Luis Nani | 2012/13 Performances

[Rooney in Paris]

If we see him as an out an out winger, yes, his stats are impressive. But he's not a pure winger, he's not set up to be one and his style of play isn't that of a true winger.

Basically, he's that new generation of wingers, that start out on the wing but often come inside, have too much creativity and flair to stay stuck to the wing (contrary to Valencia for example, who does what he does very well but doesn't have that kind of talent). When you factor this in, you might be justified in expecting just a little bit more from him.

As for Ronaldo, during his final two years for us, I don't know who could really have even argued that he wasn't consistent (which is, whether you like it or not, understandable when talking about Nani). He, on a regular basis, was winning games single handedly for us and took the team to another level. Well, I'm being harsh on the rest of the team, as it was set up for him to shine. But shine, he did, and he showed just how brilliant he was.

Maybe I'm too harsh with Nani? Do you believe he's reached his best and won't get any better, and we should expect the same kind of seasons from him? Or do you think he can just go a step further and start being considered by all as one of the best in Europe?

I honestly thought he was going this way in the 10/11 season where he was carrying the team and was brilliant, but I don't think last season was quite as good (and I just checked his stats, in the league they're only mildly better than Young's, surely we can expect more?).

 

[Cina]

I think he's already one of the best in Europe, and I think he will get even better. Just because I think he's already a consistently excellent player doesn't mean I don't think he'll become an even better one.

 

[ghaliboy]

Surely his goals/assists stats are nowhere near as good as those Ronaldo had during his last two seasons with us, are they?

I don't know if you can compare him to Ronaldo in that aspect. Ronaldo's finishing was a seriously underrated aspect of his game and was absolutely phenomenal up there with some of the best strikers in the game at the time.

Nani I don't think will ever have that. He's never been a natural finisher. He's strong/fast/technically a solid player who imo won't develop that instinctive lethal finishing ability.

 

[Cina]

Eh? Nani is a brilliant finisher

 

[Robbie Boy]

Nani was inconsistent about 3 years ago. Not anymore.

 

[Ekeke]

Nani is very inconsistant. Sometimes he's out of this world, other times he's just absolutely amazing and sometimes he'll just be brilliant.

 

[KingEric7]

Nani clearly has another few gears to step up. It is annoying that after that 10/11 season he hasn't firmly established himself as one of the very, very best. There's still time yet, and I'm sure he'll do it. It'll be a sight to behold when he does finally reach the heights he can do because some of the shit he's capable of is just mindblowing.

That piece juggling over 3 Barcelona players yesterday was hilarious.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Nani is very inconsistant. Sometimes he's out of this world, other times he's just absolutely amazing and sometimes he'll just be brilliant.

And other times he's just not very good.

It's posts like this which make it impossible to take a lot of peoples opinion on Nani seriously. Can't think of any other player in our squad that provokes such feverish 'fanboism'.

And yeah, he was very good yesterday. Excellent in spells.

A bit hit and miss before half-time, mind you, but credit where it's due for his role in the pen. Will always be a frustrating player but so long as keeps producing those moments it's all good.

 

[Cina]

And other times he's just not very good.

It's posts like this which make it impossible to take a lot of peoples opinion on Nani seriously. Can't think of any other player in our squad that provokes such feverish 'fanboism'.

And yeah, he was very good yesterday. Excellent in spells.

A bit hit and miss before half-time, mind you, but credit where it's due for his role in the pen. Will always be a frustrating player but so long as keeps producing those moments it's all good.

I'll give you a clue, he plays in midfield, and it's you who does it.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Aye, I'm sure you can dig out plenty of posts where I come out with shite like "sometimes he's out of this world, other times he's just absolutely amazing and sometimes he'll just be brilliant" about Michael frigging Carrick...

 

[Cina]

You talk time and time again about how us 'fanboys' constantly defend Nani and go on about how good he is, but any time anyone even slightly disses Carrick you instantly defend him and go on about how good he is.

There are people on these boards who have claimed that Carrick is one of the top 5 midfielders in the world, even that he's as good/better than Alonso/Busquets, if that's not over the top then what the feck is?

Just accept that some people, including you, have players they really like, I've always really liked and defended Nani, even when he was a bit shit, you've always done the same for Carrick. What's the difference?

 

[VoetbalWizard]

And other times he's just not very good.

It's posts like this which make it impossible to take a lot of peoples opinion on Nani seriously. Can't think of any other player in our squad that provokes such feverish 'fanboism'.

And yeah, he was very good yesterday. Excellent in spells.

A bit hit and miss before half-time, mind you, but credit where it's due for his role in the pen. Will always be a frustrating player but so long as keeps producing those moments it's all good.

so how much would you offer nani during the re-negotiations currently on-going?

 

[Pogue Mahone]

so how much would you offer nani during the re-negotiations currently on-going?

I'll leave that up to Fergie and the board, seeing as I have no idea what the rest of the squad are earning. Nani clearly deserves to be among the higher earners, though. He's one of our best players, despite his slightly underwhelming contribution to the season just gone.

 

[VoetbalWizard]

I'll leave that up to Fergie and the board, seeing as I have no idea what the rest of the squad are earning. Nani clearly deserves to be among the higher earners, though. He's one of our best players, despite his slightly underwhelming contribution to the season just gone.

fair enough; so if nani goes in and asks to be paid as the best wide player on the planet (i.e. on par/slightly more than ribery or robben) and then being adamant/kicking off over it, what would you say?

Mind you, many on this board over the last few seasons always starts a thread on how our wide players are the best on the planet (of which nani is our most talented).

or would the slavish desire to run sub 50% wage/turnover ratios trump all?

 

[Hectic]

It's posts like this which make it impossible to take a lot of peoples opinion on Nani seriously. Can't think of any other player in our squad that provokes such feverish 'fanboism'.

Really? That's weird, because his post clearly wasn't being serious, and you see this sort of tongue-in-cheek hyperbole all the time over loads of our players.

 

[Jimy_Hills_Chin]

Can't think of any other player in our squad that provokes such feverish 'fanboism'.

Michael Carrick
Danny Welbeck

 

[Pogue Mahone]

fair enough; so if nani goes in and asks to be paid as the best wide player on the planet (i.e. on par/slightly more than ribery or robben) and then being adamant/kicking off over it, what would you say?

Mind you, many on this board over the last few seasons always starts a thread on how our wide players are the best on the planet (of which nani is our most talented).

or would the slavish desire to run sub 50% wage/turnover ratios trump all?

I say that as a club we need to be run in a sustainable manner. If this means not paying every player exactly what they want, then so be it. I have faith that the people negotiating these contracts know how much each player is worth, in this context.

I also think that this whole concept of "player x earns this much at club y, so player z should earn the same" is ludicrously over-simplistic.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Michael Carrick
Danny Welbeck

A player that most on here seem to think won't even make our starting XI next season and one of the most relentlessly criticised players in the squad from the moment he first signed.

Not sure I see your point...

 

[SkeppyRed]

Nani has amazing ability, as good as anyone else in our squad. His decision making however is still hit and miss, although much improved. When he finally gets to a point where he knows what to do with the ball a second or two sharper he will become unstoppable and im really hoping it happens this season.

 

[Cina]

A player that most on here seem to think won't even make our starting XI next season and one of the most relentlessly criticised players in the squad from the moment he first signed.

Not sure I see your point...

You could say the same about Nani up until 2 years ago.

Carrick has also been praised heavily on here since he hit form last season.

 

[Robbie Boy]

A player that most on here seem to think won't even make our starting XI next season and one of the most relentlessly criticised players in the squad from the moment he first signed.

Not sure I see your point...

Are you serious?

Some of the stuff in the Welbeck thread is astonishing, to say the least. Comparisons to Henry, the usual hyperbole about being world class, etc.

Plenty of our players have divided opinions with extreme opinions from both sides; both overrating and underating.

 

[Hectic]

The difference being the hyperbole to Nani, even though the point highlighted was a joke, is it's a lot closer to the truth than what we see with our youngers. Have you read the threads on here about Powell, Jones, Smalling, Welbeck? What about Cleverly? You can find posts in there that are completely ridiculous and make no sense given how little we've seen, seriously it happens for basically every one of our players. Look at Rooney on here over the years, you've had both sides take him to ridiculous levels. If that post makes it hard for you to take peoples opinions on Nani seriously, I struggle to see how you can take anything seriously about our players on here, considering the level of hyperbole experienced on here daily.

 

[Jimy_Hills_Chin]

A player that most on here seem to think won't even make our starting XI next season and one of the most relentlessly criticised players in the squad from the moment he first signed.

Not sure I see your point...

My point, both, like Nani, have their fanbois who think that they are footballing geniuses.

The difference: Nani is actually a genius.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

My point, both, like Nani, have their fanbois who think that they are footballing geniuses.

The difference: Nani is actually a genius.

You think Nani is a "footballing genius"? Kind of proves my point.

Perhaps you can point me to some posts where people say the same about Carrick and Welbeck?

The highest praise I've read about either of them was probably a lone lunatic like askabob saying Carrick is better than Alonso (which was quickly shouted down) and people comparing Welbeck's style of play to Henry whilst getting excited about his potential. I think Carrick has been seriously under-rated by United fans for years but even I wouldn't claim he's better than Alonso, never mind a "footballing genius" or anything of the sort. As for Welbeck, it's all about potential. Whether he fulfils it or not remains to be seen. Again, I just don't see the type of hyperbole I'm seeing in this thread.

Let's not forget that over the last couple of seasons Fergie repeatedly decided that there wasn't any room for this "footballing genius" in our best XI, particularly in crunch games at the end of the season.

 

[Top]

Pretty much every single player in the team has a bunch of "fanbois" and a bunch of "critics". Being able to spot them and rank their ridiculousness depends on your own opinion of said player.

For example, I don't think the likes of Cina are bigger fanbois of Nani than the handful of people who always defends Rooney are of Roon.

Even Gibson had obvious fanbois.

 

[Jimy_Hills_Chin]

You think Nani is a "footballing genius". Kind of proves my point.

I was just winding you up Pogue. I would never describe any player as a 'genius'. I do like Nani very much though because he has two good feet, an excellent first touch and all round technical ability. Those are the type of players that I like to watch.

 

[Cina]

But what's the difference, you get fanboys who claim Carrick is better than Alonso, and fanboys who claim Nani is a 'genius'. I'm a massive Nani fan, but I wouldn't call him a genius, far from it. Hell, if he was a genius he'd probably be the 3rd best player on the planet.

The majority of Nani fans, like myself, get defensive when people slate him, just like you get defensive when people slate Carrick, but most of us don't go around saying things like he's a genius or one of the worlds greatest players, just like most of you Carrick fans don't say he's better than Alonso. You do however still defend him when anybody criticises him.

You probably won't respond to this post either, but surely you can see what I'm on about. For the most part, there's feck all difference between you - Carrick and me - Nani. I mean the whole thing started because of what Ekeke said which was clearly just a tongue in cheek comment in response to to inconsistency shite others were on about.

 

[Hectic]

Yeah, but you're comparing their potential hyperbole, to a post about Nani that was clearly joking in regards to the consistency complaints. It wasn't serious...He doesn't actually think Nani never has a bad game. That's why this is weird, because you're arguing over a post to showcase this extreme hyperbole....except that post was a joke.

 

[londonredmaniac]

My point, both, like Nani, have their fanbois who think that they are footballing geniuses.

The difference: Nani is actually a genius.

this is a joke yeah?

 

[Lailiani]

Can't think of any other player in our squad that provokes such feverish 'fanboism'.

Wayne Rooney.

 

[Hectic]

Let's not forget that over the last couple of seasons Fergie repeatedly decided that there wasn't any room for this "footballing genius" in our best XI, particularly in crunch games at the end of the season.

What point are you making here, do you think Fergie doesn't rate him as one of our best players?

 

[Pogue Mahone]

What point are you making here, do you think Fergie doesn't rate him as one of our best players?

It's fairly obvious, no?

I don't see - for example - Rooney being dropped for the type of games that Nani sat out in the last couple of seasons. He's even played him when he was blatantly not fully recovered from an injury. Same would apply to Vidic.

Of course Fergie rates Nani as one of our best players. He blatantly is. I was responding to a post (which turned out to be tongue in cheek) that described Nani in far more glowing terms than our manager would obviously describe him, based on his team selections in the recent past.

 

[Cina]

Nani doesn't recover from injuries like, for example, Valencia does though. He can be pretty slow to hit form again. Generally when he's fully fit he plays him though.

Rooney and Vidic are undroppable because we have nobody who can play in their positions who is nearly as good as them, where as our other wing options have generally been excellent for the last few years.

For instance, if we <muppet> signed RVP </muppet> I think SAF would be in less of a rush to hurry Rooney back into the team.

 

[I'm always right]

Nani doesn't recover from injuries like, for example, Valencia does though. He can be pretty slow to hit form again. Generally when he's fully fit he plays him though.

Rooney and Vidic are undroppable because we have nobody who can play in their positions who is nearly as good as them, where as our other wing options have generally been excellent for the last few years.

Plus, SAF has always been a little too lenient with Rooney, probably due to the fact that Rooney would come banging on his door whinging were he to be dropped.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Nani doesn't recover from injuries like, for example, Valencia does though. He can be pretty slow to hit form again. Generally when he's fully fit he plays him though.

Rooney and Vidic are undroppable because we have nobody who can play in their positions who is nearly as good as them, where as our other wing options have generally been excellent for the last few years.

For instance, if we <muppet> signed RVP </muppet> I think SAF would be in less of a rush to hurry Rooney back into the team.

Hmmm... Ashley Young got the nod ahead of Nani at the business end of last season and Fergie dropped him to accomodate Park in the season before that. I think they're both decent players who can do a job when required but I don't see either of them as good enough to displace a "footballing genius"

Anyhoo, every time this Nani thread gets bumped I end up having the same discussion with the same people. We'll have to agree to disagree and leave it at that (I'm not even sure what we're disagreeing about anyway, as I think Nani's a top class player but there you go!)

 

[KingEric7]

I think it's a fair enough point to look at how Nani's been dropped in various points in recent seasons, or at how he's not been restored to the team at certain points.

He's so much better than Young it's not even funny, so hopefully this won't persist. I half wonder whether Fergie's trying to ensure Nani doesn't set the world alight too early so that Nani plays his best years with us.

 

[Cina]

You do realise "footballing genius" was taking the piss. Nani was dropped against City cause he was dogshit in the game itself (which we was picked ahead of both Valencia and Young for). He wasn't dropped the season before, he was always first choice until his injury, by the time he came back Fergie had found a great team dynamic in that first XI and didn't want to mess around with it (he also played more games that season than any other player).

To be fair, you're usually the one who comes into it and starts calling us fanboys, you also seem to dislike it when we praise him or say he's better than others, so what do you expect?

 

[Pogue Mahone]

You do realise "footballing genius" was taking the piss. Nani was dropped against City cause he was dogshit in the game itself (which we was picked ahead of both Valencia and Young for). He wasn't dropped the season before, he was always first choice until his injury, by the time he came back Fergie had found a great team dynamic in that first XI and didn't want to mess around with it (he also played more games that season than any other player).

To be fair, you're usually the one who comes into it and starts calling us fanboys, you also seem to dislike it when we praise him or say he's better than others, so what do you expect?

Yes. As stated in this post. By me.

Re the dropping thing, there's always excuses. Fact remains that over the years we've always had key players who start every big game when fit. Nanis is clearly not yet at that level. Which puts how highly he is rated by some on here into context.

Anyway, I thought we were going to agree to disagree!

 

[Hectic]

It's fairly obvious, no?

I don't see - for example - Rooney being dropped for the type of games that Nani sat out in the last couple of seasons. He's even played him when he was blatantly not fully recovered from an injury. Same would apply to Vidic.

Of course Fergie rates Nani as one of our best players. He blatantly is. I was responding to a post (which turned out to be tongue in cheek) that described Nani in far more glowing terms than our manager would obviously describe him, based on his team selections in the recent past.

Here's the difference, some players can play sooner after an injury, others can't. Valencia after an injury, no matter how long seemingly, can come back into the team and play as if he never left. His recovery time in terms of on the pitch is immense. Compare that with Nani, who weeks, in cases even over a month after an injury still shows problems of that injury. Whether that's physical or psychological is immaterial, you seem to be suggesting that because Rooney or Vidic can play so soon after an injury, Nani should be able to do exactly the same, which doesn't make sense.

 

[Hectic]

Hmmm... Ashley Young got the nod ahead of Nani at the business end of last season and Fergie dropped him to accomodate Park in the season before that.

Do you think Fergie started Young or Park ahead of him because he thought they could offer more, or because Nani wasn't running at 100%?