So, it's been a good month or so for Manchester United.. and running into a struggling Portsmouth side at Old Trafford next has to be the best game we can go into if we want to have the best chance of being top of the League this weekend. However, I'm a believer that Portsmouth are a better side than the table makes out. Sure, I always thought they'd be relegation candidates, but I didn't think they'd be so far off the pace. Maybe the off-the-pitch matters are really affecting the players. Regardless, there's no room for complacency now.
Nani has sprung into life as of late, and it must be a number of things that have made him do so. Being out injured and wanting to give an impact on his return would be one. While Valencia nailing down a first choice start in his first season, Giggs performing consistently well when called upon, Park doing what's needed from him, and Obertan starting to show a bit of promise must have played a part. Nani knows United have at least four other wingers who could be as good as him in different ways and he needed to start performing to make the match-day squads. He's done just that. He does seem better on the right, but then again, with his new found confidence he hasn't played on the left yet. He's been making the right decisions more by keeping it simple - and by keeping it simple and things paying off, he's found the confidence to pull off the more extravagant skill once in a while, á la Arsenal.
Just because he's had three really good performances on the right doesn't mean he's taken Valencia's position though, in my opinion. I don't think Valencia would work on the left as well as Nani does / would. So I think it'd be worth trying both Nani and Valencia (with Nani on the left) against the likes of Portsmouth to see how we fair and to see if Nani's new-found confidence means he can play anywhere and that he's not just better on the right.
Nani is a bit more skill-full and can take on players both sides while Valencia is more likely to stay on his right foot and use his pace. I don't agree with people saying that Nani is more direct than Valencia, as I feel both are the same. However, I do have one potential answer.
Perhaps Nani is better than Valencia on the right in a 433 formation, where that extra bit of imagination is required. While, Valencia hugging the touch line and using his pace and direct crossing is better for a 442. who knows? We'd have to test things like this out in games we should win to find out.
However, I think rotating Nani and Valencia on the right could be good, as we've got Park, Giggs, and Obertan on the left who can be rotated as well. When we play Portsmouth, I'd like to see Nani on the left and Valencia on the right to see how that goes, and start with Rooney and Berbatov to get some goals and give a midfield player a rest. We'll no doubt be reverting to a similar team that faced Arsenal for Villa away and AC Milan away.
van der Sar
Rafael Brown Evans Evra
Valencia Carrick Fletcher Nani
Berbatov Rooney
I'd like to see Vidic get some game-time if fit, while Gary Neville could do with the same if fit. I don't think Sir Alex would want to go into AC Milan away with Rafael at Right Back in all honesty, so perhaps getting Vidic in the team and trying Brown at Right Back again could be a possibility.. Or getting Gary Neville fit enough for the away leg. I think it's like that Owen Hargreaves is not going to be ready after being left out of the Champions League squad and his match fitness will be poor, so it wouldn't be fair to throw him into matches of this importance. A lot of people would probably call for Evra to be rested, and I kind of agree with that. Playing Fábio would be fine for me, but I wouldn't want to start resting too many players. Carrick, Fletcher, and Rooney would all be worthy of a rest but I'm not sure if Anderson will be back in and I'm sure the likes of Giggs and Scholes will be looking for a rest here to play against Villa and AC Milan. Rooney just shouldn't be rested here as he's in shit-hot form, but I'd like to see him taken off in the second half to give Owen some time.
