[DevilRed]

Worked hard and did a job for us. Brings a physicality to midfield but I expect him to be replaced by Herrera once he is fit again.

Really useful when we are chasing the game and need to go a more direct route. Played hard for the team today and never stopped running. Cant ask for more.

 

[Rossa]

Thought he was really good today - been impressive lately! Arguably our motm, but Rooney was excellent those last 20mins.

 

[Stack]

Did ok today, wasn't great but wasn't bad either. Still a worry with his tackling, got away with a couple today that could have been bad for us.

 

[Ekeke]

That's nitpicking, in my opinion.

Its a central midfielder being lazy. We get the same from the likes of Di Maria. In that particular example I dont think he would have got back and made a difference but thats not the point is it? For all Fellaini knows there, the ball could have dropped 5 yards back and he'd have had a chance to get there. But instead he lost interest

 

[Raoul]

Good performance. He's clearly a revitalized player this year compared to last.

 

[Invictus]

That's nitpicking, in my opinion.

Well yeah, it's a bit pedantic. But despite the narrative since Brom/ Chelsea I still don't think he's suited to big games where there is little margin for error because even the most minute coverage lapses are dealt with clinically. It's the subtle nuances that elude him purely IMO (rightly or wrongly).

He's blocking off 2 potential passes there, Di Maria should have had the 3rd covered.

I don't think so. Blind tracked dude all the way and Aguero was on McNair and Carrick so those were less threatening than the Di Maria one because of the angle of delivery and he was a non factor in all of them, particularly the latter most. And what about the effort after the pass was made ? In saying that it was a collective failure with McNair switching off too and allowing Aguero the space to convert. But those inconsistencies to be expected of a 19 year old. Not a veteran.

 

[Rozay]

He was excellent again today. Herrera will struggle to get back in.

 

[Boycott]

If there was a bit more elevation from the free kick I reckon he may have snatched a goal. He had the beating of Kompany but the big man never looked comfortable stooping for the ball.

Other than that he did a decent job. Better when we had 11 men because he was finding space to run into the attacking third. Our midfield looked a bit lost when we went to 10 as we didn't know whether to push out and risk them getting behind.

 

[Kostur]

Yea he's done well, hard to blame him or Blind today, I think that Blind was simply fantastic up to 30th minute when we've lost a man, Fellaini was doing his job well as well.

It's a fecking shame that when we've got somewhat half-decent working CM at last it's other sectors of the pitch that fail us.

 

[ZDwyr]

See now this is why I don't think he should be part of our long-term plans. At the risk of sounding too harsh lemme just preface this by stating that he was by no means our worst player overall today but has the knack for switching off/ slacking off at decisive moments :



People keep repeating about how he's a scrapper with guts and blood, adds steel to the side, doesn't lack in work ethic and so forth. But I just don't see it in the micro perspective, dude keeps ball watching with little awareness for stifling dangerous play patterns. Show some hustling ability man, pick up the pace and close Toure down, there's just one critical area he can pass to and that's in the channel behind Di Maria. Failing that, atleast try to narrow the passing window, get in the box and help your team-mates. We're down a man with 2 kids in defense as it is. Where's the passion ? Look at Di Maria, fair enough he couldn't connect but he did reasonably well to slide in considering he's a pure attacker, the effort was there, the man just has some moxy about him.

Am I missing something here? It looks like he was sticking with Toure? I don't understand what he did wrong there. Anyway, thought he was pretty good. Good spirit. Should have buried that header probably, so it is a shame he missed.

 

[Dyslexic Untied]

He has a role to play in this team.

I am actually starting to like him quite a bit. Good game again, and one of our best players.

 

[Dyslexic Untied]

He was, together with Di Maria, the one you looked to when we were chasing yhe equaliser at the end.

 

[LLMU]

Good game from him and looks a proper player in the last two games.

 

[Sultan]

Clumsy performance. He was lucky not give away 2 penalties.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Am I missing something here? It looks like he was sticking with Toure? I don't understand what he did wrong there. Anyway, thought he was pretty good. Good spirit. Should have buried that header probably, so it is a shame he missed.

I agree, he did nothing wrong there. Another good performance from him.

 

[Empire]

You're completely misunderstanding me. I didn't at all imply what the original poster said. The original poster said that he has other strengths, such as being a danger at free kicks. I was simply asking if the poster thought that even with those strengths, if the rest of his game was proving a liability, that he should go into the team. I personally don't, if he goes back to being the way he was last year.

I covered that in my post already.

Alternatively you are asking the poster if Fellaini is a liability whether he should play in the first team despite the poster not even using that term. Well that's obvious, everybody knows a player who is a liability should be dropped.

A team with the ambition that United have (that is to be the best in Europe) would drop from the first team any player that is a liability. I would say this is one of those things that are so obvious they go without saying.

 

[Devil may care]

He was ok today, but long term we need better, maybe he has a future as a very expensive squad option.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Was great again today. Was everywhere, and certainly showed the sort of passion you'd want to see from your players in a derby.

 

[Eugenius]

Clumsy performance. He was lucky not give away 2 penalties.

Yeah. He needs to stay as far away from our box as possible, unless it's a defensive set piece. Did well though at the other end in terms of getting on the ball and laying it off.

 

[Chorley1974]

One of our better players today, very useful once we needed to go more direct.

 

[Litch]

He'll never convince some on here. He was arguably our best player today.

 

[Shark]

One of the best players on the pitch today. His first touch was surprisingly brilliant.

 

[Roboc7]

Decent again but lucky to not give away a penalty and he should have done much better with the headed chance he had in the second half. He was one of our better players though but with him and Rooney playing as our two more attacking midfielders it was noticeable how limited the range of passing was.

 

[Ash_G]

He did well at helping defensively and winning the ball, sadly whilst I understand why we did it when we went down a man I wish we weren't so focused on hitting the ball up to him with eleven men. He can be a great threat with his height but I personally feel we could actually get more out of him by using him actually in central midfield and letting him get in the box when the moment is right.

 

[Kostur]

Clumsy performance. He was lucky not give away 2 penalties.

Details and shit, but when was the second penalty? First one is as obvious as it gets, second one around 60th minute mark? It was Carrick who fouled Aguero there. ( )

 

[An Irish Red]

Do you remember when some people used to suggest that we play him at centre-back? yeah, definitely not. Two minutes after moving there he nearly gave a penalty away.

Still, I've been really critical of him in the past, mostly because he switches off more than anything, but he's doing well with less defensive responsibility.

Still should have scored though.

 

[Invictus]

Am I missing something here? It looks like he was sticking with Toure?

I agree, he did nothing wrong there. Another good performance from him.

Hmm ok. Fair enough. Genuine question though. Sticking with him how ? And achieving what exactly while in stroll mode ? What is the purpose of sticking by an individual when you didn't harry the opposition player and didn't prevent/ try to prevent him from passing into a critical zone ? At a time when you're a man down and ideally should be even more mindful of the need for 120 % effort.

As an example, in the same gif one can easily discern the difference in tactical astuteness between him and Blind. Daley closes down the opponent and positions himself to intercept the ball while Navas pings it in. That one little play speaks volumes about his mental alertness and the ability to stifle danger. It's these kind of details that separate the two in terms of nous of midfield play.

 

[pseudo_canadian]

Once again, one of the best players on the pitch today. Calm and composed and gave us needed physicality in the middle.

 

[Kag]

Good game today.

 

[MTR]

 

[Ekeke]

He'll never convince some on here. He was arguably our best player today.

He should have had a penalty against him and he should have scored a free header and he didnt.

I can understand wanting to be positive, and he was certainly among our best players today with De Gea probably the best. But he still made big mistakes that are being glossed over. Defensively he gave away a clear foul in the box and offensively he missed our best chance and didnt manage anything else. He helped us compete in the middle winning the ball and didnt give it away much.

 

[ZDwyr]

Hmm ok. Fair enough. Genuine question though. Sticking with him how ? And achieving what exactly while in stroll mode ? What is the purpose of sticking by an individual when you didn't harry the opposition player and didn't prevent/ try to prevent him from passing ? At a time when you're a man down and ideally should be even more mindful of the need for 120 % effort.

Well where could he have gone if he left Toure? Into the box? Then Toure would have been unmarked on the edge of the area for the Clichy cutback. Blind tracks the runner and Fellaini minds Toure. Don't see an issue at all.

 

[dirkey]

A team with the ambition that United have (that is to be the best in Europe) would drop from the first team any player that is a liability. I would say this is one of those things that are so obvious they go without saying.

I absolutely agree with you, it should go without saying. I was simply asking the original poster a question, when he said the following:

Fellaini is unique in the sense that he doesn't need to have the most technically impressive overall game due to the threat he gives up upfront with headers and from set pieces, if he can do that regularly which is what he should be judged on there is a case for him to be a regular starter.

I was simply asking that, if he gives a threat up front, from headers and set pieces, should a case be made for him to be a regular starter, while along with that he is a liability? That's all. Simple question. You seem to be misunderstanding it and getting bizarrely worked up over it.
The way I'm reading Wolverine's post (and I may be misunderstanding his) is that a case can be made for him to be a regular starter, due to the fact he is a danger from set pieces.

I don't believe that's the case. Disregarding the technical ability thing, as I think plenty of players are crucial without great technical ability (Steve Bruce was one of my favourite United defenders), even if he is showing a threat up front, if he's dismal in other areas, he a case should not be made for him to be a regular starter.

At the moment, it's a moot point. He's done enough in the past few games to be starting, fair play to him.

 

[Ekeke]

Absolutely disgusting.

What is wrong with him? We cant have a player elbowing people every other game and now spitting at them on the floor

 

[DWelbz19]

Very clumsy in his challenges and quite a few astray passes. Missed a few great Di Maria deliveries also, I'm rather surprised many think it was a very good performance.

 

[The Red Thinker]

Absolutely disgusting.

What is wrong with him? We cant have a player elbowing people every other game and now spitting at them on the floor

Spitting on them?? really? I think that's sweat and spit from yelling at Aguero. You gotta get out ans play more football to see what spitting looks like.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

People are actually trying to blame him for the goal? Wow. Cretins.

 

[Litch]

He should have had a penalty against him and he should have scored a free header and he didnt.

I can understand wanting to be positive, and he was certainly among our best players today with De Gea probably the best. But he still made big mistakes that are being glossed over. Defensively he gave away a clear foul in the box and offensively he missed our best chance and didnt manage anything else. He helped us compete in the middle winning the ball and didnt give it away much.

That happens in football. Fouls happen so do missed chances. Within the context of the game, he was our best player IMO. The other issues don't detract from that...

 

[Ekeke]

Spitting on them?? really? I think that's sweat and spit from yelling at Aguero. You gotta get out ans play more football to see what spitting looks like.

Funny how it shoots out of his mouth with him not mouthing any words

Next you'll be claiming its photoshopped

 

[dirkey]

He should have had a penalty against him and he should have scored a free header and he didnt.

I can understand wanting to be positive, and he was certainly among our best players today with De Gea probably the best. But he still made big mistakes that are being glossed over. Defensively he gave away a clear foul in the box and offensively he missed our best chance and didnt manage anything else. He helped us compete in the middle winning the ball and didnt give it away much.

The penalty was bad alright. The header wasn't that easy a chance though, I don't think. Certain players make that thing look easy, but he needed to get the deftest of touches to guide that in. It's not easy, he probably missed the flick by millimetres, but with Sky slowing it down and seeing it hit his shoulder, it looks awful. I'm not saying it was a ludicrously hard chance etc .. just that he was a bit unlucky. And bear in mind, I have been extremely harsh on the guy in the past. I'm also willing to give players some leeway when they perform well, for the odd mistake.