Gabriel Obertan, the player we signed from Bordeaux three months ago, has had to endure a pretty frustrating start to his Manchester United career as he arrived injured and has stayed injured since we signed him.

However, he completed the first 45 minutes for the reserves in the Manchester Senior Cup last night.

Initial impressions were pretty good. He didn’t get a kick for the first two minutes and when the ball finally came to him he promptly gave it away but it got better and better from there.

Obertan is a very tall player and won almost all of the headed flick-ons that came his way from goal-kicks etc but his main asset seems to be his pace.

Due to his height and slim build, he can look a bit ungainly on the ball but there is no doubting he is quick.

He linked up well in a few moves and played one terrific through-ball with his left foot for Febien Brandy at one point.

As the half wore on and he started to feel more confident (United were also 2-0 up at this stage and totally controlling the game) he even started to produce one or two neat tricks.

Despite some reports at the time we bought him, I don’t think we are looking at the new Thierry Henry here but we could well be looking at a very decent attacking midfielder (I think he was supposed to be playing on the right wing but he seemed to wander all over the place and at one point was tearing away with the ball at his feet on the left wing!)

Attack does seem to be his main priority and he rarely (if ever) got stuck in with any tackles – whether this is his normal game or whether he was advised caution having just come back injury, it was hard to say.

All things considered, for a player who has been out for a good few months, coming into a new team, he showed promise and it will be interesting to see if he gets a few more minutes under his belt in the next reserves game.

The other thing of note tonight was the return of Rafael who played right-back with brother Fabio at left back. I am not sure if this is the first time they have played together since arriving at Manchester United but it was the first time I had seen them together and they were excellent.

Watching them together it did seem like Fabio is the slightly more adventurous going forward but both balance attacking and defensive duties very well and it is surely the future for the United first-team.