He could still play for us, I think!
Rafael!
- Thread starter devips
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Don’t think he was a regular at Lyon. Regardless though, I don’t care how bad he was defensively at times, his attacking runs were great and added another dimension to our attack.
We don’t have that now
We don’t have that now
He was absolutely fantastic last night actually.
Was always underrated at our club and is one of those weird players that probably works better at elite clubs where you're doing all the attacking than at lower level sides. Always thought similar of Evra! Great mentality too, proper winner. Real shame about his injury problems.
Edit:. Definitely not good enough for us nowadays of course, but one of those players we let go a bit too soon I think.
Was always underrated at our club and is one of those weird players that probably works better at elite clubs where you're doing all the attacking than at lower level sides. Always thought similar of Evra! Great mentality too, proper winner. Real shame about his injury problems.
Edit:. Definitely not good enough for us nowadays of course, but one of those players we let go a bit too soon I think.
Think he just had 1 of those matches where it's against your old club and you want to show you've still got it.
Don't think he has that performance in him regularly, but fair play to him for showing what it means to play for United. If only our squad had half his bottle and desire we'd be doing OK.
I was very happy for the lad, I expected Rashford to give him nightmares but it was the over way around.
Don't think he has that performance in him regularly, but fair play to him for showing what it means to play for United. If only our squad had half his bottle and desire we'd be doing OK.
I was very happy for the lad, I expected Rashford to give him nightmares but it was the over way around.
Still my favourite United fullback of the decade (says more about the state of our fullbacks in the last 10 years though).
But no I wouldn't have him back. There's a reason he's playing for that club.
But no I wouldn't have him back. There's a reason he's playing for that club.
Raised his game
Should never have been sold, a class player.
He's always been a warrior. We miss characters like him now. Ours shit the bed at the slightest bit of pressure.
Showed more passion than our whole squad
Not the player he was but we could do with a bit of his fight and passion at times.
How i missed Rafa while being subjected to watching Darmian waddle around and barely cross the half way line for 3-4 years. All the while displaying about as much passion as a soggy turnip.
How i missed Rafa while being subjected to watching Darmian waddle around and barely cross the half way line for 3-4 years. All the while displaying about as much passion as a soggy turnip.
This!
Rafael played with the right mentality to play for United. We've missed him.
Isn't good enough and largely never was. We've too many players who can turn up for one game out of 5. Passion alone doesn't get you starting for us (or it shouldn't...).
No.
He had Martial in his pocket in that second half
He was loving it, it was so easy
He was loving it, it was so easy
Treatment table can play for us aswell.
Performed like how a United player should, in that one game, playing for opposing team.
The best "United" player on the pitch who doesn't wear the current shirt, it's sad when you think about it.
Let's not get carried away - he has declined but outdid himself in the game.
The best "United" player on the pitch who doesn't wear the current shirt, it's sad when you think about it.
Let's not get carried away - he has declined but outdid himself in the game.
Was sad to see him and his brother leave United. Played poker with them many may times till 3am but won't say it was on a match day. Doesn't look a day older than when he left.
Loved Rafael. He was brilliant during Ferguson's final season. I thought he would develop into a top RB. But between injuries and an inability to adapt to new managers, his United career went downhill fast. He never regained his best form at Lyon.
He loves United and has great respect for Ferguson. It sounds like he lost his passion after leaving United. Clearly the best days of his life. He couldn't find the same relationship at Lyon. When you leave a big club like United, it's only the you realise how massive it is. I feel for him, as it's a case of what could have been.
Not a regular scorer, but a scorer of great goals. I remember his goals against Liverpool and QPR fondly.
He loves United and has great respect for Ferguson. It sounds like he lost his passion after leaving United. Clearly the best days of his life. He couldn't find the same relationship at Lyon. When you leave a big club like United, it's only the you realise how massive it is. I feel for him, as it's a case of what could have been.
Not a regular scorer, but a scorer of great goals. I remember his goals against Liverpool and QPR fondly.
Loved him when he was here. Realised last night i still love him more than 90% of our current team. He was a proper Manchester United player.
Hero status after this.
He showed last night exactly what we’re missing and it isn’t necessarily ability. It’s personal pride and fighting for your team until the last minute.
He's a great lad but to say he could still play for us is laughable. Lyon pretty much dumped him.
Don’t think we’ve ever had better than him or Evans in their positions since. Van Gaal has a lot to answer for.
People saying he should still be playing here make me laugh, there's a reason he's playing for this 3rd rate side and couldn't keep a place in the French league.
I liked him when he was here, going forward he was decent and is a very very likeable player who clearly has a connection to the club, we can all relate to him for that..
We were so stale last night and slow that most of us could have looked good defending against United last night.
I liked him when he was here, going forward he was decent and is a very very likeable player who clearly has a connection to the club, we can all relate to him for that..
We were so stale last night and slow that most of us could have looked good defending against United last night.
The guy is utter shit. He is playing for some random Turkish team and people still want him back & still think he will be good for us. 
Talking one moment about how our players are crap and then talking about the opposition as if they put a legendary performance aswell.
Rafael is one of the most overrated players I've ever seen at United.
Talking one moment about how our players are crap and then talking about the opposition as if they put a legendary performance aswell.
Rafael is one of the most overrated players I've ever seen at United.
You could say or Nani for RW
Says more about us than him though. Lets see if he can keep the same performance in the return leg.
Fair play to him - it was a great performance.
Fair play to him - it was a great performance.
The main thing I can remember about him is red cards.The guy is utter shit. He is playing for some random Turkish team and people still want him back & still think he will be good for us.
Talking one moment about how our players are crap and then talking about the opposition as if they put a legendary performance aswell.
Rafael is one of the most overrated players I've ever seen at United.
He obviously doesn't have the ability to play for us now but some people are forgetting how good he was in Fergie's final season. He had finally cut down on the rashness, was consistent, made team of the year and was a great attacking threat without being a liability defensively. I think he was 23 at that point, and there was a lot of talk on here about how he would go on and become one of the best full-backs in Europe. They weren't outlandish claims.
Obviously Fergie leaving killed him somewhat. He was injured a lot under Moyes and wasn't great when he played, and then LvG got rid of him.
Obviously Fergie leaving killed him somewhat. He was injured a lot under Moyes and wasn't great when he played, and then LvG got rid of him.
I personally think that some fans think showing anger or some heat in their play is an instant sign of passion for playing for this club. I saw this with how players like Rafael and Herrera have their own fan clubs by passion alone.
Fits with the 'bleeds for the club', 'fights for the badge' and 'putting in a shift'.
Meet those three criteria (like McT does) and you cant do anything wrong and are a great player in the eyes of a certain group United fans.
I think it is an older crowd with older ideas about football. Pre-premier league era. When English football was about a 'hard limited defender' booting the ball forward to a combative striker while the manager shouts something in the lines of GO ON LADS GET AT IT.
His season in our last title winning team was overrated? Sometimes I wonder if fans have eyes. Who do you class as good then, Darmian?The guy is utter shit. He is playing for some random Turkish team and people still want him back & still think he will be good for us.
Talking one moment about how our players are crap and then talking about the opposition as if they put a legendary performance aswell.
Rafael is one of the most overrated players I've ever seen at United.
He was defensively very good in a 1 on 1, could attack, cross and score the occasional goal, and had passion. If SAF had stuck around for 5 more years I guarantee he would've had 5 more good seasons with us.
How many did he get at united? Against Spurs, Bayern, anyone else?
I wonder if fans have brains just as much as you wonder if people have eyes.
Saf could turn absolute rubbish in to league winners, welbeck, cleverly, Rafael etc. The league wasnt even anywhere the level it is now with all the tactical philosophies that nearly every club seem to have ingrained to their core.
Anyway il just say I was wrong and Rafael should have been at a better club than his Turkish one too because he won a league with SAF.
Says a lot about our team last night then, in fact, go watch his games when he was with us - and compare how we are actually playing since lvg. If he is the most over-rated player in our team ever, i wonder what team you've been watching the last few years mate.The guy is utter shit. He is playing for some random Turkish team and people still want him back & still think he will be good for us.
Talking one moment about how our players are crap and then talking about the opposition as if they put a legendary performance aswell.
Rafael is one of the most overrated players I've ever seen at United.
You still haven't explained anything. What made Rafael shit? Did he not play very well in SAFs last season?
Using 'SAF made dross look good' is a poor cop-out, because you can apply it to every player that played under SAF then.
Cleverly anyone with eyes good see was an extremely limited footballer, ditto Welbeck with his finishing. That doesn't automatically apply to Rafael though who showed he was a very good footballer in his time with us. I bet you're the sort that was overjoyed when Van Gaal got rid of him, Nani etc and replaced them with actual dross in Darmian, Depay, Schneiderlin and Bastian.
So why did Rafael struggle at Lyon to the level he went down to Istanbul?
Let's see what's brought up
The main thing you remember about his 7 years and 170 games at United is 3 red cards?
Right, sure.
Let's buy back his brother too - couldn't hurt.
Let's buy back his brother too - couldn't hurt.