Only ugh moment I remember is he lunged in (without going to ground) and the Blackburn player got by him. Excellent game - very happy we've now stuck with him as I think he should be our full time RB if fit.
Rafael da Silva | 2010-14 Performances
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Superb today. Won the ball so many times I lost count. Quietly he has become a superb full back. Really top drawer. All this talk about Clyne? Can't understand it. Rafa's only gonna get better from here. Future Brazil first XI right back. Defo.
He was fantastic. Brilliant partnership with Valencia on the right
He's a very very good right back. He's improved so much as a defender over the past 18 months.
What more could you want from him? Solid and tenacious in defence, and provides an excellent attacking outlet.
Very good defensively even if his crossing was average today.
Solid at the back and always willing to help out and support Valencia
ditto
i'm looking for a good defender first and foremost, and he's certainly developing into that. His attacking will improve with experience
Not the toughest game for him in fairness..
Not a criticism either. Think he has a lot of potential and already our best option at RB.
Not a criticism either. Think he has a lot of potential and already our best option at RB.
great game.
Very good game but he still gets dragged out of position too easily right throughout the pitch, went walkabouts just before Rio made that match-saving tackle and he did it a few times against Hoilett. It's great that he's such an effective and tenacious ball winner but he still has a long way to go before he becomes a reliable defender for me because he still needs to learn to be disciplined and just hold his position.
Good games for him to develop all parts of his game though, don't you think?
Had a nice shot on goal as well today
He'll be terrific when he gets a bit more composure in the final third. Brilliant performance tonight.
Outstanding tonight.
Loved the bit second half where he robbed olsson and most would have put ball out but he robbed him, kept it in and set up an attack.
Loved the bit second half where he robbed olsson and most would have put ball out but he robbed him, kept it in and set up an attack.
getting back into form now, which is great to see.
and his partnership with valencia is
and his partnership with valencia is
Alongside Valencia, our best player on the pitch today. Excellent in defence, great going forward. Never looked like giving ball away, and pretty much draged us forward.
This is why he is first choice RB. He always links up great with Valencia, is good in defense and great going forward. Brilliant performance.
He just needs a spell of 20 games or so without getting injured and out of the team for a few weeks
Totally. That's how a player moves up to the next level, like Evans has done since Vidic was injured.
I'm very pleased that Sir Alex is sticking with him at the moment. Usually, Sir Alex takes out the twins when we play a physical side like Blackburn.
Actually the fact that he wasn't under the kosh but, showed good positional play and defended well when needed speaks well, especially after the brain fart against Bilbao. Being able to keep concentration and not get the team sucker punched is a good trait to watch for.
I love the way his first thought when he gets the ball is always to peg it at top speed the whole length of the pitch. He doesn't always do it but you can tell that's what he's thinking.
The growing partnership with Valencia on the right is very encouraging, plus he defended very well tonight, one header he won in particular was very important.
He's Brazilian
And for me why he'll never fit in at Barcelona. He's a proper Manchester United style player. At his absolute best at pace.
his crossings are not bad but he still can improve a lot there.
He's been really good lately. I think with a full seasons run of week in, week out games he'll develop in to a hell of a player
He's Brazilian
And for me why he'll never fit in at Barcelona. He's a proper Manchester United style player. At his absolute best at pace.
If only Barcelona had a brilliant pacy marauding Brazillian right back so I could prove you wrong...
If he manages to stay injury free for a longer time I think we will see him improve even more and he will get a bit more composed.
But yes yesterday was a really mature performance from the lad.
He looked calm and picked the right moments to move forward.
Would have been great to see him score with one of his great forward runs.
I don't know but I somehow feel he is already more a threat going forward then Evra is most of the time.
Played very well. Blackburn did test him at times in my opinion, and for the most part he defended excellently. You can't expect a young FB to win 100% of tackles and loose balls, that's just not realistic, I reckon Rafael did as much there as could be asked.
Also obviously supporting Valencia whenever possible and whilst Tony V may get the majority of the praise, the threat we carried down that flank was just as much from Rafaels attacking endeavours.
Also obviously supporting Valencia whenever possible and whilst Tony V may get the majority of the praise, the threat we carried down that flank was just as much from Rafaels attacking endeavours.
He's almost there and has a good understanding with Valencia and nani tbf, which is probably because he has excellent attacking instincts. He just needs to work on his delivery when he does get into attacking positions. To be honest though so does evra. Hopefully we can do some serious work on them in the summer as if we get out fallbacks to deliver more attack wise I think it'll really help us.
You make a good point Ash about Evra. His crossing and delivery is pretty awful, and yet he has managed to be a consistent first choice LB for us for ages - go back 3 years and he was arguably the best in the world.
Rafael has a lot of similar attributes to Paddy, plus a long time to work on improving them. People criticise his delivery which is fair enough, but it's no worse than Evra's.
Rafael has a lot of similar attributes to Paddy, plus a long time to work on improving them. People criticise his delivery which is fair enough, but it's no worse than Evra's.
I was tearing my hair out with Rafael yesterday, when looking at his attacking performance.
Thought he defended well, but think he could take a leaf out of Evra's book in terms of his forward runs. Evra makes some quality forward runs - he really penetrates and gets into good attacking areas.
Rafael tends to get about three quarters up the pitch and then stops. Doesn't make enough good old fashioned overlapping runs that create space for Valencia.
It's funny, because the cliche is that he has defensive deficiencies. In my opinion, they're few and far between. It's his forward play that needs work:
a) making more intelligent runs
b) taking more time when in possession (composure)
As with any young player, his best form happens when he gets a good run of games. Needs to steer clear of the injuries and he'll be a cracking player for us.
Thought he defended well, but think he could take a leaf out of Evra's book in terms of his forward runs. Evra makes some quality forward runs - he really penetrates and gets into good attacking areas.
Rafael tends to get about three quarters up the pitch and then stops. Doesn't make enough good old fashioned overlapping runs that create space for Valencia.
It's funny, because the cliche is that he has defensive deficiencies. In my opinion, they're few and far between. It's his forward play that needs work:
a) making more intelligent runs
b) taking more time when in possession (composure)
As with any young player, his best form happens when he gets a good run of games. Needs to steer clear of the injuries and he'll be a cracking player for us.
I've never been Evra's biggest fan, but he was excellent yesterday and made quality run after quality run. Granted, his final ball was mixed, but he's a full back.
If we're being fair, part of Rafael's effectiveness going forward last night was the relationship with Tony, a proper wide man. Evra had Rooney in front of him for most of the game. Didn't give him the same options. Agree, thought Paddy did well last night.
The main thing was rafael never got beaten easily yesterday, every time either hoilett or olson tried to run at him, he stayed on his feet, forced them wide and then jockeyed brilliantly and won the ball back tenaciously.
I really do love the lil fella, hes got so much fight and bravery, and his pace and dribbling abilities are very good.
Keep forgetting hes only what, 21? shows insane ability and responsibility for that age.
Lets just look across the world and see where evra, maicon, cafu, marcelo etc were at 21? nowhere near the top level like this.
If he can keep performing at this level and stay injury free, we have a potential world class player here IMO.
I really do love the lil fella, hes got so much fight and bravery, and his pace and dribbling abilities are very good.
Keep forgetting hes only what, 21? shows insane ability and responsibility for that age.
Lets just look across the world and see where evra, maicon, cafu, marcelo etc were at 21? nowhere near the top level like this.
If he can keep performing at this level and stay injury free, we have a potential world class player here IMO.
Hold the front page... MancFanFromManc thinks Rafael was superb last night !
21, and already close to 90 senior appearances in a position where youth is a liability! 2 league titles under his belt, and now barring injury a real chance of playing a crucial role in the run in to a third.
I reckon there's 2 reasons for Rafael not overlapping and making as many runs as Evra.
- Evra being so attack minded we need to keep some cover at the back.
- Valencia is very comfortable beating his man on the outside. His weakness is his left foot, hence Rafael is more useful not overlapping Valencia, giving him an an easy pass option if the defender shows Valencia his right side.
this is the reason. It's a rehearsed practice for sure.
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