Valencia reveals to have been dropped by Mourinho at Man Utd, not rested
The Ecuador full-back may be club captain at Old Trafford, but following a spell on the sidelines, he has been nudged down the pecking order.
The 33-year-old defender is club captain, but has taken in an eventful 2018-19 campaign.
Antonio began the season with a knock and in early October, he found himself back on the sidelines.
A slip out of the first XI coincided with Valencia liking a post on Instagram calling for Mourinho to be sacked by the United board.
However, the Ecuadorian apologised for his actions, which he put down to a simple mistake, and claimed to be “fully supportive” of Mourinho.
Mourinho has kept Valencia out of action and he has revealed after scoring for his country in a clash with Peru that a lack of domestic football is down to being dropped.
“Right now I haven’t been playing, but it’s more of a tactical decision. He told Area Deportiva “The player who has been playing in my position [Ashley Young] has been doing well. You need to respect the decision.
“One thing I can do is prepare and be ready for when Mourinho needs me and be in the right state of mind to compete. I’m calm at the moment and I know I’ll get my chance to play again.
“The relationship with Mourinho has been a good one.”
Valencia scored for his country in a 2-0 victory on Thursday and will head back to England with the intention of forcing his way back into United squad.
He will not play for Ecuador against Panama, with a return to full match fitness set to be sought in Manchester.
“I told the coach that I can only play the Peru match, because the recovery time with Panama is smaller and I asked him to let me return to the club,” said Valencia.
United will return to Premier League action on November 24 when they entertain Crystal Palace to Old Trafford.
Presently, they sat eighth in the table, 12 points off leaders and local rival Manchester City and seven adrift of the top four.
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