Unheralded star gives timely reminder of his worth

When you think of United’s important players the names that instantly spring to mind are Scholes, Giggs, Rooney, Rio and Vida, Fletcher, van der Sar etc and rightly so. They are the core of our team and have shown time and time again they can be relied upon in times of need but slowly another name is making a case for his name to be included on that list.

I won’t go into the whole Ronaldo replacement thing, it has been over done but Antonio Valencia is really emerging as a stalwart on our right wing. Last season Wayne Rooney credited him as part of the reason as to why he bagged as many goals as he did and last night despite it being a friendly he gave us a reminder of what it is he brings to the team.

He had the beating of the Airtricity XI left back constantly, displayed his crossing prowess as well as showing he isn’t afraid to cut in and have a go himself, everything you want in an attacking sense from your right winger. His performance saw him named  the man of the match and rightly so as he helped himself to a goal (with his left foot!) as well as assisting Javier Hernandez and Jonny Evans’ efforts.

Maybe it’s because Valencia shuns the spotlight or is a chalk on the boots winger rather than being full of tricks that he doesn’t get as much attention as he should be that’s fine by me. He clearly has a good head on his shoulders and a couple of weeks ago said this, which will only help build his ever growing profile amongst United fans,

“I want to stay at United for 10-15 years, even if Madrid or Barca want me”

Valencia had undergone an ankle op in May and it was thought he could miss the start of the season whilst recovering but seeing him play last night will make me that extra bit more confident as we look to regain the Premier League title. He was by far the best winger in the league last season and last night has shown that he intends on carrying on where he left off in May.