Boss salutes new wing wizard

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Sir Alex isn’t in the habit of announcing his team too far in advance, but the United boss has confirmed Antonio Valencia will start against Boca Juniors in Munich on Wednesday.

The Ecuadorian winger will pull on a Reds shirt for the first time when United kick off the two-day Audi Cup competition against the Argentinean giants.

“Valencia didn’t join us in the Far East because he was behind the rest of the squad in terms of his fitness,” Sir Alex said.

“He’s been back at Carrington doing his endurance and speed work, catching up with everyone else.”

And although it’s unrealistic to expect Valencia to step straight into Cristiano Ronaldo’s shoes, the United manager is confident he’s found a player who will go from strength to strength.

“We lost Ronaldo in the summer and he’s someone who gave us 26 goals last season. It’s going to be hard to replace him and we hope we can find an answer to that.

“We’ve signed Valencia, who has a lot of potential – he’s young, very athletic and possesses good power. At 23 years of age I think he can develop at our club.”

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Sir Alex Ferguson singled out Antonio Valencia for special praise, after the Ecuadorian laid on two goals in an impressive home debut.

The summer signing from Wigan Athletic crossed for Wayne Rooney and Tom Cleverley to bag the telling goals against Valencia, and generally caught the eye for his robust, direct approach at both ends of the pitch.

“The important thing for me was Valencia’s performance, I thought he was very, very good,” Sir Alex told MUTV. “He’s got great balance and he’s got power and speed. Coming to our club, he’s immediately taken the challenge well and with purpose, so we’re very pleased with what we’ve seen so far.”

While Valencia’s contribution merited special praise, Sir Alex could also reflect on a string of fine performances as his side deservedly edged an entertaining game. A glut of young talents hinted at a bright future, while the Reds’ forward line created chances with promising regularity.

“It was an opportunity to play a lot of the younger players,” he said. “Tom Cleverley scored, Darron Gibson had two fantastic shots from outside the box – he showed his power tonight, which is pleasing – and Ritchie De Laet and Fabio gave excellent performances.

“I also thought Macheda’s movement in the last third was fantastic. For a 17-year-old, he’s something special. Michael (Owen) showed marvellous movement. He should’ve scored four, but he was unlucky with the first one that he just chipped it over the goalkeeper’s shoulder and by the post. He deserved at least one of them."