Antonio Valencia – The right choice for right-back?
Now that the end of the season is here in earnest, Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal will be hoping that the philosophy he has been drilling
into his players this past year has finally stuck. Performances over the past month surely indicate that the team is finally coming to terms with what van Gaal expects of them. Since the FA Cup exit to Arsenal, his United team have not looked back and have made most experts eat their words. Commanding wins over Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Manchester City mean that United are going into the final stretch of the season high on confidence despite a loss against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Van Gaal has managed to sort out most of the problems he encountered in the beginning of the season. Rejuvenated Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini are putting in the performances of their lives. Juan Mata has been so impressive that he has managed to keep Angel Di Maria on the benches. Wayne Rooney has been at his sublime best, scoring some scorchers in the process. Ander Herrera has pushed his way into the team and seems at home in his new role. Michael Carrick has shown why he is indispensable and Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo and Luke Shaw have shown what they are capable of. Phil Jones and Chris Smalling have been doing a good job at the back, if not always 100% convincing, and the latter has been rewarded with a new contract till 2019. David De Gea is ever-present and unrelenting at the goal, having had a huge hand in United’s turn around this season.
Manchester United’s defense has been much discussed this season. Often it has been pointed out that the defense is not at par with the other top sides in the Premier League. Statistics don’t agree. United have the third meanest defense in the Premier League in terms of goals conceded, behind Chelsea and Southampton. The defense has let in 31 goals this season while Chelsea and Southampton have let in 26 and 24 respectively. A large part of this can be attributed to De Gea’s form, but recent games have shown steady performances from the likes of Smalling, Jones, Rojo and Blind.
The only real weakness in the defense at the moment seems to be Antonio Valencia. Ever since Rafael picked up an injury at the start of the season, the Ecuadorian has been starting the game as either wing back or right back. A naturally attacking winger with solid defensive abilities, Valencia has done a very decent job as a right back. Make no mistakes about it. He has been good at tracking runners and has even developed the knack of knowing when to put in the tackle and when to hold his ground. He has assisted well in attack, as can be expected of him.
The only thing that Valencia is guilty of is making some costly mistakes, that have directly resulted in goals and defeat. Two mistakes in the FA Cup tie against Arsenal meant that United had to say goodbye to their FA Cup dreams, two mistakes that also saw him publicly apologize to his teammates and fans. In the game against Chelsea, he was out of position and failed to close the gap between him and the central defender that led to Hazard slipping into the penalty area and shoot past De Gea for the game’s only goal.
Playing Valencia as a right back was always going to be a gamble. It has paid off for United in most of the games, but against the better teams, it can turn out to be a weakness as has been proved on a couple of occasions. United do have a couple of other options that they can look to use in that position. The first player that is comes to mind is Rafael. Injuries have seen him in and out of the squad. But his latest injury picked up in an under-21 game against Leicester this week might just mean that the Brazilian has played his last game as a red devil.
Other players that can be played there are Evans, Jones or Smalling. All three have played in that position for United under Sir Alex, even though van Gaal is reluctant to use them in any other position except central defence. A number of compelling reasons can be put forward to demand that either Jones or Smalling be started as a right back. The first and most obvious one is that they are defenders at the core and hence, will be more defensive minded than Antonio Valencia is. They will be able to maintain their position better than the winger and will in turn increase stability at the back.
A second, more interesting reason is that most of United’s threat this season have come from the left side of the pitch with Young, Blind and Fellaini overloading that side. Valencia, on the other hand, has been content to hang back and assist Mata, Herrera and Carrick in the build up play and has not made that many overlapping runs on the right as Blind/Rojo/Shaw have made from the left. In my opinion, a defender in the form of Jones/Smalling will be highly effective in such a role.
Thirdly, teams like Everton and Arsenal will already have noticed United’s vulnerability on the right and will be looking to exploit it in the coming weeks if Valencia continues to play there. Arsenal in particular will be looking to make the most of it, having already done so in the FA Cup.
The end of the season is very interestingly poised. Arsenal and both Manchester clubs will be involved in a fight to finish above each other and claim the second spot, with Chelsea looking too far ahead at the moment. Now is not a time for flair and beautiful play. Now is the time when the players have to hold on to their nerves and keep getting the three points game after game. What team van Gaal uses for the remaining games will be interesting to see
Now that the end of the season is here in earnest, Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal will be hoping that the philosophy he has been drilling
into his players this past year has finally stuck. Performances over the past month surely indicate that the team is finally coming to terms with what van Gaal expects of them. Since the FA Cup exit to Arsenal, his United team have not looked back and have made most experts eat their words. Commanding wins over Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Manchester City mean that United are going into the final stretch of the season high on confidence despite a loss against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Van Gaal has managed to sort out most of the problems he encountered in the beginning of the season. Rejuvenated Ashley Young and Marouane Fellaini are putting in the performances of their lives. Juan Mata has been so impressive that he has managed to keep Angel Di Maria on the benches. Wayne Rooney has been at his sublime best, scoring some scorchers in the process. Ander Herrera has pushed his way into the team and seems at home in his new role. Michael Carrick has shown why he is indispensable and Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo and Luke Shaw have shown what they are capable of. Phil Jones and Chris Smalling have been doing a good job at the back, if not always 100% convincing, and the latter has been rewarded with a new contract till 2019. David De Gea is ever-present and unrelenting at the goal, having had a huge hand in United’s turn around this season.
Manchester United’s defense has been much discussed this season. Often it has been pointed out that the defense is not at par with the other top sides in the Premier League. Statistics don’t agree. United have the third meanest defense in the Premier League in terms of goals conceded, behind Chelsea and Southampton. The defense has let in 31 goals this season while Chelsea and Southampton have let in 26 and 24 respectively. A large part of this can be attributed to De Gea’s form, but recent games have shown steady performances from the likes of Smalling, Jones, Rojo and Blind.
The only real weakness in the defense at the moment seems to be Antonio Valencia. Ever since Rafael picked up an injury at the start of the season, the Ecuadorian has been starting the game as either wing back or right back. A naturally attacking winger with solid defensive abilities, Valencia has done a very decent job as a right back. Make no mistakes about it. He has been good at tracking runners and has even developed the knack of knowing when to put in the tackle and when to hold his ground. He has assisted well in attack, as can be expected of him.
The only thing that Valencia is guilty of is making some costly mistakes, that have directly resulted in goals and defeat. Two mistakes in the FA Cup tie against Arsenal meant that United had to say goodbye to their FA Cup dreams, two mistakes that also saw him publicly apologize to his teammates and fans. In the game against Chelsea, he was out of position and failed to close the gap between him and the central defender that led to Hazard slipping into the penalty area and shoot past De Gea for the game’s only goal.
Playing Valencia as a right back was always going to be a gamble. It has paid off for United in most of the games, but against the better teams, it can turn out to be a weakness as has been proved on a couple of occasions. United do have a couple of other options that they can look to use in that position. The first player that is comes to mind is Rafael. Injuries have seen him in and out of the squad. But his latest injury picked up in an under-21 game against Leicester this week might just mean that the Brazilian has played his last game as a red devil.
Other players that can be played there are Evans, Jones or Smalling. All three have played in that position for United under Sir Alex, even though van Gaal is reluctant to use them in any other position except central defence. A number of compelling reasons can be put forward to demand that either Jones or Smalling be started as a right back. The first and most obvious one is that they are defenders at the core and hence, will be more defensive minded than Antonio Valencia is. They will be able to maintain their position better than the winger and will in turn increase stability at the back.
A second, more interesting reason is that most of United’s threat this season have come from the left side of the pitch with Young, Blind and Fellaini overloading that side. Valencia, on the other hand, has been content to hang back and assist Mata, Herrera and Carrick in the build up play and has not made that many overlapping runs on the right as Blind/Rojo/Shaw have made from the left. In my opinion, a defender in the form of Jones/Smalling will be highly effective in such a role.
Thirdly, teams like Everton and Arsenal will already have noticed United’s vulnerability on the right and will be looking to exploit it in the coming weeks if Valencia continues to play there. Arsenal in particular will be looking to make the most of it, having already done so in the FA Cup.
The end of the season is very interestingly poised. Arsenal and both Manchester clubs will be involved in a fight to finish above each other and claim the second spot, with Chelsea looking too far ahead at the moment. Now is not a time for flair and beautiful play. Now is the time when the players have to hold on to their nerves and keep getting the three points game after game. What team van Gaal uses for the remaining games will be interesting to see
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