To be honest, I prefer staying out of Fellaini threads now, because the discussions become circular, but relapsed today for some reason.
A feeling I know all too well. I have been mostly adopting the same policy myself despite being on the other end of the Fellaini-scale in terms of opinion. I only came back in to this thread because I saw your post and was saddened after the excellent posts you wrote in other threads. :P
I will try to remain brief.
See, the thing is I don't rate him at all. Not even one bit. Didn't rate him for Everton, didn't rate him in the sham of a first season at United, didn't rate him last season despite the goals, and don't rate him now. Part of it is because I like aesthetically pleasing footballers, who are also great technically, and failing that, they have to be absolute hounds like Gattuso or Simeone; or superb producers like Chicharito during Fergie's tenure. Fellaini doesn't really fulfill any of those arbitrary criterias. It's a subjective preference, so objectivity does go out of the window at times, and some of the criticism is overly harsh, I have to admit. It's just that he is the antithesis of what I'm used to seeing as a United fan for a plan B (a role I associate with Solskjær).
This says it all (or, "most of it"). Everyone has subjective preferences, I just think your resulting judgement and criticism is exaggerated and harsh.
As a "producer" - Fellaini last season provided respectable numbers for what was effectively a box to box role. The thing is, Fellaini offers a lot (in my opinion, but either way he certainly "offers") both offensively and defensively, which is something I dont think that many players do, and means that your classifications (basically a finisher, a destroyer or a playmaker) dont really apply very well. Fellaini contributes in all three of those stereotypical roles, but does not excel at any particular one.
And I don't rate his versatility all that much too. Being a below average makeshift striker, a below average #10, and a below average central midfielder is not a sign of versatility in my books, relative to what a club of United's stature should expect from players in those positions. It's a sign of being suckass at multiple positions. Aerial threat for what exactly? Most of the times his gross numbers are inflated by De Gea's goal-kicks. His leaping ability is so poor, as is his lack of effort in headers. Most of the times he ducks underneath instead of really propelling himself upwards, and only wins aerial duels because of his insane insane size compared to the rest of the players around him. Don't want different either. You put Papa Boupa Diop in Fergie's United and he would also offer something different. He could play at multiple positions, was an aerial threat, and could be a big target, but is that the way we want United to play? Also don't particularly rate his defensive workrate. He gets pulled out of positions too easily and we lose shape, and he shows relatively little defensive nous. All he does is he huffs and puffs with wasted motion, instead of being precise and clear in his thought process.
It sounds here basically as though you are just plain old angry with him over something. "His numbers are inflated by goal kicks" - so what? It gives us an option for kicking the ball out from goal kicks instead of going short, and having a much better chance of retaining possession than normal. The same applies with defensive clearances if Fellaini is operating high up the pitch.
"he only wins his duels because he is bigger than the rest" - again, so what? I couldnt care less
how he wins the ball, only that he does.
Similarly you talk about his defensive contribution and say he huffs and puffs - I couldnt care less what he does, he wins the ball back regularly all over the pitch.
You are talking about him getting pulled out of position and yet it was
his ability to pull defenders out of position that was integral to much of our attacking play last season. Forcing opponents to mark him (often more than one) which in turn creates space for the other players to exploit.
He never moans or complains because he lucked out when he joined United given his history with Moyes, while we passed on the likes of Thiago, who later joined Bayern because we completely dropped interest and Pep lured him there with the help of Pere Guardiola, Thiago's agent ad Pep's brother. No club of our stature would buy a player like Fellaini. Could anyone plausibly envision him at Bayern, Madrid, Barcelona; or even PSG and Dortmund? He knows the only way is down, so he keeps his trap shut. He's not proving anything. Proving something implies exemplary performance relative to the price tag and initial criticism. For ~£30 million, we got a horror show first season, a second season where he was good but still far removed from what we'd ideally want, and he has done next to nothing this season. How is that equated with proving his critics wrong?
This is a common problem when it comes to Fellaini. People associated him with Moyes, people blame him (Fellaini that is) for the price tag, and for not being the world class CM that we desperately needed that summer. We should have signed another CM, and we overpaid for Fellaini on deadline day as the only real signing of that summer. Fellaini joined the team with no pre-season and carrying a wrist injury for the first half of the season. Hardly ideal conditions for any player to succeed, let alone one who half of the fans basically had it in for since day one. I have said before and I still maintain that Fellaini being booed by our own supporters in preseason last year was one of the most embarrassing and pathetic things I have witnessed as a Manchester United supporter.
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Horror show first season" - the entire team was shite because Moyes was clueless. Fellaini had no pre-season, he carried an injury, and he was expected (by the fans and perhaps Moyes as well) to be some silver bullet who was the answer to 5+ years of central midfield issues. Moyes, despite their history, didnt even appear to know how to utilise Fellaini effectively.
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a second season where he was good but still far removed from what we'd ideally want" - This is subjective. You may be invested into the school of thought that Fellaini = hoofball, but as far as I am concerned, our best - and most aesthetically pleasing - football last season came from playing a 4-3-3 with Carrick holding and Herrera/Fellaini operating as box to box mids in front of him. We produced some fantastic displays and our left handed trio of Blind/Fellaini/Young was often integral to it. In addition to this, he was often one of our best performers in the big games, such as in our early games against all-conquering Chelsea, and then City a week later. He was MotM in the former, and second only to De Gea (I think) in the latter. Both times this was when operating deep, as a DM. Versatility.
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and he has done next to nothing this season" - the stats suggest that we have played better with Fellaini on the pitch than off it. We have other options in midfield now that we have signed Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger, and we have changed to a 4-2-3-1 formation which doesnt suit him (or any of the other midfielders for that matter). I dont expect us to build our team around Fellaini of course, but your notion of him "doing nothing" betrays your bias - his gametime has been limited and rightly so, for the most part, but nonetheless he has performed reasonably well when brought on, usually in a DM role, which is why I find it odd that people expect him to be topping the charts for goals and assists.
We could sell him, give more minutes to our young players, or use the money to buy another talented young player who could contribute much more in the future (like Rúben Neves, or Leon Goretzka, who are both about to blow up, and have the potential to become world class midfielders). Our wage bill is bloated relative to the quality we have precisely because we keep £100,000 per week players for plan B. Selling him would make a lot of sense - he has reached his ceiling, his price is never going to climb up, and we could use the proceeds on someone younger, and better. That's ultimately the crux of my argument. At this point he's just making up numbers, and his sub appearances are hindering the progress of the youngins.
Do you think that having Fellaini would prevent us from signing another player? That we are so strapped for cash that the £15m you suggested in your previous post would be desperately required in order to bring in someone else?
I said myself that I am not innately opposed to us selling Fellaini and nor do I think he should be an integral first team starter, however I think that he offers a lot as a squad player and as a plan B, and that LVG likes and trusts him (although the sending off vs Hull undoubtedly damaged that a bit).
I am all for giving gametime to prospects but I dont think Fellaini is an obstacle there. Which CM/DM prospects do we have who are biting at the heels of the first team and demanding inclusion? The way United have managed youth development over the last 5 years or so has been pathetic in my opinion, but I dont think Fellaini is to blame here, its just another square peg/round hole attempt to make him into a scapegoat for something or other.
Excellent post.