This one is true. He does track back and pops in with a tackle every now and then.
Luis Nani | 2013/14 Performances
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guess why not.... maybe just maybe it hasnt been tried. Just because you havent seen something doesnt mean they exist. I have never seen a Liverpool fan who is intelligent but that doesnt mean they dont exist
(ok I fecked my own argument there....)
I hope Zaha gets a few games or sub appearances here and there, the way Adnan is getting but you are right, no rush.
I had thought that Zaha wouldn't feature much in the start to the season just with the games being so difficult and Moyes with so much pressure at stake preferring to go with tried and tested players. With the City game now past and the run of fixtures being a bit kinder i'm pretty sure he's going to feature a bit, and if he performs there's a position for him up for grabs at the minute. Same applies to Januzaj and also Nani/Kagawa who havn't featured as much as they would have liked so far.
Doesn't sound like Zaha will be used much any time soon based on what Moyes has said. Perhaps that 'ITK' poster was correct in what he said he'd heard regarding Zaha.
That's what happens when you're desperate to dismiss a player.
He was gash against City and that's about that.
Please take a look at the first 30 min of the Leverkusen game and get back to me. fecking idiots responding to things with out watching games
Woah, cool it.
I really cannot understand how can anyone still compare Nani's and Valencia's performances in last year or so. Sure, Valencia had two really good season for us, and I really like him, he always gives his everything, he'll run his socks offf,but if Nani was given chances like Valencia was last season and played like Valencia did, I am sure our fans would be signing petitions about selling him at the end of last season.
But there you still have people who compare him with Young who had less touches than de Gea in one game, or Valencia whose first good game in more than a year came against opposition against who we created more chances than we did in whole season so far.
But there you still have people who compare him with Young who had less touches than de Gea in one game, or Valencia whose first good game in more than a year came against opposition against who we created more chances than we did in whole season so far.
Update me?
We have the best pair of defensive winger in the league, i mean, why would any decent winger ever bother to focus their game on defending rather than attacking? We do, however, have 2 of the kinds in Young and Valencia.
We have to try and get past that though. Attacking fullbacks are now almost a necessity, and the likes of bayern barca and real manage to play very attacking players infront of them.
I just personally like when wide players have variety to their game. Bayern have gotten it so spot on in the past. Their wide players go out wide, cut inside, whip crosses in, get shots away. And they're basically always looking for a forward run and pass. I'd love for us to consistently start wide players who can do that. I may not always come off but it makes for much more interesting football, for me personally.
And nani is the best we have at that.
And nani is the best we have at that.
I understand attack is the best form of defence. However, we have to be prepared to accept other top teams also have very talented wingers and full-backs, and we're not always going to push them back, and play in their half. Hence it is vitally important as an attacker, you make an all-round contribution which includes defending and helping out your midfield. There's very little doubt Valencia is better at that aspect of his game. Nani is definitely better in the opposing half.
I don't think it's a lack of effort or inability at defending that goes against Nani. When he's not playing well he has a habit of making sloppy passes and losing possession in really dangerous areas of the pitch. That's the sort of thing that gives a manager nightmares. When he's on his game, though, that's not a problem.
I'd say Barca and Bayern are unique cases, while Real have generally been poor defensively for a long time because of that setup.
In 10/11 Bayern conceded almost twice as many goals as Dortmund and on two of the rare occasions when both Robben and Ribery were fit for a big game they lost 3-1 to Dortmund (effectively putting Dortmund out of reach) and 3-2 to Inter (crashing out of the CL). They also lost 3-1 to Hannover to put them out of the Cup - all this taking place in less than a month. They finished 3rd in the league at the end of the season. As talented and entertaining as their two wingers are, it's hard to deny they were somewhat of a defensive liability. Last season the most remarkable thing about Bayern was how hard Robben worked in the big games, but as the German fans have repeatedly said on here that came about due to exceptional circumstances - the above-mentioned collapse in 10/11, then losing the CL final on home ground, losing the Cup final 5-2 to Dortmund and of course losing the league to Dortmund. In one of the defining moments of the league season Robben missed a penalty v Wiedenfeller and then essentially missed an open goal in the dying minutes, and Robben copped a shitload of flack for that. That was the driving force behind their season last year and Robben's own personal failures were obviously the driving force behind him doing more defensive work than ever before in his career. Ribéry did more defending against Barca than he did going forward, from what I remember. So I don't think you can call them very attacking players in the way someone like Ronaldo is. They worked so well as a team because everyone put a shift in.
Ever since Barca have become all about Messi the same has been true of their wide attackers - Pedro works non-stop and surely part of the reason they bought Sánchez was because of his workrate. Before Messi moved centrally he put in a shift for the team in every game. It's easy to forget that given how little he does nowadays but everyone of their front players put in a shift in 08/09, and before then the only attacking player that didn't do any defensive work was Ronaldinho. In lots of games they pulled Eto'o back out wide when they were only a goal up late on because Ronaldinho was a liability.
Dortmund are hailed as the pinnacle of footballing beauty at the moment but in their last three seasons, Großkreutz - a workhorse, pure and simple - has started 87 of Dortmund's 121 league and CL games. And the opposing winger, Kuba, puts in a tremendous shift every game. Ultimately the point is it took years to craft teams capable of playing this way and so if you want to see us do the same you'll need to have a bit of patience. If you want some evidence that we're trying to go down that route then look at the wide players we've tried to buy in the last couple of years. Sánchez, then Lucas and Hazard.
But I'm not talking about Ronaldo type attackers who are extremely focused on goalscoring and hence can't afford to out work in. I'm talking about the likes of ribery who work hard but ultimately, whose attacking prowess dwarfs their defensive one. I'm not comparing them in terms of ability, but nani is more like ribery in that sense than Ronaldo. He does work hard and put in a shift. But more importantly he's got genuine brilliance going forward, at least when in form.
As for the last bit, well, we also spent 18 million on Ashley Young, so time will tell if that's the direction were looking to go in.
That rarely happens when he is regular starter for us, whenever he was playing week in-week out he never had those problems. I am not saying he'll be on top form every game when he is regular starter, just that the performances like those against Liverpool/Chelsea would never happen to him if he was in around the starting XI few weeks before those games.
Almost every player is struggling when he is being thrown to play every fifth game or so, or after returning from injury, if you don't believe me, ask your favourite player.
Good performance. He's put in three excellent crosses. More of this and he'll be first team.
Good so far, Rafael bombing past him would cause chaos.
Should be first team anyway. Far more deserving of being "played into form" than Valencia or Young
3 gorgeous crosses already. Looks very good so far.
There's no question he should be first choice.
Doing very well. Think he could drive a little more towards goal when he gets the ball against his fullback. A touch more direct and positive will cause WBA nightmares.
I'll re-watch it. 30 min and first half against City doesn't account for the whole season so far though.Please take a look at the first 30 min of the Leverkusen game and get back to me. fecking idiots responding to things with out watching games
Our best player today. Great crossing and dribbling. Should have had an assist. The only positive today?
The one true bright spot for us, he ran at West Brom constantly and always looked like he might open them up.
Looked great. Really the only positive we can take away from today
Actually looked like he wanted to win and tried his best to make that happen despite little support.
Another performance showing why he needs to play instead of Young, has that capability of creating opportunities
Looked good in the first half, then went to shit after the interval, when we lost the game. Started playing after that which was good. Certainly wasn't great as some say but still probably our best player.
The only player that looked like creating something.
Needs to be playing on the right, but he'll end up being shunted out to the left because Valencia is so one footed.
That said, I think it may be a matter of time before we end up playing a 4-3-3 since our midfield gets bypassed so easily- which would make Nani an obviously better option on the right
That said, I think it may be a matter of time before we end up playing a 4-3-3 since our midfield gets bypassed so easily- which would make Nani an obviously better option on the right
Class above our any other player today, shame he didn't have any support from teammates.
That's because he was shifted on left, because Januzaj was invisible on left when he was introduced, so Moyes tried swapping them.
It doesn't help that you barely touch the ball for 20 minutes though.
It doesn't help that we tried to get Januzaj into the game. He can't do much about that.
Easily our best player on the day. If fit he should start.
He was excellent, a class above. Just as well we finally gave him a new contract.
The most impressive thing about Nani is that he makes a player like Rooney look interested. Rooney knows that Nani will come up with something so every time Nani has the ball or passes to Rooney it seems like Rooney fires up and tries to do something.
The same thing happens to Kagawa and the RB he plays with. He even makes Smalling/Jones look dangerous offensively.
The same thing happens to Kagawa and the RB he plays with. He even makes Smalling/Jones look dangerous offensively.
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