The media don't care about Rafael, they've never rated him.
2
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 11
- Clean sheets
- 4
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 2
- Status
If he leaves, my username is going to be totally crap. It's already 50% crap.
I thought Rafael is wearing a protective mask because of a very bad face injury, was I mistaken?
Well he's played in the last couple of of U21 games, so I take it his ok to play.
I just think he's out of favour at the moment, with Van Gaal preferring to play Valencia and McNair at right back now.
Doubt he'll be here next season.
He's been totally frozen out. Very weird especially considering our options at RB. One of my Favourite players. Will be gutted when he leaves.
That hasn't been the case for some weeks, and the injury wasn't even that serious considering what might've been.
Yep, another of my favorites too. Hate seeing them leave.
You would hope that Van Gaal at least has the courtesy to grant Rafael one last hurrah; it's not as if he's done wrong by the club during his United career.
Not really surprised. It seems that LVG doesn't want to build club's RB future on an injury prone RB.
I do think it's harsh he's been completely frozen out. I'm assuming Giggs has been in van Gaal's ear, or someone similar, because he's continued to give our other injury prone defenders a chance this season. I would have kept him as backup, and brought in stiff competition this summer, but it looks likely he'll be off.
Unless Van Gaal has a fantastic right back lined up then selling Rafael is a joke. How he can rate Valencia ahead of him is beyond belief.
He hasn't, no, but we've been saying the same thing about Rafael since he arrived at the club.
It's not his fault, but if we want to move forward, and build a solid, consistent back four, we need a right back who will be able to stay fit for the majority of the season. Rafael, since his arrival, has been injury prone. Jones and Smalling the same.
I have no doubt he'll be back in the team soon, though, but with Valencia, and now McNair, it seems Rafa has got healthy competition.
That doesn't stop him bringing Jones straight back into the team after he recovers from his fortnightly injury.
We have shit loads of injury prone player who get a chance to play.
IMO the problem is Rafael is better at attacking than defending.
Not happy with that either to be fair.
I've always liked him as a player, he's good when he's fit but that's the thing. He never is consistently fit over a season. You need stability at the back and he doesn't provide it because of his injury problems.
McNair > Valencia > Rafael
Apparently.
Apparently.
It's actually sad LVG prefers McNair over him
Rafael would have created so many chances in this match if he started. So many.
LVG just doesn't seem to rate him.
There were stories at the start of the season to that effect too, weren't there?
There were stories at the start of the season to that effect too, weren't there?
To be honest I don't think LVG gives a crap about all that.
It's a joke to start McNair and leave Rafael out entirely.
Probably our best RB and doesn't play. I know he's injury prone but come one, no way is McNair better
Why has LVG completely frozen Rafael out? Sure, he has his flaws - but McNair isn't a right back and Valencia is fecking useless. Pretty much all our half-chances (and the goal) came from the left - first Shaw and later Young. Surely LVG realises that proper wing backs are important in the systems he wants to play? Puzzling as feck.
I don't think LVG has ever rated him, even back when he was Bayern manager in 2010. Perhaps the sending off has influenced his decision to not play Rafa as he deems him a liability. It's definitely not because he is worse than Valencia or McNair.
The treatment of Rafael is even more depressing when you see what could have been today.
Really wish him well and will miss the guy to death but he deserves to be playing football.
Crazy how our only RB can't get into our squad when we are in need of a RB.
Really wish him well and will miss the guy to death but he deserves to be playing football.
Crazy how our only RB can't get into our squad when we are in need of a RB.
Rafael has his flaws but how McNair plays there ahead of him is beyond me.
Was thinking about that too, first impressions and all that. And then the penalty incident at the start of the season didn't help (wasn't Rafa's fault but still).
But then again Rafael has played some matches for us, and definitely showed some skill on the ball in those games, had some amazing touches. Must be showing the same qualities in training sessions, and Van Gaal likes technical players. So I can't see Van Gaal not rating him, only reason I can think of is the injuries/quest for stability. Still very harsh on Rafael though, McNair has done great but it's so weird.
Baffling. The last thing LVG said about Rafael was him praising his 'character' or 'attitude' because he hurt his cheek and still wanted to play on.
This is exactly the tough mentality that we lack outside of Rooney and Jones.
Sick of watching Valencia and his shit crosses. Rafael's crossing isn't the greatest either but his attacking play is unpredictable and he links the right sided players so well. Basically he makes the entire right side of the pitch more dangerous and adds urgency and balls.
This is exactly the tough mentality that we lack outside of Rooney and Jones.
Sick of watching Valencia and his shit crosses. Rafael's crossing isn't the greatest either but his attacking play is unpredictable and he links the right sided players so well. Basically he makes the entire right side of the pitch more dangerous and adds urgency and balls.
yes
Selling him has to to happen. He can't stay fit. Valencia hasn't put a foot wrong in the RB role this season.
What do you want, not putting a foot wrong or simply better performances?
It's not a dig at Valencia who has been good but Rafael gives so much more going both ways. He automatically makes us a better team compared to when anyone else is at RB.
Valencia has had some terrible performances this season at RB. He has been steady for a good while now but they've generally been nothing special and certainly nothing that can't easily be improved upon by bringing in a half decent specialised RB.
You'd think he missed 90% of games judging by some on here.
The lads been one of the most important players on recent seasons, he provides genuine drive to our quick attacks.
I fail to see why he cant rotate with Valencia.
The lads been one of the most important players on recent seasons, he provides genuine drive to our quick attacks.
I fail to see why he cant rotate with Valencia.
What better performances? Its not like Rafael is vastly superior to Valencia. His crosses are very hit and miss and his dribbling ability is overrated. Valencia has done very well at RB, better than most expected and no one can argue with that. I don't care if people think Rafael is as good as Ronaldo, he's no good to the team if he can't play more than 3 games in a row.
We need to invest in a proper RB in summer, the meantime Valencia can be relied on to do a job. What terrible performances are you talking about btw? From a defensive or offensive standpoint? Can you name these 'terrible' performances without doing a google search? Sounds like a witch hunt. He's been solid defensively and the only disappointment ive seen is his contribution in attack which people feel should be more. You're looking for something that isnt there
It's utterly baffling Smores, it's one of the few complaints I have with LvG tbh because Rafael is a superior rightback/wingback than Valencia imo.
- Status