From the moment Louis van Gaal arrived at Old Trafford, it was clear that he would emphasise the team ethos over the case of any one individual.
In fact, amid a number of inconsistent results, that has been the one consistent thread throughout his first season. Though Manchester United's performances were all over the place for several months, Van Gaal was always adamant that his system -- his "philosophy" -- would come first.
This philosophy, while it took its time to manifest on the pitch, had some surprising victims. No-one thought, back in August, that Ashley Young would regularly start ahead of a fully-fit Angel Di Maria, yet now few people question it. No-one thought -- and one still has to rub the eyes at this one -- that Marouane Fellaini would be a deftly effective No. 10. Robin van Persie and Falcao were both expected to be far better, but they have both been inhibited by injury and a lack of confidence.
Yet, in one sense, the most perplexing casualty of this season has been Rafael. The Brazilian right-back, who last played for his country in 2012, was once seen as among the best in his position in the Premier League, but it now seems a long time since anyone regarded him in that way. There was a period where some even feared that he might be enticed away by a glamorous foreign rival. Yet now he cannot get a game ahead of Antonio Valencia, a man who joined the club as a winger and who might consider that right-back is his third-best position.
The situation used to be very different. Valencia and Rafael once combined to great effect down United's right-flank, with the former tucking in to let the latter overlap. The main change now is that Van Gaal is ruthless in his pursuit of defensive discipline, even more so than David Moyes was, and the numbers to support Rafael's exclusion are damning. The key to Van Gaal's philosophy is the ability to control possession and then pass at a high tempo, and he must have little faith in Rafael's positioning or his ability to retain the ball.
