Antonio Valencia retires

Bobski

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Odd player in that although you would not think of him as highly skilled he actually had a magnificent touch and superb command of the basics, just almost entirely lacking creativity and imagination.
 

Desperado

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Professional of the highest degree. In my mind he had two great peaks with us, around 09-10 as a winger slinging crosses to Rooney and under LVG and Mourinho as a right-back. He was a bit underrated because he didn’t have a left foot and a lot of his crosses never beat the first man but man, the power and pace on him was unreal - could get passed anyone when attacking and absolutely rock solid as a fullback. Personally, I’d take ~15-16 Valencia over AWB.

Hope he has a relaxing retirement, he’s deserved it.
 

NinjaZombie

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This is the guy who dismissed his agent after he'd secured his move to United, saying he doesn't need one because he'd never want to leave the club.

Massive respect for him for that.
 

Robindinho

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Still remember his 2011/12 beast mode year, when he won the player of the season. Our main tactic literally being to get it wide to him as quick as we could and he’d skin every fullback.

All the best Tony.
 

united_99

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Was a good player for us and very professional. Happy retirement Antonio!
 

Oranges038

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339 games
25 goals
62 assists
Left foot used 4 times
3547 shin guards smashed
3547 shins bruised
2345 corners and throwins won

I always quite liked him, a solid player who would always give 100%, not spectacular but technically very sound and physically he was a beast of a man. Hope he enjoys his retirement.
 

Gavinb33

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That goal Vs Everton is one of the best I've seen in person, we were right above it in the Stretford End.

Great Pro, did well for us in a unenviable position coming in to 'replace' Ronaldo as our marquee signing that summer.
 

BlackBen

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Really loved him as a player. The toughest of players. I loved it when fullbacks knew exactly where he was going with the ball but couldn’t do anything about it. We mostly called him “one way” or “this way” in my city, Accra because of that .

Also enjoyed it a lot when he bullied Raheem Sterling anytime they went against each other so much that Sterling got subbed off at halftime in one of the matches.

Great servant of the club, always gave his all and really loved the club. I wish him the best of retirements.
 

TrustInOle

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Rock of a player! Redefined his game after that injury, which would have ruined alot of people's careers at this level, one man right wing at times. Cavani would love to have been on the receiving end of some of his smashes across the box with his movement!

Loved him and Thanks for the memories!
 

youngrell

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Good luck Tony.

One of my favourite players of the last decade or so. Great pro, solid, consistent performer and 100% committed at all times.

His technical ability was often overlooked or underrated. Hardly ever lost the ball through a bad touch or pass. And his strength and pace were magnificent.

Hope he enjoys his retirement.
 

JPRouve

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Good luck Tony.

One of my favourite players of the last decade or so. Great pro, solid, consistent performer and 100% committed at all times.

His technical ability was often overlooked or underrated. Hardly ever lost the ball through a bad touch or pass. And his strength and pace were magnificent.

Hope he enjoys his retirement.
Overlooked is the term. He was so consistent that his poor touches or passes were genuinely surprising.
 

Falcow

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All the best Tone.....great servant and would happily have peak Valencia on right side of midfield now.

Happy retirement at 35....lucky sod
 

snk123

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He was a bit underrated because he didn’t have a left foot and a lot of his crosses never beat the first man but man,
That was the argument used against him always and it has been proved that full backs don't have a great cross success ratio anyway. Look at AWB, even Shaw. Telles has an excellent cross on him but even he struggles to put it in the right area most of the time.

Tony's low crosses were an asset - not a problem as they were famously made out to be.
 

snk123

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LOOKED immaculate. As in his appearance. I know English can be difficult at times. Would you like to try again? It seems a shame to have gone to all that effort only to find our you misinterpreted a four word sentence. :)
No need - I just wanted to make sure one of the worst posters who gave Valencia dog's abuse in his time here - also wished him death as shown in the previous post doesn't try to hide that and come across as a fan.

Not that much effort though - I remember your awful posts on one of our best servants Tony V! :wenger:
 

ivaldo

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No need - I just wanted to make sure one of the worst posters who gave Valencia dog's abuse in his time here - also wished him death as shown in the previous post doesn't try to hide that and come across as a fan.

Not that much effort though - I remember your awful posts on one of our best servants Tony V! :wenger:
Wished him dead... sure. You also know those Saudi princes who need you to send them your life savings aren't actually princes, right? There's this awful rumour going around that they might even be scammers.

You've been waiting years to do this and you still feck it up. :lol:
 

snk123

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Wished him dead... sure. You also know those Saudi princes who need you to send them your life savings aren't actually princes, right? There's this awful rumour going around that they might even be scammers.

You've been waiting years to do this and you still feck it up. :lol:
:lol: You can laugh all you want man - you have no moral right coming in to this thread. It's about a player who gave his all for United on the pitch while people like you abused him viciously, racially and also wished him dead (jokingly or otherwise).

By the way, how did it go with Darmian?
 

ivaldo

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:lol: You can laugh all you want man - you have no moral right coming in to this thread. It's about a player who gave his all for United on the pitch while people like you abused him viciously, racially and also wished him dead (jokingly or otherwise).

By the way, how did it go with Darmian?
No moral right? What are you smoking? You thought you had found a gotcha moment, and it transpires you misinterpreted a 4 word sentence, spent your free time digging up an old post that has nothing to do with what I said, and now you're desperately trying to salvage it, by claiming a moral superiority in a friggin' football forum.

So yes, I will laugh all I want. :lol:

Darmian was shit.

Edit: Just picked up on the bold. You might want to retract that. The mere suggestion I would associate myself with anyone that racially abuses him or anyone else is abhorrent. You want to talk of morals when you come out with shit like that because you're trying to save face?
 

snk123

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Darmian was shit.
So were your posts on Antonio Valencia.

Also, as much as you'd like to believe, it didn't take much time - I called you out back then as well and quoted this exact post in another thread so it shows up in search. :lol:
 

ivaldo

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So were your posts on Antonio Valencia.

Also, as much as you'd like to believe, it didn't take much time - I called you out back then as well and quoted this exact post in another thread so it shows up in search. :lol:
I wouldn't respond to the rest of the post either if I was you. You might want to respond to the racism part though before you go any further along the moral high ground.
 

Jippy

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:lol: You can laugh all you want man - you have no moral right coming in to this thread. It's about a player who gave his all for United on the pitch while people like you abused him viciously, racially and also wished him dead (jokingly or otherwise).

By the way, how did it go with Darmian?
Who abused him racially?
 

ivaldo

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Also, let's let the guy retire in peace and avoid pointless arguments in this thread please.
Gladly. It's weird he'd decide to bring it up in the first place.
 

OverratedOpinion

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Seemed like a wonderful bloke, signed him on a football manager season a few months ago as a nostalgic back up right back and he scored 12 goals.
 

city-puma

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Do you guys still remember his first league game since joining us in details?
I only remember he run on the right channel and produced a cross into the box under the challenge of the opponent’s fullback. And, we scored it! I thought at that time this guy can cross brilliantly! ;)
but, I don’t remember anything else, who’s the opponent and who scored the cross.
 

SAFMUTD

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"Great servant" as he was labeled here multiple times. Always a good attitude and 100% a professional, a legend in Ecuador. Sadly I remember his signing as the beggining of our debacle so not really a happy memory.
 

friend

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He'd be in the top 5 players in both the right winger and right back positions for us (at least in premier league era) I think. Thoughts?
 

SambaBoy

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One of my favourite players of that era. He really did develop into a class player and there was talks of him being the best winger in the world with Pep also saying the same. He was just a pretty simple effective player, he stayed wide, attacked the full back and got balls in. His final ball got worse after the 11/12 season and was used against him, then he reinvented himself as a RB where he did well for a period of time.
 

Desperado

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That was the argument used against him always and it has been proved that full backs don't have a great cross success ratio anyway. Look at AWB, even Shaw. Telles has an excellent cross on him but even he struggles to put it in the right area most of the time.

Tony's low crosses were an asset - not a problem as they were famously made out to be.
Yeah I think it might have had to do with him being a winger for so long. Even if his crosses went out for corners, it can’t be understated that he often got to that position after receiving the ball behind the halfway line, often bullying 1 or 2 players to get into a position to cross. Just phenomenally quick and strong.
 

amolbhatia50k

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No need for the Ronaldo mention.

Very good player Valencia. Worked hard, physically imposing, created goals.
 

SungSam7

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Rangers, darn Rangers.
See this nonsense annoys me, his best seasons came after that injury!! He got injured in 2010 ffs! His best season came the year he came back and was good for a couple of years after before he was converted. Dont know why this myth of he was never the same after his leg break.
 

FatTails

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Beast. The kind of man you don’t want colliding into you at full speed.

I’m pleasantly surprised by people in this thread. I remember the abuse he got on here and other United forums.

I thought he would get a testimonial at some point.