Perhaps because of his numbers or the fact that he was a part of United´s history such as league and Champions League wins. Not only that but he was also able of producing memorable moments like against Bayern or Arsenal. He might not be everyone´s cup of tea but to downplay his contribution to the club the way you did, is kinda harsh.
Nani | Contract & Transfer talk
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Perhaps because of his numbers or the fact that he was a part of United´s history such as league and Champions League wins. Not only that but he was also able of producing memorable moments like against Bayern or Arsenal. He might not be everyone´s cup of tea but to downplay his contribution to the club the way you did, is kinda harsh.
He had about.. a 1 year stretch, dating from the Arsenal break away goal setting up Rooney (forget the season number off the top of my head), up until around the Christmas period the year after, where most would rightly consider him a quality player, and an important member of the team, other than around that 1 particular years stretch he's been a bit part player at United, both prior and after, he's also spent the last 2-3 years in the wilderness so it's natural some like myself would sideline his role futher, but for example Ji-Sung Park scored some very important goals in some very important games at United, and generally put in a number of good performances in his spell yet he also would never considered to have been more than a bit part player in Uniteds dominance during that spell, I'd place Nani in a similar category.
Personally wouldn't miss him if we let him go at seasons end, so long as we reinvested his place with someone fresh with new potential.
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Fair enough. It´s your assessment. I think he will have a very positive campaign for Sporting and will probably be sold to Spain or Italy by United. We can´t afford him and he´s too good for the portuguese league.
First time I've heard him speak I think, it's probably because of Anderson but I was surprised that he speaks such good English.
his picked up English quite fast I think, was pretty fluent back in a 2010 interview. Not bad for someone so brain-dead.
Chelsea beat Sporting 1-0, the team on top of the PL table beat the Portuguese third place and had trouble the second half which Nani could had equalized, to tell you the true the gap between the 2 leagues are after the 3 "big" clubs.
To be fair we should have destroyed them, we had about 3 1 on 1's and tons of chances. Fair score would have been 1-4.
Nani was a good player for us. Went off the rails towards the end of his time with us due to various reasons but he did a lot of good things I a United shirt.
If you're disputing that Nani has gobs of talent, we'll just have to agree to disagree.
But if you're disputing that Nani has a poor footballing brain, you're just flat out wrong. He constantly makes poor decisions, which is a crying shame as anyone can see he has the talent and athleticism to perform brilliantly for any top club. Give him the gift of football intelligence and the guy could be scary good, maybe just a notch below Di Maria.
It's not as though United were overloaded with attacking talent before Van Gaal took over at OT. When Valencia and Young are rated higher than Nani -- at least as this season began -- that says a lot about how far down you've fallen.
Is there hope for Nani for a recovery to top form? I actually think there is, but he has to be a much more intelligent footballer than he is right now, at least than what he's demonstrated the last 3 three seasons.
Always been one of my favourite players and clearly has a better attitude than people make out. Hope he comes back.
I'm not wrong, you're just talking nonsense. You don't score the kind of goals Nani has or assist the kind of goals he has if you have a poor footballing brain. It's plain nonsense. On the contrary whenever he plays it's quite obvious he's a very intelligent player on the ball. The occasional bouts of selfishness or a period of bad form (due to injuries and being inexplicably in and out of the side) does not mean he has a poor footballing brain.
Well we his entering the 2nd year of a 5 year deal Moyes tied him to so he probably will be back unless someone will be prepared to take his massive wages... that we're still paying!
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Did he? Because all I can remember was a player with great technique and poor brains who constantly made the wrong decisions. His good games became more and more rare. He reminds me of Quaresma and Denilson to be honest.
We lost against MK Dons recently didn't we? 4-0.
Incredible.
Maybe we understand the term "football intelligence" differently. We agree, I trust, on his incredible athleticism and talent. The man is a footballing specimen -- he has speed, strength and clearly knows how to beat a man on the dribble. And although we haven't seen much of it lately, he has a powerful shot on goal.
But where Nani falls apart is his decision making. Being "selfish", as you describe him, is an indication of poor decision making. In fact, it's hard to imagine a worse indictment of a footballer than to describe him as "selfish". Ronaldo and Messi no doubt spend more time on the ball than Nani does, but no one would ever thinking to describe either as "selfish".
I have no doubt you agree with the universal judgment of Nani that he's been woeful for the last three seasons, and while some of that can be attributed to injuries, injuries can't explain it all. We know we can't blame Nani for a lack of athleticism or ability, as to do so would be absurd.
The book on Nani, which is completely spot on, is that he's selfish and makes poor decisions. If you disagree that Nani lacks football intelligence but that he's selfish and makes poor decisions then I will accept striking the accusation that he lacks football intelligence -- although to be fair, the very definition of "football intelligence" involves knowing when to be selfless and selfish and making good decisions.
Got it. By your definition Ronaldo and Luis Suarez also have poor footballing brains because they are selfish fecks...far more than Nani at that.
He actually had one season(I think it was 2011/2012, season after he won player of the year) where his decision making was excellent, but he used the ball more safely, he wasn't dribbling that much, he was more of a playmaker for us that year than a goal threat, and he still managed to reach double figures in both scoring and assisting. Funny thing is that people who were criticiseing him before for being too selfish were criticiseing him that year for being too safe with his play.
I think people who dislike him would dislike him even if he was world's best player at one point, I am not sure they know why they dislike him(it's probably his character), but they would never admit it but they would just keep searching for flaws in his game to criticise him.
I think people who dislike him would dislike him even if he was world's best player at one point, I am not sure they know why they dislike him(it's probably his character), but they would never admit it but they would just keep searching for flaws in his game to criticise him.
The reason I don't involve myself in Nani talk these days.. For a bloody awful player we once handed him our player of the year...
He finished 22nd in the Ballon d'Or in 2011. Second best winger that year after Ronaldo I believe. Muller finished ahead but I think he was an central AM then. So ahead of Robben and Ribery.
Yep, I remember him being only "winger" on the list in general.
Bah. Talent. Top form. He's what? 27?
He should have finished honing his talent and start putting in shift. He's been with us for years. When will you stop saying it's "potential" and all that.
At 27 he's a finish product, what you see is what he really is.
He might go on form or golden patch, but his level has been found out, there wont be any major jump
Though to counter, Heinze I believe picked up similar, still to this day, the mind boggles.
Fergie did rate Nani - kept him around for a while and played him in one of the biggest games of his last year after not playing much before hand (RM). Fergie just never gave him the status he afforded few players - like Ronaldo or Rooney, skilled players who could cock up but, still not get dropped. Also, good or bad, Fergie and Moyes had a thing to give players like Valencia more of a leash - that was their management style but, that does not mean either did not think highly of Nani. Moyes gave Nani a 5 year deal, one doesn't do that if they don't think highly of the player but, injury and bad sets of results limited his play time for Moyes.
I do think his time here is done but, given a run of games and confidence like he is at Sporting, I think he can still go on to play at a very high level and much like the Danny Welbeck thread - quite a few will end up lamenting him doing well for someone else because he of the talent he is.
I do think his time here is done but, given a run of games and confidence like he is at Sporting, I think he can still go on to play at a very high level and much like the Danny Welbeck thread - quite a few will end up lamenting him doing well for someone else because he of the talent he is.
Heinze was a good player for us and a fan favourite for a while
That is exactly what I would call Ronaldo, actually.
Another class goal by Nani. Will post gif later 
That was a beautiful chip.
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Edit -
Don´t think he will return to United but surely he will go to a good club in Spain or Italy. When with confidence, he really is a very good player
If Gervinho can do well in Italy.....
Another angle
Some team that Sporting are playing there...
But.. it's not an impact goal. So it doesn't matter.
A typical Nani chip and finish. Good for him
Nani stats:
2007-8 appearances in PL 17(9) goals 3 assists 8
2008-9 appearances in PL 7(6) goals 1 assists 4
2009-10 appearances in PL 19(4) goals 3 assists 10
2010-11 appearances in PL 31(2) goals 9 assists 19
2011-12 appearances in PL 24(5) goals 8 assists 12
2012-13 appearances in PL 7(4) goals 1 assists 3
2013-14 appearances in PL 7(4) goals 0 assists 0
Total 112(35) appearances 25 goals 56 assists ratio of goals + assists per start = 0.723
Valencia 105(29) appearances in PL 13 goals 36 assists ratio 0.467
Young 52(15) appearances 8 goals 20 assists ratio 0.538
Mata for United 18(2) appearances 8 goals 5 assists ratio 0.722
Mata for Chelsea 71(11) appearances in PL 17 goals 32 assists ratio 0.69
Coutinho for Liverpool 40(4) appearances in PL 8 goals 14 assists ratio 0.55
Sterling 48(18) appearances in PL 14 goals 15 assists ratio 0.60
Lallana for Soton last season 37(1) appearances 9 goals 8 assists ratio 0.459
Adam Johnson on fire for Sunderland last season ratio goals + assists per start in PL 0.5
David Silva for Man City 124(12) appearances in PL 22 goals 49 assists ratio 0.57
Ozil for Arsenal 30(6) appearances 6 goals 11 assists ratio 0.567
Cazorla for Arsenal 70(4) appearances in PL 16 goals 21 assists ratio 0.529
Mirallas for Everton 55(10) 16 goals 15 assists ratio 0.564
Hazard for Chelsea 69(6) 24 goals 24 assists ratio 0.696
Stats from TransferMarkt and Guardian websites (apologies for any errors on my part due to poor maths) - usual caveats about some players taking pens and freekicks while others don't, assists relying on strength of strike force etc.
2007-8 appearances in PL 17(9) goals 3 assists 8
2008-9 appearances in PL 7(6) goals 1 assists 4
2009-10 appearances in PL 19(4) goals 3 assists 10
2010-11 appearances in PL 31(2) goals 9 assists 19
2011-12 appearances in PL 24(5) goals 8 assists 12
2012-13 appearances in PL 7(4) goals 1 assists 3
2013-14 appearances in PL 7(4) goals 0 assists 0
Total 112(35) appearances 25 goals 56 assists ratio of goals + assists per start = 0.723
Valencia 105(29) appearances in PL 13 goals 36 assists ratio 0.467
Young 52(15) appearances 8 goals 20 assists ratio 0.538
Mata for United 18(2) appearances 8 goals 5 assists ratio 0.722
Mata for Chelsea 71(11) appearances in PL 17 goals 32 assists ratio 0.69
Coutinho for Liverpool 40(4) appearances in PL 8 goals 14 assists ratio 0.55
Sterling 48(18) appearances in PL 14 goals 15 assists ratio 0.60
Lallana for Soton last season 37(1) appearances 9 goals 8 assists ratio 0.459
Adam Johnson on fire for Sunderland last season ratio goals + assists per start in PL 0.5
David Silva for Man City 124(12) appearances in PL 22 goals 49 assists ratio 0.57
Ozil for Arsenal 30(6) appearances 6 goals 11 assists ratio 0.567
Cazorla for Arsenal 70(4) appearances in PL 16 goals 21 assists ratio 0.529
Mirallas for Everton 55(10) 16 goals 15 assists ratio 0.564
Hazard for Chelsea 69(6) 24 goals 24 assists ratio 0.696
Stats from TransferMarkt and Guardian websites (apologies for any errors on my part due to poor maths) - usual caveats about some players taking pens and freekicks while others don't, assists relying on strength of strike force etc.
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Shame stats aren't everything really. Anyone with half a brain in their head knows that the likes of Mata, Hazard, Silva and Ozil are far, far, far better and more effective players than Nani.
In fact all that really reinforces is how little Nani contributed over the last couple of seasons. 14 starts in two years? Yikes.
In fact all that really reinforces is how little Nani contributed over the last couple of seasons. 14 starts in two years? Yikes.
Yes because Nani was in charge of team selection. And the proceeded not to select himself.
I agree that stats aren't everything; indeed there may well be huge flaws in such a simplistic view of creative players, especially since the assists rely so much on the quality of the strike force they played with. Personally I think Nani at his best was up there with the peak levels of those four players you mentioned. Ozil hasn't really delivered for Arsenal so far. For what it's worth I think Mata is over-rated; a good player but no better than Nani; neither contribute much defensively. Lets see what Di Maria's stats look like at the end of this season. He may blow all the others away.
By the way, we paid £37m for Mata who had stats that season for Chelsea 11(2) appearances in PL 0 goals 2 assists
Not sure what your point is. I love Nani.Yep:
If he can't convince his managers that he is worth more than seven games a season then it probably is his problem. They didn't stop picking him for no reason.
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