Rafael da Silva | 2010-14 Performances

[Chrisjn]

Nope. You have a centre back moving to full back and you start creating stupid gaps in the box, it's suicidal and difficult to orchestrate and organise. The best thing to do is make sure the cross doesn't come in, and if it does, ensure it's not pin-point accurate.

Watch where the cross comes in from. Puncheon was given so much space by Evra. As soon as the ball gets out to him, Evra's got to close him down, he just sauntered about. Any top level professional footballer should be able to hit Lambert from that distance with that much room.


You keep saying things like this as if there's an alternative. Who else is available then that we should have at RB?

He just bitter because they have Gibbs and Jenkinson.

 

[gooDevil]

Look, if you have midget fullbacks it will be targeted. Viv Anderson is the best ever right fullback in the top division, he could attack like a winger, tackle like a rightback and defend like a CB.

Anyone agree with that?

 

[JakeC]

Look, if you have midget fullbacks it will be targeted. Viv Anderson is the best ever right fullback in the top division, he could attack like a winger, tackle like a rightback and defend like a CB.

Even Viv Anderson doesn't think that.

 

[Liam147]

Well Ferguson thinks it's better to play Jones or Smalling if they're fit. Who am I to argue?

Heh, I'd definitely prefer both. Sadly that doesn't seem to be the case. We'll see what happens when Jones gets fit again. Personally I hope you're right.

 

[sajeev]

Neither Jones nor Smalling are as good as Rafael at full-back. They do have better physiques though. Jones seems to lack positional sense and is not as good as Rafael when it comes to attacking, but he does make forward runs. Smalling seems to be happy just patrolling the right hand side of the defence, without helping that much in the attacks. Does a good job of defending though. So all said and done, I would rather have Rafael

 

[Liam147]

Neither Jones nor Smalling are as good as Rafael at full-back. They do have better physiques though. Jones seems to lack positional sense and is not as good as Rafael when it comes to attacking, but he does make forward runs. Smalling seems to be happy just patrolling the right hand side of the defence, without helping that much in the attacks. Does a good job of defending though. So all said and done, I would rather have Rafael

Depends what you want want in your RB I guess. Personally, I think Smalling offers the most of them all. A quality defender, puts in an excellent shift up the right wing. That being said, his delivery is abysmal. Jones acts as the middle man between the two. Not quite the defender Smalling is, not quite the attacker Rafael is. I have Vidic in my dream team, so I'm happy to sacrifice Rafael's attacking input for Smalling's defensive stability.

 

[I'm always right]

Well Ferguson thinks it's better to play Jones or Smalling if they're fit. Who am I to argue?

Well that's just not true.

 

[Rossa]

I just read on the Norwegian United website that Rafael has pretty much been a statistical beast this year in terms of passing, dribbles, shots on target etc. Pretty much our best man or at the very top in all aspects. That's impressive - nothing about tackling though.

 

[ravelston]

I just read on the Norwegian United website that Rafael has pretty much been a statistical beast this year in terms of passing, dribbles, shots on target etc. Pretty much our best man or at the very top in all aspects. That's impressive - nothing about tackling though.

Statistically he was the highest rated defender in the PL last season. However, not being a combination of Gary Neville and George Best, he's never going to be rated on the Caf.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Statistically he was the highest rated defender in the PL last season. However, not being a combination of Gary Neville and George Best, he's never going to be rated on the Caf.

... do you read the Caf?

 

[Varun]

Statistically he was the highest rated defender in the PL last season. However, not being a combination of Gary Neville and George Best, he's never going to be rated on the Caf.

He's pretty highly rated here. People think he can improve defensively, surely you agree?

 

[Jimy_Hills_Chin]

I just read on the Norwegian United website that Rafael has pretty much been a statistical beast this year in terms of passing, dribbles, shots on target etc. Pretty much our best man or at the very top in all aspects. That's impressive - nothing about tackling though.

He is our top tackler too. whoscored.com have him rated as one of the best players of the season so far, based on their interpretation of Opta data. However, they do not take into account 'defensive mistakes' as interpreted by Peter Storey, so who knows.

 

[Liam147]

I just read on the Norwegian United website that Rafael has pretty much been a statistical beast this year in terms of passing, dribbles, shots on target etc. Pretty much our best man or at the very top in all aspects. That's impressive - nothing about tackling though.

There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.

There aren't really statistics available for "How many times was caught lazily tracking back" or "Caught woefully out of position" are there?

 

[Varun]

There aren't really statistics available for "How many times was caught lazily tracking back" or "Caught woefully out of position" are there?

Being lazy is the last thing i'd associate with Rafael. I agree his positioning needs improving but he's young and learning. In a team like ours where fullbacks are instructed to bomb forward, its inevitable that they'l be caught out upfield at times. cannot have the best of both worlds.

 

[Liam147]

Being lazy is the last thing i'd associate with Rafael. I agree his positioning needs improving but he's young and learning. In a team like ours where fullbacks are instructed to bomb forward, its inevitable that they'l be caught out upfield at times. cannot have the best of both worlds.

I'm not going to dig out the 4-4 vs Everton. There's no excuse for their equaliser. It sickens me now, as that's the game I put down to us not winning the title. That whole Agueroo bollocks for me is down to the Everton game. Not seeing it out. And he just stopped running inside the area, letting Jelavic(?) score the equaliser.

Then of course there's Fulham's second goal last week. Valencia isn't near enough to his man, but you'll see Rafael jogging back, once again.

That's laziness.

 

[I'm always right]

Rafael is not lazy, against Everton he switched off, crap example.

 

[Varun]

I'm not going to dig out the 4-4 vs Everton. There's no excuse for their equaliser. It sickens me now, as that's the game I put down to us not winning the title. That whole Agueroo bollocks for me is down to the Everton game. Not seeing it out. And he just stopped running inside the area, letting Jelavic(?) score the equaliser.

Then of course there's Fulham's second goal last week. Valencia isn't near enough to his man, but you'll see Rafael jogging back, once again.

That's laziness.

Difference between being lazy and switching off/being unaware of where the opponent player is. Happened vs Bilbao too. Neither of them proves he's lazy.

 

[Sojiro]

I'm not going to dig out the 4-4 vs Everton. There's no excuse for their equaliser. It sickens me now, as that's the game I put down to us not winning the title. That whole Agueroo bollocks for me is down to the Everton game. Not seeing it out. And he just stopped running inside the area, letting Jelavic(?) score the equaliser.

Then of course there's Fulham's second goal last week. Valencia isn't near enough to his man, but you'll see Rafael jogging back, once again.

That's laziness.

Rafael is not lazy, against Everton he switched off, crap example.

I still think Rafael, while definately at fault for needing to track his man, thought Pienaar was running into scholes's area and left him only for Scholes at that exact moment to decide to double on fellani. Perfect storm type situation. Had Scholes just held his ground Fellani would have been pushed by Jones(?) into the wing for Rafael to help double him.

Fellani did very well to draw two defenders on to him and play a precise ball.

 

[Liam147]

We'll ignore the other one then shall we?

I can't be sure about this, but I have already mentioned it, when Valencia was sprinting back into our own half as Southampton attacked down that side, and I wondered why he was sprinting so much when we had Rafael there. Of course, we didn't have him there, he was still in Southampton's half. Now, like I said, I can't be sure of it, but I'd assume he wasn't tracking back (certainly not quickly enough), all I know is that he wasn't there.

Then of course there's his absolute absence of awareness and total lack of concentration, as shown against Bilbao.

I can't remember the first goal, but it seems that he lost the ball. Jones this time took the liberty of leaving his man. Shit defending. Rafael couldn't put a strong enough challenge in, but he shouldn't have had to.

The third goal was one of the worst pieces of defending I've ever seen. Two centre backs challenge for one ball, and then DDG makes a good save. Rafael stands still. Did it not occur to him that DDG was sprinting up and to the ball for a reason? He gets left behind, they score again to go 3-1 up.

 

[Cutch]

It's pretty clear that Rafael is encouraged to bomb forward as much as he can. If he's ahead of Valencia when we lose the ball Valencia becomes the right back. It's not irresponsible or lazy on Rafaels part, if it was you wouldn't see him in the team the next week. The amount of our attacking play that goes through Rafael is incredible, he often has the most touches after Scholes and Carrick. Valencia is twice the player with him in the side

 

[I'm always right]

I still think Rafael, while definately at fault for needing to track his man, thought Pienaar was running into scholes's area and left him only for Scholes at that exact moment to decide to double on fellani. Perfect storm type situation. Had Scholes just held his ground Fellani would have been pushed by Jones(?) into the wing for Rafael to help double him.

Fellani did very well to draw two defenders on to him and play a precise ball.

Bang on, I argued this too at the time. Football is a game of inches, a split second and a good choice suddenly becomes a poor one.

It certainly wasn't lazy though.

 

[I'm always right]

Liam, you need to start understanding the diffeence between "turning off" and "being lazy", Rafael works as hard as anyone I've seen in a United shirt.

 

[I'm always right]

It's pretty clear that Rafael is encouraged to bomb forward as much as he can. If he's ahead of Valencia when we lose the ball Valencia becomes the right back. It's not irresponsible or lazy on Rafaels part, if it was you wouldn't see him in the team the next week. The amount of our attacking play that goes through Rafael is incredible, he often has the most touches after Scholes and Carrick. Valencia is twice the player with him in the side

Yup.

 

[Sultan]

It's pretty clear that Rafael is encouraged to bomb forward as much as he can. If he's ahead of Valencia when we lose the ball Valencia becomes the right back. It's not irresponsible or lazy on Rafaels part, if it was you wouldn't see him in the team the next week. The amount of our attacking play that goes through Rafael is incredible, he often has the most touches after Scholes and Carrick. Valencia is twice the player with him in the side

Absolutely.

You have to wonder about people focusing on his defending alone, rather than a package.

 

[Liam147]

Liam, you need to start understanding the diffeence between "turning off" and "being lazy", Rafael works as hard as anyone I've seen in a United shirt.

I am aware of the difference between the two, and although those are examples of him switching off (completely, which is no less excusable), there are times when the ball will be lost upfield, he'll turn around, and must see a gaping gap where his position is, yet not do much about it.

Absolutely.

You have to wonder about people focusing on his defending alone, rather than a package.

It's not that I'm focusing on his defending alone, but that I'm focusing on that primarily. As I said last night, I want our defenders to be able to defend first. If they can attack too, then that's a bonus

 

[Sultan]

It's not that I'm focusing on his defending alone, but that I'm focusing on that primarily. As I said last night, I want our defenders to be able to defend first. If they can attack too, then that's a bonus

Reading reports on the new lad Buttner it seems he is also a better attacker than a defender. Seems Sir Alex thinks our full backs should be as good attacking as they are defending, or mixture of both.

 

[MikeUpNorth]

I think Fergie probably thinks it's easier to teach a good attacking fullback to defend than it is to teach a good defender to attack.

 

[Liam147]

Reading reports on the new lad Buttner it seems he is also a better attacker than a defender. Seems Sir Alex thinks our full backs should be as good attacking as they are defending, or mixture of both.

There's no doubt he likes his full backs to attack. They always have - Irwin, Neville, Evra etc. But you wonder why he's converted two centre backs to full backs. Also, with our midfield as it is, I'd suggest we need a bit more defensive cover than we have previously.

I think Fergie probably thinks it's easier to teach a good attacking fullback to defend than it is to teach a good defender to attack.

Quite possibly, and I hope he does. There's clear potential there, I'm just not seeing the improvements.

 

[Sultan]

There's no doubt he likes his full backs to attack. They always have - Irwin, Neville, Evra etc. But you wonder why he's converted two centre backs to full backs. Also, with our midfield as it is, I'd suggest we need a bit more defensive cover than we have previously.

I'm not sure he's trying to convert them, Liam. SAF has always liked players who can adapt to various roles, it teaches them awareness of various facets of the game, and makes them better players.

 

[Liam147]

Yeah I don't mean convert as in, no longer utilise them as centre backs, but instead, training them up to play as right backs too. Unfortunately we've got one right back fit at the moment. It'll be interesting when all three are fully fit to see how it goes. I've expected Smalling to play away from home, Rafael to play the lower sides at home, with Jones slotting in here and there.

Sadly, I'm accepting now that with them all being Manchester United players, there's a very real possibility that we'll never see all three fit at the same time.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

He's a good player and potentially a superb one. He will make errors like all young defenders do. Hopefully by the time he is 25/26 he'll largely cut them out. But till then he will make them but hopefully the frequency steadily goes down. He's one of the best tacklers we have and his overall ability going forward is fantastic. He just needs to work on knowing when to dive into a tackle and when to stand his ground.

People need to keep in mind that he's still just 22. How many defensively super solid at 22?

 

[17Larsson]

He's a good player and potentially a superb one. He will make errors like all young defenders do. Hopefully by the time he is 25/26 he'll largely cut them out. But till then he will make them but hopefully the frequency steadily goes down. He's one of the best tacklers we have and his overall ability going forward is fantastic. He just needs to work on knowing when to dive into a tackle and when to stand his ground.

People need to keep in mind that he's still just 22. How many defensively super solid at 22?

I think he makes his battles with the opposition wingers too much like personal duals. So rather than stand off the player he feels he has to win the ball or the winger wins.

I was watching a few minutes of the friendly between GB and Brazil before the Olympics, I think it was early in the second half and whoever was on the wing for GB was sprinting down the line with Rafael about a yard behind him, when he got to the corner all Rafael had to do was stand him up and block the eventual cross but he goes lunging in so the winger just does a quick turn and pulls the ball closer to him and while Rafael goes off sliding into the barriers he just strolls toward the box with no one near him.

Brilliant lively player and great to see him always itching to get forward but he needs to use that sharpness and alertness that he uses when going forward just a little more in keeping track of the opposition and go easy on the stupid tackles.

I think when he calms down just that little fraction the full back spot will his alone for years to come

 

[Dargonk]

It's pretty clear that Rafael is encouraged to bomb forward as much as he can. If he's ahead of Valencia when we lose the ball Valencia becomes the right back. It's not irresponsible or lazy on Rafaels part, if it was you wouldn't see him in the team the next week. The amount of our attacking play that goes through Rafael is incredible, he often has the most touches after Scholes and Carrick. Valencia is twice the player with him in the side

Spot on.

People complaining about his tracking back clearly don't understand how the team has been set up to play. Rafael has been encouraged to get forward and cause problems down the right. We want rafael to overlap valencia and provide a threat down that side. If we lose the ball, which ever player is currently the furthest back slots into the right back role initially. It saves having rafael killing himself sprinting all the way back each time.

 

[Ekeke]

So far this season Rafael has our most tackles per game, second most interceptions per game, joint 2nd highest goalscorer, 3rd most shots per game, most dribbles per game, joint most key passes per game, 4th most passes per game, 4th highest passing completion, 3rd most crosses and 3rd most aerial duels won

If only he was a good defender or had an impact on our attacking play, then we'd stop trying to find ways to criticise him.

Until then...

 

[acnumber9]

Any stats for most times hopelessly out of position? Two games is a great sample size though.

 

[Ekeke]

Any stats for most times hopelessly out of position? Two games is a great sample size though.

3rd most hopelessly out of position after Evra and Ferdinand

 

[RedDevilCanuck]

The whole team isn't sharp now.

Rafael will be fine defensively because he has shown he can be very good defensively.

Yes the mistakes have been there. But these are mostly position-based mistakes.

Rafael has kept tricky, pacey wingers in his pocket (Bale, Ronaldhino, Ribery). He rises to the occasion actually.

And in terms of stats, he is a beast. He adds bite to this United side that seriously lacks any kind of steel since Tevez, Hargreaves, and Fletcher have been injured.

Let's let nature take its course and let him develop into the world class player that he is capable of being.

And if you want to scrutinize positioning, I hate to beat a dead horse but Evra is actually atrocious. He gets sucked into the middle so often these days its incredible. Also, he gets skinned routinely even by average wingers.

Rafael may be rash in the tackle, but he wins the ball most of the time.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Rafael is very good in one on one duels, postionally he's normally ok too. I think personally that Rafa is still in 'Brazil Mode' as a full-back and he's also missed out along with De Gea with no Rio and Vidic next to him, that experience will help. He has bollocks, which is a scarce thing in this United side so I love him, still rough around the edges but you have to love that fire and I hope it never dulls inside him, he needs to control it.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

I think it's a bit ridiculous to judge any of our defenders so far this season, they've all been pretty poor bar De Gea. Once they're all fully fit we'll be much better. Having Evra, Carrick and a rusty Vidic next to Rafael isn't helpful and then bringing a rusty Rio back whilst making the defence more comfortable isn't ideal, they'll come up to speed eventually.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Looked very assured today, was even breaking up fights.