Marouane Fellaini | 2013/14 Performances

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An Irish Red said:
We gave that man a six year contract. I don't know why like but we did for some reason. It's still baffling.
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That's what winds me up the most. SIX fecking years of his shit on a stick football! It's not like anyone would nab him off us in the future!
 
Not only that but Rio said he feels Fellaini's best position is just behind the striker. He said he's good in midfield, but far better up front. I imagine he didn't want to criticise a former player's competency in midfield. He's not going to get in ahead of the already long list for that spot. Off ya pop Fellaini.
 
Speak said:
And the problem is, even if that was our reason to buy him, that strength goes missing in the centre of the pitch.

It's one thing being strong as the ball travels towards you in the air at speed, it's another thing to move and turn in different directions and still be strong, or to be strong with the ball at your foot.
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Yep, pretty much. His main qualities are winning headers, outmuscling opponents in the air, bringing down long balls on his chest (he's great at that to be fair). That's it though. Below average passer, decent touch but incredibly slow on the ball and turning on it and making his mind up, can't run with it either. Shit tackler and can't mark runners well either, along with being lazy. He lacks all the main things actually required to be a midfielder.

So basically it's like when you throw center backs up front when you're chasing the game, except that's all he's good for. And we spent 27.5 million for that.
 
bosnian_red said:
Fair enough but the reason he's so disliked is we spent 30 million on somebody who will never be close to a starting 11 quality player. In midfield, he just doesn't suit a passing game at all. Everyone needs squad players but the vast majority of United fans I'm sure would rather see young midfielders with talent be squad players, or players who have been at United for a while, like Fletcher. He's better on the ball and a more intelligent player, yet many are ready just to get rid of him. Same with Cleverley. You need squad players to give others a break, but we have squad players and most of us like them all more then Fellaini. He's the player version of David Moyes, somebody who just doesn't belong at the club, and it doesn't help him at all that Moyes was the one that brought him here.
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you're exactly correct in the first sentence. people don't like him because he was expensive. It's sunk cost though, and he's here now and I've always felt we should support our players and not brainlessly scapegoat them and drive their performances further down. I'm not going to hold a grudge against him just because woodward agreed a high fee for him. He's a talented player and I'l just wait and see how LVG (who's holland team play quite direct and smash many long balls btw) will use him. If it's a squad player than who cares. There will be a number of high profile squad players this season. Rooney/Mata/RVP/Kagawa etc can't start every game
 
Crashoutcassius said:
you're exactly correct in the first sentence. people don't like him because he was expensive. It's sunk cost though, and he's here now and I've always felt we should support our players and not brainlessly scapegoat them and drive their performances further down. I'm not going to hold a grudge against him just because woodward agreed a high fee for him. He's a talented player and I'l just wait and see how LVG (who's holland team play quite direct and smash many long balls btw) will use him. If it's a squad player than who cares. There will be a number of high profile squad players this season. Rooney/Mata/RVP/Kagawa etc can't start every game
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Fair enough we'll see how we use him, it'd be great if he proved everyone wrong really and shown he's an actual midfielder...
I'm just not sure where he'll actually get space in the squad.
We're apparently trying to sign another defensive midfielder who is first team quality, so let's just say it's Vidal.
Vidal, Herrera will be our starting options without a doubt. Then we'd have Carrick to back up the defensive spot, along with Fletcher, and then Cleverley or Fletcher for the other spot. Then we have Mata, Kagawa, Rooney all for the attacking midfield spot. Where is the room for Fellaini? What games will he get? It's better for both I think if he moves on.
 
Crashoutcassius said:
yeah why can't they?
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You suggested Fellaini can be of use against smaller opposition even though he is poor against the best sides. Carrick is a much better midfielder than Fellaini despite how he performed last season and may very well be 3rd choice midfielder next season, while Cleverley might be revitalised under van Gaal's management due to his style of play.

Those players can perform just as well against the smaller teams as Fellaini and they are actually conventional midfielders. Shunting Fellaini out of position purely to find some way to accommodate him into the team, as well as playing him against certain sides isn't worth it at the expense of Carrick, Cleverley, etc.
 
Are we going to do this after every game he plays? Talk about flogging a dead horse. Plenty had established he wasn't good enough before he came to United but he's here now. I doubt he will get sold after one season but we shall see. Hopefully we can use him as a squad player and he improves in his midfield role.
 
Invictus said:
No way should Fellaini get a break after the World Cup. Van Persie and Van Gaal aren't taking it. One has been equally knackered if not more so and the other is 60+ years old. Mr. Marouanne should report first day for training in the pre season tour so Louis can make a deliberated assessment of his talents. That way we can start finding prospective buyers come July end if he's deemed surplus to United's needs. Giving him a vacation and leaving it for late in the transfer window in Moyes-esque fashion will only diminish his valuation if the club decides to sell on short notice.
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In the real world outside of your mind where the 60yo man doesn't set foot on the field to kick a ball in a competitive sense for the club ever and you can see Fellaini is genuinely nursing an injury and playing long minutes in a full field role he should probably get a break. Van Persie as well, any other guys we have playing big minutes in the latter stages of the tournament also.

Back in your mind where you're a fitness and conditioning expert, armchair businessman and manager - quit all of those roles and find something else to do.
 
goldenstatesplash said:
In the real world outside of your mind where the 60yo man doesn't set foot on the field to kick a ball in a competitive sense for the club ever and you can see Fellaini is genuinely nursing an injury and playing long minutes in a full field role he should probably get a break. Van Persie as well, any other guys we have playing big minutes in the latter stages of the tournament also.

Back in your mind where you're a fitness and conditioning expert, armchair businessman and manager - quit all of those roles and find something else to do.
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Yeah agreed, he should take a nice long break. Shouldn't even go on the pre season tour really.
 
An appalling performance. Literally useless, couldn't tackle, couldn't stop fouling, didn't make a single pass other than ones my gran would be capable of, probably moved at the pace of a 70 odd year old most of the game as well.

And this just sums it up

 
goldenstatesplash said:
In the real world outside of your mind where the 60yo man doesn't set foot on the field to kick a ball in a competitive sense for the club ever and you can see Fellaini is genuinely nursing an injury and playing long minutes in a full field role he should probably get a break. Van Persie as well, any other guys we have playing big minutes in the latter stages of the tournament also.

Back in your mind where you're a fitness and conditioning expert, armchair businessman and manager - quit all of those roles and find something else to do.
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Zero fecks were given.
 
Zak Smith said:
An appalling performance. Literally useless, couldn't tackle, couldn't stop fouling, didn't make a single pass other than ones my gran would be capable of, probably moved at the pace of a 70 odd year old most of the game as well.

And this just sums it up

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Talking out your arse. He wasn't even fit when he attempted that pass. What a brave guy playing through that injury.

You really are a spoilt armchair fan Zak.
 
Bojan11 said:
Talking out your arse. He wasn't even fit when he attempted that pass. What a brave guy playing through that injury.

You really are a spoilt armchair fan Zak.
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I don't know, he has a talent for handing over possession in spectacular fashion

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Must have been injured here as well.
 
It was a strange performance, he was clearly selected as to provide an aerial threat yet his teammates wouldn't cross to him. :lol:

He's a strange player.
 
To be fair, while Dembele looks comfortable on the ball, he really doesn't do all that much. No fan if Fellaini but Dembele reminds me a bit of Osman. Used to rate him but he's really not all that IMO.
 
He's not a central midfielder and he's never going to amount to anything for us. Bringing him here was reason alone to sack Moyes, not because Fellaini is a bad player, but because he was never going to suit United.
 
The role he's asked to play is silly, in my opinion. Wilmotts is basically saying to Fellaini, 'when we get the ball, I want you to run past everyone into the box and wait for a cross, and when it breaks down, run all the way back and defend'. I'd love to see Fellaini's disatnce covered. It'd actually be a decent tactic if Belgium actually got the ball into the box, but he often made runs into the box and no crosses were put in. Pointless if you ask me.

Anyway, I keep saying, if we're going to play him, play him in front of the back four next to a dynamic box to box midfielder, otherwise don't play him.
 
Kostur said:
16268

4 recovered balls, 5 tackles, 40 passes, 3 shots. Lazy, doesn't do anything, cnut etc. 'la YAWN
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That's the one label he's given that I can't agree with at all. He's not lazy.
 
The BBC commentator hammered him and everyones jumped on the bandwagon. He played some very nice balls between the lines today and I'm sure had it been another player people would have called it a good performance...

Holland played Zombie football and people credited it to the conditions. Fellaini played 120 mins.

He won't ever suit United, but I still believe he is a very good player and if he ever played against England, he'd hand us our arses like he did against United.
 
Zak Smith said:
I don't know, he has a talent for handing over possession in spectacular fashion

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Must have been injured here as well.
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That still cracks me up no matter how often I see it :lol:

He was an absolute passenger for the first 105 minutes today. Looked completely out of place in that side and USA players were just walking past him. Was useful for them in the second half of extra time, got a lot of clearances and brought the ball down well. Meh.
 
I feel bad for the guy, like Moyes he's a very likable and nice guy off the pitch but just not gonna cut it at United.
 
World Cup 2014: Marouane Fellaini remains integral for Belgium, but not for Louis van Gaal
Of the five Premier League players who started this game for Belgium, you could argue that the future of Marouane Fellaini looks most in doubt. Vincent Kompany, Jan Vertonghen and Eden Hazard all seem firmly embedded in their respective clubs’ plans, as does Thibaut Courtois, now that the goalkeeper is returning to Chelsea.

For Fellaini, however, things are not so clear cut. Not only did the £27million signing struggle to settle in his debut season at Manchester United, he now faces the onerous task of convincing Louis van Gaal that he deserves to hang about.

That might not be so easy when you look at the type of players preferred by Van Gaal. Searching for a No 10 to play behind Robin van Persie, the veteran coach is more likely to pick a mobile, creative sort in the mould of Wesley Sneijder than the towering frame of someone who cannot see a pass nearly so well.

By the same token, Van Gaal might not view Fellaini as a holding midfielder, especially if he saw some performances for United last term when the Belgian badly laboured in that deeper role. Mind you, that doesn’t stop Marc Wilmots from picking him in this position. Lining up on Tuesday night next to Axel Witsel, Fellaini’s role was straightforward, especially when Belgium grabbed hold of the ball. With Witsel staying put, his partner would get himself in the box when a cross looked like coming in, which was pretty much how he scored his header in the opening group game against Algeria.

Long throws and corners were also aimed at the big man, although he rarely looked likely to get the better of his marker. Stoke City’s Geoff Cameron, in fact, won most of the duels when Courtois launched long kicks towards his target.

Chugging up and down, it was all fairly one-dimensional in the first half, a little sluggish and one-paced from a player capable of dominating opponents with physical strength and skill.

Those days, however, feel like a long time ago, days when David Moyes would set his powerful talisman free to go and wreak havoc as part of Everton’s up-and-at-em approach. International football, of course, doesn’t usually pan out like that, even in this particular World Cup when adventurous, thrilling combat has ruled the roost.

As a result, Fellaini has had to pick his moments, as he did in Salvador, to make a move from that middle ground. As it happens, he did that increasingly well as the match wore on. Had the final ball been better, he might even have got another goal after finding space at the far post.

But it is from a defensive point of view that Van Gaal might ask questions of a player who doesn’t naturally see danger when asked to backtrack. In extra time, as this incredibly defiant USA team threw everything at it, Fellaini was stretched to the limit, on hand once or twice to hook the ball clear.

Continuing the United theme, the Old Trafford arrival of Ander Herrera also complicates matters. One less place, perhaps, for Fellaini to fill. One less opportunity to prove that he can make a success of his big move. Mind you, that would have been the last thing on his mind in the Arena Fonte Nova when his country, dark horses now making ground on the rails, were still searching for the elusive breakthrough.

As part of that, Fellaini kept making runs into the box, kept asking questions of Jurgen Klinsmann’s back four. Belgium need Fellaini. Unlike at United, he forms an integral part of this emerging team.
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Señor said:
That's what winds me up the most. SIX fecking years of his shit on a stick football! It's not like anyone would nab him off us in the future!
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We simply cannot afford to have another repeat of the Tevez situation where he fecks off to moneybags City after his contract is up.
 
Sammyjunn said:
Remember him dominating against us while playing midfield.
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While playing as a support striker when one of our CB was Michael Carrick. Put Vidic in Carrick's place and I doubt he would have got that joy.
 
goldenstatesplash said:
Opening day of the season a few years ago when Carrick missed a penalty and they won 1-0? I think, from memory.
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It was 2 seasons ago and he was playing the whole game attached to Carrick who was at CB. They kept punting long balls to him and Carrick could not handle that. Sure he had a good game there but I hope to God we don't deploy that football here. Read SAF's comments on him after that game and you will get a good picture of why he was such a nuisance that day.
 
NK86 said:
It was 2 seasons ago and he was playing the whole game attached to Carrick who was at CB. They kept punting long balls to him and Carrick could not handle that. Sure he had a good game there but I hope to God we don't deploy that football here. Read SAF's comments on him after that game and you will get a good picture of why he was such a nuisance that day.
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I'll bet that even Moyes wasn't going to use him that way, I am sure that LVG wouldn't as well.. Also it's pretty easy to physically dominate Carrick, so fair point. I just mentioned the game off the top of my head and that he played well. Regardless of the circumstances you're only as good as what is in front of you.
 
He's on the roster and no one is likely to take him off our roster. Use him is desperate situations up top and against bottom third clubs and he'll settle in just fine.
 
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