Love the lad but thought he was terrible defensively today
Rafael da Silva | 2010-14 Performances
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Our entire defence was shit. They were all good going forward and useless defensively.
This
He'll be dropped on Monday. Hopefully it'll be Smalling rather than Jones given his last few showings too.
^Unfortunate but true...dropping him will harm our game going forward. But he switched off tonight, and his reaction after the goal told the story. He rightly had a reprieve a few weeks ago, but don't think he'll be getting one next week 
One poor match and everyone is begging for the return of Smalling or Jones. Sure, he wasn't good today, but nor was he that poor. Everton were very, very lucky today. Did they have any other big chances?
To say that Evra was poor defensively today is completely bullocks. He intercepted the ball very well, he outpaced Fellaini and intercepted the ball from him on a dangerous break.
To say that Evra was poor defensively today is completely bullocks. He intercepted the ball very well, he outpaced Fellaini and intercepted the ball from him on a dangerous break.
When's the last time Smalling started for us? Jones has been worse than Rafael. I'd like to drop him but only if Fergie feels Smalling is 100% ready. Otherwise I'm afraid we're stuck with him, just like Evra on the other side.
Rafa has been fairly sensational since his return from injury.
He has four assists in ten starts in the Premier League, the highest defensive assister being A Cole with six in thirty starts.
He has made an average of 4.4 tackles per game, only Lucas (that I can find) has averaged more in the Premier League this year.
He put in big performances against Arsenal and Chelsea so lets not question his temperament.
He has had a few bad moments but surely he is top talent and we need to keep faith in him. If anything I think that he gets complacent against weaker teams rather than getting flustered against bigger teams.
He has four assists in ten starts in the Premier League, the highest defensive assister being A Cole with six in thirty starts.
He has made an average of 4.4 tackles per game, only Lucas (that I can find) has averaged more in the Premier League this year.
He put in big performances against Arsenal and Chelsea so lets not question his temperament.
He has had a few bad moments but surely he is top talent and we need to keep faith in him. If anything I think that he gets complacent against weaker teams rather than getting flustered against bigger teams.
I reckon the tackles per game stats a bit misleading if it's meant to suggest he's a good defender; Luke Young, Andre Santos and Pablo Zabaleta are the three closest to him I believe. Ashley Cole, Richards and Sagna all make about half as many. For me he's a good tackler but not a good defender and it's a little ridiculous to talk about him as one of the best right backs in the league.
No Rafael against City for me.
To many bad moments in the last weeks.
To many bad moments in the last weeks.
A lot of his tackles tend to be when he's overrun the ball too. He's got potential but he has a lot to learn.
What would you suggest are his weaknesses and who suggested he was one of the best right backs in the league?
A lot of his tackles are beautifully timed too.
Concentration, positional play, discipline. All pretty key for defenders. And just to show I'm not being knee-jerk, this was when he was being proclaimed the best right back in the league...
Do you want him to play against City?
He makes mistakes just like Sagna and the rest. He's not really been back to his best of last season but there's still not a significant difference in his performance level compared to the other right backs in the league. Just less of a focus here on their mistakes
Its true that making lots of tackles doesnt always mean you're the best defender. But it was also an argument used when Evra was establishing himself as he featured highly in that too
Should Fergie stick with him tonight?
It's a big game and he's played in some big games already, and he's made mistakes but he's inexperienced so I can forgive that.
The only difference between him and Smalling right now is that he's played a lot more at RB.
Smalling: Physical prescence and speed.Hasn't played much
Rafael: Experience,speed.
Which one can step up despite the atmosphere? Tough call
The RB is likely to be up against Nasri/Silva so the question could be do you want a player to try and bully them and out muscle but may be caught out for acceleration.
Or do you want a similar build player to go with them who can also drive them backwards with a counter attack?
I would go for Rafael personally but its a tough call.
Or do you want a similar build player to go with them who can also drive them backwards with a counter attack?
I would go for Rafael personally but its a tough call.
I wish it were that simple.City interchange freely, Aguerro and Tevez can turn up on the right(2nd goal at Norwich).Concentration level will need to be at their max. On this occasion I wouldn't mind a Chelsea like performance.If the crowd grow anxious it could work in our favour
Smalling kept up with Agbonlahor for pace, so I hardly fear anyone there - he would outpace both Nasri and certainly Silva. However, his ultimate big presence does lend him less agility than Rafael, whom I think would be a better fit for those two. Also, for attacking prowess, few fullbacks are better than Rafael, and we do want to win this game.
If we have a right side with Valencia and Rafael, we are amazing going forwards and solid defensively as Valencia isn't exactly procrastinating on the attacking half is he...
I'd go with Smalling to be honest, I doubt the fullback and Nasri/Silva are going to be 1v1 very often, the threat comes from Rafael being caught out of position and Silva being able to pick out runners into the gaps.
Rafael's left out of position due to his attacking prowess. If you remove that, you remove him as an attacking threat. Imo, I would play him as he offers more going forward, and has proven in the past that he can defend quite well, especially against good players - so let's hope they don't play Milner there!
Let's not forget smalling may be ring rusty, how long is it since he last started a game?
Rafael for me. His weakness is in the air, and that's something I don't think city will utilise
Rafael for me. His weakness is in the air, and that's something I don't think city will utilise
I hope he starts, hes the best right back at the club and has formed an excellent partnership with Valencia and that needs to continue. It's not going to do his confidence any good if hes gets dropped for big games.
I actually feel sorry for him.
another weird decision not to start rafa today.
He's much better than Jones on the ball and going forward, but defensively he's been shaky these last few games and has cost us goals. The Everton game must have been the final straw for SAF.
Yes he's great to watch, but at the end of the day, your RB is supposed to defend and stop goals from going in and he's switched off in that respect quite regularly.
Yes he's great to watch, but at the end of the day, your RB is supposed to defend and stop goals from going in and he's switched off in that respect quite regularly.
So is your left back, who gets away with a lot. That's the problem...
Valencia plays much better with Rafael.
Well about every single defender of us has cost us goals already. Rafael hasnt cost us more than any of them. (especially Evra who hasnt been dropped at all)
I know Evra's been shit too, but two wrongs don't make a right. I still think Jones is more solid defensively than Rafael, who's always got a bad error in him.
Exactly. I cannot understand why Fergie has seen fit to make Rafael the fall guy for what happened against Everton. In the build up to the toffees' 3rd and 4th goals there were numerous defensive errors from virtually half the team. Yes, the final ball may have come in from his side but it wasn't like he was the only one switched off.
When he's on it though Rafael is a superb full back. When he isn't coasting and being overly complacent his tracking and position are top notch. When he's in a 1 on 1 situation these days I always feel confident that he'll emerge from the ball and he's got both the pace and power to deal with most wingers in the league. Going forward he's an entirely different proposition to any of the other full backs we have too. Should've started today and against City no question.
It still makes me smile when I think of him going chest to chest with Tevez.
I find SAF's handling of the twins baffling. Evra makes tons of mistakes but starts every single game whereas Fabio can't get a look in. Meanwhile we stick Smalling and Jones at RB whereas our only natural RB is constantly dropped and rotated.
Thought he would start myself and show fergie that he understands his mistakes but not to be. Perhaps fergie wanted jones to get some minutes to face Sunderland?
He should be starting.
Exactly.
It's the magnitude of his errors that will have fecked Fergie off. It's not getting caught upfield, or getting dribbled by his man, it's schoolboy errors like ball-watching and bizarre decisions to let his man run off him without any attempt at marking.
The Pienaar goal will have had Fergie spitting feathers. You just can't do that, at any level of football.
I'm not going to lie, I haven't watched any of the painful moments from the Everton game since being there. Was Rafael's error really that bad?
I feel that he is another fall guy a la Nani.
I mean Smalling lost Kompany on Monday, Evra has been awful several times this season and today was the first time I can remember Rooney getting subbed after being totally piss.
OK Rafa made a bad mistake against Everton but I wonder if they have shown relaxed attitudes at inopportune times off the pitch because some players are given more slack than others.
He was nothing worse than rest of the team defending that day. Evra was out of position for both of their goals, but hey, he is our captain, and rafael is error prone, let's blame him. Fellaini won every aerial duel with our CBs and midfielders, but it's still Rafael's fault for everything.
Rafael has made a lot of mistakes in the last months.
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