[shamans]

Total nonsense.

Iniesta's short passing is really good; Xavi's short passing was really good; Scholes' short passing was really good... Hell I could name 7-8 player's in the United squad which you could classify as anything from decent to good. Fellaini wouldn't be one of them. Unless our standards have lowered to such a level where Fellaini's short passing is really good, Rooney's short passing is likewise and Rojo's defending is really solid.

I've watched him many times for Everton and over 80 times for United. His game is based around the fact that he's a massive nuisance to defenders and can control the ball from nearly 6 feet in the air with his chest, which is particularly useful in a system where you're looking to bypass midfield (usually a tactic employed by a smaller team, particularly when they're not favourite to win). These along with his defensive heading and physicality are his strengths. His weaknesses include his discipline, short passing, long passing, close control, technique, ball control, pace, stamina, concentration, positional play, an inability to keep the ball when pressed and strangely enough given his height: attacking headers.

In short he has no qualities apart from his size that suit him playing in the middle third of the pitch.

Those players don't just have good short passing -- their short passing is world class. Fellaini's short passing is as good as say Cleverley's or any other average top 8 premier league midfielder. You said he has very poor short passing which just proves you haven't seen enough of him.

Fellaini has other weaknesses, and you mentioned some of them which I agree with but the last part of your post just proves you don't see what he brings to the team. Especially If you think he has no qualities apart from his size. That's ridiculous.

Because of his size, many have just made this image of Fellaini being a useless lump with no strengths but his size. To anyone who believe this myth, why don't you just watch the goals he has scored and the manner in which he has scored them let alone analyzing his whole game.

 

[prath92]

Why do you think they hate him?

I feel Many hate him just because it reminds them of Moyes and that transfer window. For instance guys like buttner Bebe and all were in our squad for couple of years and Fellaini is a better player than them but have a poll between Fellaini and buttner and it will be buttner all the way.

 

[ivaldo]

I feel Many hate him just because it reminds them of Moyes and that transfer window. For instance guys like buttner Bebe and all were in our squad for couple of years and Fellaini is a better player than them but have a poll between Fellaini and buttner and it will be buttner all the way.

Because in order to get any use out of you we need to adapt our style or play to suit him, and that football is ugly. You put him in a standard midifeld and he's next to useless, his passing is terrible, he has no positional sense and he isn't exactly mobile. If you play long or diagonal balls up to him in and around the box he's very good, no one wants to see us do that though.

 

[prath92]

Because in order to get any use out of you we need to adapt our style or play to suit him, and that football is ugly. You put him in a standard midifeld and he's next to useless, his passing is terrible, he has no positional sense and he isn't exactly mobile. If you play long or diagonal balls up to him in and around the box he's very good, no one wants to see us do that though.

Neither united nor moyes at Everton played long balls. In fact we played our most attacking and best football in 2 years with LvG using Fellaini in midfield. We never went long ball tactics

 

[Kostur]

What did he mean by this?

 

[Minkaro]

Breaking news: Fellaini is blonde now. Expected to join Coheed and Cambria very soon. Either that or it's a tribute to Valderrama.

 

[JB08]

oh no

 

[alsabi]

One step closer to securing a starring role in the remake of Austin Powers' Goldmember.

 

[Dan]

Carlos Valderrama like

 

[Prodigal7]

Do Fellaini and Jones think that by dying there hair Mou won't recognize them when they report back for training?
"Me, Fellaini? No, I'm Paul Simon here to sing at Waynes testimonial. Marouane said he's be back September 1st."

 

[horsechoker]

 

[Vanitas]

"girls, cheap girls, discounts possible..."

 

[Mark Pawelek]

OK. Thanks. I had been looking at the entire squad list, with the default display for the EPL, so was seeing the 83.6% figure. Still not great, btw.

78.9% passing stat would be good if he made more assists but the only assists I remember are penalty area knockdowns. Even those, only one or two a season. At #6 I'd prefer a DCM who can pass fluently. At #8 I'd want someone like Pogba or Pjanic; a genuine goal threat. At #10, either a proper creative #10, or a striker/#10 (like Zlatan). I don't see how Fellaini is worth his squad number.

 

[Mark Pawelek]

Neither united nor moyes at Everton played long balls. In fact we played our most attacking and best football in 2 years with LvG using Fellaini in midfield. We never went long ball tactics

Which particular matches are you talking about?

 

[saivet]

I'm just watching SSN.

What just came on reads:

Euro News at Ten
See Fellaini's new hairstyle

 

[LuisNaniencia]

To be fair he was quite inconspicuous before...

 

[Liver_bird]

Breaking news: Fellaini is blonde now. Expected to join Coheed and Cambria very soon. Either that or it's a tribute to Valderrama.

He deserves selling on the basis of that hair alone

 

[prath92]

Which particular matches are you talking about?

Game vs Spurs Liverpool and all last season

 

[VivaObertan]

He was one of our top 5 players last season.

Say what you want about him 'not being a United player' but he has put in some big performances despite the home crowd being against him whilst others who are given the benefit of the doubt cowered and waited for van Gaal to be sacked.

 

[ChaddyP]

I always wondered, does his hair grow? is it stunted or does he meticulously pamper and cut it to let it stay exactly like that.

 

[stevoc]

What did he mean by this?

Fellaini: ''I wonder how i could make myself look like even more of a clown than i already do? Oh i know i'll bleach my big silly looking afro blond, that'll do it.''

 

[SteveJ]

A combination of atomic mushroom cloud and Harpo Marx.

 

[criticalanalysis]

I actually think Fellani's ball playing technical ability to be decent. There are many times where his size AND touch gets the team out of difficult situations (where we're being pressed) etc. He's more than capable of being a decent squad player for Utd at this time and moment (unless we decide to sign 3 world class midfielders in the Summer). I just think LVG's tactics and Fellani's insistence on following to the rule to be both their triumph and downfall.

 

[Mike09]

I'm not talking about the forum but people in social media like Twitter, sportbible and etc are being too much about Fellini's new hair. It's his own hair and he can do what he likes. The reaction is actually worse than Jones's.

 

[SambaBoy]

I'd keep him for next year and see if he can develop further under Mourinho. For me, he has been our best midfielder for the last two seasons which highlights our lack of a world class CM more than Fellaini's ability admittedly. Herrera had a good first season, but wasn't consistent enough and didn't build on that at all last season. Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger were both underwhelming.

He has his weaknesses, he can't read the game well and lets attackers just drift by him but if used correctly then he can be a threat and a decent enough player.

 

[top1whoisman]

I'm not talking about the forum but people in social media like Twitter, sportbible and etc are being too much about Fellini's new hair. It's his own hair and he can do what he likes. The reaction is actually worse than Jones's.

I strongly recommend never browsing through any social media comments re: United (or anything really). It's 100% shite, there's no proper debate.

 

[Mike09]

I strongly recommend never browsing through any social media comments re: United (or anything really). It's 100% shite, there's no proper debate.

But I feel sorry about him for getting such abuse or sh** in social media. It's only about hair. Jones did the same thing but Fellaini received more sh**

 

[top1whoisman]

I'm pretty sure no famous footballer reads comments under their posts, it's filled with rival fans using abusive language etc. Quite a lot of footballers and other celebrities don't even run their own accounts but have "employees" doing it for them.

I think Gibson opened and closed his instagram(?) account pretty quickly due to United "fans" filling it with abuse. So Felli's probably not hurt as he's clever enough not to read the comments.

 

[Mike09]

I'm pretty sure no famous footballer reads comments under their posts, it's filled with rival fans using abusive language etc. Quite a lot of footballers and other celebrities don't even run their own accounts but have "employees" doing it for them.

I think Gibson opened and closed his instagram(?) account pretty quickly due to United "fans" filling it with abuse. So Felli's probably not hurt as he's clever enough not to read the comments.

You can avoid to read them but you can still see the comments from notification.

 

[OohAahMartial]

What did he mean by this?

Maybe he's putting off clubs buying him so he can stay?

 

[Perrick Dubois]

How similar do we think Fellaini is to Matic?

I guess Mourinho could see him in that role with a good passer (ala Fabregas) alongside him. We'd have Carrick/Bastian/Maybe Rooney to go alongside him. And then 3 playmakers ahead of them.

Sorry, a bit late on this. Not really that similar, I think Matic has a much better offensive skillset to go with the defensive one. I think I would avoid playing Fellaini in the "in between" role of #8 because he tends to roam forward and then stay forward, but also only offer a single type of attacking link-up play when he is deeper and before the transition, a little pass off and move forward. Matic can play further forward and also anchor the role while playing from the same starting position, I don't think Fellaini has that in his game.

If you put him at the base of a 4-3-3 to anchor the midfield he's perfectly capable of playing a limited defensive role. He did that for Liege when he was a lot more mobile, he did it for a long time under Moyes as well. You won't get incredible playmaking skills though.

Unless you have a setup like the NT setup that allows Fellaini to play #8 then I wouldn't play him as part of a midfield two without support. I don't think it would work in the PL like it does at NT level.

 

[steve zizou]

Fellaini: ''I wonder how i could make myself look like even more of a clown than i already do? Oh i know i'll bleach my big silly looking afro blond, that'll do it.''

Puting the blond die aside, Why is his natural hair being described as 'silly'. Not calling you out per se, it's something I've witnessed and experienced myself. I mean Ramsey died his hair too, didn't hear anyone call his straight short hair "silly".

 

[stevoc]

Puting the blond die aside, Why is his natural hair being described as 'silly'. Not calling you out per se, it's something I've witnessed and experienced myself. I mean Ramsey died his hair too, didn't hear anyone call his straight short hair "silly".

No ones natural hair is silly not even Fellaini's. But when you choose to grow it into a style synonymous with clowns (see below) then it's easy to see why lots of people think his hair looks silly. Because well it does look silly which is why it's a popular look for clowns.

Spoiler: Clown afro

Theres nothing wrong with him having an afro if thats how he wants to look fair play to him, but he's been complaining for years that he gets unfair treatment from referees and and mockery from fans because of how he looks. So he has two options cut his hair or just accept people will always view him a certain way and judge him because of his hair style and stop complaining about it.

 

[steve zizou]

No ones natural hair is silly not even Fellaini's. But when you choose to grow it into a style synonymous with clowns (see below) then it's easy to see why lots of people think his hair looks silly. Because well it does look silly which is why it's a popular look for clowns.

Theres nothing wrong with him having an afro if thats how he wants to look fair play to him, but he's been complaining for years that he gets unfair treatment from referees and and mockery from fans because of how he looks. So he has two options cut his hair or just accept people will always view him a certain way and judge him because of his hair style and stop complaining about it.

And so he should. Tbh your whole response is contradictory to me. So there's "nothing wrong" with an afro.... but he should "cut his hair" so people don't abuse him ??.

And since when were Afros synonymous with clowns? Black people have been sporting afros since dawn of man. The fact that you compared his hair to a clown and labelled it as silly is exactly the point I was coming against. Imagine being automatically undermined and judged just because of features you have that are particular to your race. Some may even call that racism.

I've known people who have been labelled as unprofessional at work because they had an afro. What most people don't realise is that an afro is not just a hairstyle we put on in the morning; it's something you're born with, hence the term 'grow an afro'!

 

[wc18]

Very strange the agenda a lot of fans seem to have towards the big fella. It's like they are praying for him to fail at the club. They just call him shit and refuse to accept that a Man Utd. and Belgium international is a good player. Thought he has handled himself superbly through all the bad and good times performance and fan abuse wise...would have been easy to react differently. Been supporting for 20 years and can't really remember a similar situation with any other player.

The fact is he was better than our "star" midfielders last year. Schneiderlin, Herrera, Memphis were just terrible. Carrick was alright...Wayne was infuriating during the first half 2/3 of the season and started to play well last 1/3. He was very important for us.

Also, I've never seen a Utd team so spineless, its absurd. He takes it too far sometimes but I love it that Fellaini actually puts himself about and let's people know he's there. Really only feel that way about Valencia, and maybe Shaw. For fecks sake Mark Noble picked up Ander Herrera and carried him off the pitch. Still can't get over how bad that was. Would love to know everyone else's opinion about that because i think it says a lot about the squad's character.

Basically, there's no downside of keeping him as a squad player. There's really no player like him and he is very hard to deal with for opposition defenses.

 

[gajender]

Very strange the agenda a lot of fans seem to have towards the big fella. It's like they are praying for him to fail at the club. They just call him shit and refuse to accept that a Man Utd. and Belgium international is a good player. Thought he has handled himself superbly through all the bad and good times performance and fan abuse wise...would have been easy to react differently. Been supporting for 20 years and can't really remember a similar situation with any other player.

The fact is he was better than our "star" midfielders last year. Schneiderlin, Herrera, Memphis were just terrible. Carrick was alright...Wayne was infuriating during the first half 2/3 of the season and started to play well last 1/3. He was very important for us.

Also, I've never seen a Utd team so spineless, its absurd. He takes it too far sometimes but I love it that Fellaini actually puts himself about and let's people know he's there. Really only feel that way about Valencia, and maybe Shaw. For fecks sake Mark Noble picked up Ander Herrera and carried him off the pitch. Still can't get over how bad that was. Would love to know everyone else's opinion about that because i think it says a lot about the squad's character.

Basically, there's no downside of keeping him as a squad player. There's really no player like him and he is very hard to deal with for opposition defenses.

I completely agreee with your assessment of fellaini he mostly gets rough deal around here his poor performances are magnified and good performances basically get ignored. He may not be first team option at the club like United but certainly has his uses as a squad member . Our midfield options are quite underwhelming anyway most of them would end up either being sold or as squad players once Mourinho reshapes this squad to his liking.

 

[Striker10]

When we had that bad december, Fellaini could have been the difference. In a handful of games, he was inches from scoring but the ball wouldn't go in for him. To me he's not a problem. He's also liked in the dressing room. Martials said in the past he's a friend, we shouldn't think to sell him. There's lots of myths. Like he slows us down or that we can't play good football with him. We can and we have seen good performances. It's a pity he missed those chances but at the same time - it's an exciting period for the club. It's difficult to know what will happen.

 

[stevoc]

And so he should. Tbh your whole response is contradictory to me. So there's "nothing wrong" with an afro.... but he should "cut his hair" so people don't abuse him ??.

To be fair mate i'm not saying he should cut his hair, i said he has been complaining for years that he is targeted by refs and mocked by fans because of his hair. I don't even know for sure if that is true it might be and he seems to think it is the case. So if his theory is correct but he doesn't want to cut his hair thats fine and his right but then in that case the world isn't going to change just because he made that decision, there are lots of people who will always view him a certain way because of his appearance.

And since when were Afros synonymous with clowns? Black people have been sporting afros since dawn of man. The fact that you compared his hair to a clown and labelled it as silly is exactly the point I was coming against. Imagine being automatically undermined and judged just because of features you have that are particular to your race. Some may even call that racism.

Listen mate we're talking about someones hair here, if he had a mullet most people myself included would view it as just as silly. So lets not create racism where there is none shall we.

Also when have afros been associated with clown? Well how long have clowns wore those wigs to make them selves look funny? I didn't create that situation, type clown wig into google image search and i would wager most of the results are clowns with afro wigs. More often than not when you see a clown they are wearing one of those wigs, they wear them because they look comical i suspect. So after decades of people seeing clowns wearing those wigs rightly or wrongly when they see someone who has a similar hairstyle either consciously or subconsciously they will think clown.

I've known people who have been labelled as unprofessional at work because they had an afro. What most people don't realise is that an afro is not just a hairstyle we put on in the morning; it's something you're born with, hence the term 'grow an afro'!

I get what you're saying mate but if the majority people regardless of race grew their hair out and/or didn't maintain it then it would most likely look equally silly would it not. It's nothing to do with race and everything to do with having big hair which to most people looks a bit silly, white people and probably people of other races can grow afro's too.

 

[devips]

I completely agreee with your assessment of fellaini he mostly gets rough deal around here his poor performances are magnified and good performances basically get ignored. He may not be first team option at the club like United but certainly has his uses as a squad member . Our midfield options are quite underwhelming anyway most of them would end up either being sold or as squad players once Mourinho reshapes this squad to his liking.

Very strange the agenda a lot of fans seem to have towards the big fella. It's like they are praying for him to fail at the club. They just call him shit and refuse to accept that a Man Utd. and Belgium international is a good player. Thought he has handled himself superbly through all the bad and good times performance and fan abuse wise...would have been easy to react differently. Been supporting for 20 years and can't really remember a similar situation with any other player.

The fact is he was better than our "star" midfielders last year. Schneiderlin, Herrera, Memphis were just terrible. Carrick was alright...Wayne was infuriating during the first half 2/3 of the season and started to play well last 1/3. He was very important for us.

Also, I've never seen a Utd team so spineless, its absurd. He takes it too far sometimes but I love it that Fellaini actually puts himself about and let's people know he's there. Really only feel that way about Valencia, and maybe Shaw. For fecks sake Mark Noble picked up Ander Herrera and carried him off the pitch. Still can't get over how bad that was. Would love to know everyone else's opinion about that because i think it says a lot about the squad's character.

Basically, there's no downside of keeping him as a squad player. There's really no player like him and he is very hard to deal with for opposition defenses.

I absolutely agree with all of the above. They way Fellaini is vilified by United fans, both in this forum and at Old Trafford, is atrocious. He carries the United spirit, never hides, and has been excellent for us last season.

 

[steve zizou]

...
Listen mate we're talking about someones hair here, if he had a mullet most people myself included would view it as just as silly. So lets not create racism where there is none shall we.

Also when have afros been associated with clown? Well how long have clowns wore those wigs to make them selves look funny? I didn't create that situation, type clown wig into google image search and i would wager most of the results are clowns with afro wigs. More often than not when you see a clown they are wearing one of those wigs, they wear them because they look comical i suspect. So after decades of people seeing clowns wearing those wigs rightly or wrongly when they see someone who has a similar hairstyle either consciously or subconsciously they will think clown.

I get what you're saying mate but if the majority people regardless of race grew their hair out and/or didn't maintain it then it would most likely look equally silly would it not. It's nothing to do with race and everything to do with having big hair which to most people looks a bit silly, white people and probably people of other races can grow afro's too.

You still aren't getting my point but I don't want to turn the Fellaini thread into a discussion about hair, and racial identity. All I'll say is an afro is not a hair style (like a mullet or mo-hawk or skinhead) and white people certainly cannot grow one!! For most black people, when their hair grows, it naturally forms an afro. So for anyone to call that silly or attribute it to clowning, to me is a form of discrimination and i've witnessed that in real life. Talking of clowns, performers at minstrel shows often wore afro wigs (and blackface) to mock black people.