The Sunshine Kids - Rafael & Fabio joint autobiography

Uniquim

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So I was reading a recent interview with these two, and the article mentioned that they have a joint autobiography coming out next week(!), called the Sunshine Kids.
Figured I'd share the intel, because it's going to be a lovely read most likely, and going by how much they seem to love United, it should have a lot of fun stories. Most of the interview Rafael have given in recent years have been a lot of fun to read. And Alex Ferguson has written the foreword (snippet below):

“Every time I hear their names mentioned I smile,” Ferguson writes in the foreword to the book. “Of all the great players I managed, no one delighted me as much as these two young lads. Not that I put them in the lead in regard to performance, but in terms of their manner, their character and personality they took some beating.”



Don't think I can copy everything from the article, but enjoyed this part:
“When we arrived from Brazil, there was no one who could tell us apart,” says Fabio. “You would arrive for training and, in the space of a few minutes, people would say ‘good morning’ twice. You had already said ‘good morning’ to that same person just a few minutes earlier and now they were saying it again.”
[...] In one game at Barnsley, the referee Chris Foy was so confused he showed Fabio a yellow card for a tackle committed by Rafael (the booking was later overturned on appeal).

Rafael would sometimes wear Fabio’s wedding ring to play tricks on team-mates and members of staff. Even Sir Alex Ferguson found it confusing sometimes, judging by one of the stories Fabio tells about copping the “hairdryer” treatment on behalf of his brother. “I’d plead my innocence and he would get angrier for a second before he realised the entire dressing room was quiet because I was telling the truth. ‘Oh, fecking hell’, he would say, and then everyone would just burst out laughing. Him, too.”

Seems the book will touch on Rafael's disappointment in leaving (the Van Gaal situation), Fabio's anxiety before games etc. too, so not just the sunshine parts.




Also, here's Fabio & Rafael's thoughts on next season:

Fabio: "[...] And next season… champions! Champions! I really believe it. I’m telling you, something fantastic is happening. I can see the team growing these last two years. I’m very confident they can win the title now.”

Rafael is smiling because of his brother’s optimism. “I did an interview one year ago and I said then, ‘Be patient’. Now, people can see United are getting back. They grew last season. If you cannot see that United are now better than before, you are not watching the same sport as me. And I hope they lift this trophy because I love Manchester United and I love Ole, too."

:devil:
 

SoCross

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Loved those two. Played some great games, Fabio 2010-2011 was immense. They , especially Rafa, never really recovered from Fergie leaving.
 

TrustInOle

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Cracking lads, always played with a smile on their face but also with unparalleled levels of grit and enthusiasm. Will never forget that Rafael volley. :drool:
 

Red00012

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Rafael getting sent off v Bayern is my memory of Rafael:wenger: he probably did a lot of good things too but that stuck with me.
 

Jev

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I still believe Rafael would be by far the best right-back in our squad if we had kept faith in him.

I read that interview in The Athletic. It was an enjoyable read and I suspect the book will be as well.
 

stevoc

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I still believe Rafael would be by far the best right-back in our squad if we had kept faith in him.

I read that interview in The Athletic. It was an enjoyable read and I suspect the book will be as well.
Well he'd have been infinitely better than the wet fart that was fecking Darmian that's for sure, thanks Louis.
 

stevoc

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During his interview on Stretford Paddock Rafael dropped a bombshell that I'm sure will shock everyone, he revealed Tevez is a grade A Twat. Apparently he was a cock to young players especially.
 

Grylte

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I am wondering how many times he took of Rafael and put on Fabio, or the other way around, during half time.
And i say "how many times" instead of "if" because i'm 100% sure it happened! It's like a free sub if one of them is playing bad.
 

Josh 76

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People say Fergie left Utd in disarray, but in his mind he thought he had left the back 4 which was going to dominate football for the next 10 years.
Smalling
Jones
And the twins

shame it didn’t work out that way
But the twins gave it all and left some great memories
 

izec

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I still believe Rafael would be by far the best right-back in our squad if we had kept faith in him.

I read that interview in The Athletic. It was an enjoyable read and I suspect the book will be as well.
Yes and Chicharito would have been our best striker, Welbeck inside forward and Cleverley our best midfielder.

The reality is, Fergie worked his magic and they got exposed once he left for what they are, not good enough for Man United, not as starters anyway, which they wanted to be.
 

stevoc

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Yes and Chicharito would have been our best striker, Welbeck inside forward and Cleverley our best midfielder.

The reality is, Fergie worked his magic and they got exposed once he left for what they are, not good enough for Man United, not as starters anyway, which they wanted to be.
To be fair I don't think those 2 ever cemented a place in the side under Fergie like Rafael did. And arguably not Hernandez either.
 

RUCK4444

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Wow that’s some major praise from SAF, well done lads. I could retire happy on that.

Will no doubt be a good read, they love United and will have some great stories about some of the players they played with
 

11101

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Loved them both. Fabio never fully settled here but Rafael was a cracking player and that cheating scrote Vardy has a lot to answer for.
 

Lay

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Rafael was good for us. The media constantly made it seem he was a weak link in every game but he wasn’t. His runs forward helped the team a lot and you saw the difference in our play when he wasn’t in the team.

His career after may be average but it’s to be expected. Fergie gave him a lot of freedom was a coach that trusted players who are off the cuff. Not that common with other coaches
 

Alex99

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To be fair I don't think those 2 ever cemented a place in the side under Fergie like Rafael did. And arguably not Hernandez either.
I think there's an argument for Welbeck. He was trusted in some big games. Far more so than Hernandez and Cleverley ever were.
 

Ekeke

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Rafael by the whoscored numbers



United had 6 players who performed to a 7.00 rating or above last season - Fernandes, AWB, Rashford, Pogba, Maguire and Shaw. And 7.00 is Rafael's average overall.

Now obviously a lot of the competitions above he played 20 or less games. I think thats what to take from it. A very good rightback for us when available but injuries and not playing as much as plenty of his teammates.
 

stevoc

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I think there's an argument for Welbeck. He was trusted in some big games. Far more so than Hernandez and Cleverley ever were.
Maybe though I seem to remember he was often used in big games for tactical reasons. Where as Rafael legitimately was a first team player in Ferguson's latter years (when fit).
 

Alex99

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Maybe though I seem to remember he was often used in big games for tactical reasons. Where as Rafael legitimately was a first team player in Ferguson's latter years.

I think we can all agree though Cleverly was the least established of the 4 by a mile.
Yes, he was used very differently to Rafael, but I think he was definitely someone I'd class as a first team player, in the same way I'd have classed Park as a first team player.

Hernandez was close, and almost a guaranteed member of the match day squad in some capacity, but I don't think he ever started a game for reasons other than "give him a run".

Clevz was only ever backup.
 

Uniquim

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Loved them both. Fabio never fully settled here but Rafael was a cracking player and that cheating scrote Vardy has a lot to answer for.
I think that has to do with Fabio's anxiety. I think there'll be a chapter about it in the book. Here's the what the article mentioned about it.


"But Fabio can also remember being riddled with anxiety before some matches and, in one game against Everton, feeling so overwhelmed with nerves that he went straight to the lavatory at half-time to be sick. “I mean, I was properly throwing up,” Fabio writes in The Sunshine Kids. “The manager came into the toilets; I was trying not to make a noise. I know he saw me, and heard me, but I also know he was trying to make sure that I didn’t know.”

That anxiety, he says, held him back sometimes and undermined his performances. “It is not easy to speak about it. My brother knows I don’t really like to speak about it because it was hard for me, and it’s past now, but there was a short period in Manchester when I had some difficulties.”

Rafael was one of the few people who knew about it at the time. “It was hard for me to see my brother suffering that way. Everything my brother was feeling was because — how can I say it? — he is too nice. He always sees good in people. He doesn’t ever want to hurt anyone. Sometimes he would be thinking, ‘If I play badly today, my family will be sad, the supporters will be sad’.

“This could get inside his head — negative things, ‘I cannot play bad, I cannot do this’. I knew how good he was. I knew he could do it but in his mind, he was thinking about other people. ‘I cannot hurt anyone, I cannot hurt my family…’.”

Fabio interjects: “It wasn’t about ‘hurting’ people, it was that I didn’t want to disappoint anyone. A lot of people had put trust in us. I put too much responsibility on myself. Now I know I shouldn’t have done it. It wasn’t nice at the time but sometimes you have to learn.”"
 

Bubz27

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During his interview on Stretford Paddock Rafael dropped a bombshell that I'm sure will shock everyone, he revealed Tevez is a grade A Twat. Apparently he was a cock to young players especially.
Good on Rafael. Too many give diplomatic answers.
 

MrSingh2002

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Rafael should never have been sold but LVG has a track record of typecasting and almost discriminating against Brazilian players.
 

Dr. Dwayne

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Fabio tells about copping the “hairdryer” treatment on behalf of his brother. “I’d plead my innocence and he would get angrier for a second before he realised the entire dressing room was quiet because I was telling the truth. ‘Oh, fecking hell’, he would say, and then everyone would just burst out laughing. Him, too.”
:lol: I always thought it was relatively easy to tell them apart, for twins anyway.
 

Adam-Utd

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Will never forget watching Rafaels debut, telling my mates about how highly rated he is, then him smashing home a great goal against Arsenal :drool:
 

Alex99

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Bumping this I've been reading it and I've got to the point where they've both left United.

  • Fabio asked for the QPR loan as he wanted to play more than a dozen or so games - he was quite scathing of Harry Redknapp being a know-it-all twat
  • Both twins heavily disliked Tevez even when they were all at United together
  • Rafael done very little to dispel the rumours that Fletcher was Fergie's illegitimate son - says Fergie was his father in football and Fletcher his brother
  • Moyes (as we all know) hopelessly out of depth - didn't talk to any of the players and Rafael had to ask him what the plans for him were
  • Steve Round and Jimmy Lumsden apparently in awe of the senior players
  • Fabio started the 2-0 over Palace in September, was dropped from the squad without being told why, came on late at 4-0 up against Norwich in the League Cup at the very end of October (and scored), then didn't play again until the Swansea FA Cup game (where he was sent off) AFTER the deal with Cardiff was agreed and he'd asked not to be in the squad - Moyes then told him he was very close to starting and asked him to stay because Fergie liked him
  • Training drills apparently became very focused on crossing to Fellaini
  • Rafael hated van Gaal - said he was boring as shit and shouted at players for being stood a metre away from where he thought they should be, stopping training drills in the process
  • Rafael assisted a goal with a first time cross on the half volley - van Gaal bollocked him in front of the squad the next day in training for not taking a touch
  • Rafael had a head injury in the Yeovil FA Cup game and needed medical attention (I'm assuming stitches or staples) - in training the next day he touched his head as it was hurting and van Gaal bollocked him for disrespectful behaviour, Rafael argued back, he played just one more time for United as a late sub against Spurs
 

SalfordRed18

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Bumping this I've been reading it and I've got to the point where they've both left United.

  • Fabio asked for the QPR loan as he wanted to play more than a dozen or so games - he was quite scathing of Harry Redknapp being a know-it-all twat
  • Both twins heavily disliked Tevez even when they were all at United together
  • Rafael done very little to dispel the rumours that Fletcher was Fergie's illegitimate son - says Fergie was his father in football and Fletcher his brother
  • Moyes (as we all know) hopelessly out of depth - didn't talk to any of the players and Rafael had to ask him what the plans for him were
  • Steve Round and Jimmy Lumsden apparently in awe of the senior players
  • Fabio started the 2-0 over Palace in September, was dropped from the squad without being told why, came on late at 4-0 up against Norwich in the League Cup at the very end of October (and scored), then didn't play again until the Swansea FA Cup game (where he was sent off) AFTER the deal with Cardiff was agreed and he'd asked not to be in the squad - Moyes then told him he was very close to starting and asked him to stay because Fergie liked him
  • Training drills apparently became very focused on crossing to Fellaini
  • Rafael hated van Gaal - said he was boring as shit and shouted at players for being stood a metre away from where he thought they should be, stopping training drills in the process
  • Rafael assisted a goal with a first time cross on the half volley - van Gaal bollocked him in front of the squad the next day in training for not taking a touch
  • Rafael had a head injury in the Yeovil FA Cup game and needed medical attention (I'm assuming stitches or staples) - in training the next day he touched his head as it was hurting and van Gaal bollocked him for disrespectful behaviour, Rafael argued back, he played just one more time for United as a late sub against Spurs
Those two managers set us back the best part of a decade.
 

SungSam7

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Bumping this I've been reading it and I've got to the point where they've both left United.

  • Fabio asked for the QPR loan as he wanted to play more than a dozen or so games - he was quite scathing of Harry Redknapp being a know-it-all twat
  • Both twins heavily disliked Tevez even when they were all at United together
  • Rafael done very little to dispel the rumours that Fletcher was Fergie's illegitimate son - says Fergie was his father in football and Fletcher his brother
  • Moyes (as we all know) hopelessly out of depth - didn't talk to any of the players and Rafael had to ask him what the plans for him were
  • Steve Round and Jimmy Lumsden apparently in awe of the senior players
  • Fabio started the 2-0 over Palace in September, was dropped from the squad without being told why, came on late at 4-0 up against Norwich in the League Cup at the very end of October (and scored), then didn't play again until the Swansea FA Cup game (where he was sent off) AFTER the deal with Cardiff was agreed and he'd asked not to be in the squad - Moyes then told him he was very close to starting and asked him to stay because Fergie liked him
  • Training drills apparently became very focused on crossing to Fellaini
  • Rafael hated van Gaal - said he was boring as shit and shouted at players for being stood a metre away from where he thought they should be, stopping training drills in the process
  • Rafael assisted a goal with a first time cross on the half volley - van Gaal bollocked him in front of the squad the next day in training for not taking a touch
  • Rafael had a head injury in the Yeovil FA Cup game and needed medical attention (I'm assuming stitches or staples) - in training the next day he touched his head as it was hurting and van Gaal bollocked him for disrespectful behaviour, Rafael argued back, he played just one more time for United as a late sub against Spurs
Lets hope what he saying is true, we really got two morons to try take the reigns at United..... (Add Jose to that too!)
 

EtH

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Those two managers set us back the best part of a decade.
Thankfully the club didn’t allow Mourinho to jettison us properly into the wilderness.

Fans should be more appreciative of Ole and his eye for talent at the very least.

I miss the twins. That tie against Arsenal when we ran Fabio out on the left wing is one of my favorite matches ever.
 

led_scholes

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Rafael hated van Gaal - said he was boring as shit and shouted at players for being stood a metre away from where he thought they should be, stopping training drills in the process
Now, thats some proper Covid training.
 

RedTiger

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  • Steve Round and Jimmy Lumsden apparently in awe of the senior players
  • Fabio started the 2-0 over Palace in September, was dropped from the squad without being told why, came on late at 4-0 up against Norwich in the League Cup at the very end of October (and scored), then didn't play again until the Swansea FA Cup game (where he was sent off) AFTER the deal with Cardiff was agreed and he'd asked not to be in the squad - Moyes then told him he was very close to starting and asked him to stay because Fergie liked him
  • Training drills apparently became very focused on crossing to Fellaini
  • Rafael hated van Gaal - said he was boring as shit and shouted at players for being stood a metre away from where he thought they should be, stopping training drills in the process
  • Rafael assisted a goal with a first time cross on the half volley - van Gaal bollocked him in front of the squad the next day in training for not taking a touch
  • Rafael had a head injury in the Yeovil FA Cup game and needed medical attention (I'm assuming stitches or staples) - in training the next day he touched his head as it was hurting and van Gaal bollocked him for disrespectful behaviour, Rafael argued back, he played just one more time for United as a late sub against Spurs
Everything from Steve round onwards made my blood boil!
 

Relevated

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Bumping this I've been reading it and I've got to the point where they've both left United.

  • Fabio asked for the QPR loan as he wanted to play more than a dozen or so games - he was quite scathing of Harry Redknapp being a know-it-all twat
  • Both twins heavily disliked Tevez even when they were all at United together
  • Rafael done very little to dispel the rumours that Fletcher was Fergie's illegitimate son - says Fergie was his father in football and Fletcher his brother
  • Moyes (as we all know) hopelessly out of depth - didn't talk to any of the players and Rafael had to ask him what the plans for him were
  • Steve Round and Jimmy Lumsden apparently in awe of the senior players
  • Fabio started the 2-0 over Palace in September, was dropped from the squad without being told why, came on late at 4-0 up against Norwich in the League Cup at the very end of October (and scored), then didn't play again until the Swansea FA Cup game (where he was sent off) AFTER the deal with Cardiff was agreed and he'd asked not to be in the squad - Moyes then told him he was very close to starting and asked him to stay because Fergie liked him
  • Training drills apparently became very focused on crossing to Fellaini
  • Rafael hated van Gaal - said he was boring as shit and shouted at players for being stood a metre away from where he thought they should be, stopping training drills in the process
  • Rafael assisted a goal with a first time cross on the half volley - van Gaal bollocked him in front of the squad the next day in training for not taking a touch
  • Rafael had a head injury in the Yeovil FA Cup game and needed medical attention (I'm assuming stitches or staples) - in training the next day he touched his head as it was hurting and van Gaal bollocked him for disrespectful behaviour, Rafael argued back, he played just one more time for United as a late sub against Spurs
Please please please tell me these are lies please
 

mu4c_20le

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Steve Round and wee Lumsden learning from the seniors instead of the other way around. Good times.