How was Evra's injury record in his years before he joined us? I don't know. Maybe Rafa can finally 'grow' into his body, so to speak. Hopefully.
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- Appearances
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- Clean sheets
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- Goals
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- Assists
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- Yellow cards
- 2
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Great preformance from him today. This is the Rafa i like watching. From where i was sitting in the stands he was very disciplined in both attack and defence. Totally different from the Leicester game where he was out of position a lot because he constantly bombing forward and rash in tackles.
Today was a more mature Rafa but still played with the same enthusiasm. Good stuff.
The team as a whole were more disciplined positionally from start to finish especially Blind, every time he was pulled out of position covering a player he'd wait till he got back, get him let him take over and went back to his position. Today we saw LVG training and philosophy on the pitch, impressed with the change since Leicester, the player have a better understanding of what's expected.
Today was a more mature Rafa but still played with the same enthusiasm. Good stuff.
The team as a whole were more disciplined positionally from start to finish especially Blind, every time he was pulled out of position covering a player he'd wait till he got back, get him let him take over and went back to his position. Today we saw LVG training and philosophy on the pitch, impressed with the change since Leicester, the player have a better understanding of what's expected.
It was just as it was at United. He was a constant presence at Monaco. Im with you, one can only hope, but a lot of injury prone players struggle with fitness all their careers. Maybe LVG's new fitness coach will put an end to the rot.
That would really go some way to improving our defensive performances, some consistency in selection back there, the chance to build up a defensive unit would be hugely beneficial.
We should re-sign Fabio in case Rafa gets injured again...a clone-like replacement!
Spare parts.
Good idea, Fabio's hair has always been better, we should start there
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Evra#Career_statistics Almost looks like 13 injury free seasons in a row, that. Freak.
'kinell
Yeah Evra was bit of a freak athelete.
I expect he played through the pain barrier a few times. Something I think a few of our current defenders could learn from.
Stiff legs. Give me a fecking break.
Stiff legs. Give me a fecking break.
If he could manage to stay injury free I think he'd be my choice for captain, he plays with so much passion and attempts to lead by example. He has a fantastic attitude, probably my favorite player currently now that Welbeck is gone.
Good game from him. More of the same please before your next injury hiatus.
Very good first half yesterday.
Definitely. Remember that story where his foot was fecked at Monaco so he put a chicken fillet in his boot, I assume to cushion him when he ran. Reckoned it was cooked through by the end of the game!
I think it was in last 2 years of SAF we were playing either Mardid or Bayern, I forget, he was supposed to be marking either Ribery/Ronaldo and most people thought he would struggle, all I remember is he proved many people wrong that day, and really impressed
Bale during his best season ever didn't get a look in until he changed to a more inside position, same with Ronaldo in the game you're thinking of, Rafael had the worlds best player in his pocket all game until he came in field.
There are some idiots in the thread with an obvious agenda against Rafael. They do it subtly, with their, 'I've already said it's a dive, but if only he doesn't put his hands across, he won't give an excuse' when they had nothing to go on. It's alright if it's isolated, but it's tiring when it's done continuously. Obviously, he'll have off games and he'll make a mistake and let a goal in sometimes, but who hasn't? The fact is, we are a different team with him on it. He's so much better than Valencia or Young that it's unreal. I wouldn't swap with him for anyone on this league.
I don't understand how anyone could have an agenda against it. The guy's proven to be one of our most consistent performers over the last couple of seasons (admittedly when fit) and wears his heart on his sleeve every minute he's on the pitch.
He was fantastic yesterday both defensively and going forward. He seems to be thriving in the additional space he has to run in to right now since we are not playing any wide player on his side. His commitment and drive is a joy to watch. Really hope he stays healthy this year as he is one of my favorite players.
He is also an incredible crosser of the ball and now when he is allowed to bomb forward and cross it will show how good this aspect of the game is. He always look up and usually cross it where it should be crossed not like Valencio who just came to the wanted position and hit it hard ... in the opposition player.
My MOTM on Saturday.
Keep up the great work, Rafael!
agree. his crossing when on form is 2nd to di maria in terms of accuracy and quality.
My favourite United player by a mile.
Its very very erratic. When he gets it right its excellent, but theres still an awful lot of poor crossing from him.
Why is he not called up for brazil national team yet?
I think his frequent injuries has prevent the national team taking a good look at him.
Thankfully.
No winger in the game beats him 1 on 1. He's not the fastest player around but he can decelerate & change direction very quickly due to having a low centre of gravity and then strength wise, he's quite a tough cookie.
The only time someone may beat him is if he is caught out of position or aerially but no wingers will knock it past him and beat him on the outside.
The only time someone may beat him is if he is caught out of position or aerially but no wingers will knock it past him and beat him on the outside.
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He actually out jumped someone taller than him in the game if I remember correctly.
If the stories are true with regards to Rafael not being in Van Gaal's plans a few weeks ago, then I'm disappointed in Van Gaal, especially when we were playing three at the back. Rafael is exactly the type of player you want playing at wing-back.
Does it all the time, I remember him out jumping Andy Carroll a few times
I still find it hard to believe he was in any serious danger of being sold, maybe Van Gaal was challenging him in some way but the idea of him leaving while we weren't being linked to a replacement as far as I recall just seems strange. He's a far better option at right back than Smalling or Jones so why would Van Gaal leave us short a true right back when we're so short elsewhere in defence?
Because we were going to play without right back and van Gaal seemed to prefer Young and Valencia as wing backs.
I think it is because of the Olympics mistake, and because Brazilians coaches are stupid as feck.
Because of the fallout from the 2012 Olympics. They blame him for not winning in the final. Admittedly, he was at fault for Mexico goal right at the start but on the whole, he was up there with Oscar, as Brazils best players at the tournament. Defended well, scored a well taken goal but they would rather stick with Maicon as back up to Dani Alves for the WC. There loss.
Might have been something in those rumours of Van Gaal doubting Rafael's mentality and development over the last few years so. I thought he was good this weekend, certainly much improved over his recent struggles.
Should give us a good balance as a wing back if we go that route, just as long as he can control himself and learn to use his brain more on the pitch.
Should give us a good balance as a wing back if we go that route, just as long as he can control himself and learn to use his brain more on the pitch.
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