Fellaini

[Sarni]

He isn't bad but I think he'd get found out playing for a side like United. He's perfect for Everton where he's the main man and I reckon he might fit in behind offensive midfielders at Chelsea, there's a good chance they'll make a move for him in the Summer. We should aim for more technical and less physical players, I don't buy into the argument that we need physical presence in midfield anymore.

 

[Brightonian]

Looked like a mistake (again) since it disrupted your fluidity more than affecting Everton. Don't do it v Real or else.

Well we wouldn't, would we? I know Wenger doesn't adapt his tactics to individual games, but Fergie does, and it clearly works. If we'd played Carrick, we might have won 3-0. We'd also have been at risk of drawing 3-3, with Fellaini causing problems, in a way which we never were yesterday. We didn't play our best football (partly because of Jones and his role), but it was as comfortable a win as you'll see. Everton never looked like getting anything from the game.

Plus we got to rest Carrick, who might well be our most important player against Madrid. And, you know, also Nani, Kagawa, Anderson, Ferdinand... I'd say it was a job well done on all fronts.

 

[sincher]

Looked like a mistake (again) since it disrupted your fluidity more than affecting Everton. Don't do it v Real or else.

It was clearly not a mistake. It nullified their main threat and they hardly came close to scoring all game. Fellaini got really frustrated and kept dropping deeper to get the ball. He's not a threat when deep.

SAF knows that our strikers will likely take the chances they get so if we can defend better we will keep winning.

I think putting Jones as a second watch on Ronaldo might be very wise - it will be a much tougher job but if we can frustrate him he will be less influential. We will have to play Rooney deeper to compensate though.

 

[peterstorey]

It was clearly not a mistake. It nullified their main threat and they hardly came close to scoring all game. Fellaini got really frustrated and kept dropping deeper to get the ball. He's not a threat when deep..

Fellani's just not worth disrupting your team for. You ended up giving a poor Everton side quite a lot of the game instead of dominating it.

 

[Sarni]

Fellani's just not worth disrupting your team for. You ended up giving a poor Everton side quite a lot of the game instead of dominating it.

I reckon we wanted to win with minimum fuss with Real Madrid game in three days, and had to restrain Fellaini from doing anything to nullify Everton's main threat. Without CL game in mind we'd probably have gone all guns blazing.

 

[Brightonian]

Fellani's just not worth disrupting your team for. You ended up giving a poor Everton side quite a lot of the game instead of dominating it.

No, we dominated the game without needing to dominate possession. Which, in light of the fact that we were resting a few key players and didn't want anyone to exhaust themselves or get injured, was the wiser choice. And quite an achievement with us, too, given that we usually need lots of the ball to play well.

There's really no argument here: we won comfortably, with key players out, without overexerting. Fellaini obviously was worth the disruption.

If we do the same thing against Madrid, I'll be agreeing with you 100%, because clearly marking one man, even Ronaldo, won't keep them out of the game at all. We need to keep the ball and play our game, which with a more first-choice set of players is certainly possible. But against Everton, the match before the important one, it was the perfect approach, and it worked.

EDIT: Also, 'poor Everton side'? What a load of arrogant bollocks. You're one slip away from being below them in the table. Based on the complete peanuts they have to spend, I'd say this was a very strong Everton side, and one that has given us problems recently.

 

[Ekeke]

We stopped him having time to take long balls down on his chest like he's done against us for the past few matches and he struggled to have much of an impact. Its not that he isnt a good player, its just that hes a specialist at a certain thing and we showed how easy it can be to nullify his thread. It just begs the question, why didnt we do anything about it in the previous matches?

 

[sincher]

Fellani's just not worth disrupting your team for. You ended up giving a poor Everton side quite a lot of the game instead of dominating it.

Nonsense. Everton are not a poor side. They are pretty much as good as you lot anyway.

Fellaini is dangerous because he roams around between attack and midfield - giving a CB the duty to mark him causes problems with which midfielder picks him up when he steps away from the attack. We dealt with this by giving Jones the duty and he did it very well, just as he did when he took Bale out of the game.

Maybe if you had a bit more respect for your opponents Arsenal could actually employ some defensive tactics as well instead of just relying on attacking prowess all the time?

 

[Nate Dogg]

He reminds me of Duncan Ferguson, in terms of being a beast when it comes to heading and bossing defenders around.

But not sure if he technically good enough.

 

[Jimy_Hills_Chin]

Fellani's just not worth disrupting your team for. You ended up giving a poor Everton side quite a lot of the game instead of dominating it.

Come on Pete, they were poor because we shut down their two greatest offensive strengths, the left wing and Fellani. It was a tactical masterclass by SAF.

 

[Brwned]

I agree we disrupted the team and handed Everton the initiative but given how Fellaini's fecked us over in the past I'm delighted we did. We have enough firepower up top to win even when we've ceded control of the game, and we have no chance of controlling the game without Carrick (who needed a rest). The one time Fellaini did pull on to Evans we looked very shaky yet again anyway, it was the right call as proven by our comfortable win.

 

[Cevno]

Jones had 94% pass completion and 5 interceptions along with 2 tackles won and 2 clearances. Cleverley had 90% for pass rate fans.

Fellaini has bullied Carrick badly 3 out of the last 4 times he has faced us. Yesterday was more comfortable and we did decently possesion wise too.

It's not like we would have coasted against Everton or ever do with Carrick on the pitch. They always do well against us and are a good organized hard working side.

 

[Jimy_Hills_Chin]

Jones had 94% pass completion and 5 interceptions along with 2 tackles won and 2 clearances. Cleverley had 90% for pass rate fans.

Cleverley played twice as many passes though. Nonetheless, Jones was superb.

 

[sincher]

I agree we disrupted the team and handed Everton the initiative but given how Fellaini's fecked us over in the past I'm delighted we did. We have enough firepower up top to win even when we've ceded control of the game, and we have no chance of controlling the game without Carrick (who needed a rest). The one time Fellaini did pull on to Evans we looked very shaky yet again anyway, it was the right call as proven by our comfortable win.

I would say we only handed them the initiative after Giggs' goal, as well. Not exactly new, or at all unsurprising given that Everton have a pretty decent midfield and were effectively playing 5 there.

Before that Jones was coming forward a fair bit and we were marginally on top.

 

[thepolice123]

He's style is not to your liking. That doesn't mean he isn't effective, and though you claim Everton are being incredibly innovative by playing him in that position, it's actually no different to what they've done for years. They've played Cahill in that position before him, who admittedly wasn't as tall, but was very much a physical specimen with an enormous leap, and in the same mould.

We never had to put an anchorman in midfield just to stop Cahill from playing though.

Fellaini is obviously elevated his game this season playing in that role and has been one of the main reasons Everton are doing so well.

It may be that we shouldn't sign him, but that's not to say he's rubbish. The implications of that would be very unflattering to Manchester United.

Comparing Cahill to Fellaini is like comparing apples and oranges. Both of them are beasts in the air and the similarities end. Cahill was used by Everton as an auxiliary forward while playing in midfield. He specialises in making late runs to the box to catch opposition off-guard and score the thumping header. Fellaini, however, serves as an outlet for Everton in the space between the CB and Midfield. He can control any long ball and lay it off to running midfielders. Sound simple but very difficult to stop because he is such a big guy. Most midfielders today aren't really used to physical confrontations and this in turn causes the CB to have no choice but to come out and mark him. The gap left behind by the CB is then duly exposed by the Everton midfielders.

I say this is innovative because what Fellaini is doing is something you would expect from the classic forward. By putting Fellaini in the #10 position they have become rapid on the counter-attacks and hardly require any possession play.

 

[Moonwalker]

Comparing Cahill to Fellaini is like comparing apples and oranges. Both of them are beasts in the air and the similarities end. Cahill was used by Everton as an auxiliary forward while playing in midfield. He specialises in making late runs to the box to catch opposition off-guard and score the thumping header. Fellaini, however, serves as an outlet for Everton in the space between the CB and Midfield. He can control any long ball and lay it off to running midfielders. Sound simple but very difficult to stop because he is such a big guy. Most midfielders today aren't really used to physical confrontations and this in turn causes the CB to have no choice but to come out and mark him. The gap left behind by the CB is then duly exposed by the Everton midfielders.

I say this is innovative because what Fellaini is doing is something you would expect from the classic forward. By putting Fellaini in the #10 position they have become rapid on the counter-attacks and hardly require any possession play.

So by putting someone who you describe as slow and tumescent, in the exact same position they've previously used a faster player in, they've suddenly become rapid on the counter. I suppose if something as nonsensical as that were true, it would be some innovation.

All you've managed to demonstrate in that trite ridden post is that Fellaini's got more to his game than Cahill did. They both play in the same position(behind the striker, in the hole) whatever you want to call it. Their role might be different to the extent that one's got more to offer than the other, but not even the most generous of admirers of Fellaini would argue that he's performing the number 10 role in any way, shape, form or manner.

To top it all, this remarkably flattering and ludicrous suggestion is coming from a guy who's trying to say that he's shit.

You couldn't make it up.

 

[Brwned]

Comparing Cahill to Fellaini is like comparing apples and oranges. Both of them are beasts in the air and the similarities end. Cahill was used by Everton as an auxiliary forward while playing in midfield. He specialises in making late runs to the box to catch opposition off-guard and score the thumping header. Fellaini, however, serves as an outlet for Everton in the space between the CB and Midfield. He can control any long ball and lay it off to running midfielders. Sound simple but very difficult to stop because he is such a big guy. Most midfielders today aren't really used to physical confrontations and this in turn causes the CB to have no choice but to come out and mark him. The gap left behind by the CB is then duly exposed by the Everton midfielders.

I say this is innovative because what Fellaini is doing is something you would expect from the classic forward. By putting Fellaini in the #10 position they have become rapid on the counter-attacks and hardly require any possession play.

You don't seriously think this is a new, creative tactic do you? You've never seen a "#10" with an imposing physical presence used as a player for the rest of the team to feed off?

 

[Tomuś]

Yes we did let them (Everton) quite big a chunk of the game but neutrals often fail to realize it's us who willingly let teams have possession, and as a result often dominating it, not our midfield/set up being incapable of passing it around.

We went more possession-oriented against a possession fetishists' Swansea side and we dominated them away from home. You can control the game without having that much of the ball, as we did to City till they got those fortunate goals. Or Chelsea bar that half an hour period.

 

[thepolice123]

So by putting someone who you describe as slow and tumescent, in the exact same position they've previously used a faster player in, they've suddenly become rapid on the counter. I suppose if something as nonsensical as that were true, it would be some innovation.

All you've managed to demonstrate in that trite ridden post is that Fellaini's got more to his game than Cahill did. They both play in the same position(behind the striker, in the hole) whatever you want to call it. Their role might be different to the extent that one's got more to offer than the other, but not even the most generous of admirers of Fellaini would argue that he's performing the number 10 role in any way, shape, form or manner.

To top it all, this remarkably flattering and ludicrous suggestion is coming from a guy who's trying to say that he's shit.

You couldn't make it up.

You don't understand my point. What makes Fellaini effective today is mainly down to three things. His tremendous size, the death of the midfield 'destroyer' and Everton's shrewdness in exposing both to the fullest. None of it you can say is down to his footballing abilities. Everton's have become faster on the counter because they can just hammer it up field for Fellaini to control. But notice Jones' only pressed him hard when he's in our half. When he comes to his own half to collect the ball, pressing becomes very lax and at times even allowing him to bring the ball further up. All this done with the knowledge that when he does the most damage when the ball is in the air, when played to his feet he is rendered useless. You can say that as a footballer in the purest sense, he is shite, but somehow or rather has managed to turn his god-given gifts which aren't really relevant in football into transforming himself to an effective footballer.

 

[thepolice123]

You don't seriously think this is a new, creative tactic do you? You've never seen a "#10" with an imposing physical presence used as a player for the rest of the team to feed off?

I am aware that the big man small man striker combination which has existed for decades. But Fellaini's game is somewhat of a novelty in recents with football's obsession with the passing midfielder and the lone forward.

 

[Stack]

You don't understand my point. What makes Fellaini effective today is mainly down to three things. His tremendous size, the death of the midfield 'destroyer' and Everton's shrewdness in exposing both to the fullest. None of it you can say is down to his footballing abilities. Everton's have become faster on the counter because they can just hammer it up field for Fellaini to control. But notice Jones' only pressed him hard when he's in our half. When he comes to his own half to collect the ball, pressing becomes very lax and at times even allowing him to bring the ball further up. All this done with the knowledge that when he does the most damage when the ball is in the air, when played to his feet he is rendered useless. You can say that as a footballer in the purest sense, he is shite, but somehow or rather has managed to turn his god-given gifts which aren't really relevant in football into transforming himself to an effective footballer.

What a complete and utter load of shite. In the purest sense he is a pretty decent footballer, god only knows why people think he is shite.
People seem to think he was shackled by Jones man marking him, well Cleverly was on his tail a fair bit in that game too but something that has been missed by you is that the feed of ball to him was cut off for large chunks of the game.
Jesus H Christ, Fellaini is a shite footballer in the purest sense? wow, you are having a laugh.

 

[Ruud10]

So, is it safe now to shut down the "Let's buy Fellaini." talk?

 

[Moonwalker]

You don't understand my point. What makes Fellaini effective today is mainly down to three things. His tremendous size, the death of the midfield 'destroyer' and Everton's shrewdness in exposing both to the fullest. None of it you can say is down to his footballing abilities. Everton's have become faster on the counter because they can just hammer it up field for Fellaini to control. But notice Jones' only pressed him hard when he's in our half. When he comes to his own half to collect the ball, pressing becomes very lax and at times even allowing him to bring the ball further up. All this done with the knowledge that when he does the most damage when the ball is in the air, when played to his feet he is rendered useless. You can say that as a footballer in the purest sense, he is shite, but somehow or rather has managed to turn his god-given gifts which aren't really relevant in football into transforming himself to an effective footballer.

You could be a bit more terse, because what that verbose boils down to anyway is a ridiculous contradiction, summed up in the bolded bit. If he's effective, then his skills aren't irrelevant.

Why you persist with this piffle is beyond me.

 

[LR7]

Fellani's just not worth disrupting your team for. You ended up giving a poor Everton side quite a lot of the game instead of dominating it.

So many teams have "dominated" games this season without winning. Its so overrated. Having the most possession is not the only way to successfully play a game of football.

City dominated QPR and drew 0-0 and Arsenal dominated the game against Swansea (at the Emirates) but lost 0-2. There are other ways to win games and SAF got it spot on in the Everton game because whether Everton had more of the ball or not they created little without Fellaini influencing it and bullying us like we let him do at Goodison Park.

Sometimes giving the opposition more of the ball and encouraging them to attack forces them to open themselves up more allowing you to exploit that space. I think its only positive that we can win games that we dominate as well as winning games we don't. When your sole aim is to dominate a game and the opposition keeps ten men behind the ball they are very hard to break down. I'm sure that's part of the reason City have struggled somewhat this season.

 

[Brwned]

I am aware that the big man small man striker combination which has existed for decades. But Fellaini's game is somewhat of a novelty in recents with football's obsession with the passing midfielder and the lone forward.

A novelty perhaps, although then you've got Sissoko just up at Newcastle doing pretty much exactly the same thing. You're absolutely barmy if you think it's in any way innovative, though. I reckon if you said that to David Moyes he'd piss himself.

 

[Rowem]

Fellani's just not worth disrupting your team for. You ended up giving a poor Everton side quite a lot of the game instead of dominating it.

Agree.

For me the only valid reason is that we're preparing for Ronaldo and have used Fellaini and Bale as practise runs. We'll see if the decision justifies itself on Wednesday.

 

[peterstorey]

I think that would be even worse since while you can mark Felliani/Bale out of the game you can't do that to Ronaldo and you still get the downside of screwing up your own game.

 

[Ekeke]

I think it can at least help to deal with Ronaldo if Jones is played right or left midfield, wherever Ronaldo sets up shop. Its not like our wingers are bringing a huge amount to our game right now anyway and we'll always create a few openings. On a good day RVP scores most of them and if not Rooney or Hernandez will

 

[Moonwalker]

Mourinho has successfully marked Messi out of games with both Inter and Madrid. Why do you think Ronaldo is impervious?

 

[Moonwalker]

Actually he didn't mark him in those inter games at all, curiously. But Pepe has done it innumerable times.

 

[Brightonian]

Actually he didn't mark him in those inter games at all, curiously. But Pepe has done it innumerable times.

But Jones is no Pepe. He doesn't have the experience or nous yet to do it to such a top player. Remember that Ronaldo is the special focus of almost every team he plays against, week in week out. He's more than capable of making that tactic work against us.

We should focus on playing a tight, sensible game of football against their whole team. Put Valencia in if necessary to help Rafael, but don't screw up our midfield just to get Jones in there on Ronaldo.

 

[Moonwalker]

But Jones is no Pepe. He doesn't have the experience or nous yet to do it to such a top player.

Well that could be. I guess we won't have to wait long to see if Fergie agrees.

But we will have to field at least one young midfielder who doesn't have the experience anyway, whether he's marking Ronaldo or not.

 

[Baxter]

He's absolutely shite when playing midfield.

 

[adamwest]

Apparently he did one down the tunnel after the abuse he was getting? Can't see him sticking around this summer if that was the case...

 

[Baxter]

Yeah he got booed coming off (assume it was him and not for the decision, as Gibson was cheered) and he went straight down the tunnel. He doesn't have the ability to play in the middle. A handful as a target man playing slightly off the main striker, but he's too limited to play centre midfield.

 

[Quinton Fortune]

Pretty sure his head is already elsewhere

 

[peterstorey]

He's a big awkward cnut who fouls a lot.

 

[Devil may care]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footb...er-united-transfers-marouane-fellaini-1896978

Marouane Fellaini has made it clear he would like to follow David Moyes to Manchester United.

Moyes oversees his final game in charge of Everton today before taking up his post at United on July 1.

Midfielder Fellaini is also expected to leave Goodison Park this summer if a club meets his £23million *buyout clause.

And the 25-year-old has made no secret of the fact he would like to keep *working with Moyes.

“If I’m leaving Everton, I say if, it will depend on lots of factors,” said *Fellaini, who has also been watched by *Arsenal and Chelsea.

“I only want to go to a club where the manager *really wants me. In 2008, Everton did everything to convince me, especially David Moyes. He made me the player I am now.”

Fellaini also *revealed he and Moyes have already hatched a plan to convert him into a deep-lying *midfielder, something United need.

“I’m happy with my *season, although I didn’t play in my best position,” said Fellaini. “I’m not a number 10. David Moyes predicts my future as a *defensive midfielder, but due to a lack of offensive power, he plays me up front.

“In the future I want to play as a six or an eight. From there, I can create danger and score goals.”

I don't really see anything that suggests Fellaini has made any real indication of wanting to come here but I thought the comments about where he sees his main position being going forward made it worth posting.

 

[Ekeke]

Back to getting booked every game then

 

[Carl]

I'm absolutely certain we'll sign him this Summer.