Rafael Da Silva believes that the exit of Sir Alex Ferguson did severe damage to him at Manchester United as he could not quite develop the same sort of relationship with the other managers coming in.
Silva had managed to establish himself as a starter for United towards the end of the tenure of Sir Alex, but, as the legendary manager made his way out and David Moyes and then, Louis Van Gaal took over, the Brazil International gradually went out of favour and eventually, he left the club earlier this summer to join the French top tier side Lyon.
When asked if he reckons Van Gaal treated him discriminatively for the fact that he belonged to Brazil, Silva said, “I have heard that, but, for me, it’s hard to say that he had any grudges against me because of my nationality. I have no doubt in my mind that I was not liked by him, but, it wasn’t the case with me only. There were a few others too who were told they were free to go and they were not from Brazil. So, I cannot comment on that.”
“I think Sir Alex exited at a very wrong time for me. I had been shaping up so well under him. I had probably played my best Football during that 2012-13 Premier League, but, the following summer, there was a new manager taking charge and I couldn’t quite find myself in the scheme of things in the same way.”
“Van Gaal opted to go with Valencia. He is a fantastic defender, no doubt, but, I had put on decent performances in the role of the right back and I thought I should have been persisted with, but, I have always had huge respect for all the managers I have worked alongside in my career and I have accepted all the decisions without any hard feelings.”