba or Mkhitaryan, or a very promising somewhat proven young player like Bailly.
I thought it was interesting that in his embargoed press conference yesterday Mourinho mentioned Antonio Valencia and Paul Pogba when giving examples of players who were better at their positions than anyone else he had in his squad
It was very interesting. What I took from this was not so much that they are better but that they are players who offer something unique and the make up of the team is different if they're not available.
Valencia has such athleticism and the ability to play as a winger that he effectively allows United to play their right sided forward as a number 10. No other option at right back allows that so it changes the dynamic of the team.
Just saw how Bellerin got manhandled for one of Bournemouth's goals, ouch. Valencia does that to attackers and matches most big CFs for power. What hurts him going forward is a lack of a left foot though if he had that he would have been for my money one of the worlds best wingers at his peak.
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