[drdoityourself]

Booing a player is extreme measures but I think in the case of Fellaini it's understandable. Fans see his name on the team sheet and you just know how the game will play out. Unprotected midfield, too many long balls and a slow unimaginative build up. The fans can see it, they're probably desperate for the ones in charge to see it too.

 

[Black Adder]

So what if people were booing him? Should they clap his, yet another, spinless performance in United shirt. My father used to tell me when I was playing that there will be days when you just can't do nothing right, ball will bounce, you'll misplace even the simplest of passes etc, but when that happens at least run your socks off and show some fighting spirit. Fellaini was having day off (again) and was just strolling around in easy mode doing nothing, but hey let's condemn people for venting their frustrations.

 

[Mike09]

I believe that fans have a right to express their feelings and if they feel that a player has been underachieving then they have every right to express themselves. After all they are the ones who are paying their salaries. I also believe that keeping players on their toes is beneficial. If Manchester United find that disgraceful then they should consider play their games in close doors. However I doubt they will ever do that.

So the fans have the right thing to express their feelings by acting in a poor behavior to a single player who is clearly not his fault for the cause of our poor result and playing style this season?

 

[devilish]

So the fans have the right thing to express their feelings by acting in a poor behavior to a single player who is clearly not his fault for the cause of our poor result and playing style this season?

Not his fault? Have you seen him play? FFS he's a defensive minded player and he couldn't be bothered to make one single tackle or clearance in an entire half. If he played at Madrid this guy would need to be escorted out of the pitch. Oh wait, a player like Fellaini would probably never play for Real Madrid. They do have standards

And i think that they should be booing the entire squad but there again I don't feel I am in a position to criticize the fans who bother going to OT rather then lazying on the couch as I do

 

[Kostur]

I really do hope we sell him this window, will be one scapegoat less really.

 

[LuisNaniencia]

So the fans have the right thing to express their feelings by acting in a poor behavior to a single player who is clearly not his fault for the cause of our poor result and playing style this season?

I agree mate, it's not that he couldn't be bothered to tackle/intercept etc. He's not and never has been a center mid. His only use is a target man and we don't play him there so on that basis I hope the jeers were aimed at our management for finally noticing playing him CM was stifling us.

 

[Mike09]

Not his fault? Have you seen him play? FFS he's a defensive minded player and he couldn't be bothered to make one single tackle or clearance in an entire half. If he played at Madrid this guy would need to be escorted out of the pitch. Oh wait, a player like Fellaini would probably never play for Real Madrid. They do have standards

And i think that they should be booing the entire squad but once again I don't feel I am in a position to criticize the fans who bother going to OT rather then lazying on the couch as I do

Did we play poor last season when Fellaini played? Oh wait no we played good when he played last season.
When Fellaini is playing or not did we still get the different result and different playing style this season? Oh wait no still the same poor result and poor playing style.
So why only scapegoating a single player when it's clearly not just his fault that we played poor? I could understand if fans express their frustration to the board and manager or all players but scapegoating a single player??

 

[devilish]

Did we play poor last season when Fellaini played? Oh wait no we played good when he played last season.
When Fellaini is playing or not did we still get the different result and different playing style? Oh wait no still the same poor result and poor playing style.
So why only scapegoating a single player when it's clearly not just his fault that we played poor? I could understand if fans express their frustration to the board and manager or all players but scapegoating a single player??

I think we haven't been playing good football for a long long time. Fellaini is just another nail to a strategy which saw quality players being replaced with shite.

I also believe that the fans knows that Fellaini isn't the only bad player in this team. However you can't blame them for booing at one of our weakest players especially since his characteristics are against everything United stand for (quality, talent and a certain conduct of play).

 

[wiz4231]

If he supposedly has a good game due to the game plan then it has to be said that game plan is shite, he's is shite and our football is shite. Sack Fellaini sell LVG

 

[Truedevil]

I'd rather have Cleverley in the team over him, he's that bad.

 

[Adisa]

Very sad situation for him. Moyes major signing in his first summer. Very few wanted him and many said he wasn't a man utd player from the start. He is a symbol of how shite we are at the moment. It's made worse because he's the center piece of our play when he's on the pitch. Everything is played towards him, looking for a knock down. He's a signpost of what we've become.
An obvious scapegoat.

 

[Adisa]

Also he is absolutely atrocious with the ball at his feet.

 

[Mike09]

I think we haven't been playing good football for a long long time. Fellaini is just another nail to a strategy which saw quality players being replaced with shite.

I also believe that the fans knows that Fellaini isn't the only bad player in this team. However you can't blame them for booing at one of our weakest players especially since his characteristics are against everything United stand for (quality, talent and a certain conduct of play)

Huh. I don't know what games did you watch, but people can't denied that it was a good football that we played last season in 4141 formation with Carrick, Fellaini and Herrera in midfield even the pundit acknowledged that. Weakest? Stoke City and Arsenal are our best games this season and Fellaini was playing in one of them and played very well. To me you are scapegoating a single player when there are more players also did as bad as Fellaini this season and it clearly is wrong!! And it's not his or players fault that we bought and played Fellaini anyway.

 

[devilish]

Huh. I don't know what games did you watch, but people can't denied that it was a good football that we played last season in 4141 formation with Carrick, Fellaini and Herrera in midfield even the pundit acknowledged that. Weakest? Stoke City and Arsenal are our best games this season and Fellaini was playing in one of them and played very well. To me you are scapegoating a single player when there are more players also did as bad as Fellaini this season and it clearly is wrong!! And it's not his or players fault that we bought and played Fellaini anyway.

Did we? I have been a gradual decline in our team performance since we last won the 3rd CL. Our performances then nosedived as soon as SAF retired. Its becoming more and more difficult to watch Manchester United without doozing off and I confess that I tend to suffer from insomnia

Also note that when fans boo players they wish not to see them on the pitch again. That mean that they are criticizing not just the player but also the manager that selected him.

 

[settembrini]

Did we play poor last season when Fellaini played? Oh wait no we played good when he played last season.
When Fellaini is playing or not did we still get the different result and different playing style this season? Oh wait no still the same poor result and poor playing style.
So why only scapegoating a single player when it's clearly not just his fault that we played poor? I could understand if fans express their frustration to the board and manager or all players but scapegoating a single player??

It's true that last season we played our best football with Fellaini in the side. This year it's been the reverse.

Our worst form directly coincided with him getting a run of five consecutive starts in December, we drew at home to West Ham and then lost four in a row against Wolfsburg, Bournemouth, Norwich and Stoke. Those results saw us out of the CL and ended any chance of having a good season in the league. He was shambolic in those games.

Conversely our best results and performances came last month when he was injured and Van Gaal was forced into playing our most mobile midfielders.

 

[Mike09]

Did we? I have been a gradual decline in our team performance since we last won the 3rd CL. Our performances then nosedived as soon as SAF retired. Its becoming more and more difficult to watch Manchester United without doozing off and I confess that I tend to suffer from insomnia

Also note that when fans boo players they wish not to see them on the pitch again. That mean that they are criticizing not just the player but also the manager that selected him.

Unbelievable

 

[Oldham]

Really strange why LVG is playing him, when most of us see he doesn't fit our style of play. Should be sold...

 

[Mike09]

It's true that last season we played our best football with Fellaini in the side. This year it's been the reverse.

Our worst form directly coincided with him getting a run of five consecutive starts in December, we drew at home to West Ham and then lost four in a row against Wolfsburg, Bournemouth, Norwich and Stoke. Those results saw us out of the CL and ended any chance of having a good season in the league. He was shambolic in those games.

Conversely our best results and performances came last month when he was injured and Van Gaal was forced into playing our most mobile midfielders.

Most our games with Fellaini played or no this season were as worse as the ones you mentioned.

 

[Siorac]

What does Van Gaal see in him? Or what hold does Fellaini have over Van Gaal?

It's absolutely bizarre that it seems when he's fit, he plays, despite being consistently and depressingly awful. Every other player needs to get "match rhythm" back after an injury - which means a month on the bench, usually - but he gets straight back into the team for our two most important games of the season! What the feck is going on?

The persistence with Rooney was understandable to an extent: he's the captain, he's been a cornerstone of the team for years, he's been a brilliant player in his day and a very good one throughout his career here. But Fellaini has no reputation, no past glory to fall back on, no seniority, nothing. I genuinely don't get it.

 

[devilish]

Unbelievable

What is unbelievable according to you?

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Also he is absolutely atrocious with the ball at his feet.

He is. I think he has severely regressed there, because I once rated his technical ability and thought he was often very underrated in that respect. His first touch and control used to be very solid. These days he seems to need to take 5 touches to control the ball, the he stops dead before picking a rubbish pass. He just kills everything.

I can't fault his effort, nor how he's up for any physical battle with any opponent, but he's just not good enough, and we look better without him.

 

[stevoc]

I kinda felt sorry for him yesterday when everyone cheered his substitution.

The guy's trying, but for some reason whenever he plays we insist on using him as a target man for high balls. He was worth much more than just that at Everton.

It's quite surreal at times. When he's not in the team, De Gea tends to kick it short to a defender near the edge of the box, and we build from there. As soon as Fellaini's in the team, almost every De Gea goal kick is long in Fellaini's general direction. I don't think he's a great player, but the fact that we seem to build our game plan around him makes it even worse.

I can see what you're trying to say mate. But what else are they supposed to do?

What would be the point of him being in the side and the rest of the team not trying to play to his strengths?

He can't pass for shit, has no first touch to speak of, has little positional discipline, isn't fast and can't really tackle without fouling. So without his heading and chesting which the rest of the team are trying to utilize what else would he bring to the side.

He doesn't even really warrant a place in the side as it is, but if we aren't even going to at least try to use him as some sort of target man then it would be farcical for him to be in the starting line-up.

 

[settembrini]

Most our games with Fellaini played or no this season were as worse as the ones you mentioned.

No they weren't, look at the facts I posted. Our worst form of the season came with Fellaini's longest run in the team, our best form of the season came when he was injured. If you want to praise Fellaini last season because he played well in our best games that helped us reach top 4 then that's fine, I agree with you. But it's dishonest not to acknowledge that this season it's been the reverse.

 

[devilish]

Most our games with Fellaini played or no this season were as worse as the ones you mentioned.

you do love players with no talent don't you?

 

[Parma Dewol]

I can see what you're trying to say mate. But what else are they supposed to do?

What would be the point of him being in the side and the rest of the team not trying to play to his strengths?

He can't pass for shit, has no first touch to speak of, has little positional discipline, isn't fast and can't really tackle without fouling. So without his heading and chesting which the rest of the team are trying to utilize what else would he bring to the side.

He doesn't even really warrant a place in the side as it is, but if we aren't even going to at least try to use him as some sort of target man then it would be farcical for him to be in the starting line-up.

That's a good point. There's not really any other way to deploy him in the starting 11. His game revolves around heading and chesting, which seems to be at odds with our keep-it-low and keep possession style of play.

Have to agree, he doesn't warrant a place in the starting 11. You could maybe argue that he should play as an impact sub when we're desperate for a goal, but even that tends not to work as our go-long efforts bear no fruit.

 

[stevoc]

That's a good point. There's not really any other way to deploy him in the starting 11. His game revolves around heading and chesting, which seems to be at odds with our keep-it-low and keep possession style of play.

Have to agree, he doesn't warrant a place in the starting 11. You could maybe argue that he should play as an impact sub when we're desperate for a goal, but even that tends not to work as our go-long efforts bear no fruit.

And thats our problem with Fellaini in a nutshell really mate. We are caught between two stools with him, we don't fully build the side around him like Everton to get the best out of him and the way we currently set-up he disrupts our passing game and kills attacks.

At a side like West-Brom etc. he would be a great asset. They could play him further forward and direct all their play towards him like Everton used to and he would be very effective. But no side that does that is ever winning titles or even coming in the top 4 as he's just not that good a player to warrant a club like United building a team around him.

 

[Cheesy]

Since I've seen it a couple of times in this thread, I'll repeat again that Fellaini is not a scapegoat. It's a lazy accusation to make at his detractors which masks his failings.

A scapegoat is someone who is criticised at the expense of other players. But that's not happening with Fellaini, is it? When he was playing alongside Schneiderlin, the vast majority of posters agreed that Schneiderlin was also playing poorly, and irrespective of Fellaini being beside him, he had to up his game.

Then you've got Carrick yesterday. Again, if Fellaini were being used as a scapegoat, we'd have been defending Carrick, saying he's still got a lot to offer, and needs to be beside a better midfielder. But, once again, that's not the case. Carrick has received plenty of criticism - because he hasn't been very good, and is beginning to look a bit past it, as much of a shame as it might be.

Then you've got players like Rooney, who has been slated for most of the season. Or Darmian, who has come under heavy criticism. Lingard is regularly labelled as being average and ineffective by a considerable number of posters. Blind's lack of defensive ability, even if he's done a reasonable job for us in defence, has been heavily criticised recently. I've seen plenty of negative comments about Rojo. Then you've got Depay, who was coming in for heavy criticism until recently. And, most of all, you've got the manager...the one receiving the most criticism of all.

Again, if Fellaini were a scapegoat, then this wouldn't be happening. You'd see posters trying to excuse other players, especially in midfield, at the expense of Fellaini. You'd see people saying the manager doesn't have enough to work with. Or that Fellaini destroys our whole game. We don't, though. Because people don't use Fellaini as a scapegoat. They just think he's shit.

 

[Unlikely lad]

Has he had a single good game this season?

 

[wiz4231]

So uefa not taking any retrospective action against Fellaini, they really want us to lose.

 

[Rykker_4united]

He offers nothing. He is tall but not very good in the air. He is slow. He can't pass, he can't beat a man, he doesn't score much, he doesn't assist much, he can't tackle. All he does is "run" around and foul people.

 

[B20]

So uefa not taking any retrospective action against Fellaini, they really want us to lose.

I instinctively thought - "good news".

Won't do any better than the alternatives and far more likely to see you end with 10 men.

 

[Silverman]

LVG constantly praising him is baffling. He really is saying anything to save his own skin.

 

[Hed Zitin]

He wasn't great. Booing your own player is disgraceful.

When he's gone they'll find the next scapegoat just like Nani etc to pick on.

 

[kouroux]

Did we play poor last season when Fellaini played? Oh wait no we played good when he played last season.
When Fellaini is playing or not did we still get the different result and different playing style this season? Oh wait no still the same poor result and poor playing style.
So why only scapegoating a single player when it's clearly not just his fault that we played poor? I could understand if fans express their frustration to the board and manager or all players but scapegoating a single player??

Of course we did. Fellaini had some good matches in some big games tbh but he still had many average/shit performances too with the team playing badly in general.

 

[RedStarUnited]

LVG constantly praising him is baffling. He really is saying anything to save his own skin.

Only LVG can come to England and embrace the most archaic and worst thing about english football - The launching it to the big man tactic.

 

[iKeano]

Are you kidding me? Reflex? Do you even know what reflex means? The one that worse than terrible is the fans who booing their own players and the ones who still agree with him deserved to be booed is also disgrace. Schneiderlin, Carrick, and Herrera haven't been good at all this season and Fellaini became the scapegoat. Fans think Fellaini isn't United quality yes he's not but so does Schneiderlin and Herrera hasn't show any sign to be United quality and to be fair just like Fellaini the three of them were overpaid as well. if you look at the likes of Carrick, Scholes, Robson, Ince, Keane. Even Hargreaves, Butt and Fletcher. And now we have Schneiderlin, Herrera and Fellaini but Fellaini is the only scapegoat? With Fellaini and without Fellaini we are still playing bad, with Fellaini last season we played much better than this season.

Eh?! Just... what?! Please, explain what reflex is, your grasp of language is clearly stronger than mine. I agree, he isn't the only weak link in the team, but he's stand out terrible.
As for being better with Fellaini as of 16th Jan this season;
MANCHESTER UNITED'S RECORD WITH AND WITHOUT MAROUANE FELLAINI
WITH FELLANI
Swansea City 2-1 Manchester United (13mins)
Manchester United 3-1 Liverpool (90mins)
Arsenal 3-0 Manchester United (45mins)
Everton 0-3 Manchester United (9mins)
Manchester United 0-0 Man City (15mins)
Crystal Palace 0-0 Manchester United (21mins)
Manchester United 0-0 West Ham (90mins)
Bournemouth 2-1 Manchester United (74mins)
Manchester United 1-2 Norwich City (60mins)
Stoke City 2-0 Manchester United (90mins)
Newcastle 3-3 Manchester United (90mins)

Won 2, Drawn 4, Lost 5 - 0.9 points/game

WITHOUT FELLAINI
Manchester United 1-0 Tottenham
Aston Villa 0-1 Manchester United
Manchester United 0-0 Newcastle United
Southampton 2-3 Manchester United
Manchester United 3-0 Sunderland
Manchester United 2-0 West Bromwich Albion
Watford 1-2 Manchester United
Leicester City 1-1 Manchester United
Manchester United 0-0 Chelsea
Manchester United 2-1 Swansea City


Won 7, Drawn 3, Lost 0 - 2.4 points/game

Since he's come back from injury, we've lost 2-0 and scraped a draw.

The "have every right to boo" stuff is a red herring. Nobody argues they don't have the right but equally that doesn't mean it is right.
He tried his best and got booed by a few thousand people. It's crappy behaviour.

I wonder how many Caf members would 'try their best'... but their lack of ability might warrant booing too. Trying your best isn't good enough, this is Man Utd we're talking about, you have to be better than everyone. He laboured around that pitch like a headless chicken yesterday, late to every move we put together. Ambling back into defence way behind play & supporting the strikers long after the moment had gone.
Booing his substitution, for me, was as much remonstrating his languid, lethargic, futile 'performance' as it was the delusional Dutch fool for picking him. It's difficult to show disdain for LVG other than venting through his 'managerial' decisions.

He offers nothing. He is tall but not very good in the air. He is slow. He can't pass, he can't beat a man, he doesn't score much, he doesn't assist much, he can't tackle. All he does is "run" around and foul people.

This.
He's painful to watch & it's clear that 90% of Utd fans have had enough... problem is - aside from a Europa citation for his elbow - defiant LVG will pick him on Thursday, guaranteed. He'll play 90mins, guaranteed. He'll get his name in another referee's book, guaranteed.

 

[Dobbs]

England may not have produced a lot of great players but they had been constantly underachieving for decades now. Take last WC as an example. They had enough talent to be able to qualify from the WC groups. I wonder how players would react knowing that a spineless world cup performance would means spending months being booed at home. That does act as an incentive for the Italian players who literally dread returning home after doing badly in an international tournament

Also just because a player is a thug that doesn't mean he is hardworking. Rino Gattuso would have never played a half without making 1 single tackle or clearance

The England team does get slaughtered, Rooney complained about boos as he was walking off the pitch. The media are merciless with them. If anything that kind of pressure has made them worse, they look scared and timid. This England analogy just doesn't work, if anything it proves the opposite of what you want.

Fellaini got booed because he's rubbish not because he was lazy. There is no possible way somebody shouting boo will make him a better player come the next game.

 

[iKeano]

He wasn't great. Booing your own player is disgraceful.
When he's gone they'll find the next scapegoat just like Nani etc to pick on.

That's your opinion. Others are of the opinion that it's disgraceful that Fellaini is a Man Utd player, let alone LVG's favourite ineffective gameplan. Some might think that LVG still being in a job after his horrendous run of results since December is disgraceful. That the Utd board are more interested in lining the Glazers pockets with earnings from Japanese Tractor partnerships than addressing the issues on the field, could be seen as disgraceful.

Fans pay enough to voice their opinion, positive or negative. Being served up sub-standard performances week-in week-out grinds down even the optimistic among us. If we could see light at the end of this tunnel of footballing sewage, we might be more tolerant, unfortunately for the tall one, he literally stands out like a sore thumb in a wig.

Of the chants I heard yesterday in the Stretford End, booing Fellaini was one of the least 'disgraceful' things.

 

[Bwuk]

The with and without stat makes painful viewing.

Why is he getting played. It's so bizarre.

 

[Silverman]

Only LVG can come to England and embrace the most archaic and worst thing about english football - The launching it to the big man tactic.

Fellaini can't even head the ball.