NO SUBSTITUTION THOUGHTS
Sir Alex Ferguson has said that he didn’t think of substituting Rafael da Silva in the second half of the Champions League match against Real Madrid because he had full faith in the abilities of the 22 years old Brazilian defender. That match was played at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.
Silva’s performance in the first half of that match was poor and he was expected to be taken off in the second half. But, Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t do that. Silva proved his manager right and performed really well in the second half.
However, United didn’t manage to win that match. Both the teams scored one goal each and the match ended in a draw.
Ferguson was talking to the reporters in the press conference after the match. When he was asked if he considered taking Silva off in the second half, he said, “No, I didn’t consider that. I had full faith in the potential of Rafa. Yes, he had a poor first half, but, the kind of temperament that he has got; I knew that he would bounce back.”
“Rafa is one of my favourite young players. He is a fighter. He always keeps trying. For a young boy of 22, it’s not easy to bounce back after a poor outing in the first half. He showed that he is mentally very strong.”
United took the lead in the 20th minute of the match with the goal of Danny Welbeck, but, Real Madrid equalized with the goal of Cristiano Ronaldo just 10 minutes later.
When asked about the overall performance of the team against Madrid, Ferguson said, “It was certainly not one of our best performances, but, it was not that bad either. You should consider the quality of opposition as well. Real Madrid is a very strong side. So, it was not easy out there. But, I would say that we could have played a little bit better.”