Antonio Valencia

[Lukas]

Zapomniałem napisać o Antonio w temacie pomeczowym więc zrobię to tutaj. Strasznie cieszy mnie powrót Ekwadorczyka, bardzo nam go brakowało a teraz jego obecność w dalszej części sezonu może być kluczowa. A wczorajszy mecz w jego wykonaniu napawa optymizmem. Bałem się że widoczne będą braki związane z brakiem ogrania, ale Valencia zaprezentował się naprawdę przyzwoicie: był szybki i zdecydowany, jedynie do celności dośrodkowań można mieć małe "ale", ale to się poprawi. ;]

[samcro]

Świetny artykuł o Valencii.

Ukryty tekst:

Cytat:ight-winger's timely recovery from a horrific ankle injury sustained against Rangers in September. Since returning to the side in March, he has helped United secure a place in the Champions League final and to within a point of a 19th league title.

Much has changed since the day, nearly five years ago, when a quiet young man arrived at Wigan, on loan from Villarreal. Noting that this 20-year-old speaking no English was barely able to read Spanish, staff wondered how he would cope – only to be astounded to learn he had swiftly, independently, found himself a house and a car. "Antonio could have buckled," says Paul Jewell, who was Wigan's manager at the time. "But he's got rare self reliance."

If such inner resourcefulness would later enable him to handle the pressures inherent in replacing Cristiano Ronaldo at United, his steely physical constitution commands instant respect. "Saw Valencia in the gym today," Ferdinand tweeted recently. "The guy throws weights like I threw Robbie Savage around. Strongest winger in the game. Fact."

Happily, Kirk Broadfoot's accidental tackle on that fateful Champions League night eight months ago has not diminished the extraordinary acceleration that makes Valencia among the fastest in his position. A combined fracture and dislocation that left bone protruding through skin imposed inevitable psychological scars yet he recovered his nerve in record time.

"When I saw my leg it was horrible," Valencia says. "I was in a lot of pain so the first challenge after returning was a bit of a concern. That tackle came against Marseille. I went in on my left foot and it did hurt a little but then I forgot about it and got stuck in."

Such commitment has characterised Valencia since, aged 10, he played his first organised game. At 16 football's lure saw him defy his father by leaving home and taking an eight hour bus journey to Quito to join El Nacional, a club with such a strong army association that players occupied barracks and partook in regular military parades. So great was his determination that when a coach advised increased pasta consumption, Valencia, confusing the word with that meaning toothpaste, dutifully gobbled tubes of Colgate.

Reward arrived with a transfer to Villarreal. Although a then slow-burning talent restricted him to a couple of La Liga appearances before a loan switch to Recreativo Huelva in Spain's second division, Valencia trained with Argentina's playmaker, Juan Román Riquelme. "I learnt a lot from Riquelme at Villarreal," he says.

So much indeed that in 2006 he emerged as one of the brightest young stars of a World Cup destined to change his life. "I was in Germany scouting and went to Poland v Ecuador looking for interesting Poles," Jewell says. "Ecuador won and Valencia's was the first name in my notebook. I liked his reading of the game, his understanding of play."

A loan move, subsequently made permanent by Steve Bruce, ensued, with the winger delighted to discover that, while he still preferred frittatas to meat pies, Wigan was rather wonderful. "Real Madrid wanted me before I joined United but I turned them down because I was happy at Wigan," says a man who meets compatriots in Bem Brasil, a South American restaurant in Manchester's Northern Quarter and lives a quiet, Paul Scholes-esque type existence with his partner, Zoila, and their small daughter. "I never felt right in Spain. I wasn't at ease but Wigan felt like home."

Bruce appreciated Valencia's twin enthusiasm for tracking back and beating his man. "Antonio's a great kid, a wonderful professional and tough as old nails," Sunderland's manager says. "He's also got something not many English players have anymore, dribbling ability."

Capable of bringing the best out of Wayne Rooney while keeping Nani on the bench, his sheer consistency, defensive discipline and high-calibre crossing revive memories of Steve Coppell hugging United's touchlines. It did not take long for fans to stop lamenting Ferguson's failure to recruit Franck Ribery as Ronaldo's successor. Instead, at £16m Valencia represents one of his finest signings. "Antonio has a great tactical brain," United's manager says. "The boy's got everything – balance, power, speed – and he's strong as an ox."

As Ashley Cole, the England left-back humiliated when Chelsea crumbled at Old Trafford last Sunday, will testify, Valencia's catalytic role in an unexpectedly glorious Old Trafford spring cannot be over‑emphasised.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... ter-united

[Foster]

Antoś w lipcu jedzie na Copa America. Nie jest to dobra informacja, bo przez to nie będzie brał udziału w przygotowaniach do sezonu, a to się może odbić na jego formie.

[matys]

Panie, skoro złamanie nogi nie wpłynęło na jego formę(tzn. wpłynęło, grał po powrocie jeszcze lepiej), to tym bardziej Copa mu nie zaszkodzi.

[Foster]

Evra też niby jest niezniszczalny, a widać było po jego grze brak uczestnictwa w okresie przygotowawczym o czym sam wspominał w ostatnim wywiadzie.

[Jaroldz]

Antoś zapewne wróci zmęczony z tego turnieju, podobnie jak Javier i zapewne dostaną na początku sezonu wolne od Fergusona, o czym już na menedżer wspominał w przypadku Hernandeza. Podobnie myślę, że będzie u Valencii. Będzie Young, będzie Nani. Nie mamy się o co martwić.

[branka]

Ale jak im dać wolne, przy takim terminarzu na początku sezonu...

[santi]

Początek sezonu mamy ciężki, a bez Valencii i Hernandeza będzie jeszcze ciężej. Nie mogliby się pokłócić z trenerami reprezentacji? Pierwsze mecze zawsze są trudne, forma nieustabilizowana i nie wiadomo, czego sie spodziewać.

[kojot]

Cytat:Antonio Valencia doznał
kontuzji we wczorajszym
spotkaniu na turnieju Copa
Amèrica. Skrzydłowy
Manchesteru United skręcił
kostkę i nie wyszedł już na
drugą połowę spotkania.

[RedLucas]

Właśnie się bałem, że po tak poważnym urazie w przyszłości Antonio jeszcze nie raz będzie miał problemy z tą kostką, no i mamy :/ Oby tylko teraz nie zrobił się szklany.

Zdrowia Antek!

[panopticum]

Pierwsza kontuzja od powrotu.

[Tomassen]

kojot napisał(a):

Cytat:Antonio Valencia doznał
kontuzji we wczorajszym
spotkaniu na turnieju Copa
Amèrica. Skrzydłowy
Manchesteru United skręcił
kostkę i nie wyszedł już na
drugą połowę spotkania.

Ciekawie zastosowana przerzutnia. Acz wiersz smutny Uwagę zwraca również ubóstwo środków stylistycznych.

[kojot]

Bylem wtedy na telefonie, jak jestem i teraz i tak jakos mi sie skopiowalo.

[Mubinio]

Kojot, nie bądź taki skromny.

Zapewne nikt nie wie, czy to ta sama kostka, którą złamał z Rangersami??

[Foster]

Pech chciał, że ta sama.