You'd want a central defender to be winning more headers than that. Hopefully just a one off.
16
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 26
- Clean sheets
- 8
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 6
You'd want a central defender to be winning more headers than that. Hopefully just a one off.
He did well. Important part is that the team didn't crumble under the pressure - as they did with 11 on the field against Leicester.
Considering he played with 2 debutants, it cannot be easy to settle.
Considering he played with 2 debutants, it cannot be easy to settle.
He looks a lot more solid at cb than left back
Eventually managed to catch the match this morning. Looked good. I'm happy with Rojo and Shaw on the left side of our defence. Hopefully he can stay fit.
One thing I like about him is that he seems very self assured. He looks like a player that belives in himself, and loves the big stage. Compare that to Smalling and Evans who just never quite look comfortable, never look like they fully believe in themselves, and need reassurance.
It looks like he has the attributes, I just hope he learns some English. I assume he can communicate with Rafael because of the language similarities (or does Rafael also speak Spanish/Rojo Portuguese?) but I don't know how he can work verbally with Blackett, Shaw, Evans, McNair et al.
Only time he looked out of position was when Blind played a terrible back pass. Otherwise he looked assuring.
The lack of aerial dominance across the back 4 is a bit of a concern though, especially on set pieces. I was hoping Rooney, RvP and Falcao would help in that regard but for some reason we have them stationed on the line for corners.
The only negative with him at CB is that we lack an aerial presence. I know he can jump but he still does lack natural height which means he will lose a lot of aerial duels (I think). We are a pretty small team all over really, it is a concern at set-pieces. Jones and Smalling back in would ease the problem though.
Rojo is taller than Jones...
Really? I was just going off my perception of them so I'm not totally surprised but Rojo looks so small.
Whenever I look at this thread title quickly, why do I always see 'Marco Polo' instead?
Our central defenders are a big concern aerially and it's been costing us goals for some time now. Smalling, when fit, has games when he's brilliant in this regard. Again, fitness is an issue hence we don't get to see this regularly. Jones is alright, but he still loses out on crosses. Evans verges on hopeless, Rio was more than hopeless, and it's something about Vidic that we do actually miss. I do hope Rojo can help with this but we'll have to wait and see.
Whut?
You should get that looked at, thankfully there is help out there.
Yeah, I really need to visit them.
The latter period of Rio's career was blighted by that back issue. His aerial presence was minimal near the end. He can't even jump properly these days. There was that first half of the season in Ferguson's last campaign, if you remember, and he and Evans conceded an exceptional amount of goals. Many of them were from crosses into the box. It would only shore up a little when Vidic returned after the New Year, improving the entire back line.
He was bad last season (weren't they all) but that's pretty much it. He was still great before that. Rio was a beast aerially.
He was fantastic in SAF last year in charge, in fact, didn't he get into the team of the year?
Like I said, I agree that he was up until his back started playing up. But I think it became an issue before last season, particularly when he was sandwiched between Evans and a very small Rafael.
Rio got into that team, yes, but the first half of that season which I highlighted earlier was very poor. He and Evans were all over the place. Vidic returned after the New Year and played very well, settled the defence and put in some monstrous performances against the likes of West Ham and Stoke. The defensive pool to pick from across the league was terrible that year, and I think the return of Vidic played a big role in Rio's resurgence in form during that second half of that season.
Man Utd 2:1 Everton
He's been very composed on the ball today. Good first half, even if he hasn't had a great deal to do.
Yup really pleased with his and McNair's performance so far. Might be even better when Jones makes a comeback.
He's a centreback and I like the cut of his jib.
A mighty jib, indeed.
He's fecking strong is what he is. Immovable.
I love him. Seems a proper tough bastard who isn't afraid to give orders and impose himself, something we've sorely lacked in recent times.
Perfect so far today. Particularly his distribution.
You never know though, he's only 24, which is nothing for a CB. If he turns out half as good as either of those two I'll be happy.
True. Vidic joined at the same age (I think?) and I could have never dreamed he'd turn out how he did. Rojo has had a better start so far.
Love the fact he's comfortable on the ball. He'll delay the pass and draw his marker in so that Blind can get free and receive it. Makes a nice change from Smalling ect absolutely shitting themselves when being pressed.
So because it´s hard to keep up with United fans, is Rojo still good after another weekend? And what kind of sorcery is Van Gaal using? Still no bookings for Rojo? Im pretty amazed with his disciplinary record so far.
I know everyone loves his aggressive style and his composure on the ball but he really is lacking in terms of awareness and positioning, IMO. We can't really afford to play him and Blackett on the same side of the defence because they both have that same issue - the Osman chance being an obvious example of this. Incredible lack of awareness from them both there.
Very good today. Needs to cut his risky passes but that's that.
Better than ever mate, commanding, strong, comfortable on the ball, and balls of steel to let the strikers run at him then lay it off when everyone else is free.
Hope he keeps it up for the season.
Thought he played well
Awareness was indeed a problem with Rojo sometimes. But regarding positioning, i can´t find many faults from last year. I think he´s still getting used to playing in a defence where players are constantly changing and it´s just his second game (i think) in the CB position. Positional errors are bound to happen.
He's done the minimal amount of the defensive work with young McNair taking more of a leading role, so thats probably why he hasn't got into trouble yet.
He's played plenty of simple passes out of the back, one or two that havent been so good. But in general, tidy
I thought he was really nervy on the ball early and a few times his distribution was a little off. Was alright apart from that though I guess.
Thanks for the input.
McNair is taking a leading role? Surprised by that. Was expecting the argentinian internacional to pick up that responsability. They have good chemistry between them. It will be a shame if they break up the duo when Jones and Smalling are back in contention.