Jose met the media of the world today, ahead of Manchester United’s midweek clash against a Crystal Palace side who will provide a stern test. The winter period is well in full swing now, and it’s going to be a hectic few weeks for the players, so Mourinho needs to rest and rotate his squad.
However, the manager has been forced into one change for this one, due to the fact that Antonio Valencia picked up his fifth booking of the season and is suspended.
That didn’t stop Jose Mourinho heaping the praise on our 31-year-old right-back, who is playing some stellar football to kick off the 2016/17 campaign.
“It’s a loss as he is playing phenomenally and having a great season.” The Daily Express quote our manager as saying.
“He likes to attack and was previously a winger, so he’s happy with the way the team plays.”
“But he’s suspended and that’s football, a feature of that, and we have to trust other players.” The gaffer ended.
Jose is 100% spot on. I’d personally go as far as saying that Valencia is probably the best performing right-back in the Premier League at the moment, and that is testament to his character as a person. Let’s not forget, it wasn’t that long ago he was ruled out for way over six months after suffering a horrific injury.
Now he’s become a mainstay in the Manchester United starting eleven, and although he’ll only be out for one game, it is a huge miss.
In terms of replacements, the most obvious choice would be bringing in Ashley Young to play there. Either that, or switch Matteo Darmian to right-back and play Daley Blind on the left-hand side.
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