guessing you stopped watching at half time? cnut.
Rafael da Silva | 2010-14 Performances
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guessing you stopped watching at half time? cnut.
Agreed. We looked far more solid in the 2nd half.
He showed good character to get back on track after a very weak first half display.
Pete is the definition of Talk sport.
Tonight was excellent chance to prove how good he is, shame about his poor performance, I hope he will have good game at Old trafford.
First half tactics weren't helping him, he had zero support, and was constantly left in one on one situation with their players. And weird thing is that he is best in those situations, but tonight wasn't simply his night.
Improved in second half as soon as our whole team started playing as unit.
First half tactics weren't helping him, he had zero support, and was constantly left in one on one situation with their players. And weird thing is that he is best in those situations, but tonight wasn't simply his night.
Improved in second half as soon as our whole team started playing as unit.
The best compliment you can pay Rafael is that peterstorey's probably been waiting about 4 months to come back into this thread and can only manage to do it on the basis of one half of football against one of the most expensively assembled and potent attacks in the game.
Solid performance I thought, and showed real maturity at times.
Maybe it's a testament to the lad that he's getting criticised for having a weak twenty or so minutes up against Cristiano Ronaldo.
Maybe it's a testament to the lad that he's getting criticised for having a weak twenty or so minutes up against Cristiano Ronaldo.
Really?
Maybe it's a testament to the lad that he's getting criticised for having a weak twenty or so minutes up against Cristiano Ronaldo.
I think its more than that. Coentrao got past him and the way Ozil bodied him out was not good either.
First Half he was getting far too tight and pulled around. Second Half he was much closer to Rio and pressed at the right times, it was mature in the end.
There was a moment in the second half when Kagawa gave the ball away and we were in the shit, Rafael stood up to di Maria, I think, and averted the danger brilliantly. Really maturing.
Pretty much this.
It's also a testament to him how he recognised his errors and adjusted to the game and finished strongly. I wasn't nervous about that second yellow coming at all, I really felt he had learnt a hard lesson on that one before and it showed.
Mixed game from him today. Looked a bit out of sorts one minute and then would get things right the next. Was much better in the second half and did well to reel things in a bit after he got the yellow card.
He definitely showed maturity in the second half, I was basically never worried that he'd get his second yellow.
He was trying too hard, and was too anxious whenever the ball came to his side. Was a really poor performance.
He was getting double teamed so often because they targeted him as the weak link. Neville said that's what'll happen and people scoffed at it, Keown and Dunphy said Rafael was a bit impetuous and weak defensively and again it was brushed off as sheer idiocy...it's really not. If they saw him in every game this season then they'd look at him in a more favourable light but they don't, and Rafael looking vulnerable defensively is nowhere near as uncommon as you lot let on. He loves a challenge so his defensive mishaps are overlooked more readily than most, just like with Heinze. If he was at Real we'd be saying he's a weak link defensively too.
I personally think you exaggerate his lack of defensive nous. He's been very solid all around this season. I was actually surprised they didn't target Evra as he's a bigger defensive liability, and has been throughout the season.
I don't think either has been a defensive liability this season. Evra did his defending very well yesterday, so moot point. Rafael was isolated too much though against Özil and Coentrao. Did a couple of silly mistakes against Ronaldo though.
Anyone else think he'd been given some specific instructions regarding Ronaldo that put him off his game in the first half? He was coming out of position all the time to follow Ronaldo and appeared to not entirely know what was expected of him. It also looked like this confusion also led to nerves.
Second half he played like his normal self and was infinitely better, very impressed with him there, especially considering he was on a yellow.
Second half he played like his normal self and was infinitely better, very impressed with him there, especially considering he was on a yellow.
His match against Everton was absolutely perfect.. He's been around that level for the whole season. Last night he was nervous and had a nightmare in the first half but that doesn't suddenly make him weak. He had a chance to show his talent to the world and he failed to do it. World Cup/Champions League watchers' opinion doesn't matter.
I thought he was a red card waiting to happen after the first half, but fair play, he played much better in the second half and didn't do anything rash, which he would likely have done two years ago.
Far from a great performance, but promising all the same.
Far from a great performance, but promising all the same.
I have to disagree with you here, I don't think he's been a weak link at all. He's been defensively solid this season and has been having monster performances all season. I think he's ironed out a lot of his defensive errors that he's had in the past and has come on leaps and bounds. So I wouldn't say his defensive mishaps get overlooked, I just don't think he's had them much this season, he's been a monster at right back.
Well he was given instructions to stop Ronaldo we already know this, but yeah at first I was wondering what position he was playing as he seemed to be all over the place.
I don't think he was getting targeted at all and if he was it strangely vanished in the Second Half. Madrid are always going to go down the left a lot, Ronaldo plays there and Coentrao only knows one direction. Their front 4 interchanged, it was nothing specific to Rafael just quality players exploiting space. He was getting far too tight, I was disappointed with the lad but the maturity he showed in the second half deserves credit.
Gary Neville's opinion doesn't count for anything in this case? He played with Rafael and Evra, he obviously watches us regularly and he knows the fullback role inside out, and he saw Rafael as "weak" before the nightmare first half. Yet on here he's being called a monstrous defender who's been almost perfect for most of the season. Why do you think he's got it so wrong?
Sadly Pete is emblematic of wider perceptions of Rafael. The Telegraph dedicated a column this morning to Rafa's failings, failings that he is starting to overcome but that are still a problem. It is frustrating that he only seems to get negative press when we all know that he has been consistently excellent this season. I was surprised that Neville gave Rafa the MOM at weekend, it was the first time that he has ever won such an award. He usually barely even gets a mention in the media for the many great games that he plays for us.
Did he say that? He said Ronaldo will bully players and target the weak link but he never said Rafael explicitly did he? He also said he was misquoted on Twitter.
I suppose quite ironically, if that was the case, Ronaldo switched wings and scored when he was matched against Evra. Did Ronaldo decide that Evra was the weakest link and punish us through that? Maybe Nev was misquoted, if he wasn't then he was talking crap.
Did he really single out Rafael?
And this whole "targets the weakest defender" is a load of bollocks.
Started the game in his old form, ended it as we know he can. I felt we got sucked into playing at Madrids tempo and lost composure. He had absolutely no cover from whoever was on the right though (probably Rooney). It seemed he was instructed to follow Ronaldo, but that could lead him anywhere really. It left acres of space for Ozil or Coentrao, whenever they were able to exploit it, it was ridiculous cover. He would then have to sprint over, and it's no surprise he wasn't himself, getting dragged all over like that. I'm not entirely sure, but i think Jones was asked to pick up Ronaldo when he drifted inside and made runs into the box. We just held a better shape and Rafael defended the channels well, there was never any space to get in behind.
I think that he has started almost every game for Madrid on the left this season.
Where did he say any such thing about Rafael in particular? He was speaking about Ronaldo, and not any one of our defenders when he said that "Ronaldo targets the weakest link".
This is all I can find on Rafael by him ahead of the match:
Gary Neville's Twitter said:
Edit: I just saw your post above. Are you putting together to quotes from out of context? I've not seen them put together like that before. The one about how he bullies the weakest link was followed up with something to the effect of "he will switch sides if he doesn't get a sniff" in the article I read.
So because Neville said that, we should ignore everything we've watched all season in regards to Rafael? He hasn't been a weak link this season for me, but hey I didn't play full back for Manchester United for over ten years so I guess my opinion doesn't count.
But yes, for me Rafael has been a monster this season, he's taken his game to a higher level of consistency than we've ever seen before. Even the best defenders in the world would struggle against Ronaldo, and considering he scores in virtually every match that he plays then I don't think it would be unfair to say we'd expect him to get the better of a young but maturing Rafael yesterday.
But yes, for me Rafael has been a monster this season, he's taken his game to a higher level of consistency than we've ever seen before. Even the best defenders in the world would struggle against Ronaldo, and considering he scores in virtually every match that he plays then I don't think it would be unfair to say we'd expect him to get the better of a young but maturing Rafael yesterday.
If that were two or three seasons ago he would've gotten himself sent off. Mature performance in the second half, and he actually didn't give Ronaldo much joy at all after the break, hence why Ronaldo switched over to the right hand side.
Ronaldo going up against Evra in a aerial battle and scoring is what Neville talked about when targeting the weakest link. Ronaldo knew Evra couldn't match him in the air and pounced on it that's how he plays.
I think Brwned is getting more than a little confused here regarding Neville's comments.
Anyone who watches Madrid on a regular basis will realise that Ronaldo pretty much always plays on the left wing. The quote about targeting the weak link is regarding what Ronaldo does after that start whistle, he moves around from the left to the middle, to the right (like for his goal) and tries to find a "weak link".
Starting on the left every week doesn't mean he always thinks the right back is a weak link. Just have a think about it Brwned.
Anyone who watches Madrid on a regular basis will realise that Ronaldo pretty much always plays on the left wing. The quote about targeting the weak link is regarding what Ronaldo does after that start whistle, he moves around from the left to the middle, to the right (like for his goal) and tries to find a "weak link".
Starting on the left every week doesn't mean he always thinks the right back is a weak link. Just have a think about it Brwned.
Yeah, that's how I see it as well.
Or even moved centre and playing deeper
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