After about 2 performances when he wasn't at his best, tonight he decided to show his full capability. Man of the match without a doubt.
Rafael da Silva | 2010-14 Performances
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How long before he becomes naturalised English
Ironic because he already is three times the player that Walker is?
Rafa is one of those players that people seem to ignore. He has been a rough diamond for a few years - now he is becoming polished.
It was only after the Spurs defeat that A Hanson wrote in his Telegraph column that he 'is not convinced that Rafael is Utd's long term right back solution'.
Yeah I'm still trying to figure out how he went from starting in the Champions League to being seemingly cast aside for Büttner.
That's not really the case, is it? Evra is clearly first choice at United and judging by recent seasons the playing time for the next left back in line is very limited. Makes a lot of sense to sent Fabio on loan at another PL club, and QPR seemed like a decent choice with Park going there and quite a few decent players.
He obviously need playing time to progress, so why keep him on the bench for yet another season? I think I've seen coaches at United also mentioning that spending some time a part might be good for the twins, but I might be making that up.
Hansen's a fecking spastic, so no surprise there.
Fantastic tonight, he's been our player of the season so far.
Its amazing that Rafa goes game after game putting winger after winger in his pocket but it only seems to be United fans who rate him? You would think some of the so-called experts who are paid to watch our games would have noticed his progression by now. I was listening to Talksport this morning and they mentioned Sagna was the best right back in the league. Really...?
That's like the storeysignal, right there.
Doesn't really matter.. I'd prefer him to fly under the radar for quite some time yet
As long as he keeps ut his performances and continue his development I'm happy!Arsenal players tend to get a little overrated because they have so little to gloat about in recent and not so recent years. Sagna is no exception. Despite Rafael being good in the air, Sagna is a bit better in that area. Other than that its a no brainer
becoming our best player
Loved it when he beat Carroll in the air today on the edge of the box...
He was our MOTM once again.
He's a fecking monster! Dealt with Jarvis, Diame and beat Carroll in the air.....AGAIN!! I hope this lad gets a rest soon but he has certainly nailed down the RB spot. It's rare to see such consistency from someone so young. His timing with his interceptions was just ace! Truly a leader by example.
Rafa
Rafa
Player of the Season so far. Gotta love his enthusiasm
What a fecking player we have on our hands. He's absolutely immense at the moment. Well done, lad.
That's why I said seemingly.
They just regurgitate shit they wouldn't believe if they actually watched more football.
Watched a stream from the US with Ian Darke and Macca. They seemed to recognize Rafael's rise this season.
What you've highlighted is how long it takes for some of our players to get deserved attention. I bet you if Rafael scores a few goals in some of our upcoming matches, there will be a few columns written pretending they've praised him the whole time.
Best right back in the league currently.
That was his best and most complete performance of the season, I think. One of his best in a United shirt, in fact. So many interceptions, runs forward, headers won, crosses...he was sublime.
Yep, fantastic.
This. It's the culture of English sports journalism. They're like a hive-mind, and once an idea sets in it's almost impossible to shake it without the sorts of things idiots can easily see. If he'd been shit today but scored a flukey hat-trick, he'd probably get more praise.
It's also because it's only United fans who would have watched every United game, so unless you're achieving something statistically the pundits and media mostly won't have a clue.
True, but the pundits for our games on TV and the journos who write our match-reports spout the same rubbish most of the time as well.
EDIT: But I see what you mean, few of them watch all our matches so they won't be able to spot the patterns.
It truly is strange Brightonian. Been trying to nail down where it comes from but for the life of me, I can't.
And a lot of their match reports consist of pre-determined 'accepted' views on a particular player. For example if De Gea had a good game, you'll almost certainly read something about him having been shaky recently, poor from crosses etc etc even if he had been fine for months.
I worked for a few weeks at the Telegraph a couple of years ago. TV desk not Sports, but when I told them I knew a bit about football they let me write all the match previews for the TV section. Mostly it was fine, but only if you willingly adopted that slightly cliched style, and only used the usual catalogue of 'points of interest.' As soon as you tried to say anything out of the norm or insightful, you'd get a shake of the head from the editor and have to change it.
I remember trying to draw attention, before a United-West Ham match I think it was, to the fact that two Mexican national teamers, Hernandez and Barrera, would be coming face-to-face as new Premier League imports. Got told to just mention that Rooney hadn't scored for ages, which was the exact same line they'd taken for the past four games.
He has become so mature. It's been great to see him cut out the rash challenges. Long may it continue!
I worked for a few weeks at the Telegraph a couple of years ago. TV desk not Sports, but when I told them I knew a bit about football they let me write all the match previews for the TV section. Mostly it was fine, but only if you willingly adopted that slightly cliched style, and only used the usual catalogue of 'points of interest.' As soon as you tried to say anything out of the norm or insightful, you'd get a shake of the head from the editor and have to change it.
I remember trying to draw attention, before a United-West Ham match I think it was, to the fact that two Mexican national teamers, Hernandez and Barrera, would be coming face-to-face as new Premier League imports. Got told to just mention that Rooney hadn't scored for ages, which was the exact same line they'd taken for the past four games.
Hmm that's really interesting. Appreciate the insight mate. Just confirms my suspicions of the media here and some of them couch it under "it's what the people want" tripe.
To be fair to them, that's their job. I don't think the pattern would have developed if it didn't sell better than anything else. At the end of the day (since we're talking about cliches) the majority of fans aren't as... thoughtful... as Caftards.
The straightforward/parroted opinion is the one they want and expect to hear. They don't want to read pages and pages of analysis when they could have a neatly packaged, familiar judgement instead. 'That David de Gea's a good shot-stopper, but he's been shite from crosses and set-pieces', for example.I've never been a big fan of him but he's been superb this season, far exceeded my expectations.
To be fair to them, that's their job. I don't think the pattern would have developed if it didn't sell better than anything else. At the end of the day (since we're talking about cliches) the majority of fans aren't as... thoughtful... as Caftards.
I understand that but look at what Gary Neville has done for Sky. Havent seen much of his analysis except for clips since I cancelled my subscription, but his insight is appreciated by all fans. On RAWK, they have a hard time saying a bad word about his punditry.
That's basically what's needed more in the media and some of these papers.
I'm sure these editors and their superiors are satisfied with the status quo. At the end of the day, it's information and I argue if you're good enough to make reputations stick long after players rarely exhibit those same characteristics, then I think you're good enough to do just the opposite.
To me, it's more of what the majority find acceptable than what they really want. Offer people a better alternative and I'm sure they'd consider it. Repetition is a powerful tool.
SAF duly acknowledged his performance, alongside Evans and Smalling.
Most of them are closet haters too but they have to tone it down because they are in a position where there opinions go on record.
You can almost hear it in every broadcast how happy some Comms get when United is playing shit or goes behind to chase a game. Then the low-key 'yep folks, they came from behind again.. wowee...' commentary that ensues afterwards.
Rafa playing well though, I fecking love him. Such a little bundle of energy.
He's been a revelation this season, injury permitting he can be our right back for the next 8-10 years. Now I'm really hoping Fabio will come back and follow Rafael's example next season!
Evans turns into Sir Alex at the end of his praise for Rafael 
Best fullback in the league based on these performances. Commanding and near-perfect.
what he is now is what i was expecting him to be when he first broke into our first team about 4 years ago. yes, it took some time but it is going to be well worth for the wait.
Hope he wins our POTY award.
hope fabio can lay a claim to a spot in our first XI like rafael. we'd be sorted for a decade
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