Why Rafael is simply not good enough to be a Manchester United player

Should Manchester United replace Rafael?

There has been a long queue of former players that have been willing to give their two pennies worth on the reasons behind Manchester United’s worst Premier League campaign in history, but few have been as scathing and direct as Andrei Kanchelskis.

“I do not understand why Rio Ferdinand and Rafael are still in the side. They are not up to the standard of Manchester United,” insisted the Ukrainian born winger, in a blunt assessment of the pair’s contribution to the team.

We will ignore the ageing Ferdinand, whose legs and best days are fading and behind him respectively, but focus on the Brazilian full-back, who at 23, has barely reached the midway point of his career.

An arrival from Fluminense in 2008, along with his twin Fabio, without playing a senior game for the Brazilian side, much was expected of the duo. It quickly became apparent that Rafael was the more favoured of the pair, with a void in the team set to be left by Gary Neville in the near future, while Patrice Evra would be difficult to dispose on the left flank.

Fabio was deemed surplus to requirements earlier in the season when he joined relegation threatened side Cardiff City in January and it is a distinct possibility that his brother could also be heading for the Old Trafford exit at the end of the season.

Rafael has always been a work in progress, but considering he made his début for the club some six years ago, he should be approaching the finished product. But he does not look like he has matured since the day he made his début.

Many South American defenders are rash when they are young or guilty of an immature decision and it is Rafael’s lack of progression that firmly sticks in the mind. Modern full-backs need to be assured in possession, which he is, but he does not fill you with confidence once he pushes forward past the half way line.

The 23-year-old always looks busy and committed, but a mistake always appears to be just around the corner. To be fair he has not made a defensive error this season, but there is a clear lack of defensive contribution compared to the other defenders at the club.

He has picked up five bookings throughout the campaign, all for his tackling, which is clumsy and rash all too often. Every time he is cautioned, it seems to be the safer option to withdraw him as he cannot be trusted to keep a cool head.

With new centre-backs set to be introduced with both Vidic and Ferdinand set to depart, he will need to forge a partnership with the new recruits. However, his positional play continues to look poor despite playing alongside some vastly accomplished central defenders during his time at the club.

A player to marshal the back line is desperately needed, but United can no longer afford to have any passengers in their side. Six years is too long for a mediocre player to be at the club when mistakes have been his most memorably contributions, along with a finely struck goal against Arsenal.

Although Sir Alex Ferguson blamed the “typical Germans” for Rafael’s red card in the Champions League back in 2010, it was more of a case of typical Rafael. Inexeperience was an excuse then, but an error that led to a home defeat and contributed to United’s elimination from the Europa League in 2012 was inexcusable. Rafael was simply not switched on and allowed Iker Muniain to ghost in a slot past David de Gea in the 90th minute.

Rafael in comparison to fellow Right-backs in the EPL

If we consider this season a blip in United’s unprecedented success then they will surely strive to return to the top of the table next season.

But when Rafael is compared to his counterparts from the other best players in his position in the league, he is no-where near them. On no occasion or facing any opponent would the Brazilian edge past his rivals. If he is not good enough to even compete with the best that is out there he is not good even for United, or are the club’s standards starting to slip if he can be regarded as good enough to pull on the red shirt?

In a damning verdict of the club’s plight his saving grace for another season may well be that there are other areas of the squad that need to be attended to as a priority.