Letter to Brian Woolnough (Daily Star)

This is my response to Brian Woolnough's rather shocking, sloppy and completely unnecessary personal attack on Nani (one of the player's of the season) after he had...the cheek to score a goal...

Re:

What on EARTH have I just read!!? Was your article in
yesterday's Daily Star a joke? Or have you simply
been mistakenly divulging yourself into the videos of Nani over the last
few seasons instead of any footage from Saturday vs. Spurs? Seriously, I kept
having to check the date on the top of the paper...whether it was really written
in 2010.

Nani is by FAR our United's most pivotal - let alone our
most improved - player this season. Everything goes through him. And as for his
work rate? Whereas some inevitable Ronaldo comparisons are made relating to
skill and shooting ability, the effort that Nani puts into every performance is
something he possesses over the great (but often lazy) Ronaldo.

Nani is the epitome of the talented, yet sometimes petulant, boy who has been
nurtured and in turn been given his opportunity to flourish into the confident,
competent man he is.

However amidst the overflow of praise he received for his incredible
performance at the weekend (some journalists calling his cheeky dose of
opportunism ‘Best-esque’ and ‘the making of Nani’), people like you have to
jump on the opposing and very dated bandwagon of that has been created due to
his delayed progression and tarnished reputation.

So he rolled around like a baby after he thought he should’ve
been awarded a pen (which he had every right to do)…so what? Was he diving around
all game? Looking for every opportunity to win an unfair free-kick? Or was he
instead providing goals (Vidic for the opener), scoring them (the second) and generally
looking for every opportunity to win the game for his team? I think you know the
answer, however unfortunately, where as others decided to praise his talent,
you decided to call him ‘the most annoying player in the Premier League’, ‘Didier
Drogba at his embarrassing diving best’ and a ‘big baby’. Why? Because that opinion
– one lacking any real insight into current form or progression – is the more
controversial one. And all journalists love is to be controversial.

Don't get me wrong. Nani of old – you know, the one in those clips from 2008/09
that you’ve been watching – was frustrating beyond belief. Not only for the
amounts of talent he possessed but consequently wasted, however for his playacting
and ability to go down rather easily that he surely learnt off his mentor,
Ronaldo. However the new Nani – the one who made his glittering ‘debut’ in the 4-0
home win against Hull in the league
last season – is a hanged player. A grafter as well as a the key provider and scorer
of clinical goals. And above all, he has overcome adversity when thought of as
a liabilty in the side to become the greatest source of inspiration in a United
side that, at times this season, lacks any inspiration at all.

All I urge is for you to rethink your inaccurate yet rather conclusive
view of Nani, overlook the fact that he was annoyed at not being awarded a
penalty (which essentially is ALL it was) and look at the asset he has become. Mark
my words, he has changed. And as if it really needs pointing out, this is deservedly his season.

All the best,

The Cockney Red