Sadio Mane | LFC Player

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Completely lottery. He's a world class player when he's in the mood, but I can think of quite a few you are that. The issue for playing for big teams is, it needs to be more than that. Also it's then the weight of expectation in wearing the shirt. The Utd shirt has weighed heavy on some players and prematurely ended people's careers.

We've seen it go the opposite way, and I remember a certain Yorkie arriving from Villa. Was much better than anyone expected, and grew into one of the best forwards in the world.
 
Bestie07 said:
He probably just lost the acceleration from a stop start that used to make him go past his full back every single time. He was a one trick pony, but that acceleration made that trick near about impossible to stop.
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Perhaps, but his overall game just became useless somewhat all of a sudden.

Lawman said:
Spot on Ryan the lunacy in the cafe holds no bounds at times. But don't let common sense get in the way. For some reason injury, confidence, loss of form, pace, belief what ever It was/is Valencia stopped trying to take his man on. You see it still he gets one on one and approaches the player and plays it sideways. Or batters the ball against the players legs. I'm not convinced he's the brightest player but he has a very useful skill set to the team and is a brilliant squad player even at his now level. It is a pity he won't get back to taking his man on and I have no belief it will come again after so much time waiting on it. Very handy player though.
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:lol: At times it is funny when he'll also stop with the ball, stare at the full back for like six seconds, then pass it back or try to break his ankles. I agree, as a squad player he can still do a job. Given Darmian's performances so far I'd prefer him right back personally.


finneh said:
What is more believable. That one day he suddenly stopped attempting the skills and crosses that made him a very good player out of the blue; or that defenders started to learn his game and therefore his skills became less and less effective, causing him to attempt them less and less.

Nowadays he barely ever attempts them because they barely ever work. The reason they barely ever work is up for debate; some might think he's lost a yard of pace or acceleration, which I disagree with as he's still rapid when he wants to be. Some may think it's purely down to confidence, although you'd expect after a fair few years at some point that to have come back. Others believe his game was never rounded enough to adapt when defenders show him only onto his amateur left foot.

I personally believe that when he first arrived no-one paid too much attention as we had far better attackers to focus on. After he won our player of the year award and was one of the best attackers in the League far more focus was put onto him. I'd attribute around 80% of his form dropping off a cliff to his game not being adaptable to this focus, with 20% being the lost confidence that came with said inadaptability.

He was still a great player while it lasted though.
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I still find it hard to believe it took defenders three seasons, plus his Wigan days, to work out he had no left foot, rarely came inside, and would always attempt to beat you and put a cross in on his right foot. It was something everybody could see. He was just extremely effective at it.

Did we really have that many better attacking players than him? Even from his first season he was very, very good for us. It was often mentioned how good him and Rooney linked up. I recall him setting up quite a few of Rooney's many headers that season. He was a big part of our team once he settled in. I'd say he was our second best player the season he arrived, behind Rooney.
 
Lash said:
pretty sure the next season he broke his ankle/leg? probably something to do with it.
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His best season was the one following his ankle break.
 
Cina said:
Nah, that's a myth. Valencia was very good from the moment he signed until the moment he put on the cursed #7 shirt.
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Valencia was always a good squad player. But apart from the season 11/12 where Valencia was the key player, he wasn't unplayable.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
Valencia was very good at his best but not a special/top player. He made the most of his limited ability and did well for us.
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Not every position needs to be filled with a 'special' player though, besides anything else it's just not realistic (unless you're Barca). He was pretty much the first name on the team sheet for a while so he was certainly a top player for us at one stage. Def needs upgrading now though
 
Harrisamo said:
Not every position needs to be filled with a 'special' player though, besides anything else it's just not realistic (unless you're Barca). He was pretty much the first name on the team sheet for a while so he was certainly a top player for us at one stage. Def needs upgrading now though
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Which is precisely why Mane can match him. Ability-wise he's definitely got it to. It's whether he has the right mentality.

Valencia was never ever a top player, purple patches, or the season of his career, notwithstanding. Top players at United were Rooney, Ronaldo, Vidic, Rio, Evra, VDS etc.
 
Mane would be a good signing. He's the kind of player whereby would attract 2 defenders, like Martial does at the moment. So, with 2 such players in the team doing this, it will automatically open up spaces. So hopefully, players like Mata can show their true worth to the team.
 
Ryan7 said:
I still find it hard to believe it took defenders three seasons, plus his Wigan days, to work out he had no left foot, rarely came inside, and would always attempt to beat you and put a cross in on his right foot. It was something everybody could see. He was just extremely effective at it.

Did we really have that many better attacking players than him? Even from his first season he was very, very good for us. It was often mentioned how good him and Rooney linked up. I recall him setting up quite a few of Rooney's many headers that season. He was a big part of our team once he settled in. I'd say he was our second best player the season he arrived, behind Rooney.
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He was extremely effective at it, but I don't know what would have changed since then. He's still physically very, very strong and quick. When he first fell out of form he still tried his trick every time but he couldn't get the half yard he needed to put a cross in, to me this was because the full backs seemed to position themselves half a yard further over. Then when he did get it in his crosses were usually poor, however I think his crossing used to be a tad overrated, but because almost every time he got the ball he'd beat a man and send one across the numbers game meant he'd seldom not create a good chance. I also do think that his confidence took a hit because he was getting fewer and fewer chances to cross, so the scrutiny of each cross increased which has been a vicious circle.

We had a fair few better or more high profile attacking threats: Hernandez and Nani were voted player of the year before Valencia was and were still at the club, Rooney was obviously still a great player, Berbatov had a much higher profile and Scholes particularly, but also Giggs were still important to our attacking play and much higher profile. Valencia up until 2012 would have always been the 4th or 5th attacking player most clubs would have scrutinised.

This is off topic though so maybe any other replies should be in his personal thread.
 
finneh said:
I also do think that his confidence took a hit because he was getting fewer and fewer chances to cross, so the scrutiny of each cross increased which has been a vicious circle.
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No one agrees with me but I believe he lost his confidence when he was played at RB for the first time. All of a sudden he had to worry about being in the right position, defending, marking etc. while the only duty he had earlier was to beat his man and cross. He played quite a few games at RB and that completely changed his mindset - it made him defensive, scared to take on his man and cautious in possession.
 
red thru&thru said:
Mane would be a good signing. He's the kind of player whereby would attract 2 defenders, like Martial does at the moment. So, with 2 such players in the team doing this, it will automatically open up spaces. So hopefully, players like Mata can show their true worth to the team.
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So we would sign him to make Mata look good?.
 
I've seen bits and bobs of him and he looks like a very direct player with pace. His stats last season were good and they're alright this season considering Southampton's overall showing. He may not be world class, but he may be at some point if given top club opportunity.

However he's certainly good enough for our team at the minute and would provide an attribute that we're sorely missing - a pacey winger who will run at people and try and get the ball in the box. As a United fan pining for the good old winger days I think he'd be a very pleasing addition to this current crop of players.

Personally I don't care what he costs as it won't be out of my pocket, so if he could liven things up a bit and inject some pace then I'm all for his signing. That said I can't see Southampton parting ways with him this window...
 
Even if he is not an every game starter, it's crazy on game days when I look at our subs bench and we need something and there is no one on there that come provide a spark. Not that it may matter since most of the time we are making 2 defensive changes and then subbing Schweiny / Carrick around.

One would think if we were truly after Mane or anyone else, we'd have had a deal in place to trigger right at the start of the window rather than wait, especially with the run of game coming up.
 
Valencia became half the player when Scholes retired. As great as Carrick is, he doesn't release quick diagonals as instantly as Scholesy did. That's what used to give Valencia a run on his fullback and a chance to get his crosses in early. He's never had a trick to get past defenders so losing Scholes impacted Valencia more than most.
 
Oo0AahCantona said:
Didnt his best form coincide with his return from that injury when he won POTY?
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It did but don't let that make people believe that injury did not ruin him. Like Possebon who was apparently going to be world class but after being sidelined for two weeks after Pogatetz tackled him he could never possibly realize his potential as it's impossible to get over two weeks without football at a young age.
 
Valencia's a weird one, I genuinely don't know what happened to him. The season before he seeminly lost it, was his best one and it looked like the year he was adding more and more to his game.

He was cutting in a lot more, attacking the centre backs, linking up with the forwards and was also shooting more. Was becoming more of a dual threat. Then the following season it just fell to pieces, he stopped all of that and couldn't even get the ball past his man.
 
Valenica was a world class athlete with an extremely limited football brain. Since for some reason he has stopped using his strengths (seems to have magically forgotten he is fast) he is as much use as a chocolate teapot.
 
lem8sh said:
Valenica was a world class athlete with an extremely limited football brain. Since for some reason he has stopped using his strengths (seems to have magically forgotten he is fast) he is as much use as a chocolate teapot.
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The thing is though, he was using more of his brain in 11/12, with the way he was linking up with the forwards to become less predictable. Welbecks goal against Arsenal is a good example.

Looking back at some old videos, he also does look a lot more nippier/agile. His acceleration from a standstill is shot I think, though he's still very quick over a distance.
 
Skills said:
The thing is though, he was using more of his brain in 11/12, with the way he was linking up with the forwards to become less predictable. Welbecks goal against Arsenal is a good example.

Looking back at some old videos, he also does look a lot more nippier/agile. His acceleration from a standstill is shot I think, though he's still very quick over a distance.
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I've never seen a more baffling regression of a player because as you say, the speed is still there. Yet he doesn't use it, pointless he is now.
 
Valencia has a limited football brain! Fecking hell! His football brain is one of his best attributes. He always makes the right decision and know exactly what to do to push the team forwards. It's his limited skillset that's the issue. He can't always do what he wants, but he certainly knows what to do. An extremely clever player, if nothing else.
 
The Mirror saying we went for him again and they're refusing to budge. I know it's a shit paper but after recalling Januzaj who we can't loan out again it would make sense.

As much as I like Mane I wouldn't mind seeing Januzaj get the remainder of the season to show whether he is going to start producing.
 
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