We should be actively looking to sell him. And Van Gaal should stop using him, he was decent last season but overall simply isn't a United player.
27
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 33
- Goals
- 4
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 6
- Status
Contrary to popular belief, my mission objective isnt to defend Fellaini at all costs - it is simply to try to actually give the guy fair treatment like any other player. You need only read the comments on the last page or so here to (hopefully) see what I mean.
Can we pay Milan 20m to take him
Whilst I think it's laudable that we're doing our bit for whatever charity represents him, I think it's time to stop playing Fellaini.
Cost us nowhere near as much though.
Playing him in that position is a disaster.
Apart from that one ball which freed Rooney up, what exactly was he good at? Genuine question because all I saw was clumsy fouls, awful passing, zero ability in the air and another sitter missed.
Probably, but some of the defences of him have been a bit frivolous. I'd say it was probably about a 5/10 performance, but his horrendous discipline made me opt for a harsher 4 - his habit of making stupid fouls in unnecessary areas borders on unforgivable at times. He's certainly had worse games for us this season.
He is awful and misses to many big chances.
Worst player to ever get consistent playing time for Manchester United? He's the worst I can remember anyway.
True. Fellaini at least had a decent 2014/2015, which isn't much I'll admit considering what he cost.
He used his presence well at times in both boxes and was combative in midfield
Aye, he's getting absolutely ripped into.
I would say fair treatment of him tonight would be to say that he was only marginally better then Morgan Schneiderlin next to him (who was absolutely feckin' abject) - only because he was actually trying to get involved in the game... but generally whenever he did get involved, he was really poor.
Yep, plodded along nicely last season and made a huge nuisance of himself many times. These days it's like watching the first season version of him again. Get rid.
LVG has misused him this season in all honesty.
That said, I don't think Fellaini is good enough for the level we wish to return to.
That said, I don't think Fellaini is good enough for the level we wish to return to.
He cleared the ball off corners when completely unchallenged and fouled nonstop in midfield. If that passes for having quite a few good things in the match, our standards have well and truly hit rock bottom.
I gave him a 6 tonight, myself. That said, my average rating on pretty much every player is higher than the caf average (my average for tonights players was 6.2). He effectively won the penalty for us, spent a lot of time trying to help Blind at the back as Mitrovic was obviously (and rightly) targeting him for a physical matchup. He started the move that led to Rooney's missed 1-on-1 in the first half, and could have had an assist to Rooney in the second (as we previously discussed). He also - in my opinion - could have won another penalty on the incident where he somehow ended up getting booked.
On the negatives, he was partially responsible for one of their goals (though the majority of the blame is with Smalling) and he missed a sitter which he should have scored from, as well as making quite a few fouls.
On the whole for me, not a great performance, perhaps not even a 'good' one - hence I gave him a 6. Quite a stark contrast from a lot of the comments here, and of course the average rating.
This. I'll take £10m
Ah come on fella! You are just pushing it now
Amazing how many sitters he manages to miss. He's such a fecking shite player, amazing how he plays so much. Its purely because he's tall, which is ridiculous.
Oh piss off. You've appointed yourself defender of all things Fellaini. The useless lump deserves all the stick that he gets.
I thought LvG had hit something when he started playing with some subtlety and smartness last season. That's disappeared and tonight was reminiscent of 13/14 where he was a liability.
He is not a center mid nor a defensive one. We have much better atrackers than him, so he needs to be sold. I do not mind to see the Wig playing, however, it baffles me to see him playing asa defensive mid when he has zero ability to read the game and position himself accordingly.
If I was as tall as him, and I was that bad at heading the ball, I'd be (here comes the "e" word) embarrassed.
The penalty is a bit subjective: he didn't really win it for us. He just happened to get his head to the ball, and we were then awarded a very contentious penalty for a handball. If I'm being kind, I'd give him it as some sort of credit, but it's still quite minor.
I'll give him some props for having the nous to cover at the back sometimes, but it's largely negated for his general positioning problems, and the fact that him and Schneiderlin were often being walked through in midfield.
I still don't think his potential assist for Rooney was that great. It was an okay pass, but Rooney still had to do a lot of work. He essentially made a decent pass to someone in a forward position...which is exactly the bare minimum you expect from a midfielder.
And the worst part of his game was probably his woeful discipline. I know I keep coming back to it, but it really can't be overstated as to how costly his fouls can be, especially once he was booked. There was a real danger of him ending up with a red card because of how needlessly reckless he is.
pretty much dared the ref to send him off tonight
Not that I think he's good enough for United but I don't think he played as bad today as some are making out. Missed a huge chance and some silly tackles, but much worse performers out there today. Covered for Schneiderlin and our defenders several times.
I think some players that didn't come off the bench tonight played better than Schneiderlin.
Awww, I was hoping for euthanised.
Not sure why he keeps being played as CM, hes not a CM. Id rather have Shelvey than him there.
Fork out that 20 million Euros Milan you stingy feckers.
Nothing player... Does nothing well.. Misses sitters every game and sadly playing him in midfield always costs us dearly. Please just send him to Milan asap, I can't watch him playing for us anymore.
Won his headers well and made a couple of decent tackles, but he offers nothing on the ball in midfield and can't track a run properly at all, plus he missed a sitter tonight.
I dont see it as contentious. I realise it isnt as clearcut as when Memphis or Young dribbles into the box and goes down, but realistically if Fellaini isnt there in the right position to have an attempt on goal, the defender doesnt really need to make the handball/foul. It was a definite pen for me - the amount of credit you give to Fellaini is debatable for sure, but I think you can still chalk it down in the "positives" column for his game tonight.
I said not long ago on here that I think positional discipline is probably Fellaini's single biggest weakness. That said, we are unlikely to know exactly how much of this sort of thing comes down to instruction from LVG, and how much is natural instinct. Fellaini clearly is instructed to get into the opponents box to try to challenge on crosses - he nearly scored from it (and yes, should have scored from it) tonight. On another night people would be calling that indiscipline and chiding him for not saying back in a holding role.
Similarly tonight I felt it was noticeable that he was getting back to support Blind regularly against Mitrovic. To me this looked like another clear instruction from LVG which Fellaini (presumably) carried out. Ultimately the guy is a box to box player and doesnt fit into any of the midfield positions in a 4-2-3-1 very well - much like Herrera. You can blame him for this, or blame LVG for changing the system and then playing him in an ill-suited role (most of this also applies to Herrera).
It wasnt great but a chance is a chance. I thought it was a good chance for Rooney, and he [Rooney] dealt with it absolutely horribly - and combined with his earlier miss it was almost enough for me to downgrade his rating and go for someone else as MotM. I am pretty sure that if you have an Aguero, Sanchez, Hazard, Wijnaldum to name but a few, in that situation, you at the very minimum get a good shot on target and force a save.
I agree on most of this and was surprised that LVG didnt take him off for/in the second half. I do think that some of it is being exaggerated because its Fellaini though - for example the incident where he picked up his booking, was absolutely not a foul and if anything was a clear obstruction by the defender.
Being able to head the ball well is a lot more than just having an advantage because you're tall. Some of the best headerers (sic) in an offensive sense were/are midgets.
And yet Schneiderlin's rating is a full 50% higher than Fellaini's tonight.
And gave away the ball on the edge of our box directly leading to conceding a goal. And was lucky not to get sent off for repeated, stupid fouls.
But it's not that he's even decent at heading the ball... he's actively crap at it. I mean, he doesn't even jump for the ball or win battles in the air very well.
- Status