Terrace Talk

Manchester United have long been renowned for its successful youth policy which sees United bring in a host of youngster possessing great quantities of raw talent and developing them into world class talent. Our first team alone can still provide many examples of players who have come up from our youth system. The most notable include Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Wes Brown, all who have won major honours with Manchester United. Those that have since moved on from United also include some very successful and talented footballers. Nicky Butt, Phil Neville and of course David Beckham have all had distinguished careers and can thank their education in football at United for their success.

The class of 1992 is definitely a group of youngsters that would have made even the great Sir Matt Busby, immensely proud. It was his team, so affectionately known as the Busby Babes, who were ready to take the world by storm, but for their time being cut tragically short by the Munich Air Crash of 50 years ago and it would have been the first British team to win the European Cup. While very few home grown players have been able to make the grade since, United has still churned out it’s fair share of talent. While players such as Rooney, Ronaldo and Evra were all signed from other clubs, United certainly deserves a lot of credit for transforming these undeniably talented footballers into the superstars they are today.

There is certainly no reason to suggest that this proud tradition is in any danger, especially after some of our youngsters’ recent performances, in particular our recent Carling Cup tie with Middlesbrough. While our three goals came from established players in the first XI, the standout performances came from the likes of Rafael Da Silva and Roderigo Possebon. Rafael Da Silva in particular, is an incredibly exciting prospect, especially after his exceptional performance against Aalborg in the Champions League debut.

Rafael and, his twin brother, Fabio arrived at United via Fluminense of Brazil. Neither of them made a single senior appearance for their former club, as they were signed on pre-contract deals back in 2006. Upon their 18th birthday, the twins moved from Fluminense to Manchester United, although they were not allowed to play until the beginning of this season. Both Rafael and Fabio made their first team debuts in a friendly against Peterborough, but since then it has been Rafael who has been given the greater opportunities of the two. Rafael also played in a friendly against Juventus, impressing many and since, has made an appearance off the bench in the Premier League and has had starts in both the Carling Cup and, most recently, the Champions League. As of yet, he has failed to disappoint.

Rafael definitely has a career at Old Trafford, and, in my opinion, will be challenging both Neville and Brown for the right back berth by the end of the season. If he keeps playing as he has been there is no reason to suggest he won’t be the first choice right back. Of course, he must prove himself against the likes of Brown and Neville, whom are both incredible defenders with a lot of experience. However, the signs are promising.

While Brown and Neville are both terrific players and have both been fantastic servants to the club, Rafael could not be any more different to these two players and I think this works in his favour massively. Rafael is able to bring many different qualities to the table that Neville and Brown, for all their experience, just don’t share. Indeed, Derek Rae of ESPN made the exact same point during the game against Aalborg, pointing out that Rafael was of a completely different style to Neville. Rafael’s willingness to attack and his ability to match that will alone make him a very potent attacking force, one that Neville and Brown simply cannot match. Furthermore, Rafael’s incredible mobility ensures that he can make such adventurous runs at the opposition and still be capable of getting back into position to defend.

While Rafael’s attacking and defensive talents make for a tantalising prospect, there is no denying that his talent is most certainly a raw one. However, personally, I feel that his performances, whilst certainly demonstrating the adventurous side to his game, have been quite mature as well, especially considering his age. There is the occasional error littered throughout his performances so far, but the positives outweigh the negatives by far and Rafael could be the finished product very soon.

Considering Neville’s come back from prolonged injury problems and Brown’s seemingly falling from Ferguson’s first team plans, Rafael could hardly have picked a better time to begin his ascendency. While he certainly has much to prove before he can seriously contend with Neville and Brown, Rafael has certainly guaranteed himself a lot more first team appearances throughout this season with his magnificent performances and if he can continue to produce such wonderful displays, he will soon be able to wrestle the right back position away from the long established duo of Neville and Brown.

With talents such as Rafael, his twin brother, Fabio, Possebon, Wellbeck, Petrucci, Macheda and Evans looking like possible stars of the future, United’s long and proud tradition of producing and developing some of the best talent in football looks set to continue. The future is certainly looking bright for United.