Rafael da Silva | 2010-14 Performances

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Rossa said:
I'll look into that piece tomorrow I think.

You are probably much more knowledgeable about German football than I am, as I hardly watch it. Therefore, I'll take your word for it. When I do watch the Bundesliga, however, I'm amazed at how entertaining it is to watch. From being a very cynical footballing nation, Germany has really turned on the charm, footballing wise at least ;)
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I dont have as much time to watch BL games but i follow some BL fanatics on twitter and thanks to our resident germans on here as well as one of my mates who is german, i get a better sense of the BL. Still much to learn. BL football is very positive and like Pep mentioned, teams in the Bundesliga are really good at counterattacking and it's interesting now that he's trying to setup Bayern to be counterattacking-resistant.

Also the influx and usage of youth into these BL teams has added a sense of freshness and exuberance that you may not as much in other leagues.
 
Gladiator said:
Is coleman the best rb in the league outright or are you using your opinion of him to suit what you're trying to say?
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I didn't say he is the best. He is arguably up there as the best or thereabouts. I think you can argue a case for a few different RBs to who is the best and one of them would be Coleman.
 
limerickcitykid said:
I didn't say he is the best. He is arguably up there as the best or thereabouts. I think you can argue a case for a few different RBs to who is the best and one of them would be Coleman.
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oh i confused your last sentence there with what you said on coleman.
 
Selling Rafael would be stupid. Arguably man of the match at West Brom today.
 
Once again will shut his doubters up. Once again proving my man crush on him is totally valid.
 
He's a joy to watch when he plays like this. Brilliant going forward and solid at the back. Proper fullback performance from him.
 
Fans love him, the players love him. We need the manager to love him. He's a fantastic player, one of many we should be building our future team around. Very good today.
 
The leader on the pitch today I thought, our best attacking player over the 90 minutes and put in a good defensive performance as well.
 
Someone needs to get that gif of Mata and Rooney pointing towards Rafa during the celebration. Thought he was having a superb game and then he comes up with a cross like that. Great overall. Should be one of the first names on the team sheet irrespective of the opponent
 
Our best defender today and our best attacker in the first half.

We've missed him and not just for his own performance, Smalling needs to play in the centre. If he's ever going to be a reliable starting centre back, he needs games there.
 
Great game, MOTM today for me.

He offers so much to the team, always playing forward and playing with a motivation and enthusiasm that automatically influences our other players.
Injuries are the only real worry with Rafael. Based on quality, RB should be one of the last positions we should be looking to strengthen.
 
The balance Rafael brings to the side is almost unfathomable. He should be top of the team sheet. He is the only natural right back at club and is one of the best in the league at what he does. He was up and down the pitch today playing well in both defence and attack. This is what I've come to expect from a class Brasilian full-back.

We look a total different side without him.
 
Thought he was excellent from the off today. Proper modern fullback. Still looks a bit rash, but got forward well, providing a great assist for Rooney, and defended well when needed, making some crucial blocks.

The only thing that still worries me is his fitness. I still think we need to either buy or promote one of the youth right backs next season, because Smalling doesn't provide the natural width Rafael does for us when he plays at right back, which is understandable as he's a centre back by trait.

Very good game for Rafa. :D
 
The difference an in form Rafael makes to our team is immense IMO. We haven't really seen the Rafael of today for a long while now. Hopefully he can keep it up until the end of the season.
 
It's been obvious for years now how much he improves our play. feck this whole playing Smalling for height thing.
 
Thought he had a good game, needs to start producing more crosses like that one for Rooney today. His movement and dribbling are all there and you could see that extra bit of pace he has but its just that final ball that he often lacks. It would be crazy to sell him. Get him some compeition sure, especially as he;s injured quite frequently, but he's got far too much potential to discard.
 
Adds another dimension to our play. But the niggling injuries worry me a bit, guess that's a by-product of his adventurous play-style. Still feel we should give Varela a chance before the end of the season if Rafa's out. He could save us 6-10 m on a backup right-back.
 
Is Guillermo Varela at the club or is he out on loan? Maybe he could be a part of the first team next season to be a back up to Rafael. I'm sure he'd be involved in plenty of games considering Rafael's fitness issues.
 
Love Rafael. Would be typical of his time at the club if we was subbed due to injury though.
 
Shark22 said:
The difference an in form Rafael makes to our team is immense IMO. We haven't really seen the Rafael of today for a long while now. Hopefully he can keep it up until the end of the season.
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The Antonio Valencia/Ashley Young effect.

Red_Jamie said:
He's no Seamus Coleman :wenger:
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If the newspapers are to be believed...Honestly mate, I agree with you, sometimes you gotta wonder about the so-called 'experts'.

Sultan said:
United are a different team when Rafael plays.
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This. Especially when he has someone in front of him willing to come inside and make space for an overlap, instead of run forward stop stand around waiting for awhile turn around and pass it backwards...
 
Shark22 said:
The difference an in form Rafael makes to our team is immense IMO. We haven't really seen the Rafael of today for a long while now. Hopefully he can keep it up until the end of the season.
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Yeah, some of the recent criticism has been justified. More of that today and he'll shut the lot of us up. Really enjoyed that performance.

Loved the slo-mo of Mata and Rooney welcoming him into their warm embrace after the goal.
 
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His best performance this season I think. Won the freekick for the opener, put in a couple of very nice crosses including for Rooney to score. And made lots of tackles (7) Now please stay fit and continue this form.
 
The cross for Rooney's goal was textbook. Given his crossing lately, it was great to see him put one on the money.
 
BarneyLFC said:
He's played many times this season and you've been poor.
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So has the whole team but when Rafael isn't there, you can really tell the difference. He is one of those players, as he has matured you don't realise how good he has until he isn't there. When you have Smalling, Jones or Valencia at right back, it sows just how much Rafael gives us.
 
Eric'sCollar said:
So has the whole team but when Rafael isn't there, you can really tell the difference. He is one of those players, as he has matured you don't realise how good he has until he isn't there. When you have Smalling, Jones or Valencia at right back, it sows just how much Rafael gives us.
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Last year he was excellent. This year he's made very little difference to your team's results. He was excellent yesterday, but the idea that he's been a massive miss this year isn't true and the results back this up.
 
BarneyLFC said:
Last year he was excellent. This year he's made very little difference to your team's results. He was excellent yesterday, but the idea that he's been a massive miss this year isn't true and the results back this up.
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It's not about results, so many things influence the result. I agree he has been poor as has pretty much everyone but it's about the balance he gives us and his natural ability going forward. Win or lose, we are far better with him in the side.
 
Another player who has been performing under par far too often. Was delighted with him yesterday, let's hope he keeps up that level because when you've got Mata on the right you need Rafael to be the width.
 
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