Rafael da Silva

OL29

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Love Rafael, wish he'd stayed even though it was probably better for both parties that he departed. He's still better than Darmian imo.
 

Smores

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It's rare that players are so public about their fandom of other teams but he's unashamedly a big fan.

I think there's plenty of our own current players who aren't even half as passionate about us than he is. Not that it matters but it'd be nice.
 

Chipper

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He still looks so young, even with the facial hair. Almost like a kid who stuck some on to try and appear older.

He and Memphis were speaking nicely about United this week. Memphis said Manchester is red (which of course it is) ahead of the match.
 

Kapardin

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Would love him back as a back-up for Dalot assuming the latter becomes first choice. He isn't world class, but he's definitely not as bad as Darmian. Plus, he's a warrior, the type of mentality Jose likes.
 

SATA

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Rafael and Hernandez, two of whom understand very much of what the club is all about and should never be sold. Bloody van Gaal, yes i blame him
 

Minimalist

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What's his injuries been like since he left? Wasn't that a big reason we sold him?
 

GifLord

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Was lucky not to concede a pen but overall a solid performance vs city
 

el3mel

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I love the fact Rafael still has a soft spot for Utd but lets be honest he wasnt good enough.There's other players not good enough either but that's a different story.
Disagree. He was phenomenal in SAF last season. His injuries are what brought him down hell and when he left I think it was the right time for everyone, but always loved him and in his peak under SAF he was fun to watch.
 

SATA

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Poor him. He said he faced Sterling and then Sane later on. The poor lad must have been absolutely spent after the game
 

TheFlagStaysDown

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He's a player we should never have sold. He was a quality player who loved being here. And we replaced him with Darmian...
the problem was Rafa struggled a lot with injuries but when he seemed over it in his last season for Van Gaal, he was sold. fecking Van Gaal, would rather have Rafael with one leg then that Italian fraud of a player. Funny fact is that both of them are 28 now, would be awesome if we could get him maybe as a squadie and to replace Valencia short term/ compete with established but still young Dalot, wouldnt be a bad idea would be cheap and would leave his everything for United and Mourinho who would love him. The question is how is his injury record.
 

royboy16

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Disagree. He was phenomenal in SAF last season. His injuries are what brought him down hell and when he left I think it was the right time for everyone, but always loved him and in his peak under SAF he was fun to watch.
1 good season but other seasons a defensive liability.His disciplinary record wasnt great either,plus he was a sick note.
 

TheFlagStaysDown

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I love the fact Rafael still has a soft spot for Utd but lets be honest he wasnt good enough.There's other players not good enough either but that's a different story.
if you remember he wasn't good enough then you haven't watched football or forgot everything, he was one of the best RB in the league for sure if not the best for one season. Unfortunately like his twin brother he struggled with hamstring injuries, probably had a lot to do with the intensity of their game. They left everything on the pitch
 

el3mel

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1 good season but other seasons a defensive liability.His disciplinary record wasnt great either,plus he was a sick note.
Being a defensive liability isn't much of a problem for me. Even Marcelo is considered a defensive liability. If you're squeezing good attacking performance from the back to cover for his weak defense you should be fine.

It was his constant injuries that was irritating. He had a habit of starting the season on fire before getting injured then couldn't grasp his level again for the rest of the season.
 

Rafaeldagold

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What a guy- loved his passion & a good player too- that Leicester game was kind of the end for him here. Thanks Jamie Vardy
 

royboy16

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if you remember he wasn't good enough then you haven't watched football or forgot everything, he was one of the best RB in the league for sure if not the best for one season. Unfortunately like his twin brother he struggled with hamstring injuries, probably had a lot to do with the intensity of their game. They left everything on the pitch
I'm not denying he put in a shift and try but he wasnt a great defender,he was decent offensively but not defensively.If he was that good he would have been snapped up by a decent team not Lyon.
He also used pick up too many silly bookings and his brain fart against Bayern,plus poor injury history,we were right to offload him.
 

royboy16

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Being a defensive liability isn't much of a problem for me. Even Marcelo is considered a defensive liability. If you're squeezing good attacking performance from the back to cover for his weak defense you should be fine.

It was his constant injuries that was irritating. He had a habit of starting the season on fire before getting injured then couldn't grasp his level again for the rest of the season.
Marcelo is in an attacking team that concede goals,Evra was brilliant offensively with us when he was young while in an attacking but solid team where he could attack but also defend.Rafael couldn't do that.
 

RooneyLegend

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Why did we sell the twins? sure, they werent durable but they got it done when fit.
 

IAmAWinner

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He was so good in 12/13. Really came of age. Shame he couldn't maintain that level. Injuries didn't help of course.
 

Ekeke

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Why did we sell the twins? sure, they werent durable but they got it done when fit.
For Rafael that was the case most of the time but in his final season he was poor when fit too. We've obviously kept faith with players who were in poor form before so I was personally surprised when we sold him, rather than just having someone compete with him for the starting spot.

Fabio just never really established himself in the first team. Did well in the reserves and you could see he had some talent in attack but didnt have that same aggression and visual enjoyment in defending and tackling that Rafael did. Perhaps he should always have been a wide midfielder rather than a fullback. And unlike Rafael who is still playing in a good team, Fabio has still failed to establish himself in a good team. He's now at Nantes and hasnt played so far this season.
 

Skills

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For Rafael that was the case most of the time but in his final season he was poor when fit too. We've obviously kept faith with players who were in poor form before so I was personally surprised when we sold him, rather than just having someone compete with him for the starting spot.

Fabio just never really established himself in the first team. Did well in the reserves and you could see he had some talent in attack but didnt have that same aggression and visual enjoyment in defending and tackling that Rafael did. Perhaps he should always have been a wide midfielder rather than a fullback. And unlike Rafael who is still playing in a good team, Fabio has still failed to establish himself in a good team. He's now at Nantes and hasnt played so far this season.
Fabio was just even more in reliable than his brother for fitness. I thought he looked very good for that run he had on our way to the CL final in 2011 - seemed to offer what Rafael did, but less aggressive and less likely to get sent off.
 

rollingstoned1

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The guy who should have still been our RB. How good was he during that 2013 season? I still remember how he owned Robinho as a young kid in his debut season.l if he is over his injury issues i genuinely wouldn't mind having him back, he may be better than a past it Valencia and is definitely a lot superior to Darmian.
 

SteveW

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Still think he should have stayed as a squad player. Darmian isn't half the player.
 

RooneyLegend

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For Rafael that was the case most of the time but in his final season he was poor when fit too. We've obviously kept faith with players who were in poor form before so I was personally surprised when we sold him, rather than just having someone compete with him for the starting spot.

Fabio just never really established himself in the first team. Did well in the reserves and you could see he had some talent in attack but didnt have that same aggression and visual enjoyment in defending and tackling that Rafael did. Perhaps he should always have been a wide midfielder rather than a fullback. And unlike Rafael who is still playing in a good team, Fabio has still failed to establish himself in a good team. He's now at Nantes and hasnt played so far this season.
People who sign players for club's are terrible at their jobs, now way the prem has that many better full backs than them. Fabio's issue was that he was even more injury prone than his brother.
 

RooneyLegend

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Fabio was just even more in reliable than his brother for fitness. I thought he looked very good for that run he had on our way to the CL final in 2011 - seemed to offer what Rafael did, but less aggressive and less likely to get sent off.
True, in 2011 Fabio showed probably even more quality than his twin.
 

Pogue Mahone

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People who sign players for club's are terrible at their jobs, now way the prem has that many better full backs than them. Fabio's issue was that he was even more injury prone than his brother.
That seems the most likely scenario here. You’ve obviously got a better eye for a PL quality fullback than the scouting departments of 19 PL clubs. They need to up their game.
 

RooneyLegend

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That seems the most likely scenario here. You’ve obviously got a better eye for a PL quality fullback than the scouting departments of 19 PL clubs. They need to up their game.
They do need to up their game, why do you think managers get fired every minute or so. If these people were that good at their jobs there wouldn't be as many revolving doors.
 

TheFlagStaysDown

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I'm not denying he put in a shift and try but he wasnt a great defender,he was decent offensively but not defensively.If he was that good he would have been snapped up by a decent team not Lyon.
He also used pick up too many silly bookings and his brain fart against Bayern,plus poor injury history,we were right to offload him.
jesus christ, people will bring this one thing again, that was an exceptional game! but he has been actually better defensively then offensively, sure at the start when he was freaking 18/19 he was making positional mistakes but he ironed that out and became one of the best defenders in the league - he was super aggressive and managed to win the ball before it even got to a player, sorry he had at least 3 great seasons defensively, just the injury record made him a squad player because he wasn't reliable enough and is a big part of the reason he was sold
 

stevoc

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I'm not denying he put in a shift and try but he wasnt a great defender,he was decent offensively but not defensively.If he was that good he would have been snapped up by a decent team not Lyon.
He also used pick up too many silly bookings and his brain fart against Bayern,plus poor injury history,we were right to offload him.
Looks like you answered your own question. He would have been on a decent wage at United but his injury record was pretty bad. Add to that he still wasn’t the finished article and still developing because of all the games he missed through injury.

Way too much of a risk for top teams who have the resources to buy someone more reliable, younger and for less wages.

Given his injuries he needed replaced as first choice. But he’s still twice the player Darmian is. Selling Rafa for £2m and buying Darmian for £13m is arguably the worst piece of business the club has done.
 

MAME DIOUF 32

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He wasn't consistently great, but then neither was the Neville that returned from injury, O'Shea (eugh), Valencia or Darmian. I thought one of our biggest mistakes under van Gaal was letting him slash away at the squad the way he did.