We'll just have to agree to disagree because many full-backs and wing-backs aren't particularly great at pure defending IMO.
Rafael da Silva | 2010-14 Performances
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He does look like a genuinely sweet person. I bet he's well nice to his mum.
Having a bad half hour vs one of the greatest players to play the game doesnt make you a bad defender.
Nerves, rather than being a bad defender, was the primary cause of Rafaels dodgy half hour IMO.
Nerves, rather than being a bad defender, was the primary cause of Rafaels dodgy half hour IMO.
Okay, I would probably agree with that. But, question is, how many top fullbacks at the moment are actually great defenders? From top teams, I can only count Lahm from recent years(I haven't watched too much Bayern's games this year though). Cole is nothing better than Evra in last two years. Dani Alves was considered as world best fullback, but he is nowhere near excellent defender.
Rafael isn't great defender, I agree, but he is more than average for sure, in fact if we are going to compare him to some other fullbacks at the moment, he is probably one of the best fullbacks in the world looking by his defensive work, but the fact is, modern fullbacks aren't great at defending and that's it.
I don't think anyone is saying that he is good as Gary Neville was at defending, but considering how much he offers in attack, his defensive work is excellent.
I agree Vermahlen was the same for Arsenal against Van Persie, sometimes when you know a player when you have seen what they can do close up it increases the intimidation factor. Rafa wasn't just playing Ronaldo he was playing all the times in training Ronaldo did him, all the times he saw him close up battering our opponents. When he played Ribery or Bale Rafa wasn't playing against his own mind, Ronaldo was different. He looked so edgy...his touch, passing everything. But he came through it. Very good experience for him.
What convinced me of it was the couple of times he actually defended him perfectly well, only to get caught out once he had completed the hard part. He was a bag of nerves but I'd trust him in the second leg with the OT crowd right behind hm.
He had some bad moments in the match and annoyingly kept slipping over, but he also made 6 tackles. More than any other player on the pitch. Shows how much work he was having to do
I think Rafael's defending has being vastly underrated in the past couple of pages. He's an excellent tackler of the ball and is very tenacious. Rafael's main problem isn't his lack of defensive skills but more so his lapses in concentration, sometimes he can switch off that could lead to a costly mistake.
But lets make no mistake about it, it's not every week you get to play against Ronaldo and I don't think there's any other 22 year old right back in the world who can go toe to toe with him and expect to come out on top. Okay so he had a mare for half hour, so what? Shall we dismiss all the great work that Rafael has done this season and the giant strides he's taken? IMO his improvement from last season has been the greatest from any 2 consecutive seasons he's had and you only expect him to get stronger.
So one of the top 2 greatest players in the planet had the better of him on this occasion, it will be a great learning curve for him and I'm confident that Rafael will perform better on the return leg. I wouldn't take any other RB in the world over Rafael because he emphasises what united are all about and I always feel confident when he's playing.
Every time he has had poor-ish performance, he has learned and come back stronger. I think the occasion did get to him a little, tried a bit too much. He'll know next time what to do better - especially since he was able to improve in the 2nd half.
That is his true class IMO - not that he is the best yet but, he keeps getting better after a poor performance. Many other players will just not be able to adapt/learn - not Rafael.
That is his true class IMO - not that he is the best yet but, he keeps getting better after a poor performance. Many other players will just not be able to adapt/learn - not Rafael.
He got one of the toughest assigments in the world or football. And we didn't make it easier by losing the ball again and again, thus allowing Real to come at us again and again. Still, he picked himself up for the second half and did well despite being on a yellow. Well done there.
It shows how hard it is to change people's minds when I've got a colleague - chief writer for world football in my paper - twitting at half time that "Rafael will never be the player Ferguson thought he would". Now, the guy knows his stuff, but it just goes to shows what happens when people have formed an opinion of you. He's a Brazil fan and was in the Olympic final, which obviously made a dent. I told him yesterday he was dead wrong and that Rafael is having a terrific season and he struggled to believe that. Obviously you can't watch every match, but it goes to show you what happens when people decided a certain player is good/bad/great.
It shows how hard it is to change people's minds when I've got a colleague - chief writer for world football in my paper - twitting at half time that "Rafael will never be the player Ferguson thought he would". Now, the guy knows his stuff, but it just goes to shows what happens when people have formed an opinion of you. He's a Brazil fan and was in the Olympic final, which obviously made a dent. I told him yesterday he was dead wrong and that Rafael is having a terrific season and he struggled to believe that. Obviously you can't watch every match, but it goes to show you what happens when people decided a certain player is good/bad/great.
The imports thing about I was he recovered well second half and didn't hide. He had a made first half but much better second. Took character.
Love him!
My player of the half.
Certainly the best RB in the league, how many are ahead of him in world football?
Trying to imagine where the ball would have ended up if Red Nev tried a volley like that.
1 in a 100 strike to be fair.
Pete 
you fecking spanner
you fecking spanner
Are we gonna be seeing pete in here today?
I know it's not a laughing matter at all, but seeing RVP just falling over the microphone on the side made me chuckle.
Immense performance from him today.
Love Carrick in that gif.
"fecking hell Rafa don't hit th....YEAH!"
"fecking hell Rafa don't hit th....YEAH!"
Best RB in the league easily, no amount of bitterness should deny people from the truth
Agrees. No doubt in my mind.
Gotta love Guardian:
Oh wow! Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow. Rafael has scored the goal of his life. He has just belted one from about 25-yards out. It's an absolute screamer. He will never do anything better than that. Never. He should just walk off the pitch right now and never play football again.
Oh wow! Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow. Rafael has scored the goal of his life. He has just belted one from about 25-yards out. It's an absolute screamer. He will never do anything better than that. Never. He should just walk off the pitch right now and never play football again.
Call me a hipster, but I still prefer his goal against Liverpool earlier in the season.
Me too, but this was excellent strike too.
To hit it while running at pace, with a player pressuring you, and still smash a shitbeast of a goal top corner is special.
Sublime strike, what a goal! Also cleared the ball off the line, and some very good defending though maybe if we're nitpicking he's been caught out of position a couple of times.
Also played a peach of a ball for the RVP chance that Caesar saved.
Was he stabbed by Brutus afterwards?
According to a city fan who follows me on twitter both Zabeleta and Johnson are better than him 
Are you forgetting Neville trying to lob Buffon from outside the box, was a great effort as well. I remember hearing the commentator saying "was Gary Neville just trying to lob Buffon"
According to a city fan who follows me on twitter both Zabeleta and Johnson are better than him
My scouse mate thinks the same, madness.
Are you forgetting Neville trying to lob Buffon from outside the box, was a great effort as well. I remember hearing the commentator saying "was Gary Neville just trying to lob Buffon"
I remember that. It's one those moments that are unforgettable just because it's so uncharacteristic
I know, I can also say I've seen Gary Neville score live as well (only once). Those are the rare precious moments that we must all live for surely.
Brilliant performance. Great goal, almost had a wonderful assist and made a key clearance off the line. Motm.
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