Date: 17th January 2012 at 1:59am
Written by:

The substitution of Nani against Bolton on Saturday, wouldn’t have surprised many United fans, as the Portuguese has been taken off early in three of his last five games.

Nani’s been playing on the left almost exclusively in recent weeks as Antonio Valencia -apart from a few games at right back- has been put back in his favoured right wing position. Valencia’s form has been superb over the Christmas period, as even in the defeats to Blackburn and Newcastle he was one of the few, if not the only United player who could hold his head high.

Valencia’s seems to be a constant threat down the right hand side, in every game that he plays. Against Blackburn the most frustrating aspect of United’s performance was that we didn’t get the ball to the Ecuadorian enough. Valencia is always capable of getting down the channel and more often than not getting a decent cross in as he showed time and time again against Bolton on Saturday.

Then we come to Nani…….

It’s easy to be frustrated by Mr Da Cunha, he can be sublime one minute, taking on opponents with ease before rifling an unstoppable shot past a keeper. Then there can be the other side to him, twisting himself into trouble, wasting the opportunity to cross the ball before losing possession, shouting at team mates, when it’s himself he should be chastising. Yet for all his faults, and let’s face it he does have some, he’s still one of the most talented footballers in the Premier League. The fact that 13 goals have come via him ,be it directly or an assist this season, show that he’s one of the most productive wingers you’ll see in any side.

The problem is when Nani is forced to play on the left, he isn’t nearly as effective as he is on the right. Yes he can play in the left and has a decent left foot on him, but he’s much more at home on the right, where he doesn’t HAVE to move onto his left foot to get his cross or shot in. Thats the major difference, being able to choose or being forced to do something. When Ashley Young was deployed on the left, he and Nani seemed the perfect foil for one another as they could both swap over if they felt the need, although it was usually the Portugal international on the right, the England one on  the left.

With Valencia though, Nani doesn’t have that option as he cannot ask his opposite winger to move over to the left hand side. Don’t get me wrong this isn’t a criticism of Valencia, after all did David Beckham ever play on the left? No. I don’t’ ever recall expecting him to either. The problem is, Nani isn’t as effective and Valencia is simply too good to drop so what can United do?

There’s always the option of playing them both on the right hand side, after all Valencia has been a competent right back for United at times, none more so than Chelsea in the Champions League last season where he was quite frankly awesome. The problem with that is, Nani  isn’t renowned for tracking back and if Valencia were to bomb forward and leave his defensive position to get in crosses, then should United be caught on the counter you’d need Nani to be covering which isn’t likely to happen. There’s also the problem of who would then operate the left wing Nani had vacated as you couldn’t just leave it empty.

United could drop Nani for Young -when he’s fit- although as I’ve mentioned the winger is one of the most productive of any side, and arguably one of only two or three out and out match winners United have. Dropping Nani would weaken the United side and if it were left to me I’d much rather see him in the side than Young who after a bright start has still yet to fully convince he’s good enough for the starting XI.

As we enter the second half of the season with tough away games at the Emirates, Stamford Bridge, Eastlands not to mention Anfield in the FA Cup there’s no doubt the Reds need both wingers playing to the best of their abilities.

One possible solution could be in the guise of Fabio Da Silva, the young Brazilian could hold the key to enabling United to make the most of both Nani and Valencia. If Nani starts on the left with Valencia on the right backed up by Fabip then their may be room for manoeuvre. Should Nani decide to switch over to the right for a spell then Fabio could feasibly operate on the left wing, making the most of his energy and willingness to get forward.

Obviously this still leaves the question of Nani tracking back but if Chris Smalling is used as a centre back on the right side of defence and Phil Jones is also on the pitch then you had two players capable of dropping into that role when needed.

This may sound like a somewhat convoluted solution to the problem, but there can be little denying that with the form of both Valencia and Nani these past few games- at opposite ends of the spectrum, something needs to be done on how to play the both of them together.

Am i worrying about nothing? Is it merely a case of Nani having a bit of slump regardless of the position he’s played? Does my suggestion hold any water?

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28 responses to “The Nani/Valencia Problem That Needs Addressing”

  1. Mæk Fílan says:

    In my opinion, Nani simply needs more simpicity. He can make the left wing his own if he wants. Nani can not be called lazy, he tracks back well, but is not direct in his play like AV25. Play him on the left until he makes it his own.

  2. John says:

    I have been asking the same question about this. For me Nani is more of a match winner and is wasted on the left. If everyone is fit nani should play right and young on the left. Valencia is a fantastic player but this is a squad game and I still believe there will be plenty of opportunities for him to play. I dont see him as a fixture at right back as I think his positioning would get found out against the better teams. Young still has a lot to prove but I am not worried about that as I think his dip in form came at a time when he picked up a knock. Hopefully we will see the best of him in the last couple of months of the season. Like with Valencia last season having a winger coming back fresh at that stage of the season can be a massive boost

  3. Gavin says:

    good point – Nani has always been relatively poor on the left and with Valencia’s direct style and ability to drill crosses in, he has been far more useful for us. everyone we play seems to pack the defence and shut us out, which means Valencia’s style is well suited to the type of tactics deployed by most of our oppositions.
    you could also argue that in shirking his defensive responsibilities, Evra is pretty much a left winger for us and so Nani, Park or even Giggs (whoever is being played as left mid) has to consider whether there will be cover behind them.

    i personally think Evra who is a great, great player, is the one really responsible for our left wing issue.

    perhaps when Young is back, we can have him on the left, balancing Valencias direct style. then we can look at using Nani either as an advanced centre mid, or perhaps as a forward??

  4. Law says:

    As far as i’m concerned no player can claim a permanent position on the pitch,if Nani is not too comfortable on the left then he can play behind the strikers using his dribbling skill to scatter central defenders thus assisting in the mid feed and can venture into the right wing as well.

  5. 666rbr says:

    Sell Nani and retain Valencia.
    Problem solved.

  6. Gareth says:

    Why has there been so many disagreements with the post?! I’m not sure about your solution but you’re spot on about the problem. The same happened last season. When Valencia was injured Nani was playing on the right and he was brilliant. Then Valencia came back, Nani got shoved out to the left and his form dipped dramatically. All those people talking about Nani’s assists and goals – look at the stats!! He does that on the right wing, not the left. It is a big problem.

  7. Lionel says:

    This is a very difficult situation because it’s obvious that Nani is at his best when he’s on the right, but it would be hard to drop Valencia since he has been in great form but since Nani is a game changer it would be hard for me to drop him and in my opinion Nani is a first choice every week. I loved it when he and Young were playing when they could switch sides and made us even more dangerous. I do think that when Young is back he and Nani should start and Valencia could be a great impact sub.

  8. Canada Red says:

    Blazing speed, great stamina – beats his man but check the stats about his final ball. Often over hit, often late, he often takes on the full back more than once.

    Seems his head needs to be up more too see the options available and deliver the ball earlier.

    Not pessimistic but think his game can improve

    • Rocket says:

      How about corners? I value Nani highly but pretty much every time he takes a corner you know it’s going straight for the head of the nearest defender. This is probably one of the few guaranteed aspects of his game, right or left. Why does he always take corners? Is he brilliant in training and weak in games or are others even worse?

  9. Dylan says:

    Play 4-3-3! Valencia used to play right central for Ecuador and he was class! Combined with his creativity n pace, he can play in that position no problem. Plus, he can track back too! Leave Nani on the right wing!
    For e.g
    De Gea

    Jones Smalling Rio Evra (c)

    Valencia Carick Cleverley

    Nani Rooney A.Young

    • Lionel says:

      Only issue is that we work better in a 4-4-2 and Welbeck has been in good form this season and it would be hard to drop him.

  10. A Pereira says:

    Nani is having a bad spell…and we all know that he is not as good when he plays on the left so… Hopefully he will start shining again on Sunday vs Le Arse. I am pretty sure he will score against them.