He floated his crosses and Rooney feasted. You're mixing up memories of his decline with what he looked like in his peak
Not sure. He was so quick and strong that he always found himself behind the fullback, and his bests strength was his ability to look up and pick a player out. He could look up and float in the perfect ball. Now he always finds himself squared up with the full-back so when he tries to pick someone out he just smashes it against them or over-hits it. I wouldn't say he was ever a really great natural crosser who could whip balls into the right areas.
Valencia was immense for us in 11/12 and our star player that season. Willian has never been as good as that. Willian has been the more consistent player for sure but peak Valencia was better.
A Winger that never reached double figure goals in his whole career was better at his peak than a winger that you thought never reached double figure goals but actually did it three times in the last three season.
I am very confident that one could replace Willian with Valencia and nothing would change. If Valencia had played for Chelsea and we were looking to buy him at 30 you'd be saying what you are saying about Willian for Valencia.
By quiet you mean Chelsea Player of the Year?
Whenever I watch Chelsea, Willian always looked like one of their best players after Hazard. And I thought he was good for Brazil too. Our right wing would be significantly improved by his signing
Younger maybe. But we have Chong.
Yes and it was the oddest thing to see. Defenders got better at anticipating what he was going to do but that still doesn't explain how he completely lost his ability to float crosses or how he just started pointlessly smashing low crosses. Maybe it was the injury
He was. I'm sure a basic YouTube video could show this. I know yt videos aren't indicative of the real thing but in his case they are. Will repeat that Valencia received the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year and the Manchester United Players' Player of the Year award in 2012. Think about that for a second if you want proof. He was most definitely a lethal crosser and terrorised leftbacks that year
Talk me through that one.
How much do we pay for Dembele if they don't keep Martial after the loan?
Right, he was a very effective crosser. I don't need Youtube to remember that he wasn't a natural crosser who could just whip ball after ball into the box. He never ever put it in first time. He would be brilliant at picking players out which I agree was very lethal.
He's an authentically pleasing footballer (which is why he's rated highly by people who mainly see us in highlights) and good at turning defense into attack on the counter but get him in the final 3rd he tends to overthink things and his brain can't catch up with his feet. He's a solid 6/7 out of 10 and rarely shifts from that level either side, that's why he tends to look great when the teams arounds him is off form and also ends up on the bench when the team is on a hot streak (Conte's first season).
Regarding the bit I've highlighted in bold. You're probably correct there but you're ignoring the fact that Valencia generally wasn't very good at all between ages 28-31ish his peak was short lived 24-26ish so your comparison is a bit weak.
A Winger that never reached double figure goals in his whole career was better at his peak than a winger that you thought never reached double figure goals but actually did it three times in the last three season.
I am very confident that one could replace Willian with Valencia and nothing would change. If Valencia had played for Chelsea and we were looking to buy him at 30 you'd be saying what you are saying about Willian for Valencia.
We have the benefit of having seen Willian. He doesn't compare to recent attacking signings like Coutinho for example. He would drown
You've either got an atrocious memory, or didn't watch football during 11/12. The guy was unbelievable that year, and would consistently destroy the opposition left back. He wasn't just a hard worker, he'd skin his man 9 times out of 10.
