© EuroFootball.com
Secret weapon of Jose Mourinho - ANTONIO VALENCIA
When JM took over the Man United steering wheel, many naturally expected a team overhaul. The press was constantly "selling" Juan Mata, Daley Blind, Maroune Fellaini over the summer, while various experts were modeling the future lineup, creating lists of potential substitutes following Mourinho's guidance.
However, after the entire preparation cycle and the first EPL matches, the team was left only with youngsters, some of whom were sold (Powell, McNair, Love), some were loaned out (Januzaj, Varela), while mentioned Blind, Fellaini, Mata play regularly, and are considered very important for the team by the coach.
Antonio Valencia is also one of those players who supposedly did not have a future under Mourinho. But it happened that today Valencia is not only a regular right-back but also one of the team's prominent leaders, having made the most assists to his teammates so far.
Valencia is one of the United veterans (since 2009). At the beginning of his career with the Red Devils, he was a lightning-speed winger on the attacking flank. Valencia was first placed in a more defensive role back in 2011 by Alex Ferguson. Over the years, his defensive game only got stronger and better, while his ability to attack did not disappear. Under LVG, Valencia was the main right-back defender, later challenged by newcomer Matteo Darmian.
Last season was tough, not only because Darmian took his position but also due to a serious injury. And this summer, during the preparation cycle, Valencia played more because Darmian was with the Italy national team at Euro16. A critical moment was a friendly against Galatasaray when Darmian was already on mandatory leave, and Mourinho could have placed him in the XI. But the coach decided to trust Valencia once again, and he did not make a mistake.
In that match, United scored 5 goals, with Valencia providing assists for 3 of them! In the Community Shield, he assisted Ibra's winning goal. And last weekend against Bournemouth, he also created the second goal.
So the 31-year-old Ecuadorian legionnaire has done an excellent job so far and has made a very convincing case to be not only a constant starter for Man United but also one of the leaders of the team this season.
RED DEVIL
