Nani

Always has been a good player, but we were seemingly happy to take the piss out of him as a club since we signed Valencia.

Pleased for him.
 
Always has been a good player, but we were seemingly happy to take the piss out of him as a club since we signed Valencia.

Pleased for him.

Valencia was brilliant in his first season iirc. Got a lot of assists. Nani is obviously a much better player though.
 
Seems to have matured a lot. Another one of the lunatics feck-ups. Complained about pace in the team, and then went on to loan and sell one of our fastest players.

Happy for him. He'll be a star at Valencia.
 
Valencia was brilliant in his first season iirc. Got a lot of assists. Nani is obviously a much better player though.

Productivity wise he was pretty much on a par with Nani in that season, that was Nani on the left where he wasn't as good, and Nani played less games.
But that's the thing, Valencia was "amazing" that season, Nani, who gave us just as much in less games was "inconsistent".
 
Said it back when he was sold we should've kept him. The Sporting loan was good for him. All he needed was a string of games to find form. No idea why people hated on him so much here. Much rather Nani on the right wing than Mata or Valencia last season.
 
Another LvG master stroke

He was marginalised starting in the latter half of 2011/12, all through 2012/13, and most of 2013/14. I did have high hopes for LvG but Valencia > Nani was the unanimous (but IMO crazy) opinion of all 3 managers.
 
He's not finally matured, he's performing at the level he very often performs at when given a proper chance. Like that one time we gave him a full season on the right wing and he was the league's statistically best player, then we never gave him the same run of games again.
 
He's a different player for Portugal than he ever was for us. Heard a radio commentator yesterday (before the match) comment on Nani's "tireless running alongside Ronaldo".
Put simply, Portugal have got him working for the team and recognising he's not the star man.
 
This is the minimum level that he performs at, when he has the manager's confidence. The contract wrangle with Fergie really took a lot out of him.

Signing Young after losing to Barcelona in 2011, was one of Fergie's poor decisions and it really affected the squad balance as an inferior player was paid much more.

And then we had Moyes the incompetent and LvG
 
Really great tournament but people really do have a short memory. Glad we got rid of him but glad he's doing well too
 
We didn't just sell him...we forced him out. Terrible decision and proves he can play upfront as well.
 
stupid decision by LVG to let go of him, and nani playing important role in portugal's first euro success just goes onto reinforce that... though not surprising because LVG was so risk averse.
 
Sold him for around £5m, whereas Jordan Ibe looks like he might cost £15m. We are just great at selling players.
 
Im glad too. We had Depay bombing down the line and Mata. and oh yeah Young as CF.

:rolleyes:
Nani in his later years was more ineffective than mata has been. Besides how average our players have been doesn't mean we shouldn't have got rid of Nani. Valencia, sporting Lisbon, galatasaray etc. are about his level imo but again I'm happy he's done so well this tournament
 
Nani in his later years was more ineffective than mata has been. Besides how average our players have been doesn't mean we shouldn't have got rid of Nani. Valencia, sporting Lisbon, galatasaray etc. are about his level imo but again I'm happy he's done so well this tournament

You might attribute that to a lack of quality or drive on Nani's part. But it's quite apparent he was never given a run of games in the same manner in which inferior players who were more risk averse in the form of Young, Valencia, Mata and Lingard were given. Even when Valencia was playing well, he was still a lesser player than Nani in my eyes. But yet due to Valencia's lack of versatility, Nani if utlilised, was played on the left to accommodate him. How can it not be considered a mistake to get rid of him when there are lesser players in the squad that play in his position? Imagine what Nani could have done with Lingard's game time last season?
 
He had an excellent tournament, and he is a very good player, but people forget that he was dire for 18 months before he left us. He had one really good season for us but apart from that he was hugely frustrating. LVG made a lot of mistakes, but at the time he sold Nani, there were a lot of United fans who backed the decision (although the fee that we got for him was ridiculous).
The mistake wasn't getting rid of Nani, it was not replacing him with anything better.
 
He had an excellent tournament, and he is a very good player, but people forget that he was dire for 18 months before he left us. He had one really good season for us but apart from that he was hugely frustrating. LVG made a lot of mistakes, but at the time he sold Nani, there were a lot of United fans who backed the decision (although the fee that we got for him was ridiculous).
The mistake wasn't getting rid of Nani, it was not replacing him with anything better.

Do they also forget everyone was dire under Moyes and Ferguson basically froze him out in 2012/13 and barely played him two games running?

No wonder he was dire.

Oh and the Caf myth of Nani only ever having one good season is alive and well i see.
 
Should have stayed here.. guys like Pogue preferring Valencia to him I never understood it and it looks even worse now in hindsight when he is taking his country to Euro glory as probably their best attacker and Valencia is a fake right back.

Guys like Nani regardless if they're inconsistent will always put opposition on the back foot because of their sheer pace and technical skills. He made us a better team to watch. Happy for him though . great achievement.
 
Became a better player once he found his level in a lesser league.
This is the perfect thought. Nani had all the talent in the world. Had tremendous skills. But, being a level called World Class... most of that is a case of mentality. The really, really top players have an incredible mentality and that's what separates the best from the inconsistent. Nani was always inconsistent.

Just because he was excellent for Portugal in the Euro's doesn't suddenyl undo his inability to be consistently brilliant throughout a league season. He would still be a good squad option. Nothing more.
 
Should have stayed here.. guys like Pogue preferring Valencia to him I never understood it and it looks even worse now in hindsight when he is taking his country to Euro glory as probably their best attacker and Valencia is a fake right back.

Guys like Nani regardless if they're inconsistent will always put opposition on the back foot because of their sheer pace and technical skills. He made us a better team to watch. Happy for him though . great achievement.

People preferring Valencia over him was the most frustrating thing, as were the constant Old Trafford heckles for Nani, our fans completely broke him. A fit confident Nani has always been a very very good player.
 
He was excellent throughout the tournament Portugal's best player along with Pepe, he does seem to have matured a lot, was a mistake to sell him. If we had to sell any of our wingers it should have been Young.
 
People preferring Valencia over him was the most frustrating thing, as were the constant Old Trafford heckles for Nani, our fans completely broke him. A fit confident Nani has always been a very very good player.

Brainless idiots. I would much rather have a Nani as a squad player than a one footed winger with zero crossing ability or attacking thrust.

Same people who will take 10 years to reach the conclusion Rooney is not good enough to be a part of this club etc.
 
It's still quite baffling how he's gone for some silly money to Valencia and previously to Turkey when EPL clubs could have easily afforded him and his wages, probably even pay him more than Valencia or Fenerbahce previously. Maybe he rejected the offers from England but I doubt it.
 
Brainless idiots. I would much rather have a Nani as a squad player than a one footed winger with zero crossing ability or attacking thrust.

I feel this is quite unfair considering how effective Valencia was at the time. I was always more in the Nani camp too, but Valencia started well with us.
 
World class on his day. Had a monster season for us too. Would have rather we kept him for the squad. Sure Jose would have done well with him.
 
I feel this is quite unfair considering how effective Valencia was at the time. I was always more in the Nani camp too, but Valencia started well with us.

Not sure anyone is referring to the season where Valencia was excellent, the problem came when every full back had worked him out & we insisted on playing him ahead of Nani.