Rafael da Silva | 2010-14 Performances

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Beaten twice though, the Bale shot which almost went in ( Bale ran across the whole field but could only use his right foot, showed a bit more pace than Rafael ) The second one was where he just accelerated past on the Leftwing but put in a bad cross.

Nevertheless, Rafael was excellent and was one of the best players in the first half for me, the part where he shielded Modric was great and it looked like his experience from playing Ribery and Ronaldinho last season really showed off, he looked a lot more mature and there hasn't been those rash tackles as of yet...

Great job Rafael.
 
Rafael did a great job yesterday, chuffed for the lad.
 
He's not been jumping into tackles lately, and is holding his position on a more consistent basis. Held back his natural instinct of attacking yesterday most likely due to orders from the coaching staff.
 
Anybody else seen the sunday times ratings? They gave Rafael a 4 and Bale an 8 and said Bale repeatedly outsprinted and outmuscled Rafael and given that Rafaels game is supposed to be about athleticism it doesnt look good for him.
What match were they watching?
 
jb8521 said:
Anybody else seen the sunday times ratings? They gave Rafael a 4 and Bale an 8 and said Bale repeatedly outsprinted and outmuscled Rafael and given that Rafaels game is supposed to be about athleticism it doesnt look good for him.
What match were they watching?
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No freaking way
 
Was a bit concern about about Bale but boy did Rafael do well.
 
He was awesome, really starting to make waves. Keeps his head, no rash tackles.

Not into his hair though, us curly haired feckers need to stick together.
 
Bale beat Rafel once. Bale is one hell of an athlete. But he has one skill get ball run fast and shoot.

What I find ironic is some on this forum are creaming themselves over Bale running fast and shooting but then say Valencia is a one trick pony for doing something similar but to greater effect.
 
Commadus said:
Bale beat Rafel once. Bale is one hell of an athlete. But he has one skill get ball run fast and shoot.

What I find ironic is some on this forum are creaming themselves over Bale running fast and shooting but then say Valencia is a one trick pony for doing something similar but to greater effect.
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Twice, rewatch the match... He's driving run which cut across the field also should be included.

Almost resulted in a goal.
 
Commadus said:
Bale beat Rafel once. Bale is one hell of an athlete. But he has one skill get ball run fast and shoot.

What I find ironic is some on this forum are creaming themselves over Bale running fast and shooting but then say Valencia is a one trick pony for doing something similar but to greater effect.
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Bale is a huge goal threat, Valencia not so much. That's probably why.
 
RedThaiDevils#7 said:
Twice, rewatch the match... He's driving run which cut across the field also should be included.

Almost resulted in a goal.
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Rafael handed Bale off to Vida who showed him wide and his shot was off balance and never really threatened VDs.

But all in all he did well. If that was Neville at rightback we would have been down to 10 men in the first half.
 
jb8521 said:
Anybody else seen the sunday times ratings? They gave Rafael a 4 and Bale an 8 and said Bale repeatedly outsprinted and outmuscled Rafael and given that Rafaels game is supposed to be about athleticism it doesnt look good for him.
What match were they watching?
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Probably one of those journos that writes a report before the game, and merely sends it off afterwards.
 
Watching Bale raping Maicon for the 2nd time in 2 weeks makes you appreciate even more what a fine job Rafael did on Saturday
 
People often criticise him for being too rash. I actually quite like this, he is always pressing, tackling and never giving the attacker room. He will foul sometimes but I don't want him to change.
 
wr8_utd said:
Watching Bale raping Maicon for the 2nd time in 2 weeks makes you appreciate even more what a fine job Rafael did on Saturday
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Was about to post the exact same thing.

Great young talent this guy is, good to see he's getting a run in the team.
 
He's a class act. Over time he'll learn when to charge at the attacker and when to hold his position, he's getting better at it already, when he gets this aspect right he'll be sorted.
 
zain said:
Bale pisses over Maicon..
Rafael has Bale in pocket...

i.e Rafael > Maicon
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I fully agree. My love for the lad and appreciation of how good he is and will become is fantastic. If we can just get his brother sorted now (who's meant to be the better player) we'll have 2 of the future world stars on our hands.
 
gambit28 said:
I fully agree. My love for the lad and appreciation of how good he is and will become is fantastic. If we can just get his brother sorted now (who's meant to be the better player) we'll have 2 of the future world stars on our hands.
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Tbf if Rafael had someone like Evra ahead of him even he would be barely playing.
 
Excellent again today, he really has worked on the defensive side of things.
 
Rafael will be a better player than Maicon, as long as he stays away from injury.
 
Bold claims, possible but he'll need to learn to trade of his safety first attitude in defence he's developed since the Ribery incident for a bit more attacking intent if he's to manage it.
Rock solid at the back (which for someone his age is 99% of the battle) just needs to push on and get some confidence on making overlapping runs and not being worried every time you get past the half way line you'll be caught out of position. He's got the ability to do what Evra did to Bursaspor on the left in the first half, he just needs to be confident enough to know he has licence to do that and the team can cover for him if it goes tits up (which it does for every player).

He did it perfectly against an in form Bale where he was right to focus on stopping them scoring, today he just undercooked it, his pace and technique are a brilliant weapon in a game like that for opening things up, with confidence I assume that will come.

He's going to be a seriously good player if he keeps on like this.
 
jb8521 said:
Anybody else seen the sunday times ratings? They gave Rafael a 4 and Bale an 8 and said Bale repeatedly outsprinted and outmuscled Rafael and given that Rafaels game is supposed to be about athleticism it doesnt look good for him.
What match were they watching?
Click to expand...

Sorry for the bump but I only just noticed this.

WTF!?

Bale got absolutely nothing from Rafael the other day, the one time Bale broke free, he went to the OPPOSITE side of the field (hence the right footed shot) because he clearly realised he was getting no change from Rafael.

Getting back to tonight, I thought he was fantastic.

He still gets a bit caught out going forward which can leave us a bit exposed at the back but I won't berate him for that. It's the United way.

I'd just like to see a bit more from him when he gets into those attacking positions, they rarely seem to actually come to anything at the moment.

But, for his age, I can't complain. He's improving, he's learning and he works his arse off every time he's picked.
 
TheMancRedDevil said:
He still gets a bit caught out going forward which can leave us a bit exposed at the back but I won't berate him for that. It's the United way.
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Evra's out of position a lot of the time, but we manage to cover for him... just wonder why it effects us more over on the right.
 
markorm said:
Evra's out of position a lot of the time, but we manage to cover for him... just wonder why it effects us more over on the right.
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Park and Evra's love for each other means that when ever one isn't in position the other one busts a lung to cover for him.
 
markorm said:
Evra's out of position a lot of the time, but we manage to cover for him... just wonder why it effects us more over on the right.
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Possibly because Evra is ever-present and so the team knows what he's going to do and when?

The right side is swapped and changed a lot more?

Dunno. Just a theory.
 
TheMancRedDevil said:
Possibly because Evra is ever-present and so the team knows what he's going to do and when?

The right side is swapped and changed a lot more?

Dunno. Just a theory.
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It's guy-love, I've just told you! :D
 
markorm said:
Evra's out of position a lot of the time, but we manage to cover for him... just wonder why it effects us more over on the right.
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He'll have more licence to go forward once Valencia returns. Nani is much less defensive minded.
 
Vidic pulls out to the left to cover Evra plenty of time. Thats sometimes meant to him getting beat by pacy players, but in general he copes well enough. Rio would no doubt cover Rafael very well on the other side, but he's had his problems with injury and is just getting back to his better form. In the mean time we've had Evans who isnt as good and who isnt going to cover a fullback as well.
 
The pace at which he improves is amazing. The weaknesses that he had before (last season: rushed, hard tackles), he hardly shows anymore.
 
Another good game for Rafael, reeally playing well recently.
 
Escobar said:
The pace at which he improves is amazing. The weaknesses that he had before (last season: rushed, hard tackles), he hardly shows anymore.
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Thats going a bit far to be honest. He can still be pretty naive at times but the main thing is the improvement IS there. Last night isnt exactly a good yardstick given the opposition.
 
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