Former Manchester United star Rafael Da Silva has claimed that Brazilian midfielder Anderson would have been world-class… were he not such a big eater.
When Man United acquired Anderson from FC Porto back in 2007, expectations were high. The Brazilian was supposed to be the next big thing coming out of the Portuguese league, think Bruno Fernandes, but left the Red Devils having achieved plenty of collective success, very little of which was as a result of his own influence.
A former teammate of his, Rafael Da Silva, one half of Man United’s Da Silva twins, has provided some insight into why Anderson’s move to Old Trafford didn’t work out quite as planned. It turns out, if you hadn’t noticed by his sizeable frame, the now retired Brazilian midfielder had quite the appetite.
Rafael wrote in his autobiography, with the quotes carried by the Mirror:
“We could be on the team coach and pass the services on the motorway and Anderson would jump up impulsively and yell ‘McDonald’s, McDonald’s.’”
“The guy was crazy, but I love him. Give him a football and he would just play with freedom and sometimes, if he got a good run of games, he could play as well as any player in the league.”
“Not only that, but when he was playing well, we were playing brilliant football. He picked up a lot of big injuries and then his problems with eating the way he did started to affect him.”
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“It was no coincidence that his best form came when he had a lot of games because that was when he couldn’t eat so much. I will say something about Anderson – if he had been a professional football player, he could have been the best in the world.”
“I’m saying this was all seriousness. I don’t know if he ever took anything seriously. He just loved life in such an easy and casual way.”
“In some ways that was a quality. It was what made him so popular and one of the most popular players at the club. But he would just eat whatever was put in front of him.”
Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t make many mistakes in the transfer market. His player acquisition provided the foundations for his success. However, Anderson, through no fault of Sir Alex’s, is probably up there among the worst signings of his tenure – and all because he loved a Big Mac!
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