[Yorkeontop]

I thought he looked pretty lively out there. Maybe he suffers from philosophy more than we realise.

 

[noodlehair]

To be fair he was filling in at left back and putting those deliveries in on his weak foot.

He looks worse when he plays at right back than he does at left back though. At left back he at least looks semi comfortable with what he's supposed to be doing

 

[Devil may care]

Interesting that came on as a CB, got roasted by Mo Farah though.

 

[Sylar]

Was hoping he would come on later than he had to given hes just come back from injury (and had started against Chelsea). It also makes a mockery out of those who were hysterical that he didnt start (and then were wondering why he looked a little tired towards the end).

I dont think were helping him playing him both left and right and all the chopping and changing with our defence. He looked more solid when we had consistency of Shaw, Blind, Smalling and him. Think he will be our long term RB if we persist though.

Was weird he was subbed on as a CB though and we kept Blind LB (and then we changed it a while after)...

 

[Jazz]

I remember the concern re: Vidic and Evra when they started, so willing to give this guy a pass. Let's see what happens next season, but Has to improve. Might be a loss of confidence at this point....

 

[LLMU]

I hope his lack of form is just matter of adjusting to the Premier League. Any winger with pace seems to give him problem.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Thought he has been better the last 2 games then was in his shaky spell. At least now he looks hard to beat for opposing wingers again.

 

[m1y2]

Thought he has been better the last 2 games then was in his shaky spell. At least now he looks hard to beat for opposing wingers again.

It looks exactly the other way around..
Lets hope he becomes at least a good squad player, right now he certainly isn't manchester united quality and looks a bit of waste of money, only sums up how shitty Italian league is..

 

[Lay]

It looks exactly the other way around..
Lets hope he becomes at least a good squad player, right now he certainly isn't manchester united quality and looks a bit of waste of money, only sums up how shitty Italian league is..

Weird way to look at it.

 

[Brophs]

He's been an absolute liability since that early burst of good form. Italians traditionally don't travel that well (in footballing terms at least). Hopefully we haven't already had as much from him as we're going to get.

 

[Acole9]

He was all over the show when he came on and he looked very nervy towards the end.

 

[DanNistelrooy]

He was absolutely atrocious when he came on. That Swansea attack when it was 1-1 where he repeatedly cleared it back to them because he was panicking, absolutely pathetic. Modou fecking Barrow had him on toast which is not good enough

 

[Feed Me]

He hasn't benefitted from a consistent run in one position.

There's a good defender in there, but it's not easy playing RB, then LB, then being benched, etc.

 

[ZDwyr]

He played CB, RB and maybe even LB for a bit yesterday. He wasn't good but he didn't get a lot of time to settle.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Other than his early form he's been absolutely atrocious.

 

[khoazany]

Another one that should be dropped until he proves himself but we can't afford that luxury right now.

 

[HabeasC]

I think I am in the few that think he will turn out good. His early form was no fluke and I am sure that once he is fully up to speed in the league he will be up there as one of the best defensive RBs.

We need to get consistency in our back line though.

 

[K2K]

It's a pity Valencia is injured, loved when we could rotate them for specific opponents. Also allowed us to take one out of the firing line when they were struggling for form.

He'll get better , and I think he'll play very well next season due to the confidence he'll gain from having a good Euros (hopefully)

 

[Ish]

I remember the concern re: Vidic and Evra when they started, so willing to give this guy a pass. Let's see what happens next season, but Has to improve. Might be a loss of confidence at this point....

This.

I'm hoping it's a bit of form and confidence. By all accounts, he's an extremely shy and humble fella who didn't speak any English when he came. So generally, confidence & the environment plays a massive role in shy/humble people's performance levels. There's minimal arrogance to pull them out of a rut. I could well be over thinking it obviously, but for the money spent on him, at worst, he could be great cover to have for both RB and LB positions.

But let's hope, after a season or so of settling in, hopefully having a very good right winger next season, he shows his worth as a starter.

 

[NotoriousISSY]

Stop dicking about with his position, play him with a winger and you know what he might perform like a decent right-back.

 

[Lawman]

I think I am in the few that think he will turn out good. His early form was no fluke and I am sure that once he is fully up to speed in the league he will be up there as one of the best defensive RBs.

We need to get consistency in our back line though.

Yep agree with you but worrying how much his level has dropped. I'd expect him to be more resolute at least.

 

[POF]

I really like him. He has good defensive instincts and I think he will be a really solid full back for someone. He made one absolutely crucial tackle at 1-0 which saved a certain goal when Swansea played through United's high press.

He had one shambolic moment with the multiple poor clearances but generally I thought he played well. Hopefully he can get a good run at right back and nail the position down.

 

[PvsNP]

Weird way to look at it.

And bigoted.

Tactically, he seems to have a very good understanding of the game, but his lack of athleticism lets him down in a league where almost every single winger is a freak athlete. He's kind of like Blind in that regard.

 

[dichinero]

We have to understand that he is coming from a different league. The Serie A is by far one of the slowest leagues out there and have the highest average age in all the major European leagues. He is having to come up against wide players and attackers who are as described by DesiBD, relatively athletic freaks. His first couple of weeks were great because he was fresh and the games and training hadn't taken a toll on his body.

He will come good. He will be better if like most of our players that are relatively new to the league are given the benefit of doubt.

 

[Nick 0208 Ldn]

I remember the concern re: Vidic and Evra when they started, so willing to give this guy a pass. Let's see what happens next season, but Has to improve. Might be a loss of confidence at this point....

Fergie was rejuvenating the squad in a managed way though, the presence of other actual defenders allowing them to acclimatise more gradually. But then Van Gaal has made this mistake repeatedly since his arrival at United, be it a new signing or a youngster such concerns bear little weight with him.

Either he should have kept Rafael, or brought in an experienced back-up who could cover both fullback positions. A contingency plan revolving around Valencia and Young, was unrealistic with regard to the former, and a waste of the latter's potential contribution.

 

[Obiorahking_]

I thought he looked pretty good defensively. He should have done a little better to stop the cross though.

 

[mattsville]

He is a good defender, excellent when on form, but his crossing is awful, he has no culture with the ball at his feet.

 

[the hea]

If we get a right winger to play in front of him I can see him coming good but the way we set up now with one player handling that whole right hand side on his own his offensive play just is to limited for that role.

 

[manutddjw]

I wonder how much his quick accumulation of bookings affected him and his natural game.

We all agree he was at his best in the beginning of the season, if you remember he was a proper bastard of a defender early on with shirt pulling and the like. When he came back from suspension he wasn't the same bastard.

 

[LLMU]

The Italians made defending an art. I hope he will come good.

 

[RedDevil@84]

I ll give him another season easily.

 

[Adisa]

Bild are saying Bayern want him and hats he's unhappy. WTF. He plays every week.

 

[Cassidy]

Bild are saying Bayern want him and hats he's unhappy. WTF. He plays every week.

He doesn't

 

[prath92]

Fergie was rejuvenating the squad in a managed way though, the presence of other actual defenders allowing them to acclimatise more gradually. But then Van Gaal has made this mistake repeatedly since his arrival at United, be it a new signing or a youngster such concerns bear little weight with him.

Either he should have kept Rafael, or brought in an experienced back-up who could cover both fullback positions. A contingency plan revolving around Valencia and Young, was unrealistic with regard to the former, and a waste of the latter's potential contribution.

Rafael couldn't displace Valencia when he was here. And I hear he has been Poor for Lyon too.

 

[hubbuh]

Bild are saying Bayern want him and hats he's unhappy. WTF. He plays every week.

That's a bit out of the blue if true (hey that rhymes).

Once he finds his groove again he'll be right as rain. But can he find that groove...

 

[Randall Flagg]

Rafael couldn't displace Valencia when he was here. And I hear he has been Poor for Lyon too.

Rafael is actually doing well in Lyon and is a fan favourite


Lyon as a team haven't been good though

 

[Cassidy]

Rafael couldn't displace Valencia when he was here. And I hear he has been Poor for Lyon too.

nope

 

[prath92]

nope

Rafael is actually doing well in Lyon and is a fan favourite


Lyon as a team haven't been good though

Some of the people I play FIFA with arent happy though. They prefer Jallet to him. Plus they complain he is injured always too

 

[Randall Flagg]

Some of the people I play FIFA with arent happy though. They prefer Jallet to him. Plus they complain he is injured always too

Don't think he has missed a game barely since early October

 

[berbatrick]

Rafael couldn't displace Valencia when he was here.

They were in direct competition for only 1 season, and LvG decided (after Leicester and Vardy cheated a penalty out of Rafael) that he couldn't trust him.