[Shamwow]

Point is he does not have enough guile to play in games like these.

Lazy opinion.

 

[Shamwow]

But again, whats that got to do with Fellaini's performance? Unless you're saying, well xxx player was rubbish so it doesnt matter that Fellaini was rubbish too? Which seems odd.

I don't think he was rubbish. You are blaming problems on him that are down to other players.

 

[Boycott]

Palace set out to stifle our players and they succeeded. I thought Fellaini did okay. Just like most of the team did okay. It's hard to break down a resolute team and we are still showing signs of not being a cohesive unit.

Herrera has more creativity and has the energy to come on to increase the tempo but if there is no movement around him what can he do. I think this is why we started with a defensive minded team because Palace possess quick players so if Herrera got caught up up the pitch we're liable to a quick turnover at a make-shift defence.

 

[NK86]

Lazy opinion.

How is that lazy? It's a simple opinion which is backed by his stats about how he does not play enough passes which can open up opposition defense. And that is not just based on today's game.

 

[Sam]

I don't think he was rubbish. You are blaming problems on him that are down to other players.

He was the furthest forward of our midfielders today, and he never looked like creating anything. He was pointless.

 

[Roboc7]

He was the furthest forward of our midfielders today, and he never looked like creating anything. He was pointless.

If we are going to push him forward we need to be more direct and hit a lot balls into him that bring his height and chest control into play because that is how he causes problems.

 

[Sam]

If we are going to push him forward we need to be more direct and hit a lot balls into him that bring his height and chest control into play because that is how he causes problems.

Yep. And I don't ever want to see United play that kind of football.

 

[Shamwow]

He was the furthest forward of our midfielders today, and he never looked like creating anything. He was pointless.

How should he have created something? Explain to me please.

 

[Walrus]

Everyone who is saying that Fellaini didn't contribute or create anything, I am yet to see a reply to my earlier point that he set up our goal by laying the ball off to Mata (who then played a 1-2 and scored), and Fellaini could have had a penalty when the defender virtually had him in a headlock.

With that in mind I think it is fair to say that he did more than RVP, ADM, Januzaj and Rooney.


Fellaini is not a creative midfielder but he created our goal today by laying the ball off to Mata.
If we had better crosses and corners rather than the drivel that ADM, Januzaj and Valencia were putting in, he could easily have scored or created more chances.

 

[Sam]

How should he have created something? Explain to me please.

Attempted a through ball or two? Had a shot?

He literally did nothing going forward.

 

[Roboc7]

Everyone who is saying that Fellaini didn't contribute or create anything, I am yet to see a reply to my earlier point that he set up our goal by laying the ball off to Mata (who then played a 1-2 and scored), and Fellaini could have had a penalty when the defender virtually had him in a headlock.

With that in mind I think it is fair to say that he did more than RVP, ADM, Januzaj and Rooney.


Fellaini is not a creative midfielder but he created our goal today by laying the ball off to Mata.
If we had better crosses and corners rather than the drivel that ADM, Januzaj and Valencia were putting in, he could easily have scored or created more chances.

Bit of a stretch saying he created the goal, he was a threat at times but the point is he didn't do enough today and by having him in the side we lose creativity and it affects the passing and movement of the side. The other side to that is we miss his physical presence if he doesn't play it's part of the problem we have no matter what line up or formation we pick it just looks disjointed.

 

[Ekeke]

Everyone who is saying that Fellaini didn't contribute or create anything, I am yet to see a reply to my earlier point that he set up our goal by laying the ball off to Mata (who then played a 1-2 and scored), and Fellaini could have had a penalty when the defender virtually had him in a headlock.

With that in mind I think it is fair to say that he did more than RVP, ADM, Januzaj and Rooney.


Fellaini is not a creative midfielder but he created our goal today by laying the ball off to Mata.
If we had better crosses and corners rather than the drivel that ADM, Januzaj and Valencia were putting in, he could easily have scored or created more chances.

He passed the ball sideways to Mata the same way the whole team was passing the ball sideways all game.

It was the interchange between Mata and Di Maria in the area just outside the box that created the space for a shot and therefore the goal. Realistically it was poor defending leaving them both that amount of time.

 

[Nighteyes]

Herrea is better and offers a lot more going forward and defensively.

 

[Walrus]

Bit of a stretch saying he created the goal, he was a threat at times but the point is he didn't do enough today and by having him in the side we lose creativity and it affects the passing and movement of the side. The other side to that is we miss his physical presence if he doesn't play it's part of the problem we have no matter what line up or formation we pick it just looks disjointed.

He was heavily involved in the goal and could have had a penalty - thus he contributed more in the attack than the rest of our attackers (bar Mata).

Fellaini isn't a creative player and I don't think it is fair to place an expectation on him to be a playmaker for us. I highly doubt LVG is picking him to create chances.
If our wide players had put in better crosses, Fellaini would likely have had more impact - whose fault is this?

He played alongside Carrick/Blind who are far more in the "playmaker" category (don't try to convince me that we needed a dedicated DM against palace...)

 

[Walrus]

He passed the ball sideways to Mata the same way the whole team was passing the ball sideways all game.

It was the interchange between Mata and Di Maria in the area just outside the box that created the space for a shot and therefore the goal. Realistically it was poor defending leaving them both that amount of time.

He was involved in the buildup and could've had a penalty as well. To me that is more of a contribution than what most the team managed.

 

[Ekeke]

He was involved in the buildup and could've had a penalty as well. To me that is more of a contribution than what most the team managed.

He was pulling as much as the defender. And he did fine in the Mata goal, but its silly to say he created anything. He passed and made a run but Mata and Di Maria created it.

He was very unlucky with his header off the line

 

[Roboc7]

He was heavily involved in the goal and could have had a penalty - thus he contributed more in the attack than the rest of our attackers (bar Mata).

Fellaini isn't a creative player and I don't think it is fair to place an expectation on him to be a playmaker for us. I highly doubt LVG is picking him to create chances.
If our wide players had put in better crosses, Fellaini would likely have had more impact - whose fault is this?

He played alongside Carrick/Blind who are far more in the "playmaker" category (don't try to convince me that we needed a dedicated DM against palace...)

Considering how poorly we defend and it was a makeshift back four then we probably did need a dm.

He played a part in the goal but he didn't create it, the one two, the deflection and the poor goalkeeping all lead to the goal more than fellaini. I don't expect him to be the playmaker but I expect to have midfielders who can pass the ball much better and open the game up, if you aren't going to hit aerial balls Into him then he doesn't offer much going forward and is essentially percentage football which I don't view as the way forward.

 

[pocco]

A steady performance from him today, enough to make him one of our better performers on the day. Some awful individual displays from others.

 

[Walrus]

He was pulling as much as the defender. And he did fine in the Mata goal, but its silly to say he created anything. He passed and made a run but Mata and Di Maria created it.

He was very unlucky with his header off the line

Heh, I forgot about the header.

Disagree on the penalty - the defender had arm around the back of his neck, Fellaini was goal-side, he had no reason to try to hold onto the defender.

 

[Walrus]

Considering how poorly we defend and it was a makeshift back four then we probably did need a dm.

He played a part in the goal but he didn't create it, the one two, the deflection and the poor goalkeeping all lead to the goal more than fellaini. I don't expect him to be the playmaker but I expect to have midfielders who can pass the ball much better and open the game up, if you aren't going to hit aerial balls Into him then he doesn't offer much going forward and is essentially percentage football which I don't view as the way forward.

Fellainis passing is not as bad as you are making out. Stats on the previous page had him making more forward passes than Rooney, and with a better completion rate.

 

[Shamwow]

Attempted a through ball or two? Had a shot?

He literally did nothing going forward.

A through ball to who exactly? He tried a couple to Januzaj but januzaj was beaten for pace all game.

 

[reelworld]

Don't know why he insist on running with the ball on any occasion. It usually end up with giving up the ball to the opposing player. It seems he is just used for set pieces, for both offensive and defensive situations. Other than that, he serve no purpose whatsoever.

 

[pseudo_canadian]

People just have set opinions on him. Its really pathetic. He did not have a bad game, he was solid and ok, nothing to scream about, but because he was not putting in a outstanding performance he is criticised. In reality he was probably our 4th best player among a very average performance.

Exactly what I was going to say. He had a solid game today. Nothing spectacular but he did a job and wasn't crap.

Some people's opinions of him on here are a little ridiculous.

 

[Roboc7]

Fellainis passing is not as bad as you are making out. Stats on the previous page had him making more forward passes than Rooney, and with a better completion rate.

His passing is competent not good or bad, passing the ball ten metres sideways or forwards is nothing to get excited about. I really don't see why people try to make out he is a good passer because he just isn't. He is in the team to win headers, add some physicality and cause problems in the box, he is doing decent job of it but we lose a lot elsewhere in the side, we shunt di Maria out to the wing so having one header at goal isn't a huge contribution in that role. If we had someone creative there we might have seen better passing and movement and created more chances or on the downside we might have conceded a goal from a set piece, who knows but I would expect his passing stats to be better than rooney's because Rooney tries more difficult passes.

 

[Stringer]

Exactly what I was going to say. He had a solid game today. Nothing spectacular but he did a job and wasn't crap.

Some people's opinions of him on here are a little ridiculous.

He may not have been crap, he was just pointless. Hardly a ringing endorsement for his performance.

 

[pseudo_canadian]

He may not have been crap, he was just pointless. Hardly a ringing endorsement for his performance.

You could argue that everyone other than Luke Shaw was pointless. Stop forcing an argument.

 

[Sultan]

Another pointless performance. He doesn't defend or create. I'm at loss why he was preferred to either Mata or Herrera against a rubbish Crystal Palace team.

 

[Sam]

Another pointless performance. He doesn't defend or create. I'm at loss why he was preferred to either Mata or Herrera against a rubbish Crystal Palace team.

Spot on the money once again Sults.

 

[Walrus]

His passing is competent not good or bad, passing the ball ten metres sideways or forwards is nothing to get excited about. I really don't see why people try to make out he is a good passer because he just isn't. He is in the team to win headers, add some physicality and cause problems in the box, he is doing decent job of it but we lose a lot elsewhere in the side, we shunt di Maria out to the wing so having one header at goal isn't a huge contribution in that role. If we had someone creative there we might have seen better passing and movement and created more chances or on the downside we might have conceded a goal from a set piece, who knows but I would expect his passing stats to be better than rooney's because Rooney tries more difficult passes.

All this is based on "what if..." Scenarios. We don't know what would have happened if we had Herrera playing, or if ADM was central (I don't think these are mutually exclusive of Fellaini playing anyway). It is unfair to assume that if we had ADM central that we would've won 4-0. We had players like Rooney, RVP and Januzaj and they all contributed much less than Fellaini, yet Fellaini is apparently the root of the problem.

 

[Stringer]

You could argue that everyone other than Luke Shaw was pointless. Stop forcing an argument.

The difference is that was expected from Fellaini. He very rarely makes a difference to our play apart from offering a physical presence which was hardly necessary against an average, horribly defensive Crystal Palace side.

Also disagreeing with you is hardly forcing an argument. Stop being so precious.

 

[Sultan]

You could argue that everyone other than Luke Shaw was pointless. Stop forcing an argument.

Blind and Carrick were excellent. The whole point of a forum is to create conversation, debate, and constructive arguments.

 

[Roboc7]

All this is based on "what if..." Scenarios. We don't know what would have happened if we had Herrera playing, or if ADM was central (I don't think these are mutually exclusive of Fellaini playing anyway). It is unfair to assume that if we had ADM central that we would've won 4-0. We had players like Rooney, RVP and Januzaj and they all contributed much less than Fellaini, yet Fellaini is apparently the root of the problem.

He isn't the root of the problem, we have plenty of problems and yes it is 'what ifs' but when we are playing poorly and not winning games regularly I think it's quite obvious to look for how we could improve. All I am saying is although he is contributing we are losing out in other areas and that's true of a number of players not just fellaini. We lack creativity in midfield so playing a good but limited player like fellaini and Rooney who is a striker there isn't a great solution and that's one of the reasons why we struggled today.

You also argued earlier that fellaini would have been better if the wingers put in crosses they would probably say they could get more crosses in if there was someone to play better passes and move the ball quicker.

 

[pocco]

Another pointless performance. He doesn't defend or create. I'm at loss why he was preferred to either Mata or Herrera against a rubbish Crystal Palace team.

He's solid and does link up midfield and attack well. He's put in some good defensive displays recently also. Don't see what your issue is with him. You seem to detest him so much that it's made your opinion worthless.

 

[Ekeke]

Heh, I forgot about the header.

Disagree on the penalty - the defender had arm around the back of his neck, Fellaini was goal-side, he had no reason to try to hold onto the defender.

But he did anyway and it helped him get his head on the ball, just a shame he couldnt keep that one down

 

[pseudo_canadian]

Blind and Carrick were excellent. The whole point of a forum is to create conversation, debate, and constructive arguments.

I'm aware of that. My point was that this thread is usually full of people that are ready at their keyboards to berate Fellaini if he's not giving a Ballon d'or type performance every game. When you're a player like him in a game against a Palace side that puts 10 men behind the ball it's hard to look particularly amazing. He made some good passes, broke up a few plays, almost scored, and kept things simple. I rather would have had Herrera in there for this type of game but that's something Fellaini can't control, van Gaal does. It also seems that some people here have (shockingly) already forgotten how well he played against Chelsea and City. And he'll probably play vs. Arsenal too because he could cause them issues. When I said "stop forcing an argument", I mean that people have these set opinions on him and refuse to think that he actually might be a decent player. It's just an excuse to criticize a player.

 

[Invictus]

He's solid and does link up midfield and attack well.

Not nearly as well as Herrera though, which is the point a lot of people are trying to make and the primary reason why the insistence on playing him (barring some residual injury concerns with Ander) mystifies those who "detest" Fellaini.

 

[Ixion]

Takes too many touches and his passes even when they find their mark are usually a bit wayward. Don't see why he'd start a game like today.

 

[Sultan]

He's solid and does link up midfield and attack well. He's put in some good defensive displays recently also. Don't see what your issue is with him. You seem to detest him so much that it's made your opinion worthless.

My opinion is as worthless as anyone's on this forum. I'm hardly going to change LvGs' mind.

 

[Amir]

He hasn't done badly and I can see the point of playing him against the stronger sides, but against Palace he's not going to add much in terms of breaking down the opponents defence, unless you play to his height - which isn't something I want United to see. It remains the problem. You can't play him as a defensive midfielder instead of Carrick of Bllind, but he hasn't enough to offer as a creative/attacking force (on the ground) to play alongside one.

 

[mattsville]

Thought he did ok, when we went long from goal kicks and more direct he was a good option, the ball stuck to him and he played it simple, won some good headers in deeper positions when needed and was unlucky not to score with that powerful header, we utilised him well today, he is starting to look like has a role to play and he did it well and offered us something, only complaint is he tried beating his man a couple of times and he doesn't have the feet for it, lost possession unnecessarily instead of playing off a simple ball when he had options and getting himself into a position where he could do damage with his strengths.