Following his missed penalty, and in predictable fashion, Nani is being slated by a select few of the Manchester United supporters, but these type of antics not only get old quick, but they are usually not justified.
Yes, this is the same player received all sorts of praise from supporters and critics following his mature performances in the second-half of last season.
But now that he “cost” United all three points – despite making more of an impact in the match than Antonio Valencia in half the time on the field – Nani is now being deemed that he isn’t quality enough to make the grade at Old Trafford.
A lot of people, including Sir Alex Ferguson, were shocked that Ryan Giggs did not take the penalty, but to his credit, Nani took the weight of taking a penalty on his shoulders.
Rightfully so as well, because United cannot keep relying on the old guard of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville (when fit), so it is vital for the younger players to want to take a leadership role.
They will make mistakes (hopefully not too costly) along the way, but that is how players grow in stature – learning from their own misfortunes.
Shift
Dimitar Berbatov must be loving this, because now the unjust verbal attacks that are usually aimed towards him have has been directed at Portuguese winger.
As he has done in pre-season and the start of the season, Berbatov was one of the better performers in the match against Fulham, and he was unlucky to not have gotten on the scoresheet.
A lot of the blame for United’s loss will fall on Nani’s capable shoulders, but the supporters should remember that it wasn’t his switching off and slack marking which led Brede Hangeland’s equalizer.
To be brutally honest, Manchester United were lucky to escape with a point, because Fulham were well worth the share of the points at Craven Cottage.
The author of this post, David T. Hammons, runs the website The United Religion.
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