It’s funny how everything tends to look better in hindsight, and it’s often the case that fans will romanticise players years after they’ve left, but they were also the same supporters who panned them every week and wanted them to leave.
Man United’s defence is a mess just now and that was evidenced tonight with some properly schoolboy stuff, so it’s easy to look at any former defenders and wonder if they could do a better job.
Former United wing back Rafael da Silva was part of the Basaksehir team who won the game tonight, and it led to Rio Ferdinand making a fairly bold claim on Twitter:
We never should have sold @orafa2 #facts
?— Rio Ferdinand (@rioferdy5) November 4, 2020
You have to presume that he’s just having a playful joke and showing appreciation to a former teammate, because the alternative is much more worrying.
Rafael was perfectly capable as a Premier League defender but he struggled to maintain any discipline, so he was always good for a red card and being caught out of position at a pivotal moment.
The Brazilian played well tonight and it must be an enjoyable moment for him to get one over his former team, but it was clearly the right choice to let him leave.