Manchester United surprised a few people when they overlooked the talents of players like Nathaniel Clyne and Seamus Coleman and instead put their faith in Matteo Darmian for right back.
But the Italy international has had a sensational year and really come to fore for club and country.
And, in his first two games for Manchester United, he has showed many of the qualities that interested Louis van Gaal in the first place.
Darmian in quick and athletic.
He loves to get forward and has the ground speed to beat his man and get to the byline.
He also seems brave enough to make forward runs even if he sometimes risks leaving himself and his defence exposed – Manchester United fans have always loved these types of buccaneering defenders.
But there has been one worrying element to his game in the few minutes we have seen him so far – and that’s his distribution.
A bad pass led to the San Jose goal in United’s 3-1 win on Wednesday and it certainly wasn’t the only time that the lad gave the ball away when under no real pressure.
Darmian: Mistakes
In his defence, he is of course new to the team and still learning the ropes.
But he’s no kid. At 25 and coming from one of the best countries in the world for defenders, he needs to quickly learn that if he gives the ball away cheaply in The Premier League he will be benched very quickly.
Antonio Valencia may not be a specialist right back.
But the 29 year old is a trusted member of Louis van Gaal’s squad and he will be pushing hard for the right back berth next season at Manchester United.
And, although Darmian has shown promise in his two performances so far, the idea is surely to keep it simple when you start your career at a new club.
These worrying stray passes from Darmian may well see Valencia get the nod at the start of the season, if he has sufficient time to prove his fitness.
a
Jul 23, 2015 at 4:18 am
Couldn’t agree more. He’s a super talented guy and has great mental and physical attributes which we need in a right back but his passing has been sub Par. One that improves he will be a rediculously good right back for the next 5+years.
Owaga
Jul 23, 2015 at 8:20 am
even Valencia gives balls very easily.We should not pretend that now we’ve forgotten what he did when Man United were playing against Arsenal:Valencia took the ball and gave it to Welbeck.And what happened?we lost 2-1 after enjoying a ball posession of 60per cent.If LVG thinks Matteo is not good enough then he should sign another right-fullback but not Valencia.
Owaga
Jul 23, 2015 at 8:22 am
even Valencia gives away balls very easily.We should not pretend that now we’ve forgotten what he did when Man United were playing against Arsenal:Valencia took the ball and gave it to Welbeck.And what happened?we lost 2-1 after enjoying a ball posession of 60per cent.If LVG thinks Matteo is not good enough then he should sign another right-fullback but not Valencia.