Great impact off the bench, nothing more than we could of asked for
Luis Nani | 2011/12 Performances
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Nani looked great off the bench, looks like he's really nailed down the starting role.
Though it would be nice to see Valencia and Rooney getting back their psychic connection.
Though it would be nice to see Valencia and Rooney getting back their psychic connection.
Surely an exaggeration.
I remember him being heavily involved in us conceding a third goal, and having a good shot.
Indeed, his crossing is fantastic.
i think it was like the 92 minute where we got the ball and was in the basle half on the attack, and we were working the ball to the left hand side of the pitch, i was saying 'where the feck are you going, get it to nani'
We were up 2-0, if it hadn't been amateur hour at the back, there would have been no complaints.
Nani aside from Rooney is our most potent and important attacking player, anytime we can give him a rest it's a good thing, we'll reap the benefits in the 2nd half of the season.
Creating chances and scoring goals wasn't the problem tonight. Would Nani have helped us not defend like spastics? Judging by his role in their third, I'd say that's unlikely.
He should have played and I doubt he needed a break already. Fergie can save these players once we have 10 pts or so for the last 2 games
He did nothing but give the ball away when he got on. Until the very end, that is.
His productivity in the last two years has been insane.
However, according to the media, he's 'only just' blossoming.
His productivity in the last two years has been insane.
However, according to the media, he's 'only just' blossoming.
With Rooney out, Nani has to play as he is the only other attacker who can really be a constant threat
Did anyone think that we wouldn't beat Basel at home with Valencia, Anderson, Young, Giggs and Welbeck starting the game?
I don't think so.
After the game it's easy to say Fergie should have picked Nani.
And you also forgot this game finished 3-3 because of terrible defending, not because Nani was on the bench...
I don't understand people bemoaning a lack of creativity.
We were 2-0 up at Old Trafford. It was criminal that we slipped behind in such circumstances. And it was nothing to do with creativity.
We were 2-0 up at Old Trafford. It was criminal that we slipped behind in such circumstances. And it was nothing to do with creativity.
It was a major change and as I said before, I rather prefer Fergie to rest players once we have 10 or more points in the bag. Yes we were poor defensively, but we werent great going forward either despite scoring 2
The thing that annoys me most about when Fergie is resting someone important like Rooney/Nani is that they are on the bench and in most cases end up playing anyway because the team struggles without Rooney/Nani. Doesn't that ruin the whole purpose of resting someone? Start Rooney/Nani and take them off at the 60/70th minute mark if United is cruising instead of putting them on the bench for no reason. Let them just skip the league cup matches like they usually do these days.
There's no guarantee we'll cruise any game, so any player who starts the game may end up playing the full 90. Even in some of our biggest wins this season (e.g. Spurs) we didn't get a decent lead until very late on in the game. If Fergie thinks a player needs a rest it would be madness to start them on the assumption you won't need them to play more than an hour.
Spot on.
You cannot play a player and think you'd take them off after 60mins and rest them. The side put out yesterday was good enough to beat basel. we fecked up defensively and in midfield when it came to protecting the back 4. nani would not have improved either of those.
He created more chances in 20 minutes than anyone else did on the pitch.
But hardly my point. Fact is Nani is probably the fittest and least injury prone (touch wood) player we have, as evidenced by him starting more games than any other player last season. So why the hell do we rest him and not Young, or Anderson?
The only logic I can think of is that SAF thinks Valencia is better suited to Europe than him.
You guys make a great point. I just prefer the best players to play as much as possible when fit especially when they are in their fitness peak at 25-26 but Fergie usually gets it right
While I've said that we should try and start at least one of nani or rooney wherever possible, it mattered feck all last night. With nani we could have scored 4 or 5, but what we really should have been doing was defending properly and he certainly wasn't going to make us and neither was rooney.
People always like to believe its about selection and that one decision that would magically change things. That's a very simplistic approach ignoring the basic fact that we defended poorly as a team and our back 4 were shambolic. At the end of the day you should be able to hold a 2 goal lead against basle at home and not need to score 4 or 5.
People always like to believe its about selection and that one decision that would magically change things. That's a very simplistic approach ignoring the basic fact that we defended poorly as a team and our back 4 were shambolic. At the end of the day you should be able to hold a 2 goal lead against basle at home and not need to score 4 or 5.
When it comes to a few players it makes a huge difference. With a Rooney or Nani from start it might have been 3-0 at HT and game over. No way Basel is coming back from 3-0. This is just second guessing though.
I hope not. it'd be a travesty not to play him in the big games in europe. well, with the kind of performances he's been putting in, he selects himself tbh.
Alternatively, Fergie thought it was time to give Valencia a game in his preferred position?
He played very well too. Created a lot of chances. We didn't draw that game because of who Fergie picked on the right wing.
It was FC Basel...
... and Nani deserved a rest after a run of matches for United and before international break. And we had Valencia and Young, I don't think that wingers were our problem yesterday...
and i've already stated that resting him had nothing to do with our performance.
read the post i quoted, it wasnt about yesterday's game, more about europe in general.
aint it a time to change the topic name? I mean it is well accepted world wide nani is the best winger in the country. Just get rid of the question mark. O change the word winger to player and we can start all over
I'm not saying we did though. Valencia had a good game. My point here is that I just think Nani should have played that game, given the form he's in right now I don't understand why he didn't. It's obviously not a fitness issue cause he looked very sharp when he was on.
But look, our defense was the problem in the end, but pre match I was still a little baffled by the decision too.
I think he's the best crosser on our team.
No doubt. Some people don't think so because he doesn't cross it as much as Valencia and Young, who are both very good crossers too. But he's incomparable at times, like Giggs miss at the weekend and Youngs goal last night.
Nani is our best crosser. It's just that he has a lot more in his locker so he sometimes tries a lot of other things before resorting to crosses. Valencia and Young often have it as their first instinct.
Aye, Nani cuts in far more than either. I mean sometimes he ends up over on the left side getting the ball!
You don't wait until a player is looking tired to rest them. A good manager will be proactive and rest them occasionally while they are playing well, so as to ensure the player doesn't burn out and only play at their best for a shorter period of time.
Plus the fact we have three extremely good wingers means they will all interchange. Nani is obviously #1 and Young will probably play more often by virtue of the fact Nani seems to be better on the right, but Valencia will rightfully get plenty of chances throughout the year.
Like I've said before, I almost never have a problem with Fergie's starting line-up. I do take issue with his substitutions occasionally though. Tonight, Nani should've been on as soon as they got it back to 2-2 so as to get us back on the front foot. He and Rooney are our two world-class attacking players who can change the flow of the game, so if one of them is injured we have to make sure the other one is on the field if things start going against us.
Last season I'd say Valencia was more consistent but Nani is capable of better crosses when he gets it right. This season Nani seems to have upped his consistency of putting it in the perfect spot.
Its been without question that Nani is our best crosser (at least till Young came in) for quite a while.
Valencia puts lots of crosses into the box, we've seen the numbers before. So why does Nani always end up with more assists, sometimes by a wide margin?
When he's hot he puts goals on a plate. Sure, we have some wonky ones between but the consistancy is enough to be one of, if not the most consistant producer of great chances from crosses in the league. On a match to match basis over a run of games, he's usually created more match defining crosses than anyone else in the team. Or the league.
And there's no excuse for not getting that yet.
With Young coming in and adapting to our play very very well, he definitely has someone who runs him close now. In fact we may find that Young can be even better at that in this team, he's certainly started the season that way
Valencia puts lots of crosses into the box, we've seen the numbers before. So why does Nani always end up with more assists, sometimes by a wide margin?
When he's hot he puts goals on a plate. Sure, we have some wonky ones between but the consistancy is enough to be one of, if not the most consistant producer of great chances from crosses in the league. On a match to match basis over a run of games, he's usually created more match defining crosses than anyone else in the team. Or the league.
And there's no excuse for not getting that yet.
With Young coming in and adapting to our play very very well, he definitely has someone who runs him close now. In fact we may find that Young can be even better at that in this team, he's certainly started the season that way
Brilliant header yesterday for the 1st goal.
Is that the first time he's scored with his head?
Am not very good at recalling such stuff. he surely must have scored before but its a very rare occurence to be fair.
Well, he's never scored a header for us.
How did he play, apart from the goal?
I actually prefer Young.
Both are class though.
Both are class though.
he scored 2 actually. the other was from a beautiful through ball from the left flank with the outside of the boot by an iceland defender
didnt watch the entire game though so couldnt tell you.
Nani's comfortably better imo. why do you prefer Young, genuine question.
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