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Young £

By Young £
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Mame Biram Diouf
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stacksbranning Newbie

stacksbranning

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no ,what im sayin is when bale gets the ball,he has one thing on his mind, when nani gets the ball he stops n starts,at times he even slows the play down.....he needs to be more ruthlesss

You are right . Nani seriously effs up our play because we are a naturally pacey team and he slows us down , he does so many unnecessary step overs when all he needs to do is cross the ball . Would rather have bale right now

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O Fenomeno Newbie

O Fenomeno

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I cannot remember Nani ever doing stepovers frequently in a game

It's always them feints and drag backs

Nani needs to be on the right (he simply cannot play on the left nor can Valencia)

Cristiano Ronaldo must be the only winger to ever be able to play on both flanks successfully (I am talking about Manchester United strictly since Best)

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Kompressor Newbie

Kompressor

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Valencia may perform badly but will avoid stick because of his workrate dedication and style.

Nani is in the Berbatov mould where he's stylish and technically excellent but his style makes it a lot easier to dislike him and give him stick.

His inability to take his chances and form some consistency is also a stick to beat him with.

It's a shame and for a while it looked like he was going to do and be the business but in reality a lot of people predictited what's going on now,

It's a shame because on paper the likes of him and Berba should've gone down as fan favourites as they bring flair and excitement rather than the functional but effective nature of some of the others in the squad.

This month is big for him, he needs to take advantage of the injuries.

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Agony Newbie

Agony

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Nani fills Manchester United’s scapegoat position

Posted on 26 September 2012. Tags: Manchester United, Nani

Every club has its unsung heroes – players who are either unfairly criticised or simply under-appreciated. At bigger clubs where standards are permanently high, it’s very easy for a player to fall out of favour with impatient fans. Things are no different at Manchester United, particularly now that fans have an ever more vociferous online voice.

As Michael Carrick and Jonny Evans have slowly won over doubters, their previously held roles as ‘boo-boys’ need replacing. So far this season, the early signs are that Nani will take up that berth. On the surface, that seems every bit as harsh as doubting both Carrick and Evans’ value to the team. Strangely, when you think about it, Nani is a tricky footballer to analyse – the eye sees things that make him appear selfish, unintelligent and ultimately, for some people, dispensable.

Before going into any kind of details about Nani, it’s important to understand the role of a winger and the kind of freedom a wide player is allowed, particularly at United. The club play with natural width and have done regularly throughout their history. Traditionally, the central midfielders have been about function – winning the ball and shifting it accurately around the pitch – playing a percentages game to some extent. Wingers are often the players receiving the ball and can be expected to beat men and deliver crosses, helping to create goalscoring opportunities.

To really understand wingers, you have to think of their position allowing them to be ‘high risk’. To beat men, get crosses in and get in goalscoring positions requires skill and the ability to outwit opponents. When this works it looks brilliant, but when things go wrong – a failed flick, a misplaced pass, holding onto the ball too long – it’s one of the most frustrating things for fans and players. It’s almost verging on naive to think that ‘keeping it simple’ applies to wingers. Sure, some of the time they need to but even Antonio Valencia, the most predictable of wingers, often picks the harder route when faced with options.

Nani’s case is curious. Fast closing in on his 26th birthday and the list of Portugal’s top 10 most capped players ever – he should be reaching a point where he’s not only mature but consistent. For club and country he averages a goal every five games and has a similar looking ratio for assists. On the face of it, he’s a valuable player. Yet, fans are completely split over him and many are happy for him to leave.

In fact, it seems United themselves were willing to part with Nani too. All summer long there were rumours that they were entertaining bids for him – a theory that is only strengthened by the pursuit of Lucas Moura. Nani himself has been quite vocal about wanting to stay and was unable to agree a contract with Zenit St Petersburg because he made his wage demands purposely high to ensure they would pull out of the deal.

His start to this season has been uninspiring at best. With Valencia firmly first choice on the right hand side he’s more often than not been used on the left – it allows him to cut inside onto his right foot but also somewhat imbalances the shape of the team. What’s gone unnoticed is his improved defensive work with his tracking back markedly better than in past years. That’s hardly enough to appease fans who rightly are angry with his errors, really simple errors too. Inability to complete passes or play the obviously correct ball are basic skills that, at present, are not good enough. So much so that against Liverpool at the weekend, he was taken off at half time and is likely to have been a recipient of a Fergie-blast that he said he told Sky he handed out to the team.

Would I get rid of Nani though? At present, no, as it would be hard to justify unless the money was extortionate. One reason that Nani may have gotten lax is because of the lack of competition. Only Ashley Young is challenging him for the left wing berth and at present he’s injured. Fergie’s not against playing other players out of position there though – Welbeck and Giggs have been used wide left whilst Kagawa, Buttner and even van Persie could do a job if need be. The fact is though that the wide areas represent the one part of the pitch where United don’t have sufficient back-up or competition. Even in the U21s and U18s there is a serious lack of natural wingers – maybe part of the wider trend that’s seeing managers prefer narrow wingers.

Maybe most importantly with Nani is that he’s one of the few genuinely creative and unpredictable players in the side. For every frustrating moment he has, there’ll be an assist or spark that’ll lead to a chance. Players can’t just be judged on numbers and stats but Nani often comes out on top as the most productive winger in the league. Love him or hate him, losing a player who has played a key part in so many goals over the past few years would be hard to replace.

Despite what he thinks and hopes, he’ll never be one of the very top players in the world but that’s ok. He might disagree but he doesn’t have to be like Ronaldo, in fact he’s already shown himself to be much more of a team player than Ronaldo ever was. Nani’s been as valuable as any other player since January 2010 – he just needs to turn his current form around for people to see his worth again.

Nani’s value is best found when attempting to try and fathom out who could feasibly replace him and have a similar level of impact. Fans don’t have to like him but the nature of being a tricky winger means that many things he’ll try won’t come off. Every club has a scapegoat but Nani, despite an erratic start to 2012/13 is an odd choice for ours.

http://www.byfarthegreatestteam.com/posts/nani-fills-manchester-uniteds-scapegoat-position/

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The King Newbie

The King

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Henriquez in Under-21 action

United resume Barclays Under-21 Premier League duties against Newcastle on Friday night with Warren Joyce's side aiming to maintain a 100 per cent record in the new division.

After wins against Stoke and Tottenham, the Reds face a North-East double header stretched over a long weekend with the Magpies at Moss Lane before a trip to Sunderland on Monday night.

Angelo Henriquez is included in a Reds squad for the first time and is set to make a debut appearance since arriving from Universidad de Chile.

With Scott Wootton and Michael Keane playing for 90 minutes against the Tynesiders' senior team on Wednesday, and in contention for Sir Alex's squad against Spurs on Saturday, there is a need for a defensive reshuffle.

Larnell Cole could play at full-back while Tom Thorpe looks certain to start in the middle of the defence. As expected, Italians Davide Petrucci and Federico Macheda feature in an exciting line-up.

Newcastle sit above United in the table in second place, albeit having played two games more, and 17-year-old Adam Campbell, already being dubbed the 'new Alan Shearer' in some quarters, will be one to watch with four goals in four games after a fruitful Milk Cup campaign in the summer. Bradden Inman has also been amongst the goals while Romain Amalfitano and Mehdi Abeid have been named in the squad.

The Reds are aiming for a hat-trick of wins against the Sports Direct Arena outfit after the Under-18s and first team both triumphed over the course of the last week and, last season, a thrilling 6-3 success on Tyneside clinched the Reserves title.

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Lurch Newbie

Lurch

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Nani's a prick if that's true. Davide was sporting a shiner in the game earlier today as well.

It's a given bust-ups happen but punching a 20 year old kid over a tackle? Don't know what Nani's trying to achieve with that if true. Swear Fergie said he doesn't hairdryer these new gen players as much cos he made one of them cry or something, bait it was Nani/aimed at Nani.

I was disappointed Petrucci didn't make the bench for League Cup, been in good form since he returned from injury last season. Hope he gets his chance.

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fuck petrucci release him

nani needs a run of games on the right wing

press are out for his blood

ever since he should of won player of the year and they gave it to parker instead

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