The Nani State: Manchester United Star at a Crossroads

It catches players out every time. They say you’re most likely to let your guard down when feeling most comfortable, and it is a notion regularly backed up by the actions of players on international duty. Foreign players in England learn very quickly not to trust the quicksilver English media, and soon grow suspicious of the tricky interviewer looking to exploit language barriers to conjure juicier quotes. Consequently, where your average foreign player is concerned, not too many controversial, loud backpages actually originate from words spoken to the press on these shores.

But whatever it is about being back home for international duty – the sense of freedom, the familiarities, the home comforts – it all seems to loosen the tongue nicely, leaving the affable local journalist needing only the slightest bit of cajoling in a relaxed atmosphere to be able to grab that salacious blockbuster headline. A few weeks ago, the latest player to fall into this trap was Manchester United’s Luis Nani, who felt relaxed enough while with the Portugal squad to let loose these comments about Sir Alex Ferguson to Portuguese newspaper I:

“Ferguson is a very complicated man,” said Nani. “He’s tough. If things are all right, then they are all right. But when he thinks something is wrong, everything is screwed. He can go from complimenting you to just plain trashing you in a matter of minutes. Has it happened to me? Hell, yes. He’ll say ‘Nani, how could you miss this or this’? He shouts at players in front of everyone. No-one escapes, everybody is the same.”

“People expect more from me and it’s not easy. But they are also not doing what they said they were going to,” he said. “I know it would be better if I scored more goals. I can have a spectacular game but nobody guarantees me I will be starting the next match. It shatters your confidence. I did not play the important matches, against Liverpool, Manchester City or Tottenham. Not playing these games, I am a bit sad. But for now I am not considering leaving.”

‘Gotcha!’ the journalists at I must have thought before shipping these quotes off to every English newspaper in the land. Before long, in a quiet international break, the headlines were out. Ferguson was ‘killing Nani’s career.’ The papers had their filler.

Now usually I treat these sort of blockbuster back page exclusives with the deepest of mistrust. I’m still young, but already I’ve seen too many of them in my time to realise that often these so-called exclusives involve no more than someone at a desk in an office putting two and two together to make three thousand. Nani’s case however is different.

Ferguson’s actions since Nani went public highlight the authenticity of the Portuguese winger’s words. First the United boss stuttered in a press conference about the trickery of local journalists on international breaks and how often players get caught out. Then he dropped Nani for the 3-0 win against Everton last weekend. Then he left him on the bench against Besiktas despite playing a team of fringe players, and neglected to bring Nani on even when United were 1-0 down and desperate for cutting edge. None of this bodes well for a player who is clearly coming to a crossroads at Manchester United.

A career in 3 parts

Unfortunately, Nani’s Manchester United career hasn’t really taken off on the trajectory his skills and talent would have you imagine it would. Part of that is Nani’s own fault, of course. His decision-making remains as wildly desperate as it was when he joined the Red Devils in July 2007, his crossing hasn’t markedly improved and his shooting still dances that fine line between jaw-droppingly brilliant and eye-rollingly erratic. Unfulfilled promise has been the order of the day for Nani at United so far, with a side portion of huge frustration.

But while the player must inevitably look at himself to rectify the situation, to my mind Nani has also suffered to an extent because of the circumstances in relation to players around him at Old Trafford. For me, Nani’s United career equates to the classic play in three parts, where each part represents a different United player. The interconnections between player, Nani and the club’s supporters then dictates how the story unfolds.

Part 1 in the story is Nani & Cristiano Ronaldo.

When Nani joined United in 2007, the club had just won their first league title in 4 years thanks in no small part to Ronaldo, who scored 23 goals and picked up a hat-trick of Player of the Year awards. The similarities between the two players meant comparisons were inevitable – both Portuguese, both Sporting Lisbon academy graduates, both pacy wingers, both two-footed, both immensely skilful. For most United supporters, this was Ronaldo mkII.

Nani lived in the shadow of his compatriot during this time, showing the odd glimpse of his own undoubted potential in sporadic cup and league appearances before clearing the way for his mentor to hog centre stage in important games. You always got the feeling that if Nani was ever going to make Old Trafford his own stage, it would not be with Ronaldo around.

So from a personal point of view, Nani must have relished the increase in responsibility at United when in summer 2009 Ronaldo left for Real Madrid. The play
er said as much himself: “Ronaldo was a very important player for us but now my opportunity has come,” said the 23-year-old. “The time has come for United to put their trust in me.”

Part 2 - Nani & Luis Antonio Valencia

United did as the Portuguese winger asked. Nani has made 6 league starts up to November 27. In the whole of 2008/2009 he only started 7 league games. Yet while Ferguson seemed keen to give Nani a chance early on in the 09/10 campaign, lately things have faltered and Nani has started just 1 of the last 5 league games.

With a discernible improvement in Nani’s game not clear to most United supporters, the moans and groans of the terraces are growing in audibility. The tricks don’t come off, the wasting of good wide positions still remains, decision-making hasn’t markedly improved. Meanwhile, on the right hand side, Antonio Valencia adjusts to the art of wing play rather easily, his no-nonsense ‘get the ball, run down the wing, put in a cross’ style endearing himself to many while proving a distinct contrast to the stuttering twists and turns on the opposite flank.

All this seems to have knocked Nani’s confidence. The new wing wizard was meant to be him, not Valencia.

Part 3 – Nani & Gabriel Obertan – The final curtain?

In the final act, with Nani’s position at the club now under the spotlight, and having talked his way into trouble with the boss, along comes another flying winger to add yet further scrutiny. That young pretender is Gabriel Obertan, a marauding French magician with numerous tricks up his sleeve but, importantly, an additional directness and decisiveness to his game that brings far greater innovation and clarity to United’s attacks than Nani’s unpredictable dallying. The worry for Nani now is that, having been prime candidate for the role of post-Ronaldo chief creator in wide areas, he has been usurped by Valencia and is currently seeing his position erode behind Obertan back to that of impact sub, where it all began two and a half years ago. His thunderous face when taken off against Blackburn Rovers, in place of Obertan, told the full story.

It seems wholly evident that Nani has arrived at a crossroads at Manchester United. He is an all-round more skilful player than United’s other options in wide areas – Valencia, Ji-Sung Park et al, and offers a dazzling concoction of pace, trickery and unpredictability drawn from being comfortable with either foot. After his man of the match exploits for Portugal against Bosnia-Herzegovina, anyone in that part of the world will tell you he’s a great player.

But alas, Nani’s unpredictability is starting to get the better of him at Old Trafford, and one gets the impression Ferguson is starting to consider setting the stopwatch on the Portuguese winger’s United career. It is up to the player to try and make sure there is added time.

Does Nani have a future at Manchester United? Or should he be sold and a replacement winger brought in? Comments welcome.

English Premier League, Manchester United, Nani, Portugal