Happy birthday, Nani, 22-years-old today! He is
currently in Brazil with Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of Portugal’s
friendly with Brazil.
In modern football, 22 is no longer that young. Just think,
Wayne Rooney is 22-years-old and this is his seventh season of
Premiership football!
Plenty of comparisons have been made between Ronaldo and Nani,
with them both being Portuguese and joining us from the same club.
Whatever differences you may believe there is between them, the
most striking difference is the amount of football Ronaldo enjoyed
when he first joined, unlike Nani who is still waiting for his
break.
There is less than two years difference between the two players,
yet their development is miles apart. Whilst we didn’t see the
blinding shots Nani produced against Tottenham and Middlesbrough in
Ronaldo’s first season with the club, he played far more than Nani
has done since joining us.
Surely if we want to see the best of Nani, he needs to be played
much more often than he has been so far. This would come at the
cost of Ji-Sung Park and maybe even Ronaldo himself, but if we’re
looking for someone to step in to Ronaldo’s shoes, isn’t it time we
gave him the opportunity to move up a gear?
He is frustrating to watch, shooting when he should pass,
passing when he should shoot, but his judgement can only improve if
he’s given time on the field. It’s hard to think back and remember
what Ronaldo used to be like, given his outstanding status in World
football at the moment, but he wasn’t that great when he first
joined. One trick pony he used to be called, remember? The
difference is, Ronaldo was 18-years-old back then and it took him a
good few years of playing week in week out to get him to where he
is now.
If we want to see Nani develop in the same way, it’s time to
give him his starting place.
http://bleacherreport.com
