Nani

VJ1762

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Mar 2, 2017
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So, Nani's birthday is today, and I was just thinking about how great he was for us between 09-12. Definitely one of the least talked about players for us. His top 10 goals was posted on the official United Youtube channel and the goals are absolutely insane. Rashford kinda reminds me of Nani actually, in that he plays in moments. Although Nani was way more skillful and creative. His contribution to Portugal's euro 16 win is definitely underrated.

What are your favourite Nani moments?

Also, those backflips :drool:
 
Unplayable on his day, had SO much potential, terribly inconsistent. Such a shame because he was brilliant to watch when in form.

His top ten goals video is arguably better than anybody from the premier league!! It’s insane.
 
Saw some comments today where he says that when he was injured saw match replays of an entire season and suffered each loss we had then. Pure class and talent, a bit inconsistent but one of my favs on his day.

That goal against derby.....
 
he was banging in goals from the right wing with his left foot cutting inside for fun when Tony V was out with a broken leg. that period was the best Nani we have seen at United imo.
 
Nani was a victim to Valencia. Valencia was so one dimensional that he had to play on the right wing, which pushed Nani to the left. On the left Nani could cut in and take a shot but he rarely took his mine wide to cross with his left. However, when he did play on the right wing (see post above), he could either take his man wide and at pace or cut in and unleash a powerful left foot. Back then I used to say that we should turn Valencia into a RB so that those two could dominate that side of the pitch. I was often laughed at for suggesting that Tony play anything but RW. Oh what could have been...
 
He was such a good player when on form. When he had poor games losing possession he used to create chances.
 
My third favourite player of that team after Rio and Scholes.
Think he suffered when we bought RvP and SAF had to play him an Rooney in the same lineup. Which required us to play Valencia and Young as they played more "safer", were much less likely to lose the ball and were more capable defensively, not saying that Nani didn't track back and put in a shift, that's an underrated quality of his, but Young and Valencia were more skilled at the defensive side of the game than Nani was.

I was really happy for him when he won the EUROS. We could've done a lot more with him.
 
It's a shame he rarely got a fair chance in his last 1 or 2 seasons with united. You can't be consistent without a consistent run of games. Love the guy, scored some insane goals and his celebrations were Iconic. I miss him.
 
SadlerMUFC said:
Nani was a victim to Valencia. Valencia was so one dimensional that he had to play on the right wing, which pushed Nani to the left. On the left Nani could cut in and take a shot but he rarely took his mine wide to cross with his left. However, when he did play on the right wing (see post above), he could either take his man wide and at pace or cut in and unleash a powerful left foot. Back then I used to say that we should turn Valencia into a RB so that those two could dominate that side of the pitch. I was often laughed at for suggesting that Tony play anything but RW. Oh what could have been...
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Agree with this but I think what hurt him more was the Valencia - Rooney connection, the former's simple playing style always provided Rooney with an out ball whereas Nani was prone to cut in into spaces that Rooney gravitated towards even when playing from the right. Nani could have achieved more with us but he did pretty well for us especially after Ronaldo had left.
 
AaronRedDevil said:
It's a shame he rarely got a fair chance in his last 1 or 2 seasons with united. You can't be consistent without a consistent run of games. Love the guy, scored some insane goals and his celebrations were Iconic. I miss him.
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The irony is that the men who ended his career here (LVG and Moyes) could have done with a player like him, especially in LVG's second season after Depay had flopped an in form Nani would have been useful to have around.
 
Withnail said:
Looking at this it's hard to believe he only scored 25 goals for us.

Making a show of Kompany is still hilarious

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I can never appreciate video complications with Stewart "monotone" Gardner commentating.
 
Two great calendar years 2010 and 2011 when he was one of the most dangerous attackers in the league, and massively important in helping us win the league in 10/11. Hard to understand why exactly he never kicked on from there, seemed he never really had the trust of a more conservative Ferguson.
 
Without naming any specific moments he was imv one of the most gifted players who ever graced the OT turf. Maybe sounds a little over the top to many but I truly believe that. He could get a goal out of nothing and had tremendous skills. Went off the boil when Moyes came. Whether that had anything to do with it I don't know but we let him go far too early, thats for sure!
 
What a player on his day. Remember the days when people were complaining about players like him in our squad. Those days are truly gone.
 
simplyared said:
Without naming any specific moments he was imv one of the most gifted players who ever graced the OT turf. Maybe sounds a little over the top to many but I truly believe that. He could get a goal out of nothing and had tremendous skills. Went off the boil when Moyes came. Whether that had anything to do with it I don't know but we let him go far too early, thats for sure!
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I think a lot of our squad felt a bit dead inside when Fergie left, and the realisation that Moyes was the new man.

Nobody looked the same tbh.

Nani was always in Ronaldo's shadow unfortunately. If they were here at different times (Nani was here now) then he'd be hugely more respected.
 
It was towards the end of the 2010 season where he was finally looking to kick on and be a consistent performer in the first 11. And to be fair to him the following season he was, with a string of outstanding individual performances.

The only real dampener ,on his most consistent season for us, in 2011 was his lack of inclusion in the CL final against Barcelona at Wembley.
Ferguson went for a more direct approach with Valencia and Park out wide and with a midfield of Carrick,Giggs with Rooney slightly infront occupying the number 10 role and from there,similar to Berbatov,you never felt Ferguson was overly convinced with Nani even with the Portuguese being one of the stars of the title winning campaign and,the following season, that scepticism came to the fore.

Overall Nani was possibly one of the most technically gifted players we've had come through the doors of OT.

I controversially rated him higher than Ronaldo with regards to his dribbling,the skill to beat opponents one-v-one and his ability to strike the ball from distance.
But ,minor the 2011 campaign,I'm also understanding of how inconsistent he could be and,rarely mentioned, how injury prone he could also be.

Still,when he was on form he was a exciting player to watch. A real entertainer and I remember his time fondly at the club.
 
One of the most frustrating players we've ever had. Either world class, anonymous, or absolutely dreadful. You'd never get a solid 6-7/10 out of him, he was a 0 or 100 player.
 
He was a good player, obviously had talent and played many great games for us, scoring world-class goals, but... he doesn't have a (footballing) brain. Often frustrating. Today we may think of him well (and it only shows how poor we are today that we miss someone like Nani), but we had enough of him quite often, especially at the end of his United career.
 
He should've gotten the number 7 shirt instead of Michael fecking Owen.
 
If he could have added consistency to his game, he could have been a key player for us for many years. His raw talent and top level was certainly high enough, and his output during the 10/11 and 11/12 seasons was great.
 
Underrated player.

I remember all the weird (probably racist) hate toward him from some Utd fans as well - 'punchable face' etc was a common thing you'd read about him, when I found him really likeable and could see what 'punchable' about him in any way!

Great long shot - who remembers that screamer against (I think) Spurs?
 
The occasional flashes of brilliance but I don't think I've ever seen a more infuriating footballer. Every time he seemed to reach his nadir, he'd do something fantastic.
 
FrankDrebin said:
The only real dampener ,on his most consistent season for us, in 2011 was his lack of inclusion in the CL final against Barcelona at Wembley.
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And through situations like this and his inconsistency that led him to have spells on the bench, you didn't hear him/his agent angling for him to move elsewhere.
 
My second favorite player growing up! Unplayable on his day. Second half of 09-10 until the end of 11-12 was his peak while 10-11 was his absolute peak as he was arguably a top 3 winger in the world that season. His pinpoint crossing and those trademark fake shots and then he scores with his left or right were brilliant.
 
Great to watch on his day. If he couldn't find consistency under Fergie though he was never gonna. Still wish he'd stayed though.
 
James is the first player resembling a right winger since he left. He was one of my all time favourites, an absolute joy to watch.
 
AneRu said:
The irony is that the men who ended his career here (LVG and Moyes) could have done with a player like him, especially in LVG's second season after Depay had flopped an in form Nani would have been useful to have around.
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Massive irony, especially from Moyes. Kept playing Kagawa RW when he had a perfectly capable Nani just rotting there in the wilderness.
 
arthurka said:
What a player on his day. Remember the days when people were complaining about players like him in our squad. Those days are truly gone.
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Do you remember how badly OT boo'd him after being subbed, cant remember if it was Moyes or LVG era but I was disgusted by that..
 
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