Antonio Valencia | 2013/14 Performances

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Genius Me! said:
Why not, Ronaldo was given it at 18, if he's in Moyes's plans then I'd give it to him as an incentive to work even harder.
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Although it may sound like I'm putting Adnan down I assure you I'm not when I say this. He's very promising but he's not near the level Ronaldo was when he was given the shirt.

I think if he keeps up the work he's doing he may break through this/next year. But it'd put undue pressure on the lad having a first XI number when he isn't a regular starter for us in my very, very humble opinion. I could of course be wrong though, I'm no manager.
 
Jonno said:
If I was Moyes I would make a real statement by handing Rooney a new contract and the number 7 shirt.
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What kind of ridiculous statement would that make though? He's not a number 7 and the number 10 is a big number.
 
Tomalonge said:
I think if he keeps up the work he's doing he may break through this/next year. But it'd put undue pressure on the lad having a first XI number when he isn't a regular starter for us in my very, very humble opinion. I could of course be wrong though, I'm no manager.
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I think Adnan has the sort of character that would see it as a huge show of faith and a confidence boost rather than unwanted added pressure.
 
swooshboy said:
Nani has spoken countless times about not wanting to be seen as the next Ronaldo - he wants his own identity.

I don't think taking Ronaldo's number would really help that.

Plus I would have thought most players would like to wear the same number for club and country...think he might find it tough to have the Portugal #7 shirt!
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Forgot about that - you are right, he's mentioned it many times before. Maybe him taking the #7 is still possible though, after all, it was made famous by many players before (and will be, after) Ronaldo. Perhaps i'm just clutching at straws here. And yeah, good point! Right now, he has 17 for club & country so perhaps he's happy with that (whether he would ever want to brand something or not). And 17 is a nice number as it is, it's not exactly 53 or something.
 
No Valencia love today? He was much better I thought, and grabbed a really excellent assist. Most would have thundered that wide or into a defender, so Tony's awareness and weight of pass in the situation was really quite good. Other then that, his overall play was much more positive, was playing some nice balls and definitely showed some improvement on last years form.
 
He started off poorly but grew into the game like a few players. I think he can be a bit of a problem when teams press high up the pitch against us as he often prefers laying it back to Carrick or Cleverley as opposed to offering a way out, although he does offer the fullback a lot of help. He looked better and better as the game went on though and looked more comfortable in possession.
 
He can improve. I miss the Valencia of two seasons ago who would run at fullbacks and give them a torrid time.
 
Don't know if it's been pointed out but I found it interesting to see him tucked in when defending. Whenever Swansea had the ball he came inside to the midfield to make things really compact. Under Fergie he was always much wider.

I was wary of Moyes' negative/defensive style before he came, but if this is what it means, in that we just defend more, whilst not losing anything in attack I'll take it.
 
Liam147 said:
Don't know if it's been pointed out but I found it interesting to see him tucked in when defending. Whenever Swansea had the ball he came inside to the midfield to make things really compact. Under Fergie he was always much wider.
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I noticed this as well. He was tighter and genuinely playing on his man when we didn't have the ball and when he broke he wasn't just breaking to and down the touchline. He was popping up in all sorts of places in the first half.

He has really struggled technically and just looks so bereft of confidence when attacking on the ball right now. It's sad to see because he's such a likable hard working player.
 
I thought Valencia did okay. Noticeably more confident than last season and tried taking his man on a few times. Very good assist too for the second goal. More than happy with that
 
TheReligion said:
I thought Valencia did okay. Noticeably more confident than last season and tried taking his man on a few times. Very good assist too for the second goal. More than happy with that
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I thought he did as well. Under Moyes the 2 'wide' men are often playing more centrally behind the striker and Valencia did that well I thought.
 
I thought, bar the assist and a few things here and there, he was a bit rubbish. Same as last season, completely unwilling to take on his man and create something for the team.
 
He was also more central when we had the ball this time. He used to just hung the byline, but yesterday he was a little bit more central. IO thought he had a decent game, certainly not a bad one. Let's see how he does against Chelski.
 
Cina said:
I thought, bar the assist and a few things here and there, he was a bit rubbish. Same as last season, completely unwilling to take on his man and create something for the team.
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Created nothing apart from when he created a goal of course.
 
Cina said:
Hence I said the word 'assist' there, you'd notice things like that I'd you read the posts instead of just being a twat.
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I read it. Have you read it? It was stupid. He created nothing apart from creating a goal.
 
I thought he did alright but it is still a bit concerning that he still appears reluctant to take a chance and try and make something happen, the assist was a decent, calm spot, but outside of that I can't remember many crosses he put in. Giggs got a fair bit of stick but he was trying to make something happen. I did like seeing Valencia tucking in a bit, thought it added defensively and he defended well as usual. Hopefully still feeling his way into things.
 
Not at his best by any means, but huge improvement on last season, so I'm delighted. Looked more confident and liked how he didn't just stay out wide all the time.
 
Cina said:
Yeah, it's a pretty common way to phrase things in the English language. Apart from x, he didn't do a lot.
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Well yeah if we disclude the creative things players did in a game then Robin Van Persie did nothing creative either. It's stupid. You basically said he didn't look to create anything apart from what he created.
 
Cina said:
Stop being so pedantic. Other than the assist he did sweet feck all offensively in the game. There's nothing wrong with statements like that, they're quite regularly said. Because he had an assist he's immune to criticism over the rest of the game?
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Did I say he was? I said it was stupid to say he didn't look to create anything apart from what he created. He did his job and he'll play again next week. The people that matter keep picking him despite the fact he doesn't do stepovers.
 
acnumber9 said:
Did I say he was? I said it was stupid to say he didn't look to create anything apart from what he created. He did his job and he'll play again next week. The people that matter keep picking him despite the fact he doesn't do stepovers.
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Except it wasn't stupid to say, and all your comparisons and reasons are what's stupid here. Stop arguing over nothing.
 
acnumber9 said:
Did I say he was? I said it was stupid to say he didn't look to create anything apart from what he created. He did his job and he'll play again next week. The people that matter keep picking him despite the fact he doesn't do stepovers.
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Tbf that's not really what he said either, he acknowledged the assist but that had nothing to do with him actually taking on his man and making something happen from there which is what he said. And it's true it was still a passive performance although still better than most his showings last season.
 
Cina said:
I thought, bar the assist and a few things here and there, he was a bit rubbish. Same as last season, completely unwilling to take on his man and create something for the team.
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Same here. Marginally better than what he produced last season but miles off what he's capable of. Lets hope he kicks on.
 
Cina said:
Except it wasn't stupid to say, and all your comparisons and reasons are what's stupid here. Stop arguing over nothing.
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It was. You criticise him for not being creative when he created a goal. If you don't want to argue over nothing you aren't compelled to reply. Valencia did his job yesterday and did it well. We didn't play the game with a lot of width. Few crossed came in from either side. It's already been noted that he tucked in a lot more than we're used to seeing. He set up a goal with a great pass at an important time, kept possession well and did well defensively. To put it concisely be did his job. And did it well.
 
Ash_G said:
Tbf that's not really what he said either, he acknowledged the assist but that had nothing to do with him actually taking on his man and making something happen from there which is what he said. And it's true it was still a passive performance although still better than most his showings last season.
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He said he didn't look to do anything creative apart from when he created something. How is that a fair and sensible thing to say about a player? My thoughts are he did what the manager asked of him and that will be shown by his inclusion in our next game.
 
acnumber9 said:
It was. You criticise him for not being creative when he created a goal. If you don't want to argue over nothing you aren't compelled to reply. Valencia did his job yesterday and did it well. We didn't play the game with a lot of width. Few crossed came in from either side. It's already been noted that he tucked in a lot more than we're used to seeing. He set up a goal with a great pass at an important time, kept possession well and did well defensively. To put it concisely be did his job. And did it well.
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He was still a shadow of the Valencia we used to see, who regularly beat his man and pinged in crosses, I.e. actively seeking to make things happen on the pitch. Ash put it perfectly in the post above. You're completely intentionally misinterpreting what I said to fit your dumb argument.
 
Cina said:
He was still a shadow of the Valencia we used to see, who regularly beat his man and pinged in crosses, I.e. actively seeking to make things happen on the pitch. Ash put it perfectly in the post above. You're completely intentionally misinterpreting what I said to fit your dumb argument.
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I'm not. You can't criticise a player for not being creative when he did superbly to make a goal for the team. We didn't play with much width yesterday and Jones have him feck all support in attacking positions. He did his job well. How many crosses did we get from the left side?
 
acnumber9 said:
He said he didn't look to do anything creative apart from when he created something. How is that a fair and sensible thing to say about a player? My thoughts are he did what the manager asked of him and that will be shown by his inclusion in our next game.
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I don't see where he said that;

Cina said:
I thought, bar the assist and a few things here and there, he was a bit rubbish. Same as last season, completely unwilling to take on his man and create something for the team.
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Acknowledged the assist, but made the comment that he wasn't trying to take on his man and create something and I don't see what the issue was with that. The assist didn't come from him taking on his man as far as I can see, it was a calm bit of play in the box. But Valencia in general was still not looking to take people on often enough nor was he willing to put crosses in from anywhere but the byline where he was rarely getting in to as he wasn't taking people on.
 
acnumber9 said:
I'm not. You can't criticise a player for not being creative when he did superbly to make a goal for the team. We didn't play with much width yesterday and Jones have him feck all support in attacking positions. He did his job well. How many crosses did we get from the left side?
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There wasnt really anything superb about the assist.

He'd do better with Rafael but we'l have to wait and see as it didnt really work that way last season.

We werent playing any winger on the left so I dont see how crosses from that side can be used to argue about Valencia's performance. Evra still did well though in getting crosses in.
 
Ash_G said:
I don't see where he said that;




Acknowledged the assist, but made the comment that he wasn't trying to take on his man and create something and I don't see what the issue was with that. The assist didn't come from him taking on his man as far as I can see, it was a calm bit of play in the box. But Valencia in general was still not looking to take people on often enough nor was he willing to put crosses in from anywhere but the byline where he was rarely getting in to as he wasn't taking people on.
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He's saying he did nothing creative apart from the creative thing he did. Perhaps, the reason for his not doing that was tactical? I think Valencia played well and did his job for the team. I think Moyes will feel the same and he'll start again next week. Nothing much more to add on the matter.
 
Varun_Utd said:
There wasnt really anything superb about the assist.

He'd do better with Rafael but we'l have to wait and see as it didnt really work that way last season.

We werent playing any winger on the left so I dont see how crosses from that side can be used to argue about Valencia's performance. Evra still did well though in getting crosses in.
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Balls. He put a dropping ball on the plate for he striker on the half volley. You haven't played football if you don't realise that was a difficult ball to play. That's before you discount the temptation to shoot or take a touch first.
 
acnumber9 said:
Balls. He put a dropping ball on the plate for he striker on the half volley. You haven't played football if you don't realise that was a difficult ball to play. That's before you discount the temptation to shoot or take a touch first.
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You make it sound much tougher than it was. We are talking about an international footballer playing for one of the best clubs in the world, not a friend you play with in the park. He did well but it wasnt something I'd classify as superb at all.
 
Thought he was ok. A very good assist but didn't do much else but then again he didn't have many chances to take on the full back either
 
acnumber9 said:
He's saying he did nothing creative apart from the creative thing he did. Perhaps, the reason for his not doing that was tactical? I think Valencia played well and did his job for the team. I think Moyes will feel the same and he'll start again next week. Nothing much more to add on the matter.
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Ok, well like I said I thought his point was more that he wasn't willing to take people on and make something happen and for that's a fair point. I thought he did alright, better than most of last season but I'd be disappointed if in a few weeks we're still seeing him play like that. Maybe it was tactical I doubt it though, given we had no problem with giggs trying to do more risky stuff then take your man on down the line and it was a similar performance against Wigan. As I said hopefully he's feeling his way in to the season, but I hope we see more from him then that.
 
Ash_G said:
Ok, well like I said I thought his point was more that he wasn't willing to take people on and make something happen and for that's a fair point. I thought he did alright, better than most of last season but I'd be disappointed if in a few weeks we're still seeing him play like that. Maybe it was tactical I doubt it though, given we had no problem with giggs trying to do more risky stuff then take your man on down the line and it was a similar performance against Wigan. As I said hopefully he's feeling his way in to the season, but I hope we see more from him then that.
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It was. Not sure why he's trying to make it sound like I actually completely contradicted myself, especially when I clearly mentioned the assist in my post.
 
Varun_Utd said:
You make it sound much tougher than it was. We are talking about an international footballer playing for one of the best clubs in the world, not a friend you play with in the park. He did well but it wasnt something I'd classify as superb at all.
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Then there's no point in praising any player for something they've done.
 
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