Rafael da Silva | 2010-14 Performances

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Thought he was quality

And to those who said he's the best RB in the league by a distance, he's not, he and Zabaleta are the two outstanding RBs in the competition

I think those people (mainly other fans) who doubt Rafael will wise up to his ability when he has a really good set of games against Ronaldo. He's shut Bale down before and I think he'll play very well against Ronaldo
 
I think he'll get a lot of help from Jones against Ronaldo. Ronaldo roams around a lot as well so I don't think we'll be seeing a classic Rafael versus Ronaldo duel like everyone's expecting.
 
kps88 said:
I think he'll get a lot of help from Jones against Ronaldo. Ronaldo roams around a lot as well so I don't think we'll be seeing a classic Rafael versus Ronaldo duel like everyone's expecting.
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I agree. Ronaldo isn't in any way a classic winger. He'll be on the left, on the right and through the middle, he'll be all over the place.
 
Happy to see him playing so well.
Remember his debut v Peterborough and I thought wow.
Was a stage when I thought I might have got a bit too excited but he's come good again.
 
Shark22 said:
I agree. Ronaldo isn't in any way a classic winger. He'll be on the left, on the right and through the middle, he'll be all over the place.
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Agreed, the contest won't be a clean cut duel. At the moment, I'd be most worried about him blazing right past Ferdinand, because we've seen him do that to slower CBs time and time again for Madrid. I'd actually be slightly happier to see Evans than Rio for that reason.

At the moment, Rafael is comfortable the best RB in the league for me. We can worry about how he'll deal with Ronaldo, but no other PL RB could be expected to do a better job and I'm happy knowing that.
 
Great performance from him. Easily the best player on the pitch against everton.

I lost count of the number of times he won the ball back yesterday and don't remember anyone beating him one on one during the game.
 
Another excellent performance from him today, he seemed chuffed with his MOTM award, hopefully he will be given his due recognition come the end of the season.
 
fe4e24ca742f11e2b3af22000a1fb856_7.jpg

from Fabio's Instagram : "Congratulations Bro, I'm so happy for you! #manofthematch@orafa2 "
 
Redknapp and Keown choosing a Man Utd/Madrid XI

"KEOWN: That's true. Let's go with him as our No 1. What about the defenders? I think Alvaro Arbeloa is much improved from his days at Liverpool.

REDKNAPP: He impressed me against Spurs two seasons ago and Rafael is a bit hit-andmiss. But I'll bow to your knowledge on defending."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-Redknapp-Martin-Keown-choose-dream-team.html

:rolleyes:
 
Does Rafael have enough pace in him to keep up with Ronaldo? He's shown that he can keep up with Bale, but Ronaldo has much better acceleration and is probably faster too - at least uses it better. Rafael surely will have his hands full!
 
Rossa said:
Does Rafael have enough pace in him to keep up with Ronaldo? He's shown that he can keep up with Bale, but Ronaldo has much better acceleration and is probably faster too - at least uses it better. Rafael surely will have his hands full!
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I would say Bale's a but quicker than Ronaldo, definitely not much in it.
 
Eugenius said:
Redknapp and Keown choosing a Man Utd/Madrid XI

"KEOWN: That's true. Let's go with him as our No 1. What about the defenders? I think Alvaro Arbeloa is much improved from his days at Liverpool.

REDKNAPP: He impressed me against Spurs two seasons ago and Rafael is a bit hit-andmiss. But I'll bow to your knowledge on defending."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-Redknapp-Martin-Keown-choose-dream-team.html

:rolleyes:
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The caf's view on Rafael is so, so far away from the general opinion on him it's crazy. Things like his red card v Bayern, his mistake v Everton and getting taken off after 20 minutes are the kinds of things that people who don't watch us every week remember him by - it's expected. Well, that and some great goals he's scored for us. Is it wrong that he's pidgeon-holed a typical Brazilian defender who can't defend? Sure, but there's plenty of times where he's been so eager to get forward that he's been caught out and it's cost us. The Spurs last-minute goal being an obvious example. Likewise he's a huge attacking outlet and that's always going to catch the eye. Why do people care so much about what fans/pundits who see us a few times a season think of certain individuals?

I think it goes both ways though. Thinking he's nailed-on to be the Brazil right back for 2014 or that he's the best right back in the league - you just wouldn't hear it anywhere else. Doesn't Neville keep mentioning Zabaleta's the best right back in the league? Not only that, but today he indirectly called Rafael the weakest defender in the team. I reckon he talks so little about Rafael because his defending frustrates the feck out of him.

“Ronaldo is a bully. He bullies the weakest defender. He does it all the time.

“He did it to Manchester City against Maicon. He will play on the left wing.
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Jaybezia said:
Without the ball I think CR is quicker, and with it was Bale slightly...
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Nah, I think Ronaldo outpaces him with and without the ball (that 90m run from Ronaldo where he hits the post is not something I think Bale could do), certainly in acc where Bale is not close. Imo, Bale is just a tad overrated in the speed department, imo. Ronaldo will be a tougher nut to crack as he has a lot more than pace in his locker though.
 
Brwned: do you think that Neville might just feel that Rafael will become a bigger star than him and feels a tingle of envy? Rafael's defending this season has been amazing. Yes he is caught out of position at times, but he is a modern fullback - we want him to attack and we want other players to cover for him when he does!
 
Surely Neville watches United more than a few times a season though, so he doesn't really have an excuse.
 
Rossa said:
Brwned: do you think that Neville might just feel that Rafael will become a bigger star than him and feels a tingle of envy?
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:wenger:

Yeah, that's completely reasonable and not far fetched at all!

Also, I bet he's annoyed at De Gea because at a dinner party at Nev's house De Gea stole a pack of doughnuts.

We're on to something here.
 
Shark22 said:
Surely Neville watches United more than a few times a season though, so he doesn't really have an excuse.
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He doesn't need an excuse, it's a valid opinion.

Rossa said:
Brwned: do you think that Neville might just feel that Rafael will become a bigger star than him and feels a tingle of envy? Rafael's defending this season has been amazing. Yes he is caught out of position at times, but he is a modern fullback - we want him to attack and we want other players to cover for him when he does!
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Possibly. I've no doubt he's bigging up Zabaleta because he sees many of his own qualities in him as Zabaleta just goes about his job in an unfussy way, he's very reliable and consistent. If he's really the best right back in the league then the standards have dropped so, so low though. This is the first season he's been first choice and it's only came about because of Richards' injury.

Rafael's defending one on one has been excellent for around 18 months now but that's only half your game defensively. He gets dragged out of position far too easily in practically every game and there's so much covering that goes on purely because of him. No-one else has that licence to drift from one end of the pitch to the other just to track his man yet Rafael does it every other game. I've no doubt we allow him to do that because when he get tight to his man he can nullify 90% of the wingers he comes up against, but there's so much we have to do to facilitate that. And then when he's forced to sit back, read the play and anticipate his man's next move he doesn't excel at all.

The biggest improvement in his game is he dives in about 10% as much as he did in the beginning, there's been no huge leaps in any other aspect of his defending since that Bayern game IMO. He was always good one on one. You can't on the one hand say his defending is amazing and on the other say "well, he's a modern fullback so its his attacking that we're really concerned about".
 
I personally think Rafael is a boy for the big games, he has been probably our best player alongside RVP this season, and i think he will be game for the challenge.

Ronaldo wont want to take Rafael on the outside as he is very quick himself, so he will be cutting in and shooting on sight as usual.

We need to make sure our midfield shuffle over and cover him cutting inside as much as possible.
 
I couldn't care less what the media and outsiders think of Rafael, I wouldn't trade him for any other right back in the works. I'm not saying he's the best right now obviously, but I still wouldn't trade him.
 
Eugenius said:
Redknapp and Keown choosing a Man Utd/Madrid XI

"KEOWN: That's true. Let's go with him as our No 1. What about the defenders? I think Alvaro Arbeloa is much improved from his days at Liverpool.

REDKNAPP: He impressed me against Spurs two seasons ago and Rafael is a bit hit-andmiss. But I'll bow to your knowledge on defending."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-Redknapp-Martin-Keown-choose-dream-team.html

:rolleyes:
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Aside from the ridiculous Arbeloa over Rafael, which you could have seen coming a mile off with those two, that team actually looks about right to me. Which puts paid to the myth that Madrid are miles ahead of us at the moment. They have a slight edge, but it's close.

The 'banter' in that article makes me want to die.
 
I think Rafael has been overrated amongst United fans in the past, in the way that fans tend to rate young players at their club on potential as well as their performances. Fans are better placed to see a player's quality before the player has had the series of performances to prove it. And because there's an investment there, a young player's progression can be idealised & individual mistakes are more forgiven/overlooked (like has been mentioned with Rafael) because there's a bigger picture for us as fans.

I think Rafael has been excellent this year & it won't take long for outside perception to be closer to that of United fans. In terms of his positioning I think he's greatly improved his defending from crosses from the opposite flank. He's not bad in the air and more often than not his positioning in those situations is great to clear the danger. The vast majority of goals we've conceded from crosses have been converted Evra's side (we could then question whether/why more dangerous crosses come from down our right side).
 
Raf isnt overrated, he's just made some high profile mistakes and been scapegoated a few times while his fantastic performances have gone largely unnoticed by people other than United fans.
 
Ekeke said:
Raf isnt overrated, he's just made some high profile mistakes and been scapegoated a few times while his fantastic performances have gone largely unnoticed by people other than United fans.
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I think thats a good way to put it.

He's come of age this season and has now started to learn to use his body to defend now that he has the core strength to do so, he looks little but he is a proper unit these days.
 
Brwned said:
Possibly. I've no doubt he's bigging up Zabaleta because he sees many of his own qualities in him as Zabaleta just goes about his job in an unfussy way, he's very reliable and consistent. If he's really the best right back in the league then the standards have dropped so, so low though. This is the first season he's been first choice and it's only came about because of Richards' injury.
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Well I would say Zabaleta is the best right back in the league as well. But again it's because standards are so low. It has gotten to the point that Glen Johnson is now up there with a shout just for not being as mistake riddled as he has been in the past.

I am sure we in general see Zabaleta in the same way most oppo fans used to see Neville as well.
 
Brwned said:
Rafael's defending one on one has been excellent for around 18 months now but that's only half your game defensively. He gets dragged out of position far too easily in practically every game and there's so much covering that goes on purely because of him. No-one else has that licence to drift from one end of the pitch to the other just to track his man yet Rafael does it every other game. I've no doubt we allow him to do that because when he get tight to his man he can nullify 90% of the wingers he comes up against, but there's so much we have to do to facilitate that. And then when he's forced to sit back, read the play and anticipate his man's next move he doesn't excel at all.

The biggest improvement in his game is he dives in about 10% as much as he did in the beginning, there's been no huge leaps in any other aspect of his defending since that Bayern game IMO. He was always good one on one. You can't on the one hand say his defending is amazing and on the other say "well, he's a modern fullback so its his attacking that we're really concerned about".
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I disagree with that, he can do that fine. He's just needs to find that balance of when to push up and when to drop back, he still gets far too tight to his man but his anticipation and reading of the game is good for his age and position. I wouldn't read much into Neville and his non-praise of United players, he did give Rafael MoTM on the weekend and did mention his form on Twitter. I think you have to remember Rafael's been a one-man force attacking on the right at times too.

For me he's always been decent enough defensively if prone to switching off and being rash, injuries haven't helped and he's only 22. There's a lot more to come from Rafael. He's got a top attitude, he's hungry to learn too. The facet of his defensive game you highlight comes with maturity and experience.
 
Also I stumbled upon this gem on Rafael from SAF:

The one time he will break off, in more than an hour's conversation, is when he spots Rafael da Silva, his precocious Brazilian defender, in reception.

"Sometimes you're not sure about a player," Ferguson says. "Sometimes you doubt. Sometimes you have to guess. Sometimes..." he waves an arm in the direction of the 18-year-old, "you just know."
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http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entert...-ferguson-manchester-united-manager-interview
 
Brightonian said:
And exactly how most fans have always felt about Rafa, even back when he was rash and error-prone. It was always obvious that he'd come very, very good.
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I don't think it's at all far-fetched to suggest he could become the best right back in the world in the future. In fact it's looking quite likely at the moment.
 
Superb player, he's always looked likely to make it, it's the attitude he has when he plays. Can tell he's determined on the pitch, and I reckon that carries over to training.
 
Hope he has a fecking blinder tomorrow against Ronaldo (if they match up). Will be a huge credit to the lad and definitely a massive reward if he plays well up against him.

Come on leaps and bounds through this season and a great game would be just desserts.

ArmchairCritic said:
Also I stumbled upon this gem on Rafael from SAF:
http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entert...-ferguson-manchester-united-manager-interview
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I remember, when
I went to Rangers, the thought in my mind was: 'I am going to win something here. International caps and trophies.'"

"Whereas actually..."

"I didn't win a sausage."
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:lol: brilliant. Great article thanks or sharing Armchair.
 
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