Louis Van Gaal has revealed that Valdes’ future does not lie at United. The boss says that Valdes did not follow the philosophy that needs to be followed in order to play for Manchester United. During last season, the ex-Barcelona keeper refused to play for the second team which infringed upon United philosophy, according to Van Gaal.
Victor Was Always Number One
Prior to signing for United last January, Victor Valdes had spent his entire career at Barcelona, only being second choice keeper for his first season. For the next 11 seasons he was first choice.
He never really had it difficult at Barcelona where he’d have a solid and experienced defense in front of him. He also had an increasingly goal-crazy set of forwards, to make up for any mistakes he may make in net. The Spaniard had the legendary Carles Puyol defending him for 9 of his 11 seasons at Barca, who was accompanied by the likes of Frank de Boer, Edmilson, Eric Abidal and, most recently; Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano, so he never had it too hard, especially considering the low standard of 80% of the teams in La Liga.
But if Victor was having a bad day at Camp Nou, he could always rely upon some of the greatest goalscorers in the world to nullify his mistakes. Obviously in recent times he’s had, who some consider to be the best footballer in the world, Lionel Messi smashing in 30+ goals a season but before Messi, and during the Flea’s early years, Barca have had an epic strike force. David Villa, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Patrick Kluivert, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Super Samuel Eto’o are just some of the incredible strikers that have been able to score more than the opposition at almost any given moment.
Not to say that he hasn’t had pressure, which he has. Being at one of the best clubs in the world will always be accompanied by pressure from the fans and the world press; but the pressure is softened when the rest of the team outscoring nearly every opponent in each game, and you’re being covered by elite defenders.
His United Career
Valdes made two first team appearances for United in his first season with the Reds. He was subbed on against Arsenal in the final quarter of an hour, but conceded from a deflected shot. But he did keep a clean sheet against Hull in the last game of the season.
He wasn’t given much of a chance with Manchester United, mainly down to how amazing David De Gea has been however; after watching De Gea in such great form over the last few years, Valdes did look a lot more like a second choice keeper rather than a trusted memeber of the starting XI. This may be down to him lacking first team football, or just trying to find his feet in a new league.
What This Means For The Red Devils
Hopefully, the club will get some income for a player who as signed as a free agent. In terms of the team it could mean that United become even more reluctant to sell De Gea to Real Madrid due to a lack of replacement or put the price up further.
There have been many rumors involving supposed swap deals for De Gea which have included Iker Casillas or Sergio Ramos. It was also suggested that a three way agreement was taking place between Madrid, United and Spurs where: De Gea would go to Spain; Casillas would move to Tottenham and; Hugo Lloris would come to Old Trafford.
With Madrid no longer having Casillas, you would think that their bargaining power has lowered and they’ve become more desperate for a top goalie. Now that Valdes is apparently on the way out of United, it could be seen that the Red Devils have more bargaining power with Madrid as it’s now even more imperative that they keep De Gea.
However, Victor may have been good for Manchester United in the Champions League as he has a lot of experience in the competition. This being said, he would have been a big risk as first choice in the Premier League. It’s very unclear if he’d be able to handle the high caliber opponents every week in the Premier League, especially with United’s currently lacking a full set of world class defenders.
2 replies on “Victor Valdes' True Class Revealed”
What an arrogant take! Ben Chopping concludes: “It’s very unclear if he’d be able to handle the high caliber opponents every week in the Premier League”, unbelievable! Are we talking EPL? The same league that couldn’t produce one team in CL Quarter Final within the past two years? Forget Barcelona & Real Madrid, which are 10 times better than any EPL team; which team in EPL is better than Valencia? Or Seville? Or At. Madrid? The superiority complex of a league that couldn’t produce a team to beat PSG with 10 men and was stripped by Barcelona (MC) in the past two seasons is stunning. LVG is a perfect fit for EPL; what did he win in the past decade? Noting!!! Which league has the top 20 players in the world? EPL? I don’t think so! Victor Valdes is one of the best goalies in the world and if anything, MU should be honored to have him. Instead, they kicked to the curb players like Falcoe, Di Maria, VP, and top players like Tavez, Bale and Suarez moved away to win big trophies and acclaim. MU is a mid table team with the worst coach they could ever get, and I respect Valdes for telling LVG to go where the sun doesn’t shine, because David the Gea isn’t staying out of his free will, he will be a free agent next summer.
Mr. Zaft
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