On 20 September 2011, journalists and supporters alike were left agog when the news broke of Sir Alex Ferguson’s team selection for United’s League Cup tie at Leeds United.
A selection tombola, it seemed, had been activated and gone haywire for the trip to face the Championship side. The team bore 11 changes from that which had beaten Chelsea in the Premier League two days earlier. With midfielder Michael Carrick joining debutant Zeki Fryers at centre-back, with Mame Biram Diouf and Kiko Macheda on opposite flanks in what was essentially a 4-2-4 formation, the maiden deployment of Antonio Valencia at right-back hardly warranted a raised eyebrow. Even at the end of the game, when further injuries prompted Dimitar Berbatov to join Carrick, Valencia and Fabio in a ludicrous back four, the Ecuadorian’s role in proceedings – a comprehensive 3-0 win – represented only a sliver of a subplot.
So understated and accomplished was Valencia’s display, in fact, that when Jonny Evans pulled up injured during the warm-up four days later at Stoke, Ferguson had no qualms in fielding the Ecuadorian at right-back in a reshuffled defence. One lapse in concentration aside, which David De Gea covered for anyway, Antonio stood firm amid one of the Premier League’s toughest examinations at a blustery Britannia Stadium. When orthodox full-back Fabio da Silva returned in United’s next outing and duly joined the walking wounded, Valencia then started his third game of four at right-back in a 2-0 win over Norwich. Again, one slip aside, he acquitted himself capably.
A few weeks later, he reflected: “I was obviously happy to do that - especially when he [Sir Alex] mentioned that it was only for a brief period - but I am more comfortable in my own position."
At the time, he was clear that he was only chipping in for the good of the team. Just over five years on from his first defensive outing, there is a compelling case to be made that Valencia is now a bona fide right-back, with Italian international Matteo Darmian and Dutch prodigy Tim Fosu-Mensah both currently behind the Ecuadorian in Jose Mourinho’s positional pecking order.
It was the Portuguese’s predecessor, Louis van Gaal, who had the most profound influence on Valencia’s change in role. Ferguson first seriously noted the winger’s defensive potential just three months into his first season at Old Trafford, when he completely nullified Chelsea's attacking left-back Ashley Cole in a withdrawn role at Stamford Bridge in October 2009. But whereas Ferguson only used Valencia as a defender 10 times in four seasons and both David Moyes and Ryan Giggs used him as a right-back only once in their respective tenures, van Gaal never deployed Valencia as a winger during his two years in charge. Only once could the Ecuadorian lay claim to a relatively attacking role, when he was used on the right side of a midfield diamond against Everton in September 2014.
Early in the Dutchman’s tenure, Valencia gently maintained the sense of coercion about the situation, saying: "The manager has decided to play me in a number of positions. These are decisions he takes and what I do is take them on board and put them into practice.”
The ravaging run of injuries which decimated van Gaal’s defence meant that Valencia ended the 2014/15 campaign with 13 successive starts at right-back, during which time his resistance broke and he ultimately conceded: "I quite enjoy it, I’m happy there. It works well and I’ve played a lot there this season.”
He did admit, however, that he still had work to do in order to learn his new role. “When I go forward to overlap, I’ve always got to be conscious about getting back and it’s a lot more dangerous,” he conceded. “If you do leave room for people, they can hurt you. This is different to the position I’m used to playing in, where you can be less cautious when attacking. It’s been a hard position to learn, but the key is to keep your concentration for the entire 90 minutes. You’ve really got to be on the ball for all that time "
Just as Valencia was coming to terms with his retreat down the pitch, he was dealt a double blow in 2015/16 with the arrival of Darmian from Torino and a foot injury which ruled him out from late October to mid-March. In spite of those factors, plus the sudden emergence of the exciting young Fosu-Mensah, Valencia ended the campaign with a dozen starts, all of which came at right-back, including the FA Cup final victory over Crystal Palace, where Jesse Lingard’s winner stemmed from Valencia’s powerful work down the right.
Therein lies the secret weapon behind Antonio’s successful conversion: his athleticism. While he has been learning the tactical and positional nuances of being a defender, he has often called upon the insurance of his staggering pace and power. With arms the size of legs and legs akin to tank tread, the Ecuadorian is a physical specimen the like of which Old Trafford has seldom seen.
It is all the more remarkable that those attributes come in spite of the horrific injury which threatened his career in September 2010. An innocuous tangle with Rangers’ Kirk Broadfoot left the Ecuadorian with a broken leg, dislocated ankle and the prognosis of a season on the sidelines. Less than six months later he returned and appeared in 16 of the last 17 games of the season. Many players who suffer such injuries end up lamenting the moment their careers were rerouted down a trickier path; Valencia somehow returned stronger and faster.
To suffer two serious leg injuries in one hit, yet return as a better athlete, is a feat which beggars belief and marks the Ecuadorian out as a curiosity in the kindest possible sense. The same applies to the timing of his positional reinvention. Such changes usually occur either in a player’s formative years (midfielder-turned-defender Paddy McNair) or in their twilight (winger-turned-midfielder Ryan Giggs), but Valencia’s evolution has straddled his 30th birthday.
It is currently two-and-a-half years on from his last start as a winger, however, and even Gary Neville now sees Valencia as a defensive player. “I’d say now he’s probably a full-back,” says the legendary Reds defender. “He is so responsible, dependable and committed that it’s been a very good transition. He’s done brilliantly well.
“He’s got the temperament to be a defender and the ability and strength to cope with most things. This season he had a tough first half in the Premier League game against Manchester City when he didn’t have the experience of 300 or 400 games you need to cope with what was a high level of approach from City – knowing the minutiae of when to be in, when to be out. But I would have struggled myself with that type of quality.
“The thing for him is that he’s physically equipped. He’s a very good tackler, very good at taking the ball off you. As a full-back, there were some attackers you could try and take on in your own defensive third, knowing full well that you could take them on, but you would never take on Rooney, Valencia or Giggsy because they were very good defenders. We’re seeing that now with Antonio as a full-back.”
A rare blend of attributes sets Valencia apart in the world of modern full-backs, while his consistently impressive form has prompted Ander Herrera to proffer: “I know he’s not a normal right-back because he used to play as a winger, but I think, right now, he is the best right-back in the world, maybe with Dani Alves.”
In keeping with his character, the humble hulk merely flat-batted the praise, saying: “I’m grateful for Ander’s kind words, but what I try to do is to simply work hard every day in training. I want to put a shift in for United, the team that I love. I always want to give everything for this team. I’m not interested in personal glory like that, not at all! Of course, it’s really nice of Ander to have said that, but what I’m all about is just working hard.”
A curious situation has quietly developed since Valencia last started a match as a Manchester United winger: he is being touted as one of the game’s eminent full-backs without publicly acknowledging himself as one. His positional shift has been one of the sleeper hits of United’s post-Ferguson years and, while his perception remains blurred, it is clear Jose Mourinho sees the Ecuadorian as the right man to be right-back.
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