How Good Was.... Nani?

His biggest two problems were firstly he was always compared to and had a go at for not being Ronaldo
Fair to say he was never consistent and the "next Ronaldo" tag he carried was a burden
In answer to the above 2 quotes. That burden was self inflicted, nobody spoke more about Ronaldo and his wish to emulate Ronaldo more that Nani himself. That's the plain he placed himself in and he couldn't come remotely close. Compare that to when Teddy Sheringham joined and folk tried to call him the new Cantona. Teddy used to discourage it and give such comparison a wide berth, no doubt knowing how foolish it would be to believe he could replace king Eric in the hearts and minds of the Manu community.
I think from Nani we had 2 alright seasons to start but he was a young kid
Eh? He was approaching his 22nd birthday when he joined us.
 
Nani was of course better than Macheda. My point is, Nani never gave us a memory even close to Macheda's.
I would have had a fond memory of a great moment and would have credited him with winning the title for us that season. That would have been my opening comment in this thread.
As previously stated:
Point is, brilliant moments are remembered when they are found at a time when they are REALLY needed.
 
And just in case it is lost on anyone. It was Nani who was pulled off to make way for Macheda that day after another uninspiring display.
 
In answer to the above 2 quotes. That burden was self inflicted, nobody spoke more about Ronaldo and his wish to emulate Ronaldo more that Nani himself. That's the plain he placed himself in and he couldn't come remotely close. Compare that to when Teddy Sheringham joined and folk tried to call him the new Cantona. Teddy used to discourage it and give such comparison a wide berth, no doubt knowing how foolish it would be to believe he could replace king Eric in the hearts and minds of the Manu community.

Eh? He was approaching his 22nd birthday when he joined us.

He'd played 60 first team games for Sporting when he joined Utd.

The Ronaldo tag was something he had long before he got here because he was the next of the Sporting Production line when Ronaldo left and lets not forget from 18-21 Ronaldo was infuriating as a player his first few seasons were pretty ropey then he exploded into an absolute monster of a player. Nani never did that but after a year or two with us he found a much higher level of consistency that was lacking when he joined.

Got any quotes to back up the Nani hyping himself up?
 
The burden wasn’t self inflicted. Nani never compared himself to Ronaldo, all he did was acknowledge there would be comparisons because they had similar playing styles. I think if anything he tried to downplay this comparison as he was his own player.
 
I don't get how you can say you'd expect Nani to be as high as third on the list of our premier league assist. But then say he had only half a decent season. That shows longevity and prolonged good output.
 
I'm not a big fan of stats to be honest. I mean it is only 49 assists in 7 or 8 years.

He had 377 shots and scored 26. Only 111 of those were on target. His cross accuracy is 23% and shooting accuracy 29%

Stats can be used to suit any case.

My memories of him are reflected in the stats I posted. Disappointed. These stats certainly aren't of a very good player. A little under average?

Dele stats walk all over this, he's a 7-8 player for me and I'm sure he's a player you don't rate.

for the stats I posted, Parks are equal or better. Apart from goals scored, and I'd like to compare game time to get a fair picture there.
 
I agree stats aren’t always a great measure. But when you’re talking 40+ assist in the premier league it shows longevity and you’re talking about someone that obviously had more than half a decent season. He topped the assist charts that season.

As for his shooting stats you can’t say Park is better in all stats other than goals is the key stat that comes with shooting. Park was nowhere near the attacking threat Nani was an it wasn’t even close.

I’d agree with anyone that said Nani was poor playing down the left wing. It wasn’t fair on the player he was consistently played out of position to accommodate other lesser players. But he was a good right winger and better than most and good for us.

I feel he should be judged separately on his games down the right and left. He quite simply wasn’t a left winger. But Valencia was two one footed and our other option down the left was Park who offered nothing attacking wise.

Dele isn’t a patch on a prime Nani’s and is woeful at most things I’m surprised you don’t dislike him considering how often he gives away the ball and misplaces passes and I’d expect his stats to be better scoring wise considering he’s played most his career basically as a second striker.
 
For interest I went to go and find the thread from 2011. Unfortunately that page isn't archived on the web archive.

The threat title had been changed in 2011 by RJ to:

Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha.... 'Tricki' & Less 'Crapi'
 
I don't like Dele that much, just goes to show what stats mean, you cant say Nani assists are ok but Dele's stats aren't. He is an average prem player, a 7/10 Nani is a little worse in my book

Dele has 10 less assists, but 24 more goals. His shooting accuracy is 40%. If I had to have one of them in my team, I'd go Dele.

We're going to go round in circles again, it's groundhog day :) I do like the less crapi title though
 
In 2007 Nani said "Ronaldo is a fanny, and I will beat him anytime".

He also said he’s the worlds best player but I taught him everything he knows in 2007. Tongue in cheek comments are obvious.
 
I don't like Dele that much, just goes to show what stats mean, you cant say Nani assists are ok but Dele's stats aren't. He is an average prem player, a 7/10 Nani is a little worse in my book

Dele has 10 less assists, but 24 more goals. His shooting accuracy is 40%. If I had to have one of them in my team, I'd go Dele.

We're going to go round in circles again, it's groundhog day :) I do like the less crapi title though

If I’ve got a place down the right wing I’m choosing Nani. A second striker Alli but you’re comparing apples to pears.
 
So looks like the consensus is he’s a 6/10 player slightly above average on to the next one
 
112 international caps for Portugal doesn't happen to a poor player. He had a lot more about him than he was given credit for and the idea he didn't have much more to his game is unfair on him. As I said it's nothing to do with short memories we debated this time and time again at the time. He proved all his doubters wrong once and for all on the biggest stage at Euro 2016 where he was fantastic on route to the final and then stepped up to the plate once Ronaldo went off and lead that team. He'd start every week in this current side. Probably still today at 33.
Opinions and all, but I don't agree with a word of this. There were plenty of anonymous players in Portugal shirts. I don't think he proved all his doubters wrong. No one denied he was a talented player, just that he was largely a disappointment for United. He'd start in the current United team? Shows how shit we are if that's true.
 
to be fair, for the position he played and time at the club I'd expect him to above most of those for assists. Ronaldo was all about me, Scholes was too central, valencia, Young and Mata well enough said. The one I am surprised at is Beckham, but as you probably remember, I felt he was over rated.

I guess it's just personal choice. A lot of united fans didn't rate Berbatov, but he's an 8 for me. Berbatov should never have been dropped for CL final. Nani only came on when Barca scored their 3rd. so it's pretty much the same.
Fergie went way too negative for that game, he should have picked the best attacking squad. I wonder if there is something on his thoughts of that team pick.
I loved Berbatov even when he arguable was being less than effective, he was absolutely breathtaking to watch. He was an artist. Fergie dropping him for the CL was an outrage and a blunder. Berbatov might not have won that many games but he (and players like him) are why we watch the game in the first place, he really embodied the joga bonito thing. If all anyone cares about are wins and trophies, they could look at Mourinho's first spell in charge of Chelsea when they won the league twice and murdered football in the process.
 
What are the categories?
Overall ability: 7
Passing: 6
Shooting: 6
Close control: 9
Dribbling & tricks: 9
Consistency: 5
Speed: 7
Linking play: 5
Game awareness: 6

Just an overall score don’t need to go to deep just got bored of talking about corona so just though it’s chuck random names around from last 30 years and see what people think
 
He had the talent to be a top player for us. But he never really lived up to that. I'd say he was a 7 as he had some magical moments for us but more often than not he frustrated.

I heard him discussed on a podcast where they were naming their all time Fergie XI. He was an honourable mention for the left wing and I thought that was utter nonsense.
 
There’s only one player down the left wing in a Fergie all time eleven. And even as one of Nani’s supporters I hated seeing him playing down the left. As I said previously he was two different players depending what wing he played on and he was woeful down the left.

And down the right you’d have him behind Beckham, Ronaldo and Kanchelskis but they were all exceptional players.
 
The team had Nani and Ji Sung Park backup for Giggs för C.Ronaldo in 4 season in between 2005 and 2009.
 
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Used to love watching Nani. He was the type of player you can't take your eyes off. Had it all.

Good luck to him with what's next.
 
A severely underrated player who'd probably be the best player in this squad.
 
He scored some fantastic goals for us. Then the celebration after... not much beats it for me. An unforgettable player.
 
A severely underrated player who'd probably be the best player in this squad.
So would Djemba x 2 :p

Think it just goes to show how good those teams were, that he is under appreciated. Seems a lifetime away.
 
I think judged by what came before him he probably wasn't appreciated as much as he should have been but judging him by what came after him he was a very good player.
 

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