Alan Smith also could play in midfield. Doesn't mean he was good at it.
Moyes' first signing?
- Thread starter Adam-Utd
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) are here to discuss Amad saving our blushes in a win against Southampton as well as our now annual loss at home to Brighton. They discuss Amorim's post-match comments, revisit how mid-table we may or may not be, and discuss some transfer news.
Alan Smith also could play in midfield. Doesn't mean he was good at it.
When he did play in CM I am quite sure that he made more tackles than anyone else in the league.
edit: He made the 11th & 14th most in the Premier League in the two seasons preceding this one.
I agree with your overall point though. He is best off the striker but not good enough there for our team. He is not a good enough passer to play for us in midfield either. He would be an expensive waste of money IMO.
Why move him then?
james mccarty
Because their strikers are shitter than their midfielders.
Then buy a striker to win headers. If he's such a top class midfielder you play him there. How many goals has he got?
They did. Jelovic. He wasn't as good as they thought he would be so Anichbe now gets the nod. I couldn't tell you how much goals he's got mate but he seemed to have a decent points tally on fantasy league so maybe quite a few. Check Wiki.
I did. He's got 11. Hardly worth moving a top class midfielder to accommodate him up front.
Firstly, Fellaini's actual position is CM. Alan Smith was a striker. Secondly, just because they both like to tackle doesn't mean he is comparable to Smith.
Have you even watched Fellaini play in CM? Past 3 years he had played there plenty of times.
Re: his versatility. Rooney plays as striker, AM, CM, wing etc but we know him as a striker. Same goes for Fellaini he is a CM.
11 goals as an AM playing for a club like Everton is not the worst return, considering its not even his position.
Thats a good return. Double figures infact. You can only really compare his scoring stats to Michu however Michu has played virtually as a striker for more games than Fellaini
Of course he can play there, no-one doubts that. It's just whether a) that's his best position, b) that's his favoured position and c) whether he's the best we can get there for £20m+. SilentWitness says that's his best position and he's only played there because of a lack of options - fair enough. Joe Royle said he thought Fellaini's only worth the money they paid in behind the striker. Phil Neville said this year and last year that Fellaini believes his best role is in that deeper role, but then Fellaini himself said in a post-match interview this year that he really enjoys playing up top scoring the goals and helping his team. So it's not really clear on either a) or b). I'd say the obvious answer to c) is no.
I think Fellaini's good enough to start for us in centre mid and technically he's better than he's given credit for. His passing's good and he's got a great first touch. It's everything else, the dirty work, that I'm not sure about. The dirty work for me is the stuff that Carrick does all the time - tracking runners, blocking off passing angles, offering himself as an option for the defence. Kicking lumps out of the opposition is not something to be admired or sought after, for me. I don't appreciate the skill involved in these "dark arts". I've seen him make loads of tackles (7 v Arsenal in 10/11, 7 v United in the 1-0 last year) but beyond that I've not seen anything from him to suggest he's this great defensive midfielder. Joe Royle said he lets midfielders run off the back of him regularly and said that's part of the reason it's better he's played further forward with less defensive responsibilities. David Moyes will know whether that's true or not and if we were to sign him to play him as a midfielder I'd trust his judgement but if he were to be bought as an attacker we'd be making a terrible mistake.
I disagree. He's a tough player, gets stuck in but offers a lot more than that. I have no porblem with him being awkward to play against, nor getting stuck in. Roy Keane and Patrick Viera had reputations but it didnt make them any less useful.
I've watched him a lot over a few seasons and always been impressed. He plays in an average side and is asked to play further forward a lot of the time - especially since Cahill left, because he has the ability to do that. Dopesnt mean he's not more suited to playing in the middle. In a better side he'd be able to do that.
The reason I wouldnt mind seeing him at OT is that I think we lack steel in midfield and think he'd bring that, as well as probably bringing a bit more to his game than just being able to kick people. I think a player like that would complement what we have.
Yea obviously as an attacker he would be a terrible signing, no one would argue that.
You might be right re: tracking runners bit but I think he would be a good addition to the squad regardless. With no Scholes, no Fletcher I think we need 2 signings in CM.
Put it this way, of course if we were to sign Gundogan, Wilshere etc they are obviously first choice. But the possibility of signing that very top tier of CM quality seems slim so we could do a lot worse than Fellaini. Like you said he makes a lot of tackles and you can't deny he could improve his defensive game here. He is a CM afterall. The suggestion that he is some kind of AM with a few good defensive attributes is incorrect IMO.
So do we press ahead with our targets or do we wait for Moyes to identify who he wants?
If Fellaini was not good enough for SAF to want to sign him last year, why should we consider him now simply because he is an ex Moyes player?!
I know the some on the cafe muppeted about him for a while but we did the same for Dembele too!
Good player but not Manchester United class I think.
Who said Fergie didn't deem Fellaini good enough for United? And what is so bad about Dembele? He's been good in his first season for Spurs/second season as a CM.
SAF never tried to sign either!
Name a few CM who are United quality? i.e equal or better then Cleverley & Anderson?
The main positive of buying Fellaini would be so that he can't dominate and beat us up physically each season.
He's also let us play the likes of Stoke at their own game.
Whether that's worth 20m for such limited gains is another story. He'd hardly fit into the passing style we have.
He's also let us play the likes of Stoke at their own game.
Whether that's worth 20m for such limited gains is another story. He'd hardly fit into the passing style we have.
I'm a big fan of Cleverley but seriously, how long do you have?
So Messi is shite then?
Does anyone think that Moyes might build this team around pace?
We already have enough around, Welbeck, Hernandez, Valencia, Nani, Rafael.. With Zaha and Fabio coming back too.
I wouldn't be surprised to see him build around that. Rooney out too, possibly.
Wouldn't be surprised to see someone like Di Maria come in.
We already have enough around, Welbeck, Hernandez, Valencia, Nani, Rafael.. With Zaha and Fabio coming back too.
I wouldn't be surprised to see him build around that. Rooney out too, possibly.
Wouldn't be surprised to see someone like Di Maria come in.
So build the team around pace, which this team already has? Just to somehow link Di Maria
The general point being that he may add to it and replace players like Rooney with players who possess more pace. Di Maria merely being an example.
No problem at all, happy to help.
Does anyone else think Moyes might build the team around cheats?
Wouldnt be surprised if someone like Di Maria came in
Wouldnt be surprised if someone like Di Maria came in
Anyone else think Redcafe might build itself around posters who merely insult others and rarely offer their own opinions?
Wouldn't be surprised to see another Ekeke come in.
Wouldn't be surprised to see another Ekeke come in.
Now girls