I don't mind him, the only issue I have with him is his mobility, as a squad player he isn't bad, but I really have a dislike for immobile players in the midfield. Hes just a pretty average midfielder not great but not totally rubbish
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I think he's actually a good ball winner when he doesn't go around elbowing the enemy.
Not his fault, but my main problem with him is he always serves as a symbolic reminder of Moyes.
There's also the fact he's not very good.
There's also the fact he's not very good.
Poor old Daley Blind has the same affliction re Van Gaal.
He seems more likely to transcend it though.
Doesn't bother me as much, Martial is a LVG signing and Rashford was promoted by him too, I don't have the slightest problem with them for obvious reasons.
Every single time he got the ball, no matter where he was on the pitch, he looked to pass it backwards. He wasn't terrible aside from the one huge mistake, but, he did make a huge mistake and was very average otherwise. I just don't get it.
Moyes can also take credit for Shaw and Herrera, even though Woody didn't get them across the line until after he left. They've both signed good and bad players but Blind and Fellaini seem like their respective pet projects, for whatever reason.To me, anyway.
Re: Fellaini, there's also the fact he followed Moyes from Everton, which gives the impression of them being a package offering. I suppose you could draw a parallel with LVG's close ties to the Dutch national team and in particular Blind Sr.
Yeah, that's what I was getting at. They both seem like trusted lieutenants they brought with them into battle. Often literally, in the case of Fellaini.
Played well. I feel sorry for players who make such mistakes. Thank feck we won.
Not sure how much credit he can take for signing Herrera as he basically vetoed a move for him the year before he wasn't too keen as he hadn't watched him enough, but it was Woodward who was pushing for the signing. Well according to Graham Hunter anyway.
Shaw was most likely a Moyes target though you're right there.
He does do that quite often i've noticed, not sure if it's because in the last few years he's played mostly further forward sort of like a no10 target man or Van Gaal tactics are still fresh in his mind. Would like to see him be a but more forward thinking with the ball personally.
Might be true, but it's his own fault for missing out since he had to flail his elbows around like an idiot.
I just simply don't think this guy belongs into a top team. Tenacity, fighting spirit and all that is important to have in a team but an elite team should look to find players who combine these attributes with some actual footballing skills and he is simply lacking those, neither is he a very intelligent player. I'm pretty sure though we want see much of him once Pogba is in shape again to start games.
Moyes rated him, Wilmots rated him, LVG rated him and now it looks like Jose (arguably the best manager in the world) rates him.
LVG only tried to sell him in the first season and he couldn't because he picked up an injury. He turned into one of the most important members of the squad afterwards.
Ironically enough, we played our best football with Fellaini in the CAM under Van Gaal. He bagged goals against Spurs, City and Palace at the end of 14/15 which guaranteed our Champions League spot. At the end of last season, he scored goals against Everton and West Ham in the FA Cup which guaranteed our FA Cup final spot. And we would have almost definitely beaten West Ham in the league to guarantee Champions League again if Fellaini wasn't suspended. The fact that both of the goals West Ham scored in that game came from set pieces only strengthens my point.
I always cringe when people come out with statements like "How is he a professional footballer?", like they could do any better. I even heard someone once say that he's Sunday League quality... Absolute rubbish talk.
Some people don't understand the game. They we should play the same Starting 11 every game, when in reality, the best managers change it up to suit their tactics and counter their opponent. We have a squad of 30+, and like it or not, we need Fellaini in the tough physical games. Cause who do we have that's stronger? We need someone that will bully players and get stuck in. People say he concedes fouls... who cares? He's there to break up play. If conceding a foul stops an attack, then job well done. That's what he's there for.
Like I said before, people will remember this sloppy error which can easily be put down to the quality of the pitch... but they will happily forget about Smalling nearly costing us the FA Cup with his stupidity. Why is that?
I appreciate your opinion, and you make a couple of good points, but if a bush burned, the sky turned to blood, and God himself descended with 12 stones one of which was inscribed with with the words, "Thou shall not doubt Fellaini's a quality player for Manchester United's midfield" It still wouldn't change my mind after watching football most of my life. Also, I'd urge caution saying Mourinho rates him after playing him in a couple of pre-season matches. We've got no idea what Mou's long-term thoughts are on a red card waiting to happen.
Mourinho loved Sergio Ramos and he has 21 red cards.
Fellaini has 2.
Another baseless myth.
He has been getting away with it without seeing straight red for far too long, IMO. Wait until it happens. And another baseless myth is that "Mourinho rates him" as you said. He started him in a Community Shield and he was pretty bloody awful IMO.
If he was "pretty bloody awful", we wouldn't have won. Clearly you're just basing his entire game around that one error that can easily be blamed on the surface of the pitch.
Alternatively, it could be blamed on him being "pretty bloody awful". I'm not altering the same position I've held since Moyes foolishly signed him, he's a red card waiting to happen. The day is coming that I think he'll cost the team points getting sent off, and I think he's far from United quality. If the day ever comes he gets sent off, jump on and ridicule me then.
Pie in the sky... based on what? It was his own idiotic fault that he wasn't playing against West Ham anyway.
Are you for real? Zlatan broke power records at Carrington during his medical.
Also, now that we have Pogba, the tall skinny one can elbow his way to the Afro-shop in the sky for all I care.
Seriously hoping flesh-eyes will put an offer in and take him into relegation with Sunderland where they both belong!
Van gaal Schooled Messi with vlaar and de jong. Doesn't really mean Messi isn't quality. (This isn't saying he is messi but not performing in a game means nothing)
And again, none of the teams he play for ever employ the long ball tactic. Yet he seems to play well enough for them. I am not saying he is world class but clearly comments like he is unable to play football makes me question your footballing awareness. If he wasn't able to play then why would he be consistently selected for teams by different coaches? It's not like it's one coach. It's 4 different coaches (none of whom use the style you attribute to). If he was useless, they would just not select him like they did with januzaj, Zaha and all.
Actually I think it's more the symbolic reminder of that summer. If we had bought him alongside two other players that summer he wouldnt have been such a hated figure. He was the only player, a deadline day signing, signed by a manager who later ended up being a disaster and for a big fee. None of that is his fault tbf. Which is why I feel for him.
I have to admit I was screaming at my TV for Fellaini to get out of my team but after calming down, I realize that it could've easily happened to someone else. It was a bit rich that Jose was blaming it on the grass, though, as true as that might have been.
Mourinho rates Fellaini much more than people around here. He will play him as a defensive midfield substitute and, for instance, to give more resilience and strength to the second team playing in Europa League, etc.
Old-fashioned as it may be, I kind of dig the way Mourinho protected the player regarding his miscalibrated pass to the keeper, saying it was due to the dry pitch… I would give my heart for a manager like that, if I was a player. Afterwards comes the emotional drainage, but in the beginning, it sure works.
Old-fashioned as it may be, I kind of dig the way Mourinho protected the player regarding his miscalibrated pass to the keeper, saying it was due to the dry pitch… I would give my heart for a manager like that, if I was a player. Afterwards comes the emotional drainage, but in the beginning, it sure works.
I agree, thought he was doing fairly well. I think he'll be very useful to have in the Europa League and to bring on when defending against hoof-ball.
He will be a big player under Mourinho and will play instead of Carrick mark my words.
I don't think it's a myth that he should've had a fair few more over the last 3 years. I don't wish for him to be sent off, but elbows everywhere.
So? Keane was a red card waiting to happen. Cantona was a dirty bastard too. Nobody complained about them being dirty. When Fellaini does it, it's bad. When they do it, "They're fighting for the team"
Double standards.
If you don't like Fellaini, fair enough. But don't be coming up with rubbish like "I hate him cause he does this" when some of our most popular figures in history have done it and were beloved for it.
I highly doubt that. Fellaini isn't mobile enough for the DM role (not that Carrick is), but Carrick makes up for it with his positioning, but more importantly, none of them have the (forward penetrative) passing ability of Carrick in that position. It is vitally important to the fluidity of the team and it's the main reason why, season after season, Carrick ends up our #1 DM.
I think Fellaini will be valued by Mourinho in certain matches, but also mostly on a rotational basis/squad option, for the role partnering Carrick/DM.
Zlatan is a striker. Fellaini is a midfielder.
And I don't think Pogba is stronger than him. Fellaini's presence on the pitch is physically bigger and I think if you were dribbling against the two of them, Fellaini would be the harder one to come up against. He would just break up play by standing infront of you.
Whilst I agree with your comment about Carrick's forward passing, I must say do we really need it now? In past seasons we've had a midfield devoid of players who can move the ball forward so relying on Carrick spraying balls out wide and in between the lines was a must, however now I feel we have a group of players who can move up and down the pitch fluidly, and as good as Carrick's vision, passing and ability to slow down and speed up the game is, he isn't as mobile as Fellaini, nor does he often link up play higher up in the field.
Although, Scholes and Keane is a similar matchup to Carrick and Pogba, in terms of players, so who knows? I do think we'll be in for a 'surprise' with how much game-time Fellaini gets this season, but is it really a surpirse anymore cos he sure isn't as bad as many make him out to be.
I'm convinced theres NO midfielder in World Football that could replace Carrick in some United fan's "strongest 11"
Even when we have the likes of Pogba, Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger, Herrera, Fellaini, Blind, Mensah etc, people still claim he's our best midfielder.
He's 35 ffs. He's not Andrea Pirlo. It's time to move on. We're sacrificing player betters like Schneiderlin to accommodate an average aging midfielder who'll more than likely retire this season.
If we want to get back to the top, we need to be more ruthless. Who are we more likelier to win a Champions League with? Schneiderlin/Schweinsteiger or Carrick? It's a no brainer in my eyes.
Even when we have the likes of Pogba, Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger, Herrera, Fellaini, Blind, Mensah etc, people still claim he's our best midfielder.
He's 35 ffs. He's not Andrea Pirlo. It's time to move on. We're sacrificing player betters like Schneiderlin to accommodate an average aging midfielder who'll more than likely retire this season.
If we want to get back to the top, we need to be more ruthless. Who are we more likelier to win a Champions League with? Schneiderlin/Schweinsteiger or Carrick? It's a no brainer in my eyes.
Yeah, agreed re Fellaini has his fair share of overly harsh critics. I don't think I'm one of them, though I make no secret of the fact that I don't rate him highly. Not because I think he's a shit footballer or Sunday league standard footballer, as some do
but I just think he's best utilized further up the pitch and to get the best out of him, you need to play a certain type of, direct football. But that's just my opinion.Re the Carrick bit - yeah I'm not sure how the manager would like to set us up, but the "deep lying playmaker" as they're called these days, are so rare and vitally important. Not just for their vision and passing, but they should control and dictate the match, and the tempo. It's a big reason Schneiderlins been in and out of the team. He's more mobile than both of them, and can do his simple 5 yard passes, but he's struggled to move the ball forward.
Most top teams have these playmakers at either CM/DM.
But like you said, it's going to be interesting who/how mourinho pairs his CM's, especially with Rooney seemingly at 10, means we'll have Pogba + a CM/DM in the middle. For now at least.
Have not kicked a ball at the highest level (u 18s for my national team, so was a teenager when played last competitive match), however, from my experience it would be more difficult to go past Pogba rather than Fellaini. We are not talking about standing poles or walls of bricks here, we are talking about tackling, speed, acceleration, reflexes. Fellaini has a bigger frame, but Pogba beats him at pretty much everything else. If I was to pick an opponent for a one on one case, I'd definetely prefer the Afro man.
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Yeah it's quite easy to forgive world class players, winners, serial game changers for being feisty dirty cnuts, as opposed to an oaf who's best ability is to 'offer something different'. He's not as utterly useless as people like to make out, but he's still a bit shit and painful to watch.
Not everyone can be a 'star'. Some people said that he slows us down. It's bullshit. Some people can we can't play great football with him in the team. That's bullshit. Some people never appreciate the good aspects of his game and focus on the negatives. In terms of style - that is why we have Zlatan, Martial, Pogba, etc. Fellaini is good in both boxes and more mobile then people give him credit for. Sometimes he's reckless - we've had a few players like that down the years but he's no Ramos 
He seems well liked so people should recognize his qualities
He seems well liked so people should recognize his qualitiesAm I the only one who doesn't get the hate Fellaini gets on here? Yes he is not worth the 27.5m we paid for him, but thats done and dusted, he does a job and obviously Mourinho sees something in him over someone like Bastion for e.g else he would have been shunted out to the reserves. So why can't we just wait and see what he offers. He is a solid player who gives everything on the pitch, sometimes he makes gaffe's but everyone does.
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