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2014-15 Performances

View full 2014-15 profile

6.0 Season Average Rating
Appearances
26
Clean sheets
8
Goals
1
Assists
0
Yellow cards
6
To be fair to those people who are concerned about Rojo at right back, their concerns aren't baseless. Whenever I've seen Rojo defend as a left back, more often than not, he's looked to charge at the player he's marking immediately rather than direct him to a less dangerous area before winning the ball. Too often have I seen him charge at the ball holder too soon/be flat-footed in his defending as a left back. At times, he does defend against the ball holder properly, directing them to a less dangerous area before winning the ball, but more often than not, he decides to try to win the ball immediately as a left back, which, more often than not, leads to a dangerous situation if it doesn't go well. I've seen this happen in the Copa America as well several times, further highlighting this fact.

However, when he's not defending against a ball holder, his positioning and awareness of what's going on around him is top notch. He knows what happens around him, and he can sense dangers quite well. His decision-making may have looked bad with us at times last season, but otherwise, his decision-making is normally quite good, and he's very good at suppressing the dangers. This is why I'd prefer him to be a central defender than a left back. His defensive nous and sense is much better utilised as a central defender than as a left back where man-marking is of a greater importance. This was especially well-highlighted against Paraguay, when Argentina's midfield defended poorly as well as Otamendi, whilst Rojo did very well in preventing Paraguay from exploiting the weaknesses on the left side.

I really think he can do very well as a central defender. He may be a bit too rash at left back, but as a central defender, his composure, defensive nous, and decision-making can make him a tough defender to get past.
 
He is a left back, and he is better than Shaw there.

For same strange reason he doesn't play there at United
 
::sonny:: said:
He is a left back, and he is better than Shaw there.

For same strange reason he doesn't play there at United
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I´ve wrote this about a million times and it has come from Rojo´s own mouth. He´s a natural CB and prefers to play there. He won´t say no to the manager if he puts him as LB but he isn´t as good there.
 
U99ted said:
Also I have to :lol: at people saying he isn't a left back.
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Why are you laughing when Rojo himself has said that? He can play there but he isn´t a natural LB

http://www.ojogo.pt/Futebol/1a_liga/Sporting/interior.aspx?content_id=2676174

"Preferi o Sporting para ser central"

Translating it says he prefered to join us to play as Center back since he used to play as LB at Spartak and didn´t like it.

http://www.rtp.pt/noticias/index.php?article=572213&tm=27&layout=158&visual=49

"I prefer to play as Center back but if the manager wants i can play in the left."
 
Sly said:
Why are you laughing when Rojo himself has said that?
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Of course it's laughable. You have people as recently as May saying Ashley Young is a better left back than a starter in the World Cup final in that position.
 
He has looked a lot better at LB this Copa America than he did for us this season. He looks a lot more natural and relaxed on the ball, and his positioning is a lot stronger. Solid communication is probably helping with that.
 
U99ted said:
Of course it's laughable. You have people as recently as May saying Ashley Young is a better left back than a starter in the World Cup final in that position.
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Well that´s different and i can´t argue with that since i haven´t followed his United career as closely as his Sporting one but i was just mentioning his personal preference and remember very well him saying that he was a natural CB and prefered to play in that position. He wasn´t brilliant at Sporting as LB but could help out in that position. In relation to his World Cup performances, he did play well and was praised by Simeone and got into the World Cup best eleven. I did mention it in my first posts in the Rojo thread. The circunstancies in a strong Argentina NT help that.
 
I think he is a better LB in big games where his passion and tenacity makes up for his deficiencies in that position. He loosens up a tad and it makes him a better full back for it. For the international team he never fails to look top quality.

Too often I saw him when playing at LB for us look very limited going forwards almost because he had to think rather than play instinctively as he does when he plays for the National Team. When you restrain the natural flair he does possess on the ball, he becomes a shadow of the player he can be.

Love having him in the squad though, a very useful talent.
 
Rojo´s career at United has been on par with what i expected. He will slowly "conquer" the fans with his passion and versatility. I just didn´t expect some many injuries. He certainly wasn´t injury prone at Sporting.
 
I expected rojo to be buttner 2.0 but he is actually a very underrated CB. Till January he was our best CB and he probably is the best at the club now after smalling. He is positionally sound, quick enough, is a good passer of the ball and is a very good tackler. His only issue is that he gets a little too enthusiastic at times and gets carded for that
 
As much as I think Smalling has come on and was our best defender last season, I just feel, if we had a big European match, Rojo and a new signing would be the first choice, I really see him having a good career at United.

For a first season, I thought he did very well. Settled quicker than Vidic did from memory. Vidic was a January transfer though to be fair.
 
Can he speak English yet? I thought at times he lacked communication, which that would of been a big part of.

He's the same age as Smalling who still gets talked about as potential. For me Rojo has a much higher ceiling.
 
He's slightly worse than Jones at CB who has 2 years(?) on him but it was his first season at a new club and learning how to be injury prone.
 
::sonny:: said:
He is a left back, and he is better than Shaw there.

For same strange reason he doesn't play there at United
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Sorry but this is nonsense. None of Rojo, Blind or Young can hold a candle to the potential Shaw has to offer on that position.

I agree with most of you that Rojo should be mainly played as CB. If we do not get an absolute top CB like Ramos or Hummels I would go with Smalling/Rojo/Jones and would give Mc Nair and Blackett some chances.
 
Cnaiür urs Skiötha said:
Sorry but this is nonsense. None of Rojo, Blind or Young can hold a candle to the potential Shaw has to offer on that position.

I agree with most of you that Rojo should be mainly played as CB. If we do not get an absolute top CB like Ramos or Hummels I would go with Smalling/Rojo/Jones and would give Mc Nair and Blackett some chances.
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How can you quantify potential?

I'd say he should be our cover/competitor for the LB role. He's too short and not enough well built for CB. If Shaw's potential is that great than he would have no trouble keeping Rojo on the bench
 
devilish said:
How can you quantify potential?

I'd say he should be our cover/competitor for the LB role. He's too short and not enough well built for CB. If Shaw's potential is that great than he would have no trouble keeping Rojo on the bench
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He's 1.87 m tall. That's taller than Jones (1.85 m) and both of Ramos and Otamendi (both 1.83) who we've been linked with and are considered world class CBs.
 
He's our best CB.

Does anyone know if he can speak English yet? A few times, especially his first few games it looked like he couldn't communicate well.
 
Matter of opinion fellas.

Just don't see it whatsoever with Smalling like the rest of the caf. Think his athleticism gets him severely overrated on here.
 
We don't really know how good he is yet. Between the injuries and playing in two different positions and it begin his first season in a new league, none of us know for sure. Lets just get behind him and hope he turns out to be great.
 
I'd also say that Smalling's better at this stage. Smalling+Rojo would be my current pick but there really isn't much between him and Jones when they're both fit. Think he could turn out very good though.
 
If you were going to argue that Smalling is not our best CB, then I would think Jones would mount a better case after last season than Rojo.
 
He's above Jones on the list for 3rd CB (hopefully bringing in a new one that's better) if we take away nationality, but Jones will probably be preferred because he's English and good enough. 3rd for LB also before Blind and Shaw.

Very good squad player for United to have, can be a starter if he continues to develop.

edit: HE'S BETTER AT CB THAN LB, HE IS A CB WHO CAN PLAY LB IF ASKED.
 
Sammyjunn said:
He really isnt, he's rash and his positioning id quite poor. It's his first season tho so he might improve.
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Not in football though.

He is a 25 year old who doesn't have the basics of defending right. Don't believe we are going to see too much improvement.
 
Bwuk said:
Just don't see it whatsoever with Smalling like the rest of the caf. Think his athleticism gets him severely overrated on here.
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The irony of that is Rojo's athleticism is where he excels.
 
hbgreg said:
He's above Jones on the list for 3rd CB (hopefully bringing in a new one that's better) if we take away nationality, but Jones will probably be preferred because he's English and good enough. 3rd for LB also before Blind and Shaw.

Very good squad player for United to have, can be a starter if he continues to develop.

edit: HE'S BETTER AT CB THAN LB, HE IS A CB WHO CAN PLAY LB IF ASKED.
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I don't really think van Gaal cares for nationality a great deal. If that's the case, we might have signed Clyne instead of the impending arrival of Darmian.

Truth is LVG probably rates Jones higher than Rojo. I personally prefer Rojo, but it's nothing to do with whether a player is English or not.
 
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