Luis Nani | 2013/14 Performances

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kps88 said:
Alternatively, a couple of over hit crosses/skied shots and it could get ugly again.
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Perhaps, but atleast he TRIES. I would rather he mishit a few crosses and actually attempt to get the ball in the box, than do a Valencia and play safe, and pass it back to Rafael.
 
Adam-Utd said:
Perhaps, but atleast he TRIES. I would rather he mishit a few crosses and actually attempt to get the ball in the box, than do a Valencia and play safe, and pass it back to Rafael.
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I agree with you there. I'm not sure how he will react to the boos though. I just hope it doesn't effect his mindset on the pitch, but it's quite possible he would go for the safer option if he senses some anger in the crowd.

I'd rather not risk all that for such a big game and ease him back.
 
I don't think he will feature against Arsenal at all. He is short of match fitness and it is highly likely that Moyes will set up to stifle Arsenal rather than attack them. This has been pretty evident in all of our games against the traditionally top clubs this season and is likely to continue against the in form side in the league. Valencia will get the nod for one of the flanks with Adnan the other if we indeed try to play with some width at all.

At this moment in time, Nani's future is far from certain. He is yet to complete 90 minutes for us; play in the Champions League; and is seemingly lower down the pecking order than both Adnan and Valencia. With this being a world cup year, something is bound to happen as the player will in no doubt begin to consider his chances of representing Portugal should they qualify.

I know the gaffer keeps harping on about utilizing the squad but the signs are there with regards to the squad status of various players, including Nani's.

I have always felt, Nani could flourish in a side like Arsenal's or Spurs given their general approach to the game and preference for specialized full backs even when short of numbers.

Unless the situation changes, I wouldn't be surprised to see him moved on either in January or next summer.

I must confess, I am a huge fan of Nani's style of play; what he offers; and have never bought the usual rubbish labelled against his him in terms of his consistency, decision making, bravery, etc. Sadly though, I don't think the most important person at the club shares a similar take on his ability. Fair play to the guys who make the squad in his place, though I rarely get what they offer different from him (Adnan excepted).
 
Colin129 said:
This is it, but why do people hate him so much?
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His failure to develop into a Ronaldo mk.II . With Nani it has always been a case of expectations versus ability. People simply expect too much given his ostentatious ability with football's basic attributes: beat a man; technique; control; pace; flair etc.

To this end they end being unforgiving when things don't work out all the time. A bit of perspective is much needed in relation to the lad, not everything he tries is going to come off all the time and when that happens it is not because he doesn't give a toss just that football is a game of probabilities.
 
Eto'odinho said:
I don't think he will feature against Arsenal at all. He is short of match fitness and it is highly likely that Moyes will set up to stifle Arsenal rather than attack them. This has been pretty evident in all of our games against the traditionally top clubs this season and is likely to continue against the in form side in the league. Valencia will get the nod for one of the flanks with Adnan the other if we indeed try to play with some width at all.

At this moment in time, Nani's future is far from certain. He is yet to complete 90 minutes for us; play in the Champions League; and is seemingly lower down the pecking order than both Adnan and Valencia. With this being a world cup year, something is bound to happen as the player will in no doubt begin to consider his chances of representing Portugal should they qualify.

I know the gaffer keeps harping on about utilizing the squad but the signs are there with regards to the squad status of various players, including Nani's.

I have always felt, Nani could flourish in a side like Arsenal's or Spurs given their general approach to the game and preference for specialized full backs even when short of numbers.

Unless the situation changes, I wouldn't be surprised to see him moved on either in January or next summer.

I must confess, I am a huge fan of Nani's style of play; what he offers; and have never bought the usual rubbish labelled against his him in terms of his consistency, decision making, bravery, etc. Sadly though, I don't think the most important person at the club shares a similar take on his ability. Fair play to the guys who make the squad in his place, though I rarely get what they offer different from him (Adnan excepted).
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Who will contain them better from the left wing though?

Januzaj is not great at tracking back, that is not really a part of his game he is used too.

Kagawa is ok at it, but yet again it's not something I would be relying on him doing all game.

Young can do a good job, but let's be honest I do no not think he will start.

Welbeck is probably our best option, but he is unfit and has only just returned from injury.

Nani is apparently "low on confidence" after being booed off. Still is probably our best bet though.
 
He simply has to play this weekend. In games were we don't have the stranglehold in midfield players who are as good as he is with the ball in tight spaces become even more valuable. We're gonna need outlets IMO and he could be one of them.

Valencia is great for stretching the play but once arsenal puts us under pressure in our box he's going to be useless. He has neither the control or skill to play out of those situations and would turn into a pseudo right back offering little to nothing going forward.
 
RooneyLegend said:
He simply has to play this weekend. In games were we don't have the stranglehold in midfield players who are as good as he is with the ball in tight spaces become even more valuable. We're gonna need outlets IMO and he could be one of them.

Valencia is great for stretching the play but once arsenal puts us under pressure in our box he's going to be useless. He has neither the control or skill to play out of those situations and would turn into a pseudo right back offering little to nothing going forward.
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To be fair that's not true, if anything that is 1 of his key strengths, holding onto the ball while under pressure due to his strength.

Where he does suffer though is taking too long on the ball, which can let teams get back into shape, and then he ends up passing backwards and repeating that process.
 
Adam-Utd said:
To be fair that's not true, if anything that is 1 of his key strengths, holding onto the ball while under pressure due to his strength.

Where he does suffer though is taking too long on the ball, which can let teams get back into shape, and then he ends up passing backwards and repeating that process.
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Disagree, haven't seen him do anything particularly useful with the ball under pressure. Being good under pressure entails that you can find solutions that would benefit the team and I'd back nani to do that more than Valencia any day.
 
Valencia doesn't hold on to the ball under pressure, he does a 270 degree swivel and passes the ball back/sidewards. He simply doesn't have the technical ability to wriggle his way out.

Not that his method isn't effective or anything, he probably has a better ball retention ratio than Nani.
 
In general yes Valencia helps keep the ball better, at the cost of being nowhere near as likely to make something happen for the team
 
Valencia has made plenty happen for this team in the past (discounting last season obviously), he's just far less flashy in the way he goes about it than Nani.
 
Sunny Jim said:
how come? he is nowhere as efficient in close spaces as Nani is.
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Because his route out of tight spaces is passing to a fullback or central midfielder. Whereas Nani tends to try and look forward. Thats why Nani averages 2 chances set up with his pass, whereas Valencia averages 0.8 per game. The other side of that is Nani is 77% accurate with his passes and Valencia is 85%.
 
We hardly have any players who are good at keeping the ball under pressure. Rooney is terrible at it, Valencia isn't too bad but most of the time he'll just play the safe pass backwards, or do one of those weird outside of the right foot passes when he should use his left foot.
 
Ekeke said:
Because his route out of tight spaces is passing to a fullback or central midfielder. Whereas Nani tends to try and look forward. Thats why Nani averages 2 chances set up with his pass, whereas Valencia averages 0.8 per game. The other side of that is Nani is 77% accurate with his passes and Valencia is 85%.
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and this is why i prefer Nani over Valencia.
 
Nani is a more adventurous option. He's far more likely to go for the tricky pass/cross, which may explain his lower passing accuracy percentage. The reason why I feel he's more often than not left out of the team is because he's too adventuerous. He does't seem to be able to keep things simple. He's always trying things that usually concede/waste possession.

It's like if you're catering for a garden party at the palace, you're unlikely to plump for Heston Blumenthal's special sheep brains and orphan urine buffet spread. That's what Nani is, in a way. The Heston Blumenthal of our wingers. Great for a bit of pernash and flair from time to time but probably rightly considered unsuitable for a lot of occasions.
 
Ekeke said:
We dont know if hes asked to keep it simple
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Every player must be from time to time. Or at least situations arise during most games which necessitates such a situation. He does the flair stuff better than anyone but sometimes does the basics worst than most. Tis the Nani dilemma. I think he's a great option vs teams you expect to hammer and sit back and also off the bench if things are a bit tight and tumescent as he can unlock any defence.
 
I'd like him to start as I'd like to see Valencia start at right-back. I don't think we need to play a centre-half at full-back against the Gunners, and I think e could get a good 'overload' (to us a Neville expression) down the right-side with him and Nani. Especially if, as I expect, we start Januzaj on the other side, who will naturally come inside.
 
I would also prefer Nani over young, i think he offers so much more that Young any way. However it seems that he lacks a little bit of confidence of late and just maybe it wont be a bad idea to play him on Sunday just to remind us of what he is capable of.
 
He absolutely has to play, would be absurd not to play him because some of our fans are turbocretins.

I bet the ones that constantly slag him off at OT are the same ones who could hardly breathe back in the day for how far down their throats Tevez's cock was.
 
Rozay said:
I'd like him to start as I'd like to see Valencia start at right-back. I don't think we need to play a centre-half at full-back against the Gunners, and I think e could get a good 'overload' (to us a Neville expression) down the right-side with him and Nani. Especially if, as I expect, we start Januzaj on the other side, who will naturally come inside.
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I'm really not sure Gary Neville coined the term 'overload', as quotable as he is.
 
The last time we all thought he was down and out he got it all together with a run of games. He then went on to be the best winger in the league and totally outplayed Robben and Ribery in the CL and was absolutely magic.
 
Chabon said:
He absolutely has to play, would be absurd not to play him because some of our fans are turbocretins.

I bet the ones that constantly slag him off at OT are the same ones who could hardly breathe back in the day for how far down their throats Tevez's cock was.
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OT fans are the worst at times. I always here a 'OI CARRICK YA SHIT' if he misplaces a pass. But as soon as 'Carrick you know' echoes a round they're a top red putting their neck into their singing.

I have to admit, whenever Nani takes a corner I always tell the person next to me that it'll hit the first man and I'm usually right on that.
 
RedDevilCanuck said:
The last time we all thought he was down and out he got it all together with a run of games. He then went on to be the best winger in the league and totally outplayed Robben and Ribery in the CL and was absolutely magic.
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I'll defend Nani against the boo-boys but to compare him with Robben is frankly ridiculous. Robben is a world class player who consistently performs and succeeds at the highest of levels. Nani, with respect, has a few good games once in a while.
 
Where Valencia has the advantage over Nani is his versatility. Not in that 'he can play anywhere or do anything' but you can ask him to sit back and defend. He'll even play right back from time to time. Nani is probably, along with Hernandez, the last person you'd want to ask to sit back and defend. Especially against tough opposition I think the temptation of playing someone who is able to drop deep and hold, as Valencia can, is sometimes too much.

Vs Arsenal when you consider RVP and Rooney automatic starters, plus imagine that Januzaj may have earned his place in the line-up I think that limits opportunities for other solely attacking options, as Nani would be considered.
 
Plugsy said:
Where Valencia has the advantage over Nani is his versatility. Not in that 'he can play anywhere or do anything' but you can ask him to sit back and defend. He'll even play right back from time to time. Nani is probably, along with Hernandez, the last person you'd want to ask to sit back and defend. Especially against tough opposition I think the temptation of playing someone who is able to drop deep and hold, as Valencia can, is sometimes too much.

Vs Arsenal when you consider RVP and Rooney automatic starters, plus imagine that Januzaj may have earned his place in the line-up I think that limits opportunities for other solely attacking options, as Nani would be considered.
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Apart from the fact that Nani can play on both wings equally, you mean?
 
Cina said:
Apart from the fact that Nani can play on both wings equally, you mean?
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I explained what I meant in the second sentence. It's right next to the first, in case you missed it.
 
Plugsy said:
I explained what I meant in the second sentence. It's right next to the first, in case you missed it.
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Yeah I get it, defensively better, except he's supposed to be an offensive footballer, who can only play on the right, in a very one dimensional fashion. Not overly versatile really.
 
Nani's defensive work is ridiculously underrated.
 
Nani's tracking back is pretty good and he makes a tackle now and again too. So far this season he averages just slightly less than Carrick, more than Rafael, Anderson, Smalling. Granted as a team we have made an unusually low amount of tackles this season, but averaging 1.6 a game Nani isn't one of the many you'd expect significantly more tackles from. Same goes for Valencia with 2 a game and Kagawa leading with 2.3 a game. These are all fine numbers for wide players, impressive even, given that the rest of the team have barely made any
 
Cina said:
Yeah I get it, defensively better, except he's supposed to be an offensive footballer, who can only play on the right, in a very one dimensional fashion. Not overly versatile really.
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Well that depends on what you count as versatility.

Why is being able to play on either wing more versatile than being able to play either in midfield or defence? If we're being picky, one is a variation of the same position, the other is a completely different one.
 
It's really ridiculous that Nani gets benched after 1 bad game but Valencia was allowed to serve up utter tripe for the whole of last season. It's been quite apparent to me that Nani won't come good if you play him in fits and starts. Give him a consistent run and he'll produce the goods.
 
akash02 said:
It's really ridiculous that Nani gets benched after 1 bad game but Valencia was allowed to serve up utter tripe for the whole of last season. It's been quite apparent to me that Nani won't come good if you play him in fits and starts. Give him a consistent run and he'll produce the goods.
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It's a case of two wrongs don't make a right. I agree it's poor that Valencia seems to get in the team regardless of his form but that wouldn't justify someone playing on the off-chance they might start playing well if they get run of games.

I'd favour Kagawa and Januzaj as our wide options. Neither particularly wingers but they can cut inside and have the full-backs providing options on the right going forward, as they do anyway.
 
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