Put all your partisanship aside and enjoy the ball in flight. It’s been switched crossed field from the inside-left position by the skillful, balding, English bulldog in ballet slippers to the man on the right touch in all black boots and pomade-infused black hair. Taken out of the air with the inside of the foot and stopped dead by the simplest of grace, the game has changed from a waltz on spiked Lucozade to an aguardiente-inspired pasillo remix. That sequence of events gives me joy. There is technique and there is technique. And, such deft touch is evidence of the latter. What happens next, the soccer equivalent of a crescendo, brings me happiness.
With a dip of the shoulder, a stutter step, Antonio Valencia sends his marker lunging in the wrong direction. But, neither he nor the ball has moved
. I watch this feint and think to myself, “I have seen this move before but where?” Next, with the acceleration of an Italian sports car, or a Jamaican sprinter off the blocks, Valencia explodes down the wing into the hole the defender has left gaping.
A yard of space separates him and the recovering fullback. A cross appears forthcoming, but with the smoothest inside-of-the-foot cutback Valencia sends the defender stumbling toward the byline, the ball still on the imaginary string attached to his black boot. The English pragmatist expects a cross, but ever the improviser, Valencia plays only variations on the expected theme. With the viscosity of helium gas he glides the ball with the outside of his foot on to his stronger right side. The poor defender (maybe two at this point) with “broken ankles” can only stumble and stagger. Space is now abundant. The music has intensified. Valenica can deliver the service as he wishes—a laser toward a darting pea across the box or a tasty treat to a drifting bulldog back post.
I am happy because I just saw an artist’s original expression of soccer. Or, perhaps I am happy because I saw a spirit of the game resurrected. I have seen these moves before in grainy black and white videos of the “Alegria do Povo.”
The first evidence I can find of Antonio Valencia being compared to Garrincha comes from a Man U fansite called ManUtd24 (defending Michael Carrick since 2008). That same day the Guardian put forward an article comparing him to Sir Stanley Mathews. Most commenters on both articles rejected these claims, implying that the then 24-year-old winger is good in the mold of say a Kanchelskis, but a Mathews or a Garrincha? Por favor. But, one year and an absolute shredding of purportedly the world’s best left back later, the similarities between Brazil’s favorite trickster and Ecuador’s Jewel of the Jungle are shocking, and the comparison seemingly more and more just:
How would Garrincha do in the modern game? Wonderfully. But, managers would make him track back, and his stop and start style would be anachronistic in today’s consistently faster paced tempo. Ruthless tactics may squelch his individual creativity. Even more amazing then is that Valencia’s play, and his logo-less black boots, can conjure up images and feelings of a player, of a game, that seemed extinct. Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera is not Manuel Francisco dos Santos, but doesn’t it make you happy to know that the spirit of the little bird lives?
Nate Boyden is a graduate student studying cognitive psychology and all things soccer at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Popular Ecuadorian folk music descended from the waltz.
Read More: Antonio Valencia, Garrincha
by Nate Boyden · May 27, 2011
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the tuck-and-go move is a glorious Garrinchaism which has permeated football so thoroughly. Valencia, along with Navas, is probably its finest exponent. but there was more fantasy to Garrincha’s play, more swagger. he was a fusion of Valencia and Ronaldinho. the purest jazz. effortlessly cool. the Miles Davis of soccer.
The footballing comparison is eerily accurate, though Antonio has a long way to go to match Garrincha’s proficiency in procreation.
Personally I think this shows that those that go looking for historical parallels usually find them. That said, I must put together a piece sometime that dwells on how Kevin Davies is the spiritual heir to Cruijff.
“But, one year and an absolute shredding of purportedly the world’s best left back later…” I wonder where I’ve heard that before this season?
Really well written, fluid prose. I also rarely watch clip videos all the way through, but that one is great. Thanks
@Fast Eddie Agreed. I also think Titus Bramble is the spiritual heir to Franco Baresi, perhaps we could write the piece together?
Heh, people are now agreeing with me a year on?
There is a striking resemblance and I’m not just talking about appearance; both have bandy legs and cross from the byline. The comment by Muhammad is also correct; good to see I’m not the only one who sees parallels within the two.
Anyway, I enjoyed the piece (a little more than I would any piece of writing because it linked back to my blog). Good stuff.
Valencia is quickly becoming my favorite United player. The touch he exhibits in that moment where Rooney’s cross-field pass is settled like a basketball landing in a pool of mashed potatoes is second to none. I don’t understand how anyone could compare Valencia to Kevin Davies or Titus Bramble. No offense to either of these two, but Valencia is miles above both. You know what you’re going to get from Tony game in game out. I expect him to take Abidal, or Maxwell, or Puyol, or whoever else plays at left-back tomorrow for quite a trip.
@LC It’s a joke, see.
This is all well and good, but the 1 thing that pisses me off about Valencia is his left foot. Its a joke. Its there only for balance. Im quite sure he is the most one footed player in England, maybe Europe. VDS must be having more touches of the ball with left foot in a game than him!
@TitusBramble @FastEddie It seems to me that the piece implicitly states Valencia is not Garrincha. Rather, the similarities bring the writer nostalgically back to watching Garrincha.
@Brouhaha See, I don’t think so. It’s kind of like a joke, but then it becomes the type of smug, condescending comment people make on this type of interface because they know they won’t experience immediate backlash.
@Titus Bramble: Only if we can compare Bolton-Sunderland with Netherlands-Holland 1978. I’m sure that there are plenty of Bramble own goals that we can splice with footage of Haan’s og in that game. Though perhaps not as many efforts like the fantastic 40-yard screamer that he then redeemed himself with
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR27qbP9A08)
@nedders: That’s definitely the vibe that I get from the first half of the piece. Then we get something like “the similarities between Brazil’s favorite trickster and Ecuador’s Jewel of the Jungle are shocking” and a video that stacks one alongside the other. And that’s what made me smile
@LC: Yes, that’s it exactly. I dared to express a wiry amusement at this sort of exercise precisely because I was protected by internet anonymity. Had Nate Boyden been sitting across the pub table from me then I would of course have bitten my tongue, gazed meekly at my shoes and mumbled something about the excellent writing. Particularly so if he was waving a broken bottle in my face
That last bit’s another joke. I don’t know Nate Boyden at all but he seems far too nice to try to put me to sleep
@LC uhm… yeah. Why would you write that a winger playing for Man Utd. is miles above a striker playing for Bolton, and a centre-half infamous for his error-prone ways? Isn’t captain obvious, well, obvious? Granted, newcomers will be newcomers. Cheers!
I too love Valencia BUT:
I feel like I’ve read this post 100 times before- a description of a soccer move pumped full of metaphors set to some music that nobody actually knows. I realize that Brian can’t write every post, and its unreasonable to expect every contributor to live up to his standard – which is why everyone should stop trying to BE him and instead find a style of their own.
I absolutely love this post, and this entire blog. Beautiful prose. Hooked on this shit.
Valencia is one of the few Manchester United players I can stomach watching, but I’m willing to give it time.
Garrincha deserves to be spoken about more often, so kudos Nate.
@brouhaha @fasteddie @ titusbramble I am currently working on a piece which illustrates how you three are, in no particular order, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, and Lloyd Christmas. Again, I must stress, in no particular order.
@LC I assume you like when point guard Xavi dishes an assist to small forward Messi? Grow up man..
@brouhaha Xavier plays football, as does Messi. Point guards and small forwards are basketball positions.
@brouhaha I’d much prefer power forward Rooney feeding shooting guard Hernandez right down the middle of the lane, sir.
@LC Yeah, second time round you understood it eh? Grats mate. Oh and as it turns out, the Barça left back was in for quite a ride, but not for the movement of Tono Maravilla. Valencia didn’t turn up tonight. Abidal did. “[Abidal] is an example. Not just to us but to everyone of what it means to fight and to battle and to come out on top. He is an example of humanity”, as the great Xavi said.
Whoever posted as “Anon”…………well done. This blog is aces .But the fella known as “Brian Phillips” is tack sharp and seems to inspire others to aspire at times, annoyingly.
With that out of the way, Valencia was $#!+ today! All he did was run around and kick everyone.
@brouhaha Barcelona is the most skillful, patient, and intelligent team I have ever seen. Tony Valencia never had a chance
So Valencia was just about the worst player on the pitch today. Unfortunate timing for this piece I guess. Still enjoyed watching the clip video.
@LC I hope we can put this messi business behind us..
@Brouhaha Freudian slip much?
From what I have seen of Garrincha, he was some player in his prime and often favoured to Pele in Brazil.
He’s a player that is often overlooked however his story is fascinating, not just for his football but for his antics off the pitch. ‘Garrincha’ by Ruy Castro gives a great account of his tragic life.
@brouhaha We can- at least until next year when these teams meet again.
@brouhaha We can- at least until next year, when they meet again. Hopefully then Fergie will have got a proper defensive midfielder to help cover the back four.
Oh man, did you ever see such a plaintive performance in a CL final than Valencia’s. Ghastly to watch. By the time the referee finally saw fit to card him, I was just pleading for Sir Alec to sub him off.
Poor bastard.
@LC I’d say what they need is a midfielder with fantasy, which, as Didier Deschamps said, Man Utd desperately lack. It isn’t sound to trust these duties to a 37 year old winger-cum-midfielder.
@brouhaha Anybody’d benefit from a fantasista tucked in behind the forwards, but I think Rooney will slowly, but surely, start filling that role. We saw glimspes of that this season, and I think eventually he’ll take on a Bobby Charlton-esque role within the team. And as underrated as Carrick may be, I have faith in him. His confidence has taken an absolute beating these past couple of seasons, but I think he will come good. Call it naive, or ignorant, but I have faith in the guy. He can be an absolutely excellent passer. Get some cover for the back four, and the rest of the team will continue to work, and work, and work.