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Sunday, June 17, 2007

Nani in injury scare, shows talent, shows up critic

Manchester United can breathe easier as recent acquisition Nani’s injury scare at the UEFA Under 21 Championships last night is deemed not serious. Up until his premature departure, he was at the heart of everything rebutting the criticism being leveled at him recently from Chelsea scout Piet de Visser.

Nani had to be stretchered from the field in the 52nd minute of Portugal's 4-0 win over Israel after an Isreali substitute tackled from behind landing his weight directly on Nani’s back leg. It was a terrible challenge deserving of a straight red that was not given.

Before the injury, Nani was having his best night of the tournament and was showing the talent that led Manchester United to splash out for him. He was at the center of everything, especially Portugal’s goals as the young side delivered a masterclass in domination. Portugal maintained 70% of the possession, had an 11 to 1 edge in corners, and had 30+ shots on goal compared to 3 from Israel. It was not just the stats though, it was the level and intensity of the domination at times looking like a game of FIFA 2007 on a game console where an older brother beats up on a younger sibling that’s not so good.

Chelsea, on the other hand, might think twice about comments of their scout Piet de Visser:

"He is a talent, but if you look at the European Championship in Portugal and the current tournament in the Netherlands - Nani has not shown any progress. Therefore I think Manchester United have paid too much money for a player who has talent, but has not developed since last year."

He should reconsider after last night. Nani’s passing, ingenuity, and superbly taken goal demonstrated his class. Obviously, we won’t know anything until he kicks a ball in the Premiership but you can bet Visser’s comments more from the fact that Chelsea have not signed anything but free transfers while United have splashed out and are poised to spend more. Having watched Nani last year I can say that Visser is definitely wrong: Nani has developed noticeably.

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7 Comments:

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Blogger red4life said...

Criticizing a young player (before he's kicked a ball in the premiership)like this nobody has done is shameful. Someone from Chel$ki saying Man U overpay for players is ridiculous. Chel$ki showing their complete lack of class runs deep.

6/17/2007 2:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Chelsea should shut it especially considering how terrible ben sahar was last night. couldnt complete a pass and did absolutely nothing to help his team. He'll be hoofing it in the championship before long mate

6/17/2007 2:59 PM  
Blogger Jez said...

I'm not sure playing well against a poor side in an U-21 tournament discredits a professional scout with years of experience.

Espescially when one of his criticisms was that he wasn't physically up to Premiership standard and then promptly getting injured.

Also the fact that Sahar is getting criticised in the same way on here for a poor showing when he was by some distance the youngest player on the pitch shows how hypocritical and agenda orientated a forum this is.

6/17/2007 4:20 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

"promptly getting injured" did you see the challenge on him? lets see if you walk away after i've put 12 stone on your back leg. the only agenda here was from a chelsea scout with 'years of experience' making a statement that clearly has no credence. everyone can see that. ben sahar is young but the whole cliche of 'deal with your own shortcomings before commenting on mine' comes to mind. his showing was worse than poor. if you want to comment on how young he was then he should be playing in the under 19's. you are a hypocrite.

6/17/2007 5:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

agreed -the tackle was shameful, full weight on the kids leg, nobody would have gotten

6/17/2007 5:30 PM  
Blogger Jez said...

How am i a hypocrite? I am not a Chelsea fan merely an objective observer. True it was a bad tackle but a fast player will get far worse in the Premiership just lok at Henry and Arjen Robben.

The point that I was making that you have jumped on the back of this agent who has clearly seen more of this player than you on the back of one good performance in three games as thought this 70 minutes against Israel was proof of his incompetence. Is there anyone who is not a Man Utd fan here able to voice there opinion or am I the only neutral?

6/17/2007 6:13 PM  
Blogger Football Commentator said...

I'm neutral, at least I think.

I have watched Nani for about 3 years now. Visser has his opinion, I have mine. While I am not a talent scout I think I know a good player when I see him. Nani has developed alot in a couple of years. Visser is wrong to say he hasnt developed, I think.

Yes, he needs a bit more strength but isn't that something that can be developed? Raw talent cannot, and in Nani I see alot of it.

As far as the tackle goes, I think 19/20 times in the Prem that tackle would have resulted in a red card, and by the way, I have seen Nani take a hit and he pops back up although he could do away with that Portuguese tendency to writhe on the ground.

The reason I rate Nani is not because of 1 game, I have seen him in about 15-20 games. He'll take a while to adjust but will be a solid player for Man U. He's not a Kleberson.

6/17/2007 6:57 PM  

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