Antonio Valencia has paid tribute to Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho for giving the Ecuadorian a new lease of life at the club. The former Wigan Athletic winger, who moved to Old Trafford in 2009, has been a mainstay in the Portuguese’s plans at right back this season, and has won the club’s Player of the Month award twice in the last three months.
Valencia puts that down to the manager himself, in an interview with United Review published by Manutd.com;
“I think, when you are playing with confidence, you do things differently. I have to thank the manager in that respect for the backing he has given me. I thank him for his kind words and it’s definitely an extra motivation. I’m working very hard for sure.”
“When I arrived at the club, my goal was to try to stay here and remain in the team as long as I could and win trophies along the way,” he explained. “Also to always focus my mind on training hard and getting plenty of rest in order to be able to stay at United for a long time.
“So far this season, things have been going really well for me and, as I said before, it’s the backing of the manager that has given me a real confidence boost.”
