Nani Must Grow Up To Fulfill His Potential

Manchester United's talented young winger Nani has shown elements of brilliance since arriving in Manchester, but is vastly gaining more of a reputation for being a petulant child who sulks when he doesn't get his way.

Signed as a replacement for the unreplaceable Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani has replicated his national teammate in rapidly becoming one of the pantomime villains of the Premier League. For all the talent Nani has displayed, he will forever be held back from reaching his undoubted potential unless he quits whining, complaining and just gets on with his football.

A couple of weeks ago Nani proclaimed himself as one of the best footballers on the planet; this is just the opposite of what he should be doing. Nani should let everyone else judge him instead of outwardly displaying his ego. He should take on the criticism aimed at him, which right now is that he lacks the consistency or temperament to be in the conversation with Ronaldo and Messi.

This lack of temperament was perfectly illustrated on Saturday with a mindless act that could have hurt himself and more importantly his team. Early in the second half against Aston Villa, with United under the cosh, Nani was barely touched when Stephen Warnock closed him down from behind. Nani then proceeded to throw himself to the ground as though he'd been shot in the ankle.

I'm sure if you'd have asked the fans at Villa Park, they'd wish Warnock kicked him harder. Nani may have felt hard done by, fair enough, but what followed shows that Nani still has a lot to learn. Any true professional would have gotten up, moved on and tried to do everything to give his team the best possible chance to win.

What did Nani actually do? Within seconds of returning to the pitch, a goal kick was lifted towards Nani, who was jogging back onto the pitch. Nani leaped for the man rather than the ball and stuck his arm into Warnock's face with clear intent. He escaped with a yellow card but was fortunate not to be sent off. This act perfectly symbolises the rash, idiotic side of a talented young man who has nothing to hold him back but his attitude.

Nani presents this demeanor that the whole world is against him, this "Boy Who Cried Wolf" approach doesn't go down well with referees and fans alike.

What's even more frustrating, as mentioned previously, is that Nani is capable of greatness. Later in the match against Villa, with United trailing 2-1 with minutes remaining, Nani picked the ball up on the left, stood up his defender and delivered an undefendable cross for Nemanja Vidic to head home, earning a priceless point.

On Saturday we saw the best and the worst of a player who clearly has all the talent to make everyone else share his beliefs that he's one of the best players on the planet. In order to achieve this, Nani needs to shut up, stop whining and stop building a reputation for the wrong reasons.