From my perspective Rafael is trying to hold his line and not knock it in his own goal, Ronaldo can throw himself towards the ball without fear in that situation. Ronaldo just throwing himself at it gives him the yard he needs on Rafael. Maybe you'd expect a full back to try something, but the fear of conceding may have played in Rafael's mind.
Rafael da Silva | 2010-14 Performances
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Stopped a certain goal with that, great defending whatever way you look at it.
Stopped a certain goal with that, great defending whatever way you look at it.
The fault on the goal lies with allowing the cross to come in. Especially after we had a warning with a similar outstanding low cross in the first half.
Now thats not to say Rafael doesnt let crosses come in because he does. But in this match the dangerous crosses were coming in from Higuain on the right and thats not Rafael's duty.
Now thats not to say Rafael doesnt let crosses come in because he does. But in this match the dangerous crosses were coming in from Higuain on the right and thats not Rafael's duty.
exactly
Rafael while letting Ronaldo get behind him is at a huge disadvantage and like you said Ronaldo can just gamble on the cross coming in. Huge credit should go to Ozil for the back heel through ball that caught the whole line by surprise and a inch perfect cross by Higuian for Ronaldo.
tbh regardless of who was playing RB I think they would have been beaten there.
Sniff of a Brazilian and caf's on heat - see Anderson, Neymar et al.
He was perfectly positioned, but yeah sure, you can make the argument that he could have done something to prevent the ball from reaching Ronaldo. Likely as not, that would have ended up as another notch in the belt for OG, but sure you can make the case that he should have been (even more) alert.
It just makes little sense to pick it out when 1) It wasn't really a mistake by anyone, and 2) other players who were more culpable than Rafael if you want to place the blame somewhere. For me it's akin to saying that Carrick is to blame for the first goal because he overcommitted. Silly, in other words.
If you want to pick on things from Rafael's game, you should rather be talking about how he gave the ball away when dribbling inside his own box. Now that was poor.
That Santos you've got looks a bit special
Santos isn't very good and Arsenal fans say 'he isn't very good'. If he played for Man Utd he'd be 'best LB in PL' or 'worldclass'. Wake up and smell the fanny.
He would have swapped shirts with Ronaldo at half
I usually enjoy you're banter mate, but you're talking a load of shite here.
Did I really read Pete say that Rafael will never be in Sagna's league? Sagna?
Had he thrown in a name like Neville or Cafu who proved themselves as worldies for the most part of their careers, I'd be all for it but in real terms who the feck is Sagna? Decent player for a couple of seasons with brittle bones? Rafael's 'I became a man season' has been every bit as impressive as Sagna's first season which was arguably his best in an Arsenal shirt. Having a bad 45 mins at the Bernabeu and 'letting' Ronaldo in for a goal at OT is pretty fecking forgivable. Had it been Walcott or Podolski and the Emirates, alarm bells would be ringing.
Had he thrown in a name like Neville or Cafu who proved themselves as worldies for the most part of their careers, I'd be all for it but in real terms who the feck is Sagna? Decent player for a couple of seasons with brittle bones? Rafael's 'I became a man season' has been every bit as impressive as Sagna's first season which was arguably his best in an Arsenal shirt. Having a bad 45 mins at the Bernabeu and 'letting' Ronaldo in for a goal at OT is pretty fecking forgivable. Had it been Walcott or Podolski and the Emirates, alarm bells would be ringing.
The RVP transfer and Arsenals continued shitness seem to have made you even more bitter this season than usual.
I'm bitter about the disloyal cnut, I'm bemused by the Man Utd Brazilian love-in against all evidence.
What evidence is this with Rafael, he's young and he makes errors but by all accounts he's a fantastic little player. In fact I'll let SAF spell it out:
Rafael is 22 and already a level or two above Sagna, even if he's not the finished product. Sagna was never the finished product, unless your finished product was a forgettable journey man fullback. Now he's just a shit crocked wrong side of 30 fullback.
On Tuesday, Rafael was on course for a clean sheet against the world's best player until the ludicrous sending off. Until then, Real hadn't really had a sniff.
On Tuesday, Rafael was on course for a clean sheet against the world's best player until the ludicrous sending off. Until then, Real hadn't really had a sniff.
He's just had two games v Real. One uber-shit and one just piss-poor. In the summer he fecked Brazil's Olympic bid. Get real.
I think Rafael is class
He's on a WUM. 
If not, he's blind.
If not, he's blind.
Sagna's been fecked over by two broken legs and yet I've never seen him be so abjectly shite as Rafael v Real away.That's just being selective. We can pinpoint mistakes by every player.
He has been one of United's best players this season.
Had a quick scan through some of the best Rafael GIF's from this season on Beautifully Red:
He's a fantastic footballer with a great attitude who is improving defensively.
He's a fantastic footballer with a great attitude who is improving defensively.
Selective in choosing the 3 big games he's faced? Great against Norwich/Wigan/QPR at home and crap when he has to defend in big games.
What big games was he bad defensively in? Off the top of my mind Reading and Real first leg are the only poor games he's had this season.
Sagna's been fecked over by nothing other than his own average ability.
You see, an abjectly shite performance should mean you were at fault for at least one goal in a dismal defeat, something Sagna is well acquainted with.
Whereas Rafael was part of a defence that came away with creditable 1-1 in Madrid, with no fault against his name for the goal conceded. Sure he struggled against the world's most dangerous winger at times, it wasn't a top performance by any means, but he settled into the game well.
At Old Trafford, Rafael shut down Ronaldo until the ridiculous sending off, which made his job close to impossible.
And he's 22, miles from his peak. With some players, you just know.
You know jack shit if you ignore the evidence and base your opinion on being mystic Meg.
Well the evidence is this, he's played 123 games for United at the age of 22 and Sir Alex rates him highly. You don't need to be mystic meg to know where he's going.
Pete, Rafa is only 22. He's still going to develop. He's already incomparable to the player that joined us in 2008.
Nah, the evidence is he's a great full-back who regularly shuts down top opponents. His list of good games far outweighs his poor ones, whereas your Sagna just fluctuates between poor and ok without ever hitting any highs.
You don't need to be Mystic Meg, you just need an eye for a player, as Fergie does. And you don't.
You don't need to be Mystic Meg, you just need an eye for a player, as Fergie does. And you don't.
Not many outside United want to change their opinion on Rafael. Leave them be with their ill-informed and plainly stupid opinions.
You're not allowed a bad half against one of the best players of all time, it means you're infinitely worse than a has-been who was grossly overrated due to the poor quality of full-backs in the Premier League (well Right Backs...around the 2008 mark. Ashley Cole and Patrice Evra upped it on the left for years).
You're not allowed a bad half against one of the best players of all time, it means you're infinitely worse than a has-been who was grossly overrated due to the poor quality of full-backs in the Premier League (well Right Backs...around the 2008 mark. Ashley Cole and Patrice Evra upped it on the left for years).
fixed Pete.
Rafael was excellent for 135 mins against Madrid, I'll forgive him 45.
Not sure where this Petey fella is aiming at here, but if he genuinely believes Sagna is a better player than Rafael - then I can safely say that he knows feck all about football and that we should stop listening to his gobshite.
he's exactly where he should be, ball watching at the far post and letting someone ghost in behind him. As mentioned, he didn't lose his man? I could have sworn the game finished 1-2 and Ronaldo scored at the back post? Did this not happen??
If some gumpsters are trying to absolve him of the blame to protect him, that's fine and all that but trying to deny it happened?..
We all love the lad but like I said - he'll learn more from this than anything else.
Of course he lost Ronaldo for the goal.
It's Ronaldo. He loses his marker several times a game whoever he is playing.
If you're also hampered by defending with only 10 men, safe to say Ronaldo will lose you at least once.
And that's what happened. Rafael's performance was nigh-on flawless until the red card. And even after it, he lost Ronaldo just once.
Of course, Ronaldo only needs that once. Rafael wasn't even going to give him that until the Turkish referee ruined it.
It's Ronaldo. He loses his marker several times a game whoever he is playing.
If you're also hampered by defending with only 10 men, safe to say Ronaldo will lose you at least once.
And that's what happened. Rafael's performance was nigh-on flawless until the red card. And even after it, he lost Ronaldo just once.
Of course, Ronaldo only needs that once. Rafael wasn't even going to give him that until the Turkish referee ruined it.
He's been majestic against Bale - outpaced and outshone Ribery all the way except for when Ribery got him sent off for ridiculous reasons.
He was shit against RM the first 45 minutes, then nothing came past him for the remaining 135 or so - how the hell is that poor play? Ronaldo can make a mockery of any fullback in the world - how do you think Sagna would fare? He's been made a laughingstock by Bale on more than one occasion, and Evra used to run circles around him.
Rafael has so much more in his locker than defending and being an attacking fullback though - he links up in midfield like geniune midfielder and provides width, pressure and always seems to be available for a pass. He's also a fairly decent dribbler, albeit not at Evra's level.
I find you a good poster, but when it comes to Rafael you come off as rather blunt and one sided. Most United supporters love him because he has matured a lot this season, always plays with his heart and now luckily with his brain. He has great attacking attributes and now defends very well, on pair with the best in the league. However, as he is young and an attacking fullback, he is prone to a mistake or two, like most modern fullbacks are. Look at Marcelo, Baines, Evra, Cole, Sagna, Clichy, etc, they all feck up on a regular basis. It's not something that goes for Rafael alone.
This, ffs, this.
Ronaldo gives right backs all over the world nightmares, the barometer of an excellent right back is not shutting Ronaldo down because if it is then they're all shite.
As mentioned, he didn't lose his man? I could have sworn the game finished 1-2 and Ronaldo scored at the back post? Did this not happen??
If some gumpsters are trying to absolve him of the blame to protect him, that's fine and all that but trying to deny it happened?..
We all love the lad but like I said - he'll learn more from this than anything else.
Sorry ghaliboy but Rafael is perfectly positioned as any decent football coach would tell you, he hasn't "lost" anyone, he's in a great position for a full back and he's done by a perfect ball.
Why do you lot ALWAYS need to pass blame, some goals are just fecking good goals, this was one. Perfect by Özil, Higuain and Ronaldo.
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