Marouane Fellaini image 27

Marouane Fellaini Belgium flag

2015-16 Performances

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5.1 Season Average Rating
Appearances
33
Goals
4
Assists
1
Yellow cards
6
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Genuinely think, all things considered, he's one of the worst players I can remember parading round for us.

For what he gives us you can sign any lower-league clogger and get the same out of them as we do Fellaini. Hell, you might even get more out of them, because objectively he's actually pretty bad in the air (he's lost over half of the duels he's gone for in the air, and thats not even including the ones where he gets penalised for fouling people) He makes us worse in midfield when he plays, he makes us worse up front when he plays.

He's got a very limited role to play here as an auxiliary attacker (but even then, I think we should have less limited players doing it) but he should not be starting games in either of the positions he has over the past few days.
 
I hope I will wake up tomorrow and find out that we never bought him.. I was wrong he will never ever be good enough for us..
 
Being scapegoated tonight for sure.

But it's pretty obvious he's not good enough.

I do sometimes get annoyed when we DON'T hoof it to him. It can cause panic and make things happen when time is off the essence. Especially annoying when we end up hoofing it to Martial whilst Fellaini is nowhere near.

Anyway, fair play to him for coming out and facing the press in the interview. But his days are numbered.
 
Cheesy said:
He's not a scapegoat though when you consider that he's hardly the only one getting criticised. Rooney was getting slaughtered, as has Darmian on a regular basis. Schweinsteiger's been getting plenty of criticism for tonight's performance. Then there's the criticism going in LVG's direction.

Fellaini's not a scapegoat - just someone performing incredibly poorly, and getting criticised for it.
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Well its on the "performing incredibly poorly" that the disagreement stems from. Fellaini created our second goal tonight and created several chances in the Wolfsburg penalty box through flick-ons. On the ball, he was mostly pretty tidy and didnt squander possession - if you are expecting him to be a creative force from midfield then you are always going to be disappointed because that simply isnt his game and not what should be expected of him (I highly doubt LVG puts him there expecting to see the embodiment of Paul Scholes in an afro after all).

What I would like to know is precisely what he did that merits the level of criticism he is getting tonight - being called a turd and what-not - because in the match I was watching he was not visibly worse (or better) than most of the other players.
 
Not really his fault but it will certainly be a good sign when we improve to the point where he's sold.
 
Walrus said:
Well its on the "performing incredibly poorly" that the disagreement stems from. Fellaini created our second goal tonight and created several chances in the Wolfsburg penalty box through flick-ons. On the ball, he was mostly pretty tidy and didnt squander possession - if you are expecting him to be a creative force from midfield then you are always going to be disappointed because that simply isnt his game and not what should be expected of him (I highly doubt LVG puts him there expecting to see the embodiment of Paul Scholes in an afro after all).

What I would like to know is precisely what he did that merits the level of criticism he is getting tonight - being called a turd and what-not - because in the match I was watching he was not visibly worse (or better) than most of the other players.
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Lets be honest, though, he was ridiculously lucky not to be penalised for that. He was climbing all over the Wolfsburg defender.
 
NinjaFletch said:
Lets be honest, though, he was ridiculously lucky not to be penalised for that. He was climbing all over the Wolfsburg defender.
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If it was any other player, I dont think you would be saying that. Referee's have a tendency to penalise tall players for no apparent reason, and tonight was no exception. "Climbing all over" Dante is simply an exaggeration - it would have been extremely harsh to call it a foul in my book, unless you want to make the game into a non-contact sport.
 
Walrus said:
Well its on the "performing incredibly poorly" that the disagreement stems from. Fellaini created our second goal tonight and created several chances in the Wolfsburg penalty box through flick-ons. On the ball, he was mostly pretty tidy and didnt squander possession - if you are expecting him to be a creative force from midfield then you are always going to be disappointed because that simply isnt his game and not what should be expected of him (I highly doubt LVG puts him there expecting to see the embodiment of Paul Scholes in an afro after all).

What I would like to know is precisely what he did that merits the level of criticism he is getting tonight - being called a turd and what-not - because in the match I was watching he was not visibly worse (or better) than most of the other players.
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His header was decent for the second goal, yes, but it was an almost comical goal in that Wolfsburg should've dealt with it incredibly comfortably.

He wasn't great on the ball, to be honest. He's incredibly awkward with and his touch is almost always off. Most of his passing would often just go backwards to the defenders because he lacks the confidence to drive forward with it, and that's what he should be offering. If he doesn't, then what's the point of playing him as a central midfielder? We know he's not a dictator of play. He's not a positionally minded defensive mid. He's not known for his brilliant tackling, or regular interceptions. If he can't offer an attacking threat while driving forward with the ball, then why are we playing him in midfield?

His positioning was also horrendous at times, like it often is. I'm not sure he really knows where he's supposed to be playing a lot of the time, as his positional discipline is terrible.
 
Walrus said:
If it was any other player, I dont think you would be saying that. Referee's have a tendency to penalise tall players for no apparent reason, and tonight was no exception. "Climbing all over" Dante is simply an exaggeration - it would have been extremely harsh to call it a foul in my book, unless you want to make the game into a non-contact sport.
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Of course I would, he had two hands on Dante's shoulders and used them to gain leverage. It's a free-kick.

At the time, and even now, I don't care about it. But there's no real point denying that its a free-kick.

The fact Fellaini got away with it, who I agree with you often gets penalised for things that aren't fouls, just makes it more surprising.
 
He's absolute dross.

He can't play in midfield, and if we wanted a target man to sub on then sign an actual striker to do just that.

It's like watching a rubbish version of Ricky Lambert play in midfield.
 
Pathetic the lengths people go to to try and make out he played well, no harm in admitting he was useless. His laziness tracking back just isn't acceptable.
 
Cheesy said:
His header was decent for the second goal, yes, but it was an almost comical goal in that Wolfsburg should've dealt with it incredibly comfortably.
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Is it really hard to just give some credit to the man at some point without feeling the need to qualify it with endless "but" statements? He won a header in the box from a corner which caused problems for the Wolfsburg defence, resulting in a goal. You can pick apart virtually any goal to find ways that it 'should' have been defended, ultimately it doesnt matter unless you can call it a true defensive 'howler' - which I dont think it was in this case.


He wasn't great on the ball, to be honest. He's incredibly awkward with and his touch is almost always off. Most of his passing would often just go backwards to the defenders because he lacks the confidence to drive forward with it, and that's what he should be offering. If he doesn't, then what's the point of playing him as a central midfielder? We know he's not a dictator of play. He's not a positionally minded defensive mid. He's not known for his brilliant tackling, or regular interceptions. If he can't offer an attacking threat while driving forward with the ball, then why are we playing him in midfield?
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As far as "why are we playing him in midfield" goes, that is a question to ask LVG, and not something I would really be pegging Fellaini with as a criticism. LVG knows what to expect from Fellaini and gives him a role in the team accordingly.

Going back to performance, you need to understand and appreciate that when Fellaini is receiving the ball it is more often than not with his back to goal. He is also usually tightly marked. Not an excuse per-se, but rather that when he is in a position to play a forward pass I think Fellaini normally does so with average success. However compared with other midfielders he is less likely to be in a position to make a forward pass, as he is (presumably by instruction) playing further up the pitch and with his back to goal.

His positioning was also horrendous at times, like it often is. I'm not sure he really knows where he's supposed to be playing a lot of the time, as his positional discipline is terrible.
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I agree, positioning is not one of Fellaini's strengths and one of the reasons I think it is risky to play him in a midfield pair. That said, I think it was obvious tonight that the instruction was for Fellaini to play further up the pitch and have Schweinsteiger (and then Carrick) in a deeper role. I agree with you here though, and it is why his best performances for us came last season in the more advanced CM role alongside Herrera, with Carrick in a holding role behind. That 4-3-3 system gave both Herrera and Fellaini license to roam forward without too much need for positional discipline, and it brought out the best in both of them I think.
 
NinjaFletch said:
Of course I would, he had two hands on Dante's shoulders and used them to gain leverage. It's a free-kick.

At the time, and even now, I don't care about it. But there's no real point denying that its a free-kick.

The fact Fellaini got away with it, who I agree with you often gets penalised for things that aren't fouls, just makes it more surprising.
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Ill need to see the replay a few more times to really be confident either way, but for me at first glance and on the replays shown during the game, it wasnt a free kick.
 
Cheesy said:
He's not a scapegoat though when you consider that he's hardly the only one getting criticised. Rooney was getting slaughtered, as has Darmian on a regular basis. Schweinsteiger's been getting plenty of criticism for tonight's performance. Then there's the criticism going in LVG's direction.

Fellaini's not a scapegoat - just someone performing incredibly poorly, and getting criticised for it.
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Yup.
 
Walrus said:
Is it really hard to just give some credit to the man at some point without feeling the need to qualify it with endless "but" statements? He won a header in the box from a corner which caused problems for the Wolfsburg defence, resulting in a goal. You can pick apart virtually any goal to find ways that it 'should' have been defended, ultimately it doesnt matter unless you can call it a true defensive 'howler' - which I dont think it was in this case.

As far as "why are we playing him in midfield" goes, that is a question to ask LVG, and not something I would really be pegging Fellaini with as a criticism. LVG knows what to expect from Fellaini and gives him a role in the team accordingly.
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It wasn't really that great a header though, was he? He managed to get some contact on it to nod it down on the ground with decent enough power, and it somehow managed to end up leading to a comical own goal. If he'd netted a genuinely excellent header, then yeah, I'd be happy to praise him, but I don't think there was particularly much impressive in his header.

And you've advocated playing him in midfield, especially when people were slating him for playing up front. I get that you think he's best as the front player in a three-man midfield, but there's got to be some sort of ability from him to adapt and at least play competently in numerous midfield systems. At the moment, he isn't showing that at all and just looks out of his depth whenever he's in our team. Positioning is a massive weak point for him, which isn't really good enough. I struggle to see how any midfielder can succeed if they're poor positionally.
 
I cant see him starting for any other top team, and there is my issue with players like him and Valencia.
 
Seriously, play him behind the striker or not at all.
 
Even at 10 he's not the force he was at Everton. I'm yet to see a performance that screams dominance as he did with them and for Belgium (he plays in midfield for national team)
 
I don't understand how he managed to look pretty good for us last season, but this season he's just a complete liability.

Did the 433 help him that much?
 
Back to the bench please Marouane.

And I backed him as a #9 at the start of the season.
 
:lol: this thread.

If you ever want a true reflection of Fellaini's performances you basically have to half the abuse and criticism he gets. People go way over the top.

He had a poor first-half though for sure. I'm not sure if it was his decision of LVG's, but he was on the left-wing too often. If it wasn't van Gaal's then someone should have told Fellaini from the bench after about 25 minutes but no one seemed to do that?

Improved in the second and was a good attacking threat. Not sure about the second goal being a freekick (whichever poster said that), loked like a good header to me? Anyway, not a good performance considering he and the rest of the team should be better than that. Was not our worst player though.
 
Steven Seagull said:
Apologies. First mistake in an otherwise startling United career.
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Its sad when so-called supporters orchestrate a witch hunt against one of our own players, thats the underlying point here, however you want to dress it up.
 
Should have went last summer. Did a decent job for us in the second half of last season. His time has long past at United. Not what we need.
 
Yeah, time to move him on I think. We're obviously not going back to the 4-3-3 system which played to his strengths excellently without hindering the rest of the team so there's not much point in him being here. In 4-2-3-1 there isn't a position for him. If we want a target man we may as well sign a burly striker like Pelle who has more about him. In an attacking sense, Fellaini is at best very ordinary at everything besides dominating in the air.
 
I didn't understand why he played so far up the pitch, leaving a pretty immobile Schweinsteiger all at sea. I've been wanting to see one of our two CM's support our attack more this season, but that was just ludicrous. In a way it's symbolic of our plan A being too cautious and our attacking approach (when eventually coaxed out of us) being rash and gung-ho.
 
soap said:
Yeah, time to move him on I think. We're obviously not going back to the 4-3-3 system which played to his strengths excellently without hindering the rest of the team so there's not much point in him being here. In 4-2-3-1 there isn't a position for him. If we want a target man we may as well sign a burly striker like Pelle who has more about him. In an attacking sense, Fellaini is at best very ordinary at everything besides dominating in the air.
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4-2-3-1 suits none of the midfielders
 
Can we please just terminate his contract? I'd rather take a financial hit on him than risk having him available to be played. He's just awful.
 
When he plays, he has to be in the "10" position or as a part of a midfield 3. That's the only way he can be allowed to roam forward and join the attack at the first opportunity. In a midfield 2, you have to be smarter than that and tonight he was not. Kept going forward or drifting wide left and it left us so short in midfield and exposed on the counter.
 
I was cursing him initially for refusing to try and be a CM, but then I realised it was under instruction from LVG. On that basis, I'm willing to give Fellaini some leeway.
 
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