With Manchester United’s £16 million deal for Wigan’s Antonio Valencia set to be sealed today, Bryan Robson has claimed that Ecuadorian is not going to be a replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo. Whilst Valencia will be running down our flanks as Ronaldo did, there isn’t the expectation that we will see anywhere near the same amount of goals from him, given his past scoring record.
Robson believes, like most of us do, that Ronaldo won’t be replaced by one player, but that we will see the positives for other players after Ronaldo stops stealing all the limelight.
“The one thing everyone has to realise is that United are not going to replace Ronaldo,” said Robson. “He’s a one-off. Valencia is a good winger but he’s not going to score the goals Ronaldo did. It wouldn’t surprise me if the boss brought in another winger, even if he got Valencia. That would leave Wayne Rooney free to play down the middle. In fact, I can see Wayne and Dimitar Berbatov coming out of Ronaldo’s shadow.”
Man Utd News 24/7
He won’t be replaced next season but busby only knows what type of player he could be. With Rooney being Rooney tevez and Ronaldo next year ,which he can be,who knows what Valencia can be. Is there a Valencia chant out there
With Valencia supposed to be in so much financial trouble, and United flush with the Ronaldo dosh, does that mean we’re buying a feeder club in Spain?
That’s what we’re talking about, isn’t it…or are we settling for the Wigan winger?
Who is Robson to say who is good and who is not.When he was West Brom Manager he virtually stole Ellington from Wigan, and that was the end of the Duke,he is NOT a Manager……
Valencia is a very good winger and can get 12-15 goals .dat means berba ,rooney and another striker we sign must get 70 goals between them which is very much possible.at the start of the season we will miss ronaldo but as the season goes on ,we will be fine
i dont rate him.16million is excessive to say the least.is it only me who has this opinion????poll please scott
I think the article refers to Valencia the player and not the team MK.
Anyway I think Fergie knows what he is doing.
He might not score as many as ronaldo but am sure he can provide more to Rooney and Berba.
There is only 1 person who could replace Ronaldo and that is Messi. No other player on the planet comes close in the position he plays.
One benifit of Ronaldo going is that United will improve as a Team, lets all remember that its teams that win Trophies!!
Dont get me wrong but we are definatly a little weaker without him, but i feel you will see Rooney Improve Drastically now! He no longer has Ronaldo to Rely on and i will be interested to see how he handles this!
Replacements? Erm Valencia will fill the Right wing Spot, Hopefully Hardgreves will be back that will be like a new signing!! And i hope for Benzema up front!!
Valencia is not being bought to replace Ronaldo, he is being bought to be a decent winger who can cross, score about 10 goals a seaosn and cover back.
Ronaldo was unique, a one off.
We will bring in a forward to add to the missing goals that Ronaldo brought and possibly a more creative midfielder.
Valencia is a decent player and will be a good addition to the team, he also has settled in england, wont have to move house and knows the league, a step ahead of any foreign player playing in the likes of Spain etc.
i forgot to mention that Valencias main aspect is that he is a provider. He is looking to provide goals for others. Berbatov and Rooney is going to thrive of this!!
For the past few years our Strikers have missed out as Ronaldo’s main aim was to score. In most matches i have seen ronaldo in great positions to lay it on a plate for Rooney or Berbatov or Tevez but for him to shoot. He was brilliant dont get me wrong but a little too selfish!!
How many goals would rooney and berbatov have scored if Ronaldo was unselfish. I bet it would have been more than the 20 or 30 ronnie could get himself!!!
Well obviously.
He must have picked United over the Fascists then. These kind of players are who I want to see at Old Trafford. Will be an excellent buy for us.
Dont forget all the younger lads will be older now, with more experience. Kiko and Wellbeck, may Tosic. With all these youngsters around, 1 or 2 will come good.
Also, I think (hope ) Nani will pull his finger out this year. He has the talent.
How ill Valencia score 1+ goals, he has only scored 7 in 4 years at Wigan.
I think Robson is right. Ronaldo is that special type of player that is irreplaceable. He is not suggesting we can not continue winning simply that to expect Valencia to be the same type of player is lunacy. We will have to change our format and will have to find a new focus which, as I have said previously, should be Rooney.
Valencia will provide, Rooney and Berba will step up and we will sign another 1-2 players this summer to complete the team.
@ Stephen
How will Valencia score 10+ goals?
Heres why
United Attack More than Wigan
United have Better Players than Wigan so he Should get More Chances
He will have to defend Less at United than Wigan.
I think you will see him have more assists and more goals than he had at Wigan as he will be playing with better players!
Don’t see it myself mate, personally I don’t think he is United quality and he has never been prolific.
Its a start, lets get back two 4 4 2 valencia on the rite berba wazza ur front the goals will fly in.
With Ronaldo gone, it will give Rooney licence to play through the middle where he is at his most devestating.
King Eric, truthfully I don’t think Real were in for him at all, they made an offer in Jan and they havn’t followed it up since, if they really wanted him they would have bought him by now.
I think Valencia is a decent player but no better than Nani. We also already have Tosic and Ljajic (Jan 2010). I would rather we save the money for biger and better targets. I would go for Benzema, Aguero and Gattuso (stop gap for H’greaves). It would be a statement. Ronaldo has gone but Manchester United can still attract the best.
I’m not sold, at all. What’s all the fuss about, we don’t need him!
Wat does it take 2b a quality lad?Valencia shud b given time like evry lad was given,he’s goin 2b a success playin wit beta lads dan Wigan have plz i beg u all who eva we sign or wears our jersey shud get all our support ftball is a team game God bless Man.utd
He will be great for us. I know.
I think buying Valencia or any other proper winger who likes to bang in crosses and set others up, Berbatov will shine and prove everyone wrong he really needs to step up this season and im sure he will be helped by ronaldo leaving and also he doesnt have the attention of the tevez problems.
Rooney is world class so i dont think it needs explaining how and why he will be class next season.
Give him a chance how many better WINGERS are there in europe right now than valencia?
ronaldo,messi,iniesta,ribery,robinho,SWP, malouda, young and the last three metionned are debatable.
i think he would make the top 6 now that he has joined man utd.
and he will get better as a consequence of playing in a better team than wigan.
as for being a matchwinner you do not have to be ronaldoeque to do that.
he can give a matchwinning moment with a cross, a pacy run or a great shot.
i think the only thing that separates him from ronaldo is the fear factor that the opposition had when facing ronaldo but apart from that he can:
dribble
shoot from anywhere
well built can score headed goals
great crosser
change of pace.
MAY i say great find by sir alex.?
You could add David Silva, Robben (when fit), Schweinsteiger, Wesley Sneijder, Joe Cole, Walcott and even Nani on his day.
The lad just needs a chant then the fans will love him
Will be a nice boost when we eventually announce a signing – Valencia and Benzema would do me for the summer.
The point Captain Marvel is making is that Valencia isn’t being bought to replace Ronaldo. Thats not generally how Sir Alex operates. Dwight Yorke wasn’t a Cantona clone, Ronaldo wasnt another Beckham, Carrick wasn’t Keane Mk2 etc.etc. Valencia is being bought to allow us to play a different way, as Robbo says, through Berba and Wazza.
Valencia is quick, he can get down the touchline and put in the crosses thats why he’s been bought. Fergie isnt bringing him in to be the new Ronaldo there won’t be a new Ronaldo. Ronaldo going means we cannot play that way anymore. We need to change just like we changed when Ruud left and all those other players left and we will.
So…
—————Van der Sar
Rafael – Ferdinand – Vidic – Evra
Valencia* – Anderson – Scholes – Nani
———————-Rooney
————-Berbatov
* = We haven’t signed.
It’s not a prolific side, two big names are missing in Ronaldo and Tevez, but if we sign Silva or Benzema/Aguero, we’ll have the goal problem solved.
Valencia should complement Rooney – he won’t have to track back as much.
He’ll chip in a few goals here and there, too. With Rooney more up front and being less of a defender, he’ll score more from the number 9 position.
And then, Berbatov will come good this season, and we find a third striker to help with keeping the squad fighting hard. Also, Welbeck and Macheda can get more of a run on this season.
We’re short by a winger that’s pacy, crosses (and tracks back), and a prolific goalscorer. We got the winger that can defend, is pacy and can cross in Valencia. Now we need a goalscorer. He doesn’t even have to be marverlous, since Rooney and Berbatov will step up – and then, by the end of the season, we’ll become Manchester *UNITED* again.
@Stephen: there was a lot of debate about torres ability considering he didn’t score that much at atletico. Once he got into a (half) decent team, you could see that he was world (=united) class
Let’s give the guy a chance. He looked OK against last season in an average side – he might kick on with even better players around him.
On the subject of Robbo, check this guy for a combative midfield player:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL_bZAdOKhk.
I’ll bet Fergie’s well aware of him already. There might be baggage, though.
I think Valencia is a great crosser and I think we might see more crosses from the right wing next season. Ronaldo usually got himself in the box or dribbled the ball in the midfield of the pitch to get into a shooting opportunity. I think we’ll see a slightly different playing style from Man Utd next season. If we’d also bring in Benzema to head in those crosses I would be more than satisfied with our summer purchases. But Real Madrid have the upper hand when it comes to Benzema…that’s for sure.
Look guys I know where you are coming from with regards to giving him a chance and if we sign him we all will but the point is Sir Alex has worked very hard to make the club fulfill our potential of being the biggest and the best in the world. We should sign the best players for the positions we require. I am not saying be silly and sign 27 + year olds for carzy amounts but the top players in their early twenties is money well spent, hence Aguero and Benzema. They can both play up top and out wide.
@grenofen
Bryan Robson is a Manchester United Legend.
He is more than entitled to his opinion regardless of his managerial experience at West Bromwich Albion.
Give the guy some slack.
DB9, I hear what you say mate but he is hardly in the same league as Torres mate, all I am saying is that in my view he is no better than we have already so to me he isn’t worth the investment.
If Valencia was signed from some foreign side everyone would be raving, as hes coming from Wigan, people are quick to say hes not good enough.
Did you say the same when we signed the likes of VDS and Saha from Fulham? Rooney from a struggling Everton side? Irwin from Oldham? Lee Sharpe from Torquay?
He doesnt need to be prolific as he is a winger and not being signed as a prolific striker.
As for formation and team, id imagine Utd will be playing more of a 4-3-3 formation. Scholes and Giggs are both passed it now and should have very limited starts.
Rather use this money to buy Costa and Sanchez with Aguero upfront!
Tufty, no need for the smug comment mate I have my own views regardless of where thay have been signed from.
VDS was a already a top class keeper, Rooney was also a national hero in the making, Saha was a lot of money for me at the time and never was an absolute hit, Sharpe and Irwin were sined in a different era, although Irwin was superb against us on the Cup.
Manchester United will bring out the quality. He will definitely be a better player after three months at Old Trafford than he ever was at Wigan. He has all the raw abilities and will respond well to having some pace at fullback to provide overlaps and feed him more quickly than he has been used to. He will shine for us and we will love him before next Christmas, mark my words.
i am convinced he will a terrific player for us and i will not be sad if we keep the rest of the money and start the season as we are right now.
love him already with v sign on his chest running down the flanks.
everyone will be glad to see valencia join us,after players leaving the most that could make us happy is to see 1 join.valencia is a player that can beat a man & get crosses in..i feel hes a much better first team wide man than the likes of park.valencia & nani need to be given a chance & left to play on the wings.both aren’t scared off shooting,you cant let them play 1 game & score..its the centre midfield that should be only changed if injury or tiredness..giggs & scholes r geting on so there helping position is centre & still going forward,anderson carrick & flecter also r centre..we dont need to be putting flecter our on the right wing its valencia’s new position & let him adapt.we’ve seen him score in the premiership & he’ll do it again if he gets the change.we signed him for £16 million i hear so no1 can ever complain but love the new siging.we have a striker to get & benzema i think i the man to help rooney.berba is a man that is drawing matches to 0-0 i feel,benzema scored a unstopable shot against us beat rio & van der sar,we seen talent in him then..& when we got ronaldo..he dazzled defenders..we got him straight after so i’d not let benzema out of sight.hes close to uk hes across the board france..we r the 1s going to offer him 1st team football more than any1..arsenal & real i could name 5 strikers easy & there wanting more there a joke.unsetlling others in the club..we are bring him in as we have lost the best player in the world,we have the cash we should have him & no1 should be able to change that.every1 will welcome him to manchester..& evra will know him well.
we’ll see as the days go..i hear of sanchez or costa coming to utd also..there’ll be good promising players..i think dos santos is at tottenham but there have seemd to spolied his career not playing him,as you see what price there got him at fergie is right not to pay £21 million for the lad.hes no were near worth that when he aint played at top level in the premership..runing past 20yr old lads..not lampard essien & ballack etc.thats y a trial was offered.
chant??
come on wigan fans out there you must of sang something
Remember Carrick? Had to fill Keane’s boots. Till now, he IS one of my favourite United players
How many times have u lot watched Valencia play? Think i will put my trust in SAF and Steve bruce who i believe would have had talks with SAF over the player for a few months now
Injuries aprt, Saha was a hit, a world class forward who would have been superb if he stayed fit.
Valencias a hero in his national side.
As for saying sign Costa ahead of Valencia, Costa has only layed 16 game for his club in Brazil, so on that score, Valencia is the better option.
Costa has potential for the future.
Farhan Borst
One man stepped up higher than all when keane left
and that was fletcher
hopefully nani can do the same
i have so much faith in valencia
I wouldn’t say Saha was World class, but he was a decent player no doubt.
http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={83A644F4-1A7E-48B9-AF95-4605613A9A18}&newsid=6635305
Time to watch the U21 Game here.
http://www.justin.tv/vipp6
Watch it at 7:45.
Time to see this goaler in action!
VIVA VALENCIA VIVA VALENCIA
My fellow MUFC fans. each year some of us question Alex, and yes once or twice a bad player has come our way “Veron”. but we have all been having a wonderfull time over the past PREMIERSHIP years. Valencia is not costing us what some might and i think there is less risk because he has experience in the prem. Just hope Berba does well, Roony will always be quality, and whoever we get i want them to feel a little proud to be in our shirt, like we as fans are. UTD forever
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2506396/Barcelona-star-Xavi-We-wouldnt-want-Ron-here.html
lol ronaldo barley says a word and xavi runs rampent!
NO MORE VIVA SONGS! we have very original chants at United no need to keep re using the same tunes.
a new chant will come along for Valencia if he joins and after a couple of games for us.
Anyone who doubts Fergie is a fool! He has had valencia watched time and time again and if he goes for him i am happy with that!
I think the point Robbo was trying to make was to help the player! To remind everyone that Valencia is not going to play in the same role or the same level as Ronaldo!
As a team our formation will be adapted for life without ronaldo! We will have a wider spread of Goals throughout the team!
Valencia will have more assists than Ronaldo had but less goals! But in the same instance Rooney and Berbatov will have more goals than their time with Ronaldo!
Just read the link in the article to SSN and they say in the last paragraph its still unclear wether he will be give the legendery number 7 shirt, never thought about that really i’d be very suprised if he did but who knows he could turn out to be a great but i wouldnt of thought he’d get the number 7.
what would everyones reaction be if he did get the legendery number?
Red-Manc…
confusion
its a viva john terry chant and thats it
Nobody should be given the number 7 shirt this season.
Let them fight it out and allocate it the season after next.
the number 10 shirt is as big as the number 7
look at the players who where 10 when best was 7
when cantona was 7
when whiteside was 7
when robson was 7
when beckham was 7
when ronaldo was 7
and for an amazing 4 of them look at the number 11
Valencia should deffo not be given number 7, it needs to be reserved for someone truely special. Out of the current squad i would be more than happy to see Kiko wearing it.
I doubt Valencia would get number 7.
People would argue about Ronaldo being given the number 7 when he did, a player who hadnt played that many games for his previous club and a player who was raw.
Why would you give it to Kiko? The blokes not even played 4 full games.
Beckham had 2 oher numbers before he evntually got the number 7 shirt.
As for singing Viva john terry, the question begs, why?
The number 7 shirt is for players to grow into and not be given on a plate. Too much pressure for them otherwise. Why are people still wanting Aguero? No more Judas Argies at United.
Number 10 shirt:
Bobby Charlton
Dennis Law
Mark Hughes
Wayne Rooney
Alpha, don’t forget Ruud mate.
@GHTT: Yeah I gotta agree on that, Fletcher has gone up in my books. I have nothing but respect and love for him. Just tryin’ to tell everyone to trust Sir Alex! When we bought Carrick (our only purchase for that season I believe) everyone (and some Utd fans) believed we won’t win the league and we did!
In Fergie I TRUST!
@Farhan Borst: Amen!
carrick has never not won the league since joining
If only United fans would realise this also. United will NOT replace Ronaldo, we’ll just have to evolve our play without him. Plus I think he was gonna come anyway, whether Ronaldo left or not.
10 reasons why valencia is a good signing:
1. He is 23
2. Played in the premier league for about 3 years
3. Good crosser
4. Tracks back
5. Good goal provider, will assist a lot
6. 16 million is a good price for him
7. Can score
8. Shines in the ecuadorian national team
9. Not argentinian
10. Wants to play with us > chose us over RM
fze123 i think its also fair to say he has great power in his shot. plus we have to bear in mind with man utd he will given many more goalscoring opportunities than at wigan.
Fze123 sums it it perfectly there to be honest.
point number 10 being very important aswel. Sick of us signing pre madonnas (ronaldo,tevez,benzema if he came) we should sign people who genuinely want to play for our club and wont just run off to the highest bidder with the biggest wage.
I’d be very happy to see Valencia in the red shirt.
yes, he has a lot of power indeed. but we’ll be buying a striker. with 3 strikers up front, i think he will be the main goal provider and may increase his goal tally, maximum 15 goals a season only though, which is perfectly fine as long as he provides more rather than score.
I have said it a few times and I know it is just one game, but he tore the argies to shreds in the World Cup Qualifiers the other week. Looking forward to seeing him in a United shirt.
What if Valencia gets the Number 7 shirt does that mean we won’t be signing anymore players, cause if he gets a other number we’ll probably sign someone for the # 7 shirt
united line up ( assuming hargreves returns)
VDS
rafael vidic reo evra
—————harg—————-
valencia———-carrick——-
———-benzema—–rooney—-
——————berbatov—————
last year we were having a fluid forward lne up…but this time we might have a mid field fluidity………
we cannot play all our strikers all the time we need an option on the bench.
so i think if we sign benzema then berba will be on the bench.
Fze123 are you joking. £16m is a good price for the seller, not the buyer!
If we signed Benzema, I think we would line up
with Rooney at the top of a Cristmas tree, with Berba and Benzema behind, then Valencia, Carrick and Anderson.
flickin through the comments,i can’t believe that no1′s mentioned how he gave the united defence a nightmare au old trafford.that’s why we’ve got him or did no1 see it?and how many times have i heard ‘he’s not worth…’ carrick, rooney, hargreaves, stam, yorke, pallister,etc and they usually end up right.i agree with what everythin robbo said,he’s sayin this isn’t it,we can expect more
@ BlackBabyJesus
Remember, we were actually going to pay 18/20 million, so i suppose paying 16 is better for the buyer, don’t you think.
More to the point, apparently TheVirus have already deposited the whole amount in UTD’s account although the funds will be frozen until Wednesday.
That’s according to the Guardian Online.
OK, Fergy, give us a wave !
he is a good player IMO, but 16 mill is quite overprice. hope he is much better than nani and he will play on the right sode as he always does with wigan and tosic/nani/park will play on the left, if not costa…
cant wait for next season
Here we are awaiting the opening of the transfer window on Wednesday wanting to know what ‘goodies’ Fergie has in store. Looking back over the past few weeks, some things stand out.
Firstly, nothing much has been said about reinforcing UTD’s MF – a strong defensive MF is an absolute necessity. Nothing has been said about the visit to OT 2 weeks ago by people from Sporting Lisbon.
Could it be that Fergie has a player or players lined up that haven’t been mentioned recently? Players such as Velosi, Moutinho, and Silva? Could Fergie surprise us all by having 2 players signed up (in addition to Valencia) by the week-end?
Secondly, could Fergie be after BOTH Benzeema and Aguera? What about a back-up CB to cover in case Rio has a lengthy period injured? Is there enough GK cover if Kucshac (sp?) leaves?
Fergie has a lot of money to spend, and I’ve no doubt he’ll spend most of it.
in todays over inflated market, £16 million is a great price. Valencia has all that is needed to be a great winger. Also he works hard for the team and he ain’t exactly a little fairy puff (Ronaldo).
Still plently of money in the bank but I don’t see GOD bringing in more than two players after Valencia. He will probably sign a left winger who can play further forward, maybe Douglas Costa or Alexis Sanchez, and a creative midfielder, Personally I think Schneijder who is available on the cheap. If GOD was to get a striker in I wouldn’t want it to be Benzema, I would rather it be someone with obvious ability and who is also fine with not starting every game because they realize that Manchester United is the pinnacle.
What would people think about the best goalkeeper by far, Gigi Buffon, being our new number 1.
MKRed — Your post/link was from a while ago, but I just watched it and I must admit, I am now 100% on the Cana bandwagaon!!! That guy looked f’ing mental!!! Fabregas would be pissing his pants at the sight of him!!! I’ve not had much contact with them in my time, but I’ve always heard that Albanians are a tad bit off…. He looks like a potential red card every time he goes in for a tackle but F it, it sure would be fun to watch
ronaldo is gone thats good , he scores goals but is very selfish and proudy . rooney is great i hope he will cover the scoring area and i want SERGIO AGUERO at old trafford he will be a great addition to the team . youngsters who will play for united and respet united should be brought not like ronaldo who didn’t knew anything when he arrived just he knew how to dive. ronaldo is a sure flop at madrid as raul is the hitman of bernabau.
man united forever ..
Why don’t we get Young in as well? Valencia & Rafael on the right, Young & Fabio on the left, we will burn the flanks! And with Berbatov & Rooney causing havoc in the centre, everyone will hate playing with us.
And some of you might disagree, but I say get Van Nistelrooy as back up and tap in those crosses. He can even coach Welbeck & Macheda on the art of being in the right place at the right time, something Berbatov & Rooney also can learn
Valencia is great buy, hard working and rockhard compared to the diva Ronaldo. Give the lad a chance, nobody will be disappointed with him. And most important he wants to play for us over the madridcunts.
the problem we will face is we sign benzema/ageuro/villa….is that either berbatov/rooney will be on the bench for a match..this will not do any good bcoz we all know berba is clasy player..lethal finisher.
so we either sign some one around 15-20 m..like fabiano..luca toni..those who are willing to accept the rotation policy..
i think we mst thinking of signing maicon bcoz..if we want to challenge UCL..our team defence must be so strong and the weak point is the right back…then the question arises abt rafael.he has got all the time in the world to develope as the next cafu..
with the money in the bag we must think of signing silva/snieder/de rossi/de gastino….
signing valencia is a good move ..
1–got good pace and acceleration close to ronaldo
2–superb crossing better than ronaldo
3–tracks backs and defend no need to compare to ronaldo
4–good shot power
5–team player
6–no egos and show offs
7–better experince in BPL