Should be a great mentor for Shaw. Both have pretty similar set of attributes.
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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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He speaks basic english, just not to the level that he is comfortable using it in an interview.
Everyone also says he is quite shy, and if you've every tried to learn a new language, you will know how much it helps to be outgoing and try to speak to the locals.
It's also unfair to compare him with Mata who holds degrees in journalism, sport science and finance(!), or Herrera who we all know is quite an intellectual guy. Both come from solid middleclass-families and went to good schools, while Valencia comes from a very poor family with almost no school to talk about.
I don't wanna jinx it
I still gotta hope he gets in the team of the season. Although I think he has been better than Walker, Walker is english and his team is higher up in the table. Similar with Azpilicueta (i.e. hasn't played right back this season but has before and his team have been dominant).
Absolute freak of nature.
Does he ever stop running?
Does he ever stop running?
Well we did have Rooney as our captain and he doesn't speak English also, so there's that...
He's come a long way hasn't he. Ever since the leg break, he never looked the same - but over the past 12 months he's really rediscovered his ruthless and beastly instinct to run at/past players, and whilst not being the best dribbler, he rarely looks like he's going to lose the ball. Brilliant, passionate player and I'm buzzing he's turned out to be a key player for us.
I don't want to argue too much about this point, I'm not too invested in it, but if you don't feel comfortable giving a basic, 2-min interview about football (not current affairs or politics) in English after over 10 years then you don't really speak the language plain and simple. And the fact that he's shy is another trait you don't really want your Captain to have. He's gotta be talkative, whether it's to be supportive of or to give a bollocking to his teammates. That's the reason he's the captain after all.
I'm not blaming the guy or anything, some people have indeed have better background or aptitude with languages. We signed a footballer not a linguist after all. But those limitations should surely be taken into consideration. Shy and doesn't speak (good enough) English does not really make great captain material.
Ture, true... but he's got his famous Scouse charm though, doesn't he? He's like a snake charmer with the referees, they just calm down by seeing him. He steers the conversation into hair implants or warm summer nights in Marbella and they forget why they stopped play in the first place.
What? His best form for us came directly after the leg break. It was getting the 7 shirt that marked a downturn in his form.
Agree about Valencia not being captain. Just because he is a great player, and at a senior age, in football terminology, it doesn't mean he has to be considered captain. He may lead by example, but he also have to be able to communicate with the refs and his teammates.
Also, considering your take on Rooney, I expect that you must be English seeing as you master the language (or Google Translate has suddenly become good) and know your way around irony and sarcasm. No way has Rooney travelled to Marbella AND remembered it.
The leg break has become a myth on its own. For instance, he allegedly became slower, yet he did make that run against Liverpool after the leg break.
He has two international matches in the next 10 days. Hope he returns healthy. Jose could probably get a handshake agreement with the Ecuadorian staff to play him for the WC qualifier and rest for the friendly.
Right im gonna say it but Valencia is up there as 1 of the best RB's in Utds history,Obviously he didnt play there always but when he has hes been immense i can remember a few mistakes granted but he was getting use to the position after being a RW and CM for his country at times
Obviously Nevilles longevity and quality will make him 1st but Tony is up there with the best imo
overall if you had of told me after him replacing the best player in the world(Ronaldo) at the time his replacement who only cost 20m would still be a vital 1st team member 10 years on i actually wouldn't of believed you so it just goes to show Madrid got a bargain no doubt but we done not too bad ourselves, im just glad Antonio is finally getting the credit his constant hard work deserves not just from utd fans but my mates an Arsenal fan and we were talking yesterday he said if Bellerin got to Valencias level he'd be happy.
Obviously Nevilles longevity and quality will make him 1st but Tony is up there with the best imo
Yeah im constantly correcting people on the newbs,twitter and youtube that Valencia won every award going think it was 2010/2011 season after his ankle break against Rangers imo it was when he got the 7 jersey we seen him dip in form but only for a season and a half.
overall if you had of told me after him replacing the best player in the world(Ronaldo) at the time his replacement who only cost 20m would still be a vital 1st team member 10 years on i actually wouldn't of believed you so it just goes to show Madrid got a bargain no doubt but we done not too bad ourselves, im just glad Antonio is finally getting the credit his constant hard work deserves not just from utd fans but my mates an Arsenal fan and we were talking yesterday he said if Bellerin got to Valencias level he'd be happy.
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Woah there. He is very athletic, energetic and consistent I give you that. I also think he is one of the better right backs in the league. One of the best right backs in Utd's history though? Not a chance imo.
Didn't think he had his best game, looked completely lost in the position he was playing but fair play to him, most would have given that up and not bothered chasing.
He deserves a goal for all his hard work. Please let's just keep him at right back from now on though. He's clearly not an attacking play anymore even if he is a quick runner.
He deserves a goal for all his hard work. Please let's just keep him at right back from now on though. He's clearly not an attacking play anymore even if he is a quick runner.
Wish he was 26.
He's fecking brilliant, he's a machine. 3 games in 6 days, plays every minute of it and still has the energy to run like that.
If he can keep this fitness and form for the next couple of years, we don't have to worry about the RB position.
If he can keep this fitness and form for the next couple of years, we don't have to worry about the RB position.
One of the players we can rely on and can build upon. We don't need a new right back.
I am a massive Tony V fan could be clouding my judgement
we had Irwin parker Neville and Rafa that i can remember i still think hes not far off paul parker tbh
I should of phrased it better hes 1 of the best RB ive seen at Utd in my life.
Looks like Bellerin is out picking a pocket or two. Boy.
90th minute, he's been up and down the pitch as a wingback the entire game and yet he's pressing up till the end.
Absolute machine and I'm really happy his hard effort has paid off in the way of him scoring that late goal.
Absolute machine and I'm really happy his hard effort has paid off in the way of him scoring that late goal.
Depends on how you score. I'd say 99% of my scoring this season has been between 3 and 7.Aye, look at Zlatan, 26 goals, 9 assists, 6.2 rating.
I've rarely been able to justify an 8 because of the level of opposition we are playing against and when we have played good opposition (top 6-7), we haven't performed. And I generally don't bump up rating for goals and assists.
Valencia is my top rated player with (only) 5.8.
Valencias goal sums him up quite well, the man is a machine. Goes on a run, tries to play a one-two which is blocked by a Boro players hand, complains to the ref while still chasing down the ball and pressures Valdes in to a mistake and scores. Fantastic work ethic considering he never actually stops running.
He's like a Terminator. Valdes slipped because he saw Tony coming and got scared.
Massive! Running out of good things to say.
Luke ... please become a left-sided version ... and do it soon!
Luke ... please become a left-sided version ... and do it soon!
We know his qualities: freakishly strong, unbelievable energy, technically solid but are we sold on his positional sense? He seemed a bit wayward when he was learning the role but I don't recall him playing anyone onside etc this year. Think he might even have used his left foot against Boro. Nah, can't have.
Anyway, he's been superb all year - totally reliable and the best rb we've had since Nev was in his prime.
Anyway, he's been superb all year - totally reliable and the best rb we've had since Nev was in his prime.
It wasn't an unreasonable claim IMO. Irwin played the vast majority of his football for us at left back, Valencia's better now than Rafael or Parker were for us, and honestly I don't think there's any gulf in class between him and Neville. Historically we don't really have a huge list of standout right backs (Brennan and Johnny Carey maybe?), so Valencia's performances this season are probably up there with the best of them.I am a massive Tony V fan could be clouding my judgement
we had Irwin parker Neville and Rafa that i can remember i still think hes not far off paul parker tbh
I should of phrased it better hes 1 of the best RB ive seen at Utd in my life.
Thanks mate, yeah he's easily in the top 5 in a club the size and history of utd such a massive club says alot about how good he has been.
Im chuffed he's getting the credit his hard work deserves(I remember a time alot of fans wanted rid of tony v)if all our players had his drive and workrate we'd be in top 2.
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His 3rd of the season (August and January I think were the other ones)
Hope he pops Zlatan to POTY. He's deserved it.
Nice one Turnback Tony
Fixed!
Like i said a while back, he'll be getting my vote for fans POTY.
On the whole another great Ferguson signing or would you say he underwhelmed?
Personally i think he's done brilliantly coming back from a career threatening injury and reinventing himself as a full back.
The ultimate professional.
Remarkable and impressive to read that our full-back, Antonio Valencia, is the leagues most accomplished crosser having completed a league-high 39 crosses in 2132 minutes this season! That's 8 crosses more than de Bruyne... He also leads the league in minutes per cross completed! 
Need this warrior in the side for tomorrow. Can't afford to rest a player like him.
He was brilliant straight after coming back from injury as a winger, then turned to shite for some reason, then became a fullback and was shite at first, but he's grown into the role and is a beast.
Man Utd 0:0 West Brom
I think he had a long flight back and was one of the last too arrive so not a surprise that he looked a bit short of his usual energetic self today, I think he also missed Mata's intelligent movement.
I don't remember one scenario where he ran down the wing and crossed the ball? Instead of staying out wide and getting balls in, providing the width we needed considering we had Lingard on the right, he was cutting onto his left foot and crossing with it. Was very odd
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