Rafael

Fiskey

Good post and agreed.

Jacob

Wasn't under any particular amount of pressure mind you, decent crosses indeed though.

Brwned

People talk shit about Evra's final ball all the time.

Sultan

Evra plays at one pace, and that's fast. I also feel he rushes the final ball, and as you correctly point out could do a lot better with the talent at his disposal. In my mind Evra is one of the most important players in the team. Our midfield is so inept at times it's left to Evra to drive the team forward, and in terms of build up play he is one of our most productive players in the team.

Walrus

Rafael is fast turning into a beast. His crossing yesterday looked fantastic, and whilst people may complain about his defensive capabilities, he made plenty of good tackles and his positioning has improved a lot too. He should be our first choice right back without question, and with plenty of experience, it will only be a year or two before we can call him one of the best in the world.

Pogue Mahone

Evra's alleged poor return in assists is a total myth. If anyone subdcribes to that view how about naming another PL fullback who has regularly got more assists over the last few years?

Top

As you know, I prefer to count assists for penalties, own goals and what not as it gives you a better picture of how many goals the player has created.

In which case Evra got 7 assists in the league alone last season, while Cole only got 4.

But I know you prefer to just count the basic assists and in that case, Cole got 5 assists from 42 games last season while Evra only got 3 from 55 games.

But you just have to back a couple more years to see that it is indeed a myth no matter how you count the assists.

Pogue Mahone

Cheers, Top. Tis as I thought.

I do agree an assist should be given when it results in an OG fwiw, they often result from the most dangerous crosses of all.

Alwyn

^Birmingham away and Sunderland at OT should definitely count as such.

I agree with this. Although I don't think his early crosses were up to much, he persevered and once he settled into the game a bit more, his crosses got much better. He still seems to float them a wee bit too much, but with strikers who can attack a slow moving ball in the air as well as Rooney and Hernandez, then that's not such a bad thing.

Peach of a cross for Hernandez's goal, really well picked out. Completely immobilised the defender with the curl on it.

His tackling was good too (7 out of 8?), though he still had at least one moment where I feared he would get a bit too lunge-y.

Wan

And WireRed thinks he's not ready yet..

Pogue Mahone

Danny Mills was slating him throughout. What a gimp.

Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber

I can't believe anyone serious believes he had any problems yesterday.

Big-Red

Wanted to smash my TV...or at least mute it, bitter twat.

Jacob

I love his aggressiveness, he doesn't do standing off. He fucking gets stuck in!

Never bought into this 'he can't defend' argument, if it's anything it's 'he can't attack'. He's better defensively imo, and his attacking isn't half bad either.

Sultan

He has definitely been very conservative going forward this season.

Jacob

Agreed, think that has something to do with our balance of flanks though. Usually on the left we have Evra charging forward and the winger tucking in, can't have to wingbacks going gung-hoo, centrehalves would be too exposed.

K Stand Knut

Thought he looked very good yesterday, albeit from the 'highlights' on MoTD.

His crossing, which I have described previously as abysmal and nothing more, was fantastic. 3 or 4 crosses that went on where I shouted goal as they dissed across. Another day, we'd have scored from 2 or 3 of them!!

Lookin much better, consistently, which i think is the main thing. Was previously very good in the odd game but recently has looked like becoming a very competent attacking full-back. If we can get Fabio to do the same, out FBs are sorted for the next decade. Or until Madrid come stiffing

Ekeke

It was clear even from his first pre-season matches that Rafael can attack and when he did it was a sight to behold. But its clear that he's been concentrating more on making sure his defending is right and not attacking quite so much like in the early days. When asked to go forward more like yesterday he'll be keen to oblige and has the quality to make a difference.

Decotron

heard him, what a fucking sad prick that chap is. You'd swear he was any use himself the way he talks.

On Rafael his still makes the odd school boy error. Yesterday was no different but being the caf its all or nothing, I saw someone give him a 9.5 in the ratings thread which is nonsense.

Garethw

People need to remember that he is still very young and learning his trade.

What a fantastic young player we have. We could (if all goes well) have the right fullback position sorted for the next decade.

Inigo Montoya

Rafael was criticised by Danny Mills???

Alwyn

I really hope he gets a long run of starts now. Starting anyone ahead of him (if he's 100% fit) would be a mistake imo, he's simply our best option at RB.

Neutral

I think something we have to remember is, Wigan were down to 9 men, so he had a bit of time to measure the crosses before putting them in...having said that, they were still whipped in really nicely, with good pace and curl.

I think in his mind, Fergie already considers Rafael as the 1st choice right back, and this will become more and more obvious as the season progresses.

Kraftwerker

Nice little write-up and chalkboard analysis of his excellent deliveries vs. Wigan (4th chalkboard).

Premier League chalkboard analysis | Michael Cox | Football | guardian.co.uk

K Stand Knut

Yeah agreed but they were still exponentially better crosses than we have seen from him in the past even with a lot of time to put them in. It has always been one of my biggest annoyances, not just Rafael, that professional footballers consistently put in shit crosses game after game.

I like to see the glass as half full, most of the time, and hope this is the sign of things to come rather than a blip or one-off

K Stand Knut

Shows good ball retention if nothing else - number of completed passes far outnumbers incomplete passes.

Again, hopefully a sign of things to comes from Rafael

Devilton

I think he has been instructed not to get forward because of the number of times he was caught out too far forward last season. Also, with Valencia out there isn't really a winger who offers him that much cover. Nani isn't the best at tracking back, and Park and Nani rarely switch during the game. so Rafael is better off hanging back for most of the game.

He's actually got a fair amount of attacking instinct. Obviously would love to see him continue to improve him as I rate him higher as an attacking threat then O'shea or Brown because he looks more comfortable on the ball and has the ability to beat the man and put in a cross.

(Crossing does need work as well but it's definitely gotten better)

RedDevilCanuck

Our best youngster by far. He will become a star one day and this day could likely be very soon. He has earned the right be our first choice RB. Blatantly obvious that he will be world class.

His defending literally gets better every game too.

RedSky At Night

If you look at his chalkboard, pretty much all of his passes in our side of the pitch were sideways to Rio. I suppose that must be an instruction by management?

SirAF

"Just pass the ball to Rio, son"

RedSky At Night

heh, it does seem like that

amolbhatia100

Agree.

And he will create a lot of goals with his crossing over the years. Especially once he expresses himself going forwards more and learns how to make space to deliver the cross.

KingEric7

He's one of the most precociously gifted youngsters I've seen at this club, to be honest. Despite having the likes of Neville, O'Shea, Brown, etc to compete with for the right back spot, at such a tender age and, with such inexperience, he's looking like he's making it his own, already.

It's even more staggering when you consider his position (young defenders always make mistakes, which knocks their confidence and stunts their progression), and also his lack of games at Fluminense. My gut instinct is that Maicon will be feeling a little uncomfortable regarding his position in the Brazil first XI in a year or two.

Top

His link-up play with Nani today was absolutely brilliant.

Huge potential.

Red Dreams

The right back position is his. We have finally found the replacement for Gary Neville.

Escobar

He's immensely talented and playing so well! Plus, he worked on his weaknesses, doesnt give away stupid fouls and hardly makes rash challenges. What a player!

Shimo

Hope he stays cuddly forever. He is becoming quite the player

Godfather

Devilton

I said at the very start of the season he should get more games regardless of what happened last year and I'm glad SAF is giving the boy his opportunity to stake a claim.
For me, he's already our #1 RB. Just stay fit and keep getting better. There's no reason he can't be one of the very best in the world in a few years.

R.Nilsson7

Should start every game, ridiculously good for a 20 year old.