Valencia Reveals Mourinho Influence

It has been a memorable few months for Antonio Valencia. Two Player of the Month awards out of three, a new contract and rave reviews from his manager, who named him the best right-back in the world.

The man himself was as modest as ever when he sat down to discuss his season so far with the official matchday programme, United Review, insisting he does not consider himself to be the best, but adds that he thinks he is "doing a good job and performing well, which I’m very pleased about."

Valencia does, however, attribute his consistently impressive displays to the level of confidence Jose Mourinho has given him and he's not about to rest on his laurels.

"I think, when you are playing with confidence, you do things differently. I have to thank the manager in that respect for the backing he has given me," the Ecuadorian explained in an interview ahead of Saturday's Watford clash.

"I thank him for his kind words and it’s definitely an extra motivation. I'm working very hard for sure."

After expressing his delight at penning a new deal until the end of the 2017/18 season, the winger-turned-full-back, who signed for United in 2009, also reflected on his time with the Reds to date.

"When I arrived at the club, my goal was to try to stay here and remain in the team as long as I could and win trophies along the way," he explained. "Also to always focus my mind on training hard and getting plenty of rest in order to be able to stay at United for a long time.

"So far this season, things have been going really well for me and, as I said before, it’s the backing of the manager that has given me a real confidence boost."