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Marouane Fellaini Belgium flag

2014-15 Performances


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5.9 Season Average Rating
Appearances
31
Goals
7
Assists
2
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7
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And Phil Jagielka is the fastest player in the league. Congratualtions to one and all.

If you saw the game rather than read analysis on whoscored in the morning, you'll see that. Most of the time he lazily ambles across while Rooney or someone else is bursting their gut to get back. It's not a myth perpetrated only by lazy thinkers, it's a fact witnessed by people with two eyes.

He passes the ball and heads into the box. He doesn't play like a proper midfielder, or is not at the moment. He doesn't have the nimbleness to play a quick passing game. In the Palace game, he needed extra touches to control the ball, and then invariably passed it to Januzaj into a crowded area. As a top midfielder you should know the next pass before the ball even gets to you. With Fellaini, it's the complete opposite.

He must be following the instructions of the coach, and that is why I criticizing him too. Re-read the earlier post.
You really need to open both eyes when watching. Its quite clear you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Stick to FIFA 15.
 
If he doesnt have the energy to track runners how come he is consistently in the top 1-3 players each game in terms of distance travelled?.
The team doesnt just lump it forward to Fellaini. This is a complete myth perpetrated by lazy thinkers who fall into the cliched thinking of coming to the conclusion that if a player is tall he has to be a target.
Fellaini heads in to the box when a certain thing happens. He also heads to the back post each time. Thats clearly following an instruction from his coach. Do you know what the trigger is for his move to the back post?, have you worked it out yet?.

You really need to open both eyes when watching. Its quite clear you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Stick to FIFA 15.

:lol:

Two really great responses, man. You really opened my eyes, both of them.

You are a great debater.. Really, really solid talk. Glad we did this
 
And Phil Jagielka is the fastest player in the league. Congratualtions to one and all.

If you saw the game rather than read analysis on whoscored in the morning, you'll see that. Most of the time he lazily ambles across while Rooney or someone else is bursting their gut to get back. It's not a myth perpetrated only by lazy thinkers, it's a fact witnessed by people with two eyes.

He passes the ball and heads into the box. He doesn't play like a proper midfielder, or is not at the moment. He doesn't have the nimbleness to play a quick passing game. In the Palace game, he needed extra touches to control the ball, and then invariably passed it to Januzaj into a crowded area. As a top midfielder you should know the next pass before the ball even gets to you. With Fellaini, it's the complete opposite.

He must be following the instructions of the coach, and that is why I criticizing him too. Re-read the earlier post.

We've seen plenty of evidence that shows you are completely wrong about stuff like this.

I'd suggest that it was more the case in the last game that Januzaj didn't know the next pass before the ball got to him.
 
He obviously has a role to play in the squad, but I think it's pretty clear that it should be more in the difficult fixtures and as an option from the bench. He did fine against Crystal Palace, but I'm quite sure given the amount of possession we had that Herrera would be far more useful with the ball at his feet. The quick exchanges that we saw earlier in the season, starting with Blind/Herrera and finishing with Di Maria/Rooney are stifled with Fellaini, as he tends to slow the game down. On a whole though he was alright, defended decently and his height was an asset all over the pitch.

I'd play Fellaini vs Arsenal.
 
To anyone still struggling to work out why Fellaini started against Palace have a look at his defensive stats from that game. In the absence of all but one of our first choice defenders his height is really important in defending set-pieces.

Obviously, the same applies with our own set-pieces, especially without Falcao. Set one up for RVP against Chelsea and Mata came the width of the post away from profitting from another Fellaini header on Saturday.

Combine this with his accurate passing (93%, 1 in 2 passes forwards) and general presence in the centre of the park and it's really not difficult to see why Van Gaal picked him.
 
To anyone still struggling to work out why Fellaini started against Palace have a look at his defensive stats from that game. In the absence of all but one of our first choice defenders his height is really important in defending set-pieces.

Obviously, the same applies with our own set-pieces, especially without Falcao. Set one up for RVP against Chelsea and Mata came the width of the post away from profitting from another Fellaini header on Saturday.

Combine this with his accurate passing (93%, 1 in 2 passes forwards) and general presence in the centre of the park and it's really not difficult to see why Van Gaal picked him.


I agree he is being picked to do a job and we have really needed that physical presence but with Carrick and Rooney returning and hopefully a couple of centre halves at some point the need for that physical presence diminishes. His passes were accurate but they are also short and easy, he is ever going to switch the play or play a pass to really stretch a team and when played alongside Rooney it’s no wonder we were struggling to open Palace up.

Fellaini isn’t really a midfielder he is a player who can play a unique but effective role in midfield but he is very limited and to really get the best out of him you need him higher up the pitch and you need the ball in the air more (that’s when he was at his best for Everton), if we really want to see how good he can be we need to drop Rooney or RVP, play Herrera and give Fellaini more freedom.

Ideally he would be a DM because then he brings that physicality, the usefulness at set pieces and his limitations on the ball aren’t really an issue but he lacks all the key requirements for that position and he is better going forward. I still don’t see how he fits in long term so be interesting to see how/if the manager uses him once we have sorted ourselves out in defence
 
Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini believes he was made a bit of a scapegoat for the team’s struggles last season but insists he never lost faith in his own ability.


The 26-year-old says the support of his family plus his determination and success with Belgium helped him maintain his mental strength even when things were going badly for him and the club.

Fellaini was former United boss David Moyes' only signing of the 2013 summer transfer window when he arrived at Old Trafford for £27.5million from Everton.

He did not score a goal in his first season at the club and failed to discover the form he had shown under Moyes at Everton, but he has found his feet under Louis van Gaal this term with some impressive performances.

Asked if felt he was made a scapegoat last season, Fellaini said: "Yes a little bit. That is a difficult question. It is difficult to answer that.

"I didn't lose faith in myself. In football you have to be strong in the head. The mentality is important and I do have this quality so I can keep going.

"My family helped me through it. I was also in the national team for Belgium at the World Cup and I played well and the team also played well. For my confidence that was important. I came back after the summer confident.

"The manager said to me I would have to fight if I wanted to play. I did fight and trained hard and that was it. When I got my chance I tried to show myself and tried to do my best.

"Last season was a difficult season for me. The World Cup helped me a lot. The manager of the national team and the players helped me and it was a great experience for everybody."

Fellaini said his current form is partly the result of recovering his fitness after an ankle injury - but that there is more to come.

Speaking at an event organised by Manchester United's global partner Nissin, he added: "When you are playing you are always happy. So I am happy at the moment. I have worked hard and will work hard to play every game.

"I am fit now and that is why I am better. When I am super fit I will be better I am sure. I was injured earlier this season, they said I had to have surgery but I didn't. It was a bad injury but now I am better and I can look forward.

"At the moment the manager is using me as a box-to-box player and I am trying to score a goal."

Good lad, good attitude.

I wonder how different things might have been for him in his first year if he hadn't been signed by Moyes.

I'd love to see him go on and succeed here, looked devoid of any sort of confidence last year.
 
I would drop him next match.Not hating or anything but I believe he's only extremely useful in some certain matches and Arsenal is not one of them.Wouldn't be hesitate to start him vs Liverpool for examples.
 
Squad player at best, plan B player, unique games needs basis player. Bring Herrera back
 
He still shouldn't be part of any first XI for a team with genuine title and CL winning aspirations. He's just not good enough for that level.
 
I'm surprised he thought he had a good World Cup. He was absolute dog shit in every match he played.
 
Our cm's against arsenal should be carrick and Herrera.
Fellaini has not been doing bad this season but he is a very limited footballer and should Not be starting at a team like MUFC.
 
Our cm's against arsenal should be carrick and Herrera.
Fellaini has not been doing bad this season but he is a very limited footballer and should Not be starting at a team like MUFC.

We've won the league (and title challenging) with Valencia, Cleverly, and Young featured heavily before.
 
You would.

As did everyone else during the tournament. He was anonymous for them and his role was questionable. Belgium have the potential to be a dynamic team and he upset the balance when he played and their quality of play suffered a lot.
 
Yet he tore us and several other top teams a new one.

So did Duncan Ferguson, I don't remember people us advocating signing him.

The cold hard truth is, if you look at the top teams right now, the likes of Chelsea, Bayern, Madrid (i.e the level we want to get back too) then a player like Fellaini wouldn't get anywhere near their squads, never mind first XI. We've been carrying decent PL players for far to long now, and that's why were in this mess. We need to get ruthless and build a team with genuine top quality, and Fellaini isn't that. If we want to keep him as some sort of plan B, then fine, I don't particularly like it, but I can live with it. But he shouldn't be part of our long term first XI plans.
 
So did Duncan Ferguson, I don't remember people us advocating signing him.

The cold hard truth is, if you look at the top teams right now, the likes of Chelsea, Bayern, Madrid (i.e the level we want to get back too) then a player like Fellaini wouldn't get anywhere near their squads, never mind first XI. We've been carrying decent PL players for far to long now, and that's why were in this mess. We need to get ruthless and build a team with genuine top quality, and Fellaini isn't that. If we want to keep him as some sort of plan B, then fine, I don't particularly like it, but I can live with it. But he shouldn't be part of our long term first XI plans.

Well we are certainly in plan B mode right now. We are severely lacking in height and power on the pitch, and Fellaini is really the only player we have capable of providing that. Even our CBs aren't up to it in that regard. It will take us at least another year for us to be at the level we want to be (assuming Di Maria or others don't get frustrated and leave), and during this interim period I think we will really need Fellaini in our squad to provide some stability in our team.
 
I agree he is being picked to do a job and we have really needed that physical presence but with Carrick and Rooney returning and hopefully a couple of centre halves at some point the need for that physical presence diminishes. His passes were accurate but they are also short and easy, he is ever going to switch the play or play a pass to really stretch a team and when played alongside Rooney it’s no wonder we were struggling to open Palace up.

Fellaini isn’t really a midfielder he is a player who can play a unique but effective role in midfield but he is very limited and to really get the best out of him you need him higher up the pitch and you need the ball in the air more (that’s when he was at his best for Everton), if we really want to see how good he can be we need to drop Rooney or RVP, play Herrera and give Fellaini more freedom.

I wouldn't drop Herrera for Fellaini, but can see Fellaini playing instead of Carrick. While Fellaini's passes may be short and easy, that's precisely what we need at times. No nonsense, sort of like what Blind is providing for us. With Fellaini's really good passing accuracy, we know that we aren't going to lose possession in the midfield or give away careless passes that will break up our attacks and give other teams an opening. And the whole "streching a team" or "playing killer passes," well let's be honest, that's what Di Maria, Rooney, Mata and Herrera were brought on for. If we expect risky attacking play from our wings and our middle, that's just going to end up in our team being too unbalanced and we will concede many more goals. Against teams that are parking the bus and trying to catch us on the counter, Fellaini is really quite effective.
 
If we were playing Barcelona tomorrow, Fellaini would be the first name on my teamsheet. The guy's unplayable when on form and teams like Barca wouldn't be able to cope with him. And they're not the only ones. Sure, it'd mean conceding some possession, but we're never going to beat them at their own game. Having a player like him in the squad opens up so many tactical avenues that he's worth keeping around.
 
So did Duncan Ferguson, I don't remember people us advocating signing him.

The cold hard truth is, if you look at the top teams right now, the likes of Chelsea, Bayern, Madrid (i.e the level we want to get back too) then a player like Fellaini wouldn't get anywhere near their squads, never mind first XI. We've been carrying decent PL players for far to long now, and that's why were in this mess. We need to get ruthless and build a team with genuine top quality, and Fellaini isn't that. If we want to keep him as some sort of plan B, then fine, I don't particularly like it, but I can live with it. But he shouldn't be part of our long term first XI plans.

We can't expect to have world class players in every position. Before Fellaini there are tonnes of other players that could go. We've always had a balanced squad compared to the likes of Madrid and have done pretty well.
 
Fellaini is very good at offering the team strength and height. Many times, when the opposition would try to press him, he would be comfortable on the ball and rarely look like losing it. Plus, his height is a big advantage for us in the set pieces (if he's not careless). The role he plays in midfield doesn't make him that responsible for dictating play and controlling the game, which makes him less ineffective. Plus, his aggression is very useful in his ability to win the ball.

Having said all of this, I still think he isn't good enough for us. All of the qualities I mentioned above are provided by many other midfielders who offer more than Fellaini do in midfield (most of the options I'm thinking of don't really offer a set-piece threat like he does, though, but we aren't really a set-piece team anyways). His positioning in midfield isn't that good (when we attack and when we defend), and he's very limited in his movement. Too many times have I seen him go too far high up, leaving us with only Rooney as the option in midfield.

Fellaini's made himself more useful and suppressed his weaknesses, but I still think we can do better than him whilst not really losing that much of the physicality from midfield.
 
I wouldn't drop Herrera for Fellaini, but can see Fellaini playing instead of Carrick. While Fellaini's passes may be short and easy, that's precisely what we need at times. No nonsense, sort of like what Blind is providing for us. With Fellaini's really good passing accuracy, we know that we aren't going to lose possession in the midfield or give away careless passes that will break up our attacks and give other teams an opening. And the whole "streching a team" or "playing killer passes," well let's be honest, that's what Di Maria, Rooney, Mata and Herrera were brought on for. If we expect risky attacking play from our wings and our middle, that's just going to end up in our team being too unbalanced and we will concede many more goals. Against teams that are parking the bus and trying to catch us on the counter, Fellaini is really quite effective.

Blind or Carrick are the last players he should play instead of, replacing two players whose strengths are their positional sense and ability to collect the ball from the CB’s and start the attacks with someone who isn’t good at either is not going to benefit the team. The accurate passing idea is misleading, most CB’s have good passing stats because most of their passes are short and obvious which is very similar to what Fellaini does, so effectively you then need either a CB to start the attacks or someone to come deep and collect the ball.

I don’t expect him to play expansive passes but I expect to have at least one much better passer in the positions Fellaini and Rooney are currently occupying and if we don’t it limits the impact that the other players you mentioned have on the game because firstly they can’t all play and secondly they don’t get the service they need and the inter play between them suffers. Quality passing is so much more than just looking at stats and saying someone is 90% accurate and 1 in 2 passes go forward, it’s about the tempo, the weight of the pass, the difficulty, teammates knowing where they can make runs to etc etc. We aren’t a team blessed with pace or an abundance of players who can beat a man so we either need to be more direct and get Fellaini further forward or improve our passing by playing a better passer in his place, at the moment we aren’t really doing either.

If fit I think Herrera should be back in the starting 11 against Arsenal with either RVP or Fellaini making way for him
 
We've won the league (and title challenging) with Valencia, Cleverly, and Young featured heavily before.

The days when we could have gotten away with that are long gone I'm afraid. The other top teams are stronger and have better managers then they did back then.

I don't see young clev or Anderson as being part of a winning side.
 
The days when we could have gotten away with that are long gone I'm afraid. The other top teams are stronger and have better managers then they did back then.

I don't see young clev or Anderson as being part of a winning side.

Yea Fellaini was ok to start against Chelsea who are in the class of their own and City who'll finish up second but he's not good enough to start against Arsenal, team that's struggling against any sort of physicality.

Makes absolutely perfect sense.
 
Fellaini deserves too and should start against Arsenal - he can bully their centre-backs if/when he gets forward and could find himself on the score-sheet if our deliveries are good enough.
 
I find it baffling that people are saying not to use Fellaini against Arsenal.

Some of the people on here are looking at him purely as a solution to a problem - ie what he did against Chelsea and City to Fabregas, Matic and Toure.
Against Palace, yes, it was difficult as they played with 10 men behind the ball and we needed to unlock their defence.

Arsenal will not be the same, they will attack us, and furthermore their defence has looked very, very suspect (like our own). Fellaini would have an absolute field day bullying their midfield and CBs. I cannot think of a single Arsenal midfielder who could stand up to Fellaini physically or even come close, and like I said their defence already looks suspect, for me Fellaini is exactly the type of player who can exploit that.

I would actually like to see us line up 4-3-3 with Blind, Fellaini and Herrera in midfield (or Blind at CB and Carrick in midfield, either way). Stick ADM and Januzaj on the wings and Rooney up front and that is a good formation to use against the gunners.
 
The thing that Im battling with in my mind about Fellaini is that I compare Fellaini's performances now to that of his last year (awful)... i.e he can only really improve. Im pleased for him thats he's playing better and against Man City was his best performance for me in a utd shirt.

However, if I was to compare him to other CM's in the league and i.e the teams and players we need to beat Im still not sure even with his current improved ability does he cut it when compared to: Matic, Ramieres, Fabregas, Yaya, Ramsey, Wilshere, Rooney (As a CM), Schneiderlin, even Henderson and Gerrard, Song. Im not so sure still.

Especially when I like the style of Herrera and currently Fellaini is being used in his place. Similarly Carrick next to Blind (once our defence is back) would be great to see, think against top sides they'd give us some real positional stability and platform to build from.

These are the calibre of player he needs to be IF he should be in a utd first team. I dont think us as fans should settle. Having said all of this should he and does he deserve to start against Arsenal yes, however if we are using his physicality as his main strength then when does he ever get dropped. Against shorter sides he becomes dominant against taller stronger sides he gives us a presence. Just struggling to get my head round it. Hopefully he just keeps improving and merits his place on a level to those other CM's in the league.
 
The thing that Im battling with in my mind about Fellaini is that I compare Fellaini's performances now to that of his last year (awful)... i.e he can only really improve. Im pleased for him thats he's playing better and against Man City was his best performance for me in a utd shirt.

However, if I was to compare him to other CM's in the league and i.e the teams and players we need to beat Im still not sure even with his current improved ability does he cut it when compared to: Matic, Ramieres, Fabregas, Yaya, Ramsey, Wilshere, Rooney (As a CM), Schneiderlin, even Henderson and Gerrard, Song. Im not so sure still.

Especially when I like the style of Herrera and currently Fellaini is being used in his place. Similarly Carrick next to Blind (once our defence is back) would be great to see, think against top sides they'd give us some real positional stability and platform to build from.

These are the calibre of player he needs to be IF he should be in a utd first team. I dont think us as fans should settle. Having said all of this should he and does he deserve to start against Arsenal yes, however if we are using his physicality as his main strength then when does he ever get dropped. Against shorter sides he becomes dominant against taller stronger sides he gives us a presence. Just struggling to get my head round it. Hopefully he just keeps improving and merits his place on a level to those other CM's in the league.

you name alot of midfielders playing garbage this season. I'd say in the few starts he's had he's been as good as half of those. He stopped Fabregas getting into the game as well!
 
Going by what i'm reading here Fellaini will never be good enough no matter what he does. He's very unique in his attributes and they are very effective too. I'm still reserving judgement until the end of the season if he keeps performing i would want him to stay.

He's right in what he's said, his association with Moyes and keeping out fan favourite Herrera is making fans extremely biased against him, he's in the team on merit and we are playing better with him in it, long may it continue.

And it would be stupid not to play him against the Arse, you need physical players against them nearly every manager in the PL knows that.
 
Definitely the new Cleverley. Will get very little praise when he plays and we win, but will receive bucket loads of hate when he plays and we lose. I'd be willing to bet my car that he'll be turned on again as soon as he has a half-bad game.
 
Definitely the new Cleverley. Will get very little praise when he plays and we win, but will receive bucket loads of hate when he plays and we lose. I'd be willing to bet my car that he'll be turned on again as soon as he has a half-bad game.
He offers more than Cleverley though, and is a better player, judging by what the two have done so far in the Premier League.
 
Those who don't like the attributes Fellaini brings to the team and never will are of course welcome to their opinion, but I slightly wish they'd piss off from posting their hatred when he's actually performing quite well, as he happens to be at present, it's infuriating to read such negativity the past few games when his performances don't warrant it.
 
I am sure they didn't mind his physicality when he made the goal against Chelsea.

Yes he is not the in vogue spanish technomidget, but he has something which can be even harder to stop. Sure it's not for every game, but I guarantee Arsenal's defense won't enjoy playing against him!.
 
you name alot of midfielders playing garbage this season. I'd say in the few starts he's had he's been as good as half of those. He stopped Fabregas getting into the game as well!

Doesnt say too much, I agree I was just naming midfielders from our competition, not to think of our European competition (if we were to get back in champs league) where the comparison would be scary!
 
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