We wouldn't, but he would.
27
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 31
- Goals
- 7
- Assists
- 2
- Yellow cards
- 7
- Red cards
- 1
- Status
We wouldn't, but he would.
Credit where it's due, men. An effective 45 minutes. Everything about him was positive last night, won his headers, got in the box, his passing was crisp and had pace and I can think of only one that went astray. We take it from here. That's what the bench is about, isn't it? Having something different if things aren't working?
The whole team played better due to the manager getting into the players at half time. Fellaini played quite well with a fantastic goal contribution, he still made silly needless fouls and his general play wasn't of the level of the likes of Ander in previous matches.
The goal changes everything which is why he needs to keep it up
Obviously he is a different style to Herrera, similar position but each is suited to different opposition - Fellaini gets more stuck in and offers aerial threat around the box, but Herrera is clearly the more creative player. Still Fellaini's passing was decent and I dont remember any issue with fouls, in fact one was given against him when he clearly won the ball - that seems to happen quite a lot with him unfortunately.
Thought Falcao coming on had a negative effect on him. With just the one up top he played in his best position for a short while.
When we had two strikers up there he reverted back to what we've seen from him previously.
Wouldnt mind seeing him playing behind Falcao flanked with our micro midgets
When we had two strikers up there he reverted back to what we've seen from him previously.
Wouldnt mind seeing him playing behind Falcao flanked with our micro midgets
He conceded one foul. I sometimes wonder whether people on both sides of these debates about players actually watch the games or just go on the usual cliches/countercliches (new word).
He was pulled up for 2. You don't get to decide how many fouls he made, the referee does. Perhaps you should have watched closer
http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/82...4-2015-West-Bromwich-Albion-Manchester-United
So a handball and a foul that was wrongly given. My point still stands.
Edit: It might have been the handball that was wrongly given. Either way, point stands.
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Great goal
You just dont open up teams with Fellaini as a 10. Moyes tried it so often and it just doesnt work. He doesnt have the ability, as simple as that. He either brings physical domincance into our team or else I dont really see him being used often
Did you watch Everton at all in his last season there? He was their best player and contributed to 19 goals (12 scored, 7 assisted), which is pretty respectable given how utterly hopeless Jelavic and Anichebe were that year. He opened up plenty of teams, including us. Hell last night he 'opened up' West Brom more in 45 minutes than RVP and Mata did all game.
Fellaini has great ability and can be influential both as a CM and as a #10 if used properly and in the right games. In the Premier League especially you need a mix of different types of players or you become too 1-dimensional. Barcelona non-withstanding, teams that plug away trying to be purists regardless of the opposition or whether its actually working end up winning nowt (see Arsenal for the last 10 years).
You can't really compare United to Everton, can you?
Hated the signing. But all your sins are washed away in my eyes Fellaini after you saved the game for United.
He'll always be a waste of money but last night showed that he's not the worst option to have coming off the bench in moments of desperation, especially when Di Maria is firing in crosses like he was.
In other words, at least he's not Anderson, a player who now has absolutely nothing to contribute to this squad.
In other words, at least he's not Anderson, a player who now has absolutely nothing to contribute to this squad.
I'm probably one of the biggest Fellaini fans on here but I don't think he should start ahead of Mata in most games....except the Chelsea game. We need some physical presence against Chelsea to have a chance of getting a goal or two. Blind-Fellaini-Herrera can be a really good combo
I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean, and in any case it doesn't constitute an adequate response to any of the points I made. At Everton he played very well and demonstrated his quality and his strengths for all to see. Those strengths haven't fluttered away on the wind because he wears a red shirt with a devil on it instead of a blue shirt with a windmill or whatever on it.
No-ones arguing that he's going to be as key for United as he was at Everton, but that doesn't mean he's not perfectly capable of playing very well for us, as evidenced last night. I find it difficult to believe that people can have watched last night's game and not grudgingly accept that he could have a future at the club.
I still think it's hard to see him making it here long term. A few more performances like that will vastly increase his value though. I've always said that selling him in the summer when his value was rock bottom would have been a terrible call. Even if he'd been sent out on loan just to boost his sale value. As it is, it looks like LVG has a role in mind for him.
He has his strengths but it's not that he's been a brilliant footballer before. He is rather limited and still hasn't found his position yet. He's not good enough to play as a 10 and we have much better players who are better equipped. To see us lump the ball forward to him is not what I want to see and I doubt that would be a winning tactic
I still dislike his style of play as a central midfielder and a a forward we can do a lot better than him. It could even be argued he fouled Lescott for the goal. In the centre of the park he keeps things really simple but he also goes and hides a bit. Often times his first idea is to jog to the box and try to get onto something but he doesn't really get onto much for his size.
West Brom's statement on the Fellaini tweet. It's a load of bollocks.
I agree with you. He listened carefully and carried out instructions with intent and it all paid off. He needs to continue the form before we can say more however it is a stepping stone.
Firstly he's very underrated technically, you wont see him nipping past players like Iniesta or pinging 50 yard passes like Scholes but he's certainly not 'limited'. You just have to look at the evidence in front of you, he had better passing stats than Herrera last night, both in terms of passes completed and in terms of chances created. His second touch of the ball was an interception-cum-first time-outside-of-the-foot-pass which set Di Maria off down the wing and he scored a great goal. He's clearly far more capable than many on here would like to admit.
Secondly, better equipped for what? The ability to shake things up is important in this league. You can't just plug away at the same thing and expect to win because you're better than the other team. This is why Arsenal struggle; when the fashionable one touch football isn't working they don't have a plan B and they suffer for it. Herrera is by no means inferior to than Fellaini but we looked far more likely to score after the substitution because Fellaini gave us something that Herrera couldn't. Having someone like Fellaini around allows us a completely different set of tactical options which, in situations like last night, will result in us picking up more points over the course of the season than we otherwise could have. No-one's saying he should be a nailed on first-XI player or that he's better than Rooney/Mata/Herrera. What they're saying is that he has attributes that the others can't offer, and that in certain games those attributes can be beneficial to the team.
Yup. Completely agree. He was simple and tidy with his passes. Kept possession when he had the ball. Scored. He wasn't brought on to be a number 10; not sure why people are expecting creativity. The way the game was going, his skillset definitely helped get us back in.
Maybe now we can add a couple more millions to his transfer fee.
Fellani had a nice game-probably best as a United player. But, why exaggerate? According to Optima, Herrara was 27/32 (84%) passing; Fellani was 25/30 (83%). Yes, Fellani created two chances and scored a goal. He showed what many here think is his role-a plan B option when things aren't going well. Fellani didn't make the earth move for me despite his good game.
The stats I saw had Fellaini at 83% and Herrera at 81%, I'm not sure why there always seems to be discrepancies between different sources.
So statistically Fellaini either barely bested or just came short against a player lacking match fitness and clearly not at his best. Why does this matter so much?
I hope he keeps up this same motivation and hunger he displayed.
I still think he is not a good choice for CM role. I would honestly play him ahead of Mata for now.
He is very useful when he is around the opposition box. As a CM, he still has all the flaws in his game, and a goal does not change that.
He is very useful when he is around the opposition box. As a CM, he still has all the flaws in his game, and a goal does not change that.
This is a brilliant post and sums up how I rate him as well. Especially the last part. I don't think any of us has said he is "better" than so and so but having different options for different scenarios can always help.
Not in a 2 man midfield but if he has Blind-Herrera next to him he can be very useful in certain situations.
Not a kneejerk reaction but I think he should start against Chelsea. He must have confidence now and we need power in the middle against them, who will inevitably play with a solid engine room.
Everton's team was build around him. Hoof the ball from every position to his chest. He did well there but he won't do as good here. Actually, he might, if we start playing like Everton did. It will result on a midtable finish though, regardless of Fellaini's goals and assists.
He may play some role here in games when we can't break teams by playing fluid football, but those games will be rare. Just because he hoofed the ball good for them, won't make him a good player here when completely different qualities are required.
In his first season, he was disappointingly weak on the ball. I was expecting him to bully people but he was eased off the ball far too easily. Looking much stronger in his limited opportunities this season, for some reason. I particularly remember a crunching block tackle against Valencia (I think?) in pre-season.
I'm seeing him as some sort of Wrecking bar of sorts. When our strikers can't get through, he might be able to offer some additional danger if he can get on the receiving end of crosses, which we know we have at least one player that is capable of doing so. So when our usual style of play won't work, he might be a plan B that might work instead.
I would play him against Chelsea, in that role behind Falcao. He'd cause problems to the likes of Terry with his height, and his confidence will surely be up after his performance & goal against West Brom.
Mata, as much as I like him, just isn't doing it at the moment and Januzaj wasn't great the other night.
Mata, as much as I like him, just isn't doing it at the moment and Januzaj wasn't great the other night.
That first highlighted bit is a typical misapprehension of someone who didn't really watch Everton all that much in 2012/3. Yeah they went long a fair bit but they (including Fellaini) also played some great football, as has been attested to by our resident Everton fans. But whatever, I can see that this isn't a myth that's never going to die.
As for the second highlighted bit, see this excerpt from my last post in this thread:
I'm not really sure why you're arguing with me? Unless your view is that the benefits of having him as another option don't justify him having a place in the squad, in which case I respectfully disagree. I entirely trust Van Gaal to get the best out of him, especially given that he's managed to coax more out of him in one game than Moyes did all of last season. Fellaini at his best is both acceptable midfield cover and a great Plan B and if used right he can become an important part of the squad.
I don't think that it is a myth at all. I've watched Everton (obviously not every game) and all I can remember is that they wingbacks (Baines and Coleman) crossed the ball to Fellaini as often as possible.
Yep, I completely think that what he offers doesn't justify him having a place on the team and spending the wages for him. He was better than Herrera on the last game but don't forget that Herrera was playing despite having an injury. Herrera has been far superior than Fellaini on this season, despite that he is on a new team and a new league.
I hope that LGV gets the best from him, but ultimatelly I think that his best isn't even in the level of minimum requirement to play for us. When we sign Strootman, I think that his time will be over.
I thought his goal was brilliant, not just the skill but the desire as well and LVG had clearly sent him on confident and pumped up, I am not his biggest fan but he showed what he can do in and around the box.
I just don’t see him as a midfielder his passing, touch and most importantly positioning just aren’t suited to it, he lacks intelligence on the pitch and gets lost at times. His around game was ok on Monday though but in order to him to have a future here he basically has to score a lot of goals, that papers over his short comings elsewhere so we will have to see if there is a role he can play where he will get the opportunity to do that, don’t see it myself but you never know and there is an argument he should start against Chelsea which would give him a chance to really change some opinions.
I just don’t see him as a midfielder his passing, touch and most importantly positioning just aren’t suited to it, he lacks intelligence on the pitch and gets lost at times. His around game was ok on Monday though but in order to him to have a future here he basically has to score a lot of goals, that papers over his short comings elsewhere so we will have to see if there is a role he can play where he will get the opportunity to do that, don’t see it myself but you never know and there is an argument he should start against Chelsea which would give him a chance to really change some opinions.
Fellaini will be full of confidence but Mata will be extremely motivated to deliver against Chelsea
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