Don't tend to go for football opinion but Rob Smyth has hit nail on head with this one.
Rafael | Lyon Player
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Thanks. A nice article and quite even handed.
For all the bad things that you could say about Rafael we looked a better team when he was on the pitch IMO. He was one of the few players that brought any drive and impetus to our game over the last 4-5 years and you could guarantee he would put in the same shift regardless of the opponents or occasion.
One of the better reads that and quite on point.
Good luck, Rafael. Can't help but love the man's enthusiasm.
Spot on. The criticism in Valencia's performance thread last season was a disgrace. The OP set the tone with an absolute slating of his "performances".
Spot on.
Loved him as a player but with Damian's arrival, it was kinda inevitable. Wish him all the best.
Sold at the same age that Evra and Irwin joined us, not given the chance to mature.
I have to disagree about the United losing its identity stuff regarding the sale of Rafael.Yes he was passionate and loved the club, but he isnt the only one , and they are plenty of players in that dressing room that love the club too. Some may not be as vocal , but they are plenty that do.
Phil Neville is often derided on here, but I remember reading from Sir Alex's biography about how both he and his wife were crying when he had to leave the club
Then there is Fellaini who apparently gave up 4mil of signing bonuses to be here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...ave-Manchester-United-move-from-collapse.html
Someone like Valencia that has been here for 6 years and even with his shortcomings has been a brilliant servant for the club. Its not that they are players who dont love this club and that we are now left with mercenaries, its just that some fans would rather conveniently ignore that and abuse them instead.
So , no Identity not broken. Rafael was one of the players that loved being here, and was equally loved back.If only we could do the same for the rest of our players.
The piece as a whole is decent enough but the central premise is melodramatic horseshit (i.e. typical Rob Smyth)
How the hell does he know that Rafael "understands" better or "cares more deeply" about the club than players like Evans, Young, Valencia, Fellaini, Wilson, Hererra, Mata, Wilson, Januzaj, Pereira, Jones, Smalling etc etc etc? (not mentioning Rooney as really can't be arsed with that debate right now)
Did it not occur to him that it's possible for a footballer to be a bit of a hot head without every fired up moment being an expression of undying love for the shirt?
Liked that. A few parts were a bit over the top but I agree with a lot of what he said.
Not given the chance to needlessly add to the wage bill
I've been in Lyon for 2 days and still not seen him 
Got presented today alongside Lacazette, who extended his contract til 2019.
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How is he doing? Currently 0-0 versus Lorient.
Came off after an hour, possibly with cramp
Why this emoticon ? It's perfectly to be tired when you have barely had preseason.
Cause the things holding him back are his fitness and susceptibility to injury which have become typical in recent years. Yes it's early days and tiredness/lack of fitness aren't rare but it is typical Rafael.
Still Rafael I see..
I see, yes he's injury prone but he's never had pbs with fatigue once playing a match. Fatigue can hurt him in the first few matches but he'll be fine, injuries are another matter.
You're reaction is ridiculous. He hasn't had a preseason. Even Mata with a full preseason under his belt had cramp yesterday.
Fair enough, but any player who's missed 50 odd games through injury has got to start putting fitness questions behind him sooner or later. Just not the best start to his new career is it.
Darmian came off with cramp for us in Saturday. Maybe it is a right back thing.
If it was cramp he came off with thats perfectly understandable, he didn't have a pre-season and has nothing to with his previous injury problems.
His replacement came off yesterday for us with cramp despite having a full pre-season, which proves cramp can be a problem at this point in a season.
Some players are just injury prone, they don't choose to be injured. They're not any less professional than those who don't get injured. Blaming players for being injury prone is very stupid IMHO.
Eh? I'm not blaming him for anything, I just think the decision to sell him was absolutely correct. I'm not questioning his professionalism at all...
Right back in a 4-4-2 diamond is a tight shift. With his lack of gametime in pre season and his all action style of play he was never gonna last the 90
Can we focus on how he played? how was he?
I'm probably gonna move to Montpellier after 2 months. I hope I will see him play over there!
From Reddit: He was fine. Decent enough in the first half, spent a lot of time sprinting back into position from the halfway line but made a few good tackles and Lorient didn't take advantage of him. Had 20 minutes in the second half in which he was probably Lyon's brightest spark, maybe with Fekir. Everything sort of quietened down when he went off, which I don't think was due to injury but just so he eases into full match fitness. Got a healthy round of applause from the home crowd.
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Or talented with a bit of attacking flair.
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Maybe Van Gaal didn't like him because he prefers a right back who can go longer than 3 or 4 games without breaking down?
He has a great agent, who managed to get him a 4 yr deal at Lyon, incredibile.
Nah, can't be. He just doesn't like talented players with attacking flair. Which is why he signed a talented player with attacking flair, who can also defend really well and doesn't have a history of getting injured all the time, to replace him.
Rafa did play at lot during the first half of last season, no one can really say LVG didn't give him a shot but he just didn;t stand for what Fergie and Moyes did i.e. the constant injuries
Sounds like a typical Rafael game
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