Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson told Robin van Persie that he could learn from one of the side's less-prolific finishers after a stunner against Liverpool at Anfield in 2012.
Having signed from Arsenal in a deal worth £24m, Van Persie proved the bargain of the 2012/13 season as he fired Manchester United to Premier League glory with 26 goals in the top flight.
The Dutchman started quickly at Old Trafford, too, scoring four goals - including a hat-trick against Southampton - in his first four appearances of the campaign. He even managed to bag a penalty against Liverpool at Anfield in their fifth match in September as Manchester United came from behind to win, but Sir Alex Ferguson still wanted more from his star striker.
Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson told Robin van Persie to get tips about scoring from defender...
After going down 1-0 early in the second half to a Steven Gerrard goal, Manchester United faced an uphill battle to turn things around against Liverpool. They struck back quickly through Brazilian defender Rafael, with Van Persie then getting the winner in the 81st minute.
Scoring just his fourth Manchester United goal, Rafael's strike was a thing of beauty. After a lay-off from Shinji Kagawa, the full-back curled a left-footed strike into the far corner of Pepe Reina's net, which kissed the post on the way in.
"Man, I’ve never forgotten that day," Rafael exclusively tells FourFourTwo. "It was the most beautiful goal I scored in my career.
"It’s difficult to describe the emotion I felt in that match – it was crazy. I remember that in training the following day, Sir Alex told Robin van Persie to watch my goal back for some shooting tips! Everyone was laughing, including Robin, and congratulating me. It was a beautiful goal, though. It’s just a shame that I didn’t do it more often!"
When Rafael did decide to shoot, he often scored rockets. His fifth, and what proved to be his final, goal for Manchester United came at Loftus Road later in the 2012/13 season. As the ball dropped 25 yards from goal, he ran on and unleashed a piledriver into the top corner of the QPR goal.
His career at Old Trafford curtailed after the 2012/13 season, however, with David Moyes' arrival signalling a downturn in performances across the squad. He still believes that the Scotsman walked into an impossible job, however.
"It was tough for him at United, wasn’t it? Moyes was Scottish, just like Sir Alex, but they’re different people, different managers, with totally different styles," Rafael says.
"I think that any manager who’d arrived after everything Ferguson had done at Old Trafford was going to have a difficult time. It had been 28 years. That’s really complicated. Moyes still receives unjust criticism, because it’d be a hard job for any manager in the world, but I admired him very much."
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