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2016-17 Performances


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6.6 Season Average Rating
Appearances
43
Clean sheets
19
Goals
1
Assists
6
Yellow cards
7
Status
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The other regular one you see on here is 'not a natural right back'. What does it even mean? Like someone is born to play fullback, or the local Sunday league right back would do a better job because he's played there for the the Dog and Duck for the last 10 years.
the irony is that full back is where every footballer is sent when they are shite at everything else... no one dreams of being a full back, it's where u play when you are a shite winger or a short CB
 
No offense but he was a winger for United (and Wigan) for years. For Ecuador he played in the center of midfield I think. I think only under LVG and maybe Moyes in the past couple of years did he move to RB. Did he do it admirably and capably? Many might say Yes, but that doesn't change the fact that it's not his traditional position played in for the vast majority of his career. Saying he's not a RB is really not that much different from saying, Rooney's not a midfielder, in terms of that's not the position they've played for the majority of their careers. The question is: Can they play the position capably? Can the they play in that position with distinction and at the level required for Man Utd? But to say it's their traditional position is a losing argument, IMO.
fergie moved him to right back. so there you go. we were short on options and he was shit at wing. he's since grown to be our best right back there currently even after the shiny new Italian we bought that was great for a week
 
I beg to differ on that. Darmian was doing very well with little Torino in a role which wasn't that of RB. I never thought he would do that badly with us tbh (there again most players under LVG underperformed badly) but its not fair to say he had a stellar reputation because he didn't. I don't mind having him around. There again I still see him as a temporary solution rather then a permanent one. There again, I come from a football culture which is pretty defensive oriented

His stock was high, he was in the serie a team of the season a couple of times, nobody is saying he is poborsky quality but he did have a stellar reputation.
 
fergie moved him to right back. so there you go. we were short on options and he was shit at wing. he's since grown to be our best right back there currently even after the shiny new Italian we bought that was great for a week
I also remember vividly that Valencia was absolutely diabolical in Fergie's final season against Chelsea. Perhaps one of the most inept performances I've ever seen. So ... There you go.
 
I also remember vividly that Valencia was absolutely diabolical in Fergie's final season against Chelsea. Perhaps one of the most inept performances I've ever seen. So ... There you go.
yes but he's now our best right back and is a right back and him being diabolical for one game at right back with fergie still confirms my point that he did play right back with..... drum roll please......




fergie... so there you go
 
yes but he's now our best right back and is a right back and him being diabolical for one game at right back with fergie still confirms my point that he did play right back with..... drum roll please....
fergie... so there you go
My opinion is that Valencia is not United quality for RB (or any position) in a starting 11, invoking Sir Alex is a weak argument, and that my guess is that Mourinho will have figured it out and sorted it as well before the season starts. We'll see.
 
My opinion is that Valencia is not United quality for RB (or any position) in a starting 11, invoking Sir Alex is a weak argument, and that my guess is that Mourinho will have figured it out and sorted it as well before the season starts. We'll see.

Besides Walker I would have Valencia over any right back from any team that finished in the top 6 last season. he's certainly good enough for Manchester United. Good full backs are far and few between. and even the good ones aren't without their faults. sorry we just clearly won't agree with each other on this. :lol:
 
His stock was high, he was in the serie a team of the season a couple of times, nobody is saying he is poborsky quality but he did have a stellar reputation.

I think that most of the people spoke about Darmian without actually having any idea about him. In terms of career he's closer to Taibi then to someone with a stellar career. They both came from AC Milan youth academy, they both failed to impress there and both did an excellent job with a small club. Darmian did better with the national team (there again, similar to Valencia-Poborsky argument, the Italy of Taibi's time was far stronger then Darmian's one), on the other hand Taibi got his chance with the Serie A top dogs (and failed) an opportunity Darmian was never offered. Therefore, I would really claim that he had a stellar reputation because he didn't.

Another big problem with Darmian was that he was a wingback. The image below gives you an idea of how Torino used to play. The 3-5-2 formation is pretty popular in Italy and tend to give the wingback plenty of protection. First of all the wingback tends to play 1 vs 1 against another wingback. There's little risk of being overrun by the fullback and winger. Secondly the wing back shouldn't be too concerned about crosses either because there's always 3 CBs to cover for any crosses.

1097544_Torino.jpg


Don't take me wrong I was excited when we got him as I believed that his versatility, discipline and work ethic will enable him to beat the problems given him time. However it was ridiculous to think that he would just fit in our system and do the magic. The conversion was going to be painful and till that time Valencia virtually had little competition
 
I think that most of the people spoke about Darmian without actually having any idea about him. In terms of career he's closer to Taibi then to someone with a stellar career. They both came from AC Milan youth academy, they both failed to impress there and both did an excellent job with a small club. Darmian did better with the national team (there again, similar to Valencia-Poborsky argument, the Italy of Taibi's time was far stronger then Darmian's one), on the other hand Taibi got his chance with the Serie A top dogs (and failed) an opportunity Darmian was never offered. Therefore, I would really claim that he had a stellar reputation because he didn't.

Another big problem with Darmian was that he was a wingback. The image below gives you an idea of how Torino used to play. The 3-5-2 formation is pretty popular in Italy and tend to give the wingback plenty of protection. First of all the wingback tends to play 1 vs 1 against another wingback. There's little risk of being overrun by the fullback and winger. Secondly the wing back shouldn't be too concerned about crosses either because there's always 3 CBs to cover for any crosses.

1097544_Torino.jpg


Don't take me wrong I was excited when we got him as I believed that his versatility, discipline and work ethic will enable him to beat the problems given him time.

What's the point of Darmian as a wingback? He can't attack.
 
I think that most of the people spoke about Darmian without actually having any idea about him. In terms of career he's closer to Taibi then to someone with a stellar career. They both came from AC Milan youth academy, they both failed to impress there and both did an excellent job with a small club. Darmian did better with the national team (there again, similar to Valencia-Poborsky argument, the Italy of Taibi's time was far stronger then Darmian's one), on the other hand Taibi got his chance with the Serie A top dogs (and failed) an opportunity Darmian was never offered. Therefore, I would really claim that he had a stellar reputation because he didn't.

Another big problem with Darmian was that he was a wingback. The image below gives you an idea of how Torino used to play. The 3-5-2 formation is pretty popular in Italy and tend to give the wingback plenty of protection. First of all the wingback tends to play 1 vs 1 against another wingback. There's little risk of being overrun by the fullback and winger. Secondly the wing back shouldn't be too concerned about crosses either because there's always 3 CBs to cover for any crosses.

1097544_Torino.jpg


Don't take me wrong I was excited when we got him as I believed that his versatility, discipline and work ethic will enable him to beat the problems given him time. However it was ridiculous to think that he would just fit in our system and do the magic. The conversion was going to be painful and till that time Valencia virtually had little competition

He was in consecutive serie a team of the seasons for his last two years at torino therefore considered the best right back in the league and therefore having a stellar reputation. I can't argue with you much more today because you will respond to this strong and pretty much definitive argument with something completely irrelevant about how buttner would have had a better chance if evra wasn't about or something.
 
He was in consecutive serie a team of the seasons for his last two years at torino therefore considered the best right back in the league and therefore having a stellar reputation. I can't argue with you much more today because you will respond to this strong and pretty much definitive argument with something completely irrelevant about how buttner would have had a better chance if evra wasn't about or something.

According to which website?
 
Its done by the players and the equivalent of the Italian FA it is the same as the prem team of the season not some random list of bleacher report. Reputation good.

you're referring to the Gran Gala del calcio AIC. Its a decent competition however I think you're taking this stellar reputation thing a bit too far. Before Darmian, Christian Maggio featured two times in the same role (2012-2013). No one would really rate/rated him as a player with a stellar reputation.
 
you're referring to the Gran Gala del calcio AIC. Its a decent competition however I think you're taking this stellar reputation thing a bit too far. Before Darmian, Christian Maggio featured two times in the same role (2012-2013). No one would really rate/rated him as a player with a stellar reputation.

If your peers and the Italian FA all come together and agree you are the best in the league in a specific position twice then that is having a good reputation. There literally isn't a more clear cut way to point to a player having a good reputation.
 
If your peers and the Italian FA all come together and agree you are the best in the league in a specific position twice then that is having a good reputation. There literally isn't a more clear cut way to point to a player having a good reputation.

I am glad that you had reduced it from stellar to good reputation. I agree with you on those terms. Darmian was considered as a good player in Italy. However he was far from this top quality player you tried to portray him to be. In matter of fact no big team in Italy was keen in spending good money to sign him up.

I mentioned Christian Maggio who featured in the Serie A team twice prior to when Darmian did. Ironically one of the reasons of his decline was that he was unable to slot from wingback to fullback. As said its a different role and players need time to adapt if they ever do. Till then Valencia has virtually no competition whatsoever
 
I am glad that you had reduced it from stellar to good reputation. I agree with you on those terms. Darmian was considered as a good player in Italy. However he was far from this top quality player you tried to portray him to be. In matter of fact no big team in Italy was keen in spending good money to sign him up.

I mentioned Christian Maggio who featured in the Serie A team twice prior to when Darmian did. Ironically one of the reasons of his decline was that he was unable to slot from wingback to fullback

By stellar I mean really good reputation not world class or anything like that but just very well regarded. Either way reputation means nothing, players can struggle to adapt to any number of variables, manager, team set up, system, country, league, tempo, whatever, but we have seen from darmian that he can play in a back four with us as he did at the start of last season, something went wrong but I genuinely don't think RB is a problem area. I want one CB and one CM maybe one 9 /10 then I would be happy,
 
I can't say I'm a big fan of Darmian BUT perhaps he deserves a chance under Mourinho before we act irrationally and send him packing.

He's an Italy International afterall, so I'm positive he's better than his performances have shown under Van Gaal. I'm on the fence about it. I think the only player we should let go are Young and Jones. Mainly cause I don't think they're United quality.
 
He's been very good since he came back from his injury, I think he will start this year as first choice.
 
I can't say I'm a big fan of Darmian BUT perhaps he deserves a chance under Mourinho before we act irrationally and send him packing.

He's an Italy International afterall, so I'm positive he's better than his performances have shown under Van Gaal. I'm on the fence about it. I think the only player we should let go are Young and Jones. Mainly cause I don't think they're United quality.

Why should Darmian be ahead of Valencia in the pecking order?
 
Don't do it guys, I've spent the whole afternoon having the exact same argument with devilish, nobody wins.
 
And Schweinsteiger is not a proper Centre Midfielder
Schweinsteiger, one of the best CM of the past decade isn't a proper CM? Okay mate.

If you're saying "Oh, he was converted from a winger to a CM", then that's actually a ridiculous comparison. Valencia can do a job at RB but he is by no means should he be starting every game there. Some would argue he shouldn't even be still playing for us at all.
 
Schweinsteiger, one of the best CM of the past decade isn't a proper CM? Okay mate.

If you're saying "Oh, he was converted from a winger to a CM", then that's actually a ridiculous comparison. Valencia can do a job at RB but he is by no means should he be starting every game there. Some would argue he shouldn't even be still playing for us at all.

Valencia can more than 'do a job' at right back.

Valencia's whoscored stats for the last 2 seasons (both played at right back)

  • Played 32 premier league games with an average rating of 7.23 in the 2014/15 season. (Compare that to Ivanovic - who got in the team of the season that year in a title winning team - he got 7.25). Also compare that to Martial in the 2015/16 season who got the exact same score of 7.23. Everyone said he was brilliant, no such mention of how good Valencia was in 2014/15.
  • Played 14 premier league games (due to a long injury) with an average rating of 7.05 in the 2015/16 season.

Darmian on the other hand:

  • Played 33 games (for Torino) league games with an average rating of 6.98 in the 2014/15 season. And remember, we bought him after this season.
  • Played 28 premier league games with an average rating of 6.91 in the 2015/16 season.

That's just using stats. But, using my eyes, there's an even clearer difference.

Valencia is laughably underrated on this forum just because he switched to right back fairly recently (and because his performances when he was a winger in his last season were not up to his usual standards).

@devilish you should probably read this too.
 
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Amid all the other stuff its worth pointing out that he wore the captains armband for the first time today, well done tony v:devil::devil::devil:
 
His attacking ability is poor. Any one can score an amazing goal/do an amazing thing once but for the majority of the time, he struggles when it comes to attacking.
Every players main task under LVG was defending... So a goal under that management should be enough proof..
 
Every players main task under LVG was defending... So a goal under that management should be enough proof..

Your saying he's a good attacker based on that one clip? :lol:

Did you not watch him the other 37+ games of the season?

Martial seemed to be all right. So did Rashford. So did Valencia.

In no way did LVG stop the full backs from attacking. They were the only attacking outlet we had for many of the games. This is why we were so poor throughout the season. We had no Shaw, no Valencia. Only Darmian and Rojo.
 
Your saying he's a good attacker based on that one clip? :lol:

Did you not watch him the other 37+ games of the season?

Martial seemed to be all right. So did Rashford. So did Valencia.

In no way did LVG stop the full backs from attacking. They were the only attacking outlet we had for many of the games. This is why we were so poor. We had no Shaw, no Valencia. Only Darmian and Rojo.
Again... Defending is his main priority.. That he did very well.
 
Again... Defending is his main priority.. That he did very well.

:lol: Sanchez completely destroyed him against Arsenal (where it was 3-0 in the opening 20 minutes iirc. He came on against Spurs when we were 0-0 in the last 10 minutes and it finished 3-0.

Valencia on the other hand shut out completely Sterling and de Bruyne in the game he got injured against City.

Another match, against Southampton LVG said this:

"He [Darmian] gave too much space to Tadic in my opinion," Van Gaal said. "So that's why I brought on Valencia.

"I didn't see Tadic in the second half, did you? It was a tactical change because Tadic had a lot of space and was very dangerous for us.

"I wanted to eliminate that with Valencia and he did that very well I think."
 
:lol: Sanchez completely destroyed him against Arsenal (where it was 3-0 in the opening 20 minutes iirc. He came on against Spurs when we were 0-0 in the last 10 minutes and it finished 3-0.

Valencia on the other hand shut out completely Sterling and de Bruyne in the game he got injured against City.

Another match, against Southampton LVG said this:
To use your tactics these are couple of matches in a season of 38 matches +... He did very well in many of them. I can name a few where Valencia forgot he was a RB.. To name one United v Arsenal in the FA Cup he was at fault for both goals and last season he had a few.


Not that I have anything against Valencia as a RB and I haven't got a clue who will be Mou's starter..
 
Again... Defending is his main priority.. That he did very well.

It's a complete myth - thrown around the Caf by a select few - that Darmian defended "very well" or anything even close to it. Bar the first few games of last season, he was average to poor, and that's in his defensive play. As for his attacking play, well there are no words....
 
Darmian was absolutely shredded by Alexis in that 3-0 spanking Arsenal gave us, and hadn't looked defensively solid from that point onward at all. I think his best performance from then on might have come in one of the games he played LB at.
 
The other regular one you see on here is 'not a natural right back'. What does it even mean?
How is this a difficult concept to grasp? When you play 5 years of youth football as an attacking player, 9 years of senior football as a winger who deputizes centrally on the odd occasion, you don't become a right back because of one season of deputizing at right back, followed by two seasons of playing right back. He's a reformed winger, if he is getting games at right back because he is good enough to then it is up to the managers discretion.
 
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