The Silva brothers i.e. Rafael da Silva and Fabio da Silva are fighting for the same place in the starting XI of Manchester United. Both of them have their eyes on the right back spot in the XI and with Rafael injured, Fabio has a great chance to impress the manager David Moyes and make that position his own at least for this season.
Rafael discovered a hamstring injury while featuring for United in their opening game of the season i.e. the Community Shield match against Wigan Athletic. He hasn’t yet recovered from that injury and has been on the sidelines since the last 5 weeks or so.
Phil Jones is injured too at the moment. So, Moyes decided to give Fabio a go in the game against Crystal Palace which was played on Saturday. This was the first time in the last one and half years that Fabio began a Premier League game.
Fabio didn’t disappoint his manager with his performance. He was energetic on the field and he looked in decent touch.
The Red Devils ended up winning that match by 2-0. The goal scorers for them were Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie.
At the end of that game, when Fabio was asked how it is like to compete with his own brother, he said, “It’s not a problem for either of us. This is not the first time that we are fighting for something. We have done that a lot of times since childhood.”
“I have got full confidence in my abilities. I know I can cement my place in the XI if I keep working hard.”
Fabio had signed for the Red Devils 6 years back in 2007 after leaving the Brazilian club Fluminense. He has featured for United in just 20 odd games so far and has managed to find the net once.
Brazilian defender Rafael Da Silva is expected to be a first-team regular under new manager David Moyes as the new era at Manchester United begins. The defender has said that pre-season is an exciting time at the club and he is looking forward to it.
This time around, preparations will be intense in order to keep hold of the title that United won last season. Moyes is also under pressure to win his first major trophy. Getting the first trophy quickly will help Moyes settle at Old Trafford amidst a sea of comparisons with former manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Rafael was one of the important players for the club last season, and his presence is set to get even more natural. The club will be playing pre-season friendly matches in a number of countries. They will be having matches in Thailand, Sweden, Japan, and Australia before the new season kicks off with the community shield. Rafael has said that pre-season tours are extremely important for the benefit of the team because it would help determine their whole season. Developing fitness during this stage of the campaign is the key motto, and those who fail to do it will struggle for the rest of the campaign.
Rafael did not take part in the Confederations cup.
“Pre-season is always good, it’s enjoyable. I like this stage of the year a lot. Of course, there is a lot of running. But it’s good as well because when you come back from holiday, sometimes you can get tired from doing nothing. I feel good when I’m working. The pre-season tours are a big part of preparation work for the new season. If you play well, you can put a thought in the manager’s mind and maybe change his mind if you perhaps weren’t in his plans for the first few games,” said Rafael.
The manager of Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, has said that he had thought about signing Frank Lampard when he was playing for West Ham United, but, he didn’t do that eventually and that was a wrong decision.
It was Chelsea which signed Lampard in 2001 and the English midfielder has been superb for the Blues in the last 12 years. Recently, he has scored his 200th goal for the club.
Now, he is just one goal away from breaking Bobby Tambling’s record of scoring the most number of goals for Chelsea.
In the middle of the season, there were reports that Lampard might be leaving Chelsea in the upcoming summer, but, now, with the news that Jose Mourinho is returning to Chelsea, it is believed that Lampard is set to sign a new deal with the Blues.
At one point of time in this season, it was speculated that the Red Devils are interested in signing Lampard, but, now, with the news of Mourinho coming back, they seem to have no chance.
When asked about Lampard, Sir Alex Ferguson said, “In the 90s, I had seen Frank playing for West Ham United and I was really impressed. I gave it a thought whether I should sign him, but, then, later on, I dropped that idea. Now, I think that was not a right decision. I should have bought Frank.”
“For a midfielder, to reach a tally of 200 goals is not easy. He is certainly one of the greatest midfielders produced by England.”
“Even at 34, he is as quick as any one and that’s incredible. He still has plenty to offer.”
For Lampard, the ongoing season has been quite brilliant. He has found the net 16 times this season.
Each year in the Premier league it is not only a race to be at the top of the tables for the pride of winning the league, but also a race to make sure who gets to go to Europe and compete against the best teams from around the continent. This can be harder to predict and betting odds on this will never be easy to choose from at the bookmakers. The clubs can either make it into the Champions league, with the top three teams getting in automatically and the fourth getting the chance to go into the playoffs for the competition. Finally the fifth place team also gets a chance at going to the UEFA Europa league also so there is much to bet on for fans and for the players to play for other than just the Premiership title.
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.”
The defender of Manchester United, Rafael Da Silva, has said that his team is eager to get its Premier League crown back. Manchester United had lost its Premier League crown in the last season. It was Manchester City which was the winner of Premier League in the last season.
But, Manchester United has performed amazingly well so far in the ongoing season and is currently 7-point ahead of the defending champions Manchester City.
When Silva was asked about United’s brilliant performance in the ongoing season, he said, “We want to regain the Premier League title at any cost. We had begun the season with this goal and we are currently on the right track.”
“We were horribly disappointed after not being able to win the Premier League in the last season. We were at the top of the table for most parts of the season, but, our performance deteriorated in the last few matches and we ended up at the second position. But, we have to make sure that we won’t repeat that mistake this time around. We will have to remain consistent in the remaining part of the league as well. We can’t afford to get complacent at any stage.”
“We want to win the other competitions as well, but, the Premier League is the priority.”
When asked about his own performance in the ongoing season, Silva said, “I am satisfied with my contributions in the matches that I have played this season. I think I am in good form and I am playing better than the last season. I am playing with a calm head and I am taking more right decisions now. Hopefully, I would continue making valuable contributions for the team in the rest of the season as well.”
The right back of Manchester United, Rafael da Silva, has said that he is delighted with the appreciation that he has got from Sir Alex Ferguson, but, he still has a lot to do to become as good as the former United captain, Gary Neville.
In one of his recent interviews, Ferguson had hailed Silva for his performance in the ongoing season and had said that if Silva continued playing like this, he would definitely become as good as Neville at some point of time in his career.
When Silva was asked about the statement of Ferguson, he said, “Ya, I heard that he has compared me to Gary. It’s really amazing that the manager rates me so highly. But, Frankly speaking, I still have to achieve a lot before people start calling me as good as Gary. He was a great footballer. I think he was probably one of the greatest defenders who have ever played for the club.”
“Gary was my childhood hero. He started playing when I was just 2 years of age and I loved watching him play. I wanted to become like him and play for United.”
When asked about his form in the ongoing season so far, Silva said, “In this season, I have been given regular starting opportunity by the manager and fortunately, I have been able latch on those opportunities. My form has been good in the season so far, but, there is no room for complacency when you are playing at this level. So, I need to keep playing well.”
“I want to thank Sir Ferguson for having faith in me and for giving me regular chances to start. When you know that you have got the manager’s backing, your confidence level automatically gets increased.”
The QPR manager Mark Hughes has said that he is having upmost confidence in the former Inter Milan goalkeeper Júlio César, who was signed by the club in the summer transfer window. The club also brought in the former West Ham United goalkeeper Robert Green on a free transfer. He did not have the best of debuts for the club in the 5-0 defeat at the hands of Swansea on the opening day of the season. After a few more mistakes in the subsequent matches, Green was absolutely replaced by the Brazilian international Júlio César. Now, the manager has said that it is quite possible that Júlio César could retain the number one Jersey at the club.
Immediately after the arrival of the Brazil international to Loftus Road, questions have been asked regarding the future of Robert Green. However, Mark Hughes has consistently said that he has not decided upon the first choice goalkeeper at the club and Robert Green still had an opportunity to play regularly for QPR. This latest comment by the manager all but brings an end to the future of the former England international at Loftus Road. Júlio César has signed a four-year contract with the London club.
“I think César has been exceptional. He acquitted himself really well again in the game against Reading last week. He saved a penalty and he’s in my thinking for West Ham, certainly. Rob is working hard in training, trying to put pressure on Júlio to get back in. He certainly has the capability to do that. But at the moment it’s difficult for him. We didn’t expect this situation,” said the QPR manager Mark Hughes ahead of the match with West Ham. QPR are currently rock bottom of the Premier league with just two points from the five matches played so far.
Manchester United and Brazil defender Rafael Da Silva has said that the team was extremely worried after the comeback made by Egypt in the Olympic football tournament. Brazil were taking on Egypt in one of the group matches. The South American team was definitely the favourite to win the match and they showed their great intent in the first half by ripping the African side apart. Due to the impressive performances of striker Neymar and midfielder Oscar, Brazil had a three-goal advantage in the match even before the hour mark. Rafael Da Silva opened the scoring in the match and Neymar soon extended the advantage for Brazil.
However, some sloppy defending in the second half meant that Egypt were able to score two goals in the second half to end the match in a thrilling fashion. When the match was 3-2, there was real danger that the Brazil team might lose their advantage in the match to draw the match. The Manchester United defender Rafael Da Silva admitted that it was indeed a significant probability and the team was indeed worried about it. However, Egypt were unable to score the third and crucial goal before the end of the match and it finished in a victory for Brazil.
“In the first half we showed our quality. We played great football and created many chances. When they scored the first goal in the second half we jumped a little bit, but we got the result in the end. To get my first goal in my first official game for Brazil is a dream. I’m so happy. It’s great to be here, because in Brazil the Olympics are very important. It’s the only title we don’t have, so we take it very seriously,” said Rafael Da Silva after the match against Egypt.
Former Manchester United star Dennis Irwin has said that the Brazilian full-back Rafael Da Silva is likely to pay the penalty for having lacklustre performance against Everton during the weekend by not being selected for the match against Manchester City on Monday night.
Rafael Da Silva made a number of crucial mistakes in the 4-4 draw with Everton during the weekend, which allowed City to move within a point of Manchester United at the top of the table. City now have the chance to go ahead of Manchester United if they win against United at the Etihad stadium, where they have an imperious record.
United appeared to be in a very comfortable position only a few weeks ago after extending the lead at the top of the table to 8 points. However, after suffering a defeat at the hands of Wigan, they allowed Manchester City with a sniff of the title. The 4-4 draw with Everton during the weekend, the match in which United lost a two-goal advantage twice, meant that City are now only three points behind United. Due to his poor performance against Everton, Denis Irwin expects Rafael Da Silva to pay the penalty with this place in the starting line-up.
“Listen, as a defender, you make mistakes. Particularly when you’re young, you do make mistakes and it’s how you learn from the back of that. You actually only learn when you make mistakes at that age and he’ll be the better for that. Hopefully he’ll learn fairly quickly because his partnership with (Antonio) Valencia down the right this season has been really, really good. He’ll (Rafael) learn of this, there’s no doubt about that,” Irwin said in a recent interview given to when the former United star was in Singapore in order to participate in the function.