[Poll] Fellaini - What do we Think of him Now? | Poll reset - vote again until May 17th

What Status Should Fellaini have in the Squad for the Future?

  • Key - Should be in the First XI whenever possible.

    Votes: 3 1.8%

  • Good - Should play most games, adds a lot to the team.

    Votes: 24 14.5%

  • Decent - Rotation/backup option, or if we want to use a specific "Plan B"

    Votes: 120 72.3%

  • Anderson - Absolute last resort.

    Votes: 1 0.6%

  • Sell Him - No place for him at the club going forwards.

    Votes: 18 10.8%
  • Total voters
    166
  • Poll closed .
Voted for "good" but in fact I see him somewhere between decent and good.

My opinion on him now is not much different than when we bought him.
 
Voted "key". We need a strongman in midfield, and Fellaini gives us that. Also I am really happy with his performance this season. Hopefully he stay fit and hold down his position in the team with more good performances.
 
He's got in the team through injury to Herrera but he deserves to stay in it on the form he's shown so far.

Long-term I don't think he's a starter though
 
Decent +/ Good - borderline.

On performances he should be playing, it has been gratifying to watch. But I still believe we have better midfielders and in a hypothetical fully fit squad with everyone on form, he wouldnt get in.
 
My favourite starting side from our current players would be

------------De Gea
Rafael---Smalling---Jones---Shaw/Rojo
---------Blind/Carrick
-----Fellaini------Herrera
------------Rooney
----RvP/Falcao---Di Maria

Having said that, there are certainly better players out there for the position Fellaini plays. We just don't happen to have one of them. So, for this season, I'd say he should play most games - in the long term, maybe not.
 
I'm starting to come around to the fact that playing him as a #10 wouldn't be the worst thing ever especially if we ask Rafael and Di Maria too look for early crosses into the box. He creates so many chances for the midfielders to run into knock downs and the forwards get a ton of space from the attention/nuisance he creates for himself.
 
I liked him when he was at Everton and I still believe he gives us something which many players can't provide, so I'm glad to see that he's finally broken into the team. I think what he lacks is football intelligence, though. He's one of those players who wouldn't get a chance if he was 6 inches shorter.
 
He hasn't necessarily been as good as 'great', but the issue is that his competition, - Herrera, is perhaps in the 'good' category himself.

Fellaini's physical attributes are not so key to the extent that he would keep an Iniesta out of a side, and while I am in favour of Herrera playing more personally, he has to be good to the point where it negates the need for Fellaini.

Basically, Fellaini has taken his all round game to an above decent level of late, and I think to be fair to him, in conjunction with his physical ability, it has justified him keeping his place in the team. Before, he was so poor at most things that it basically came down to a choice of playing with a footballer or a lampost in midfield, hence Tom Cleverley even being a better option. Noe that isn't the debate anymore as he doesn't let us down at the basic midfield duties.
 
Does a job. We need to forget about the money spent, it's a sunk cost. Looks a better buy at 23M than 28M, but the Woodward-Moyes axis of ineptitude is one thing that isn't his fault. He's probably still to blame for world hunger, the JFK assassination, and that little piece of salad stuck in your teeth when you're talking to a pretty girl, but he's slowly starting to win credit too.

All that aside, he offers something different to the rest of our team. Not in an Anderson 'I'll keep you all laughing by seeing how many hotdogs I can stuff down my face' way; but in a practical, footballing sense. His box to box movement is underrated, and his ball winning skills are starting to shine through. There were several times against Arsenal where his physical presence and aerial domination relieved pressure, both from an attacking and defensive stand point. I also thought his use of the ball was a nice combination of safe and intelligent.

He will never embody an aesthetically pleasing style; and for my tastes he moves the ball around too slowly. But he has plenty to offer in his own right and gives us some additional solidity that will be important in big games.
 
Just like Roses, he grows on you. Seems to be enjoying his football under Van Gaal and I've changed my mind about him. Under Moyes, I thought he was a dead loss but he's a vast improvement this season.
 
Liverpool game
Mods - I would appreciate it if one of you could reset this poll (and update the thread title accordingly) and open it for another week or so. I have updated the OP with the results of the original poll and would like to see if/how much opinion has changed since then.

@Damien @Brwned @Cina
 
buckooo1978 said:
still voted backup/rotation though the big man was flawless today
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I actually wish I had created this thread at the start of the season, be interesting to gauge how the general opinion has changed since then.
 
I still don't think that he is good enough to be a starter for CL/league contender, and this is the level that we should aim for. Very useful in his own way, but still, lacks some basics of a top football player. He is okay for the rotation - voted accordingly.
 
I voted key he has been a major part of our last two wins and hope he continues this form going forward.

I am willing to hold my has up when I am wrong about a player.
 
I think it needs to be clear as to over what time period the poll choices are for.

I think he is key at the moment and up until the summer, but going forwards I would like him to be not such a key player for us, but someone who we can use in certain situations and against certain opposition (it was clear we had a plan to exploit their weak point - Can - with him today).

Similar to what someone like Park was for us, when the situation calls for it we use him and use him well.
 
He's basically a Drogba or Van Nistelrooy without the striker part. Can hold the ball up, hustle, bustle, chase down, etc. Actually he is basically Peter Crouch, holds the ball up and flicks the ball back into play with his head.

Still Peter Crouch has played for some good England, Portsmouth and Spurs teams.

I voted the one below key.
 
Squad player. First team should be Herrera/Mata as the #10 with a central midfielder with physical tendencies akin to Fellaini but also able to transition defence into attack and carry the ball well.

Fellaini becomes a great strategic piece when you set up like we have been, many teams don't know what the feck to do with him.
 
Walrus said:
I actually wish I had created this thread at the start of the season, be interesting to gauge how the general opinion has changed since then.
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he impressed me when he came back into the side and scored that cracker against West Brom

in the past he, like Mata, Di Maria etc has looked poor in a poor United side but since that game he has continued to improve

in the last 2 games especially though United have clicked and Fellaini has been a big part of that - can't remember him losing a 50/50 today - he's been fantastic at winning the ball and using it well (though without a huge amount of ambition)
 
He should play in our current team. But next season when LvG has his box-to-box player type I would rather see the new CM with Blind and Herrera in CM. Right now Felliani is our only strong man, but that should change in summer. For a regular starter in our next season team he is still a little bit too limited with the ball imo.

But fair play to him, he has done well this season and will be part of our eleven till the end of the season, no doubt about that.
 
ForlansHair said:
I think it needs to be clear as to over what time period the poll choices are for.

I think he is key at the moment and up until the summer, but going forwards I would like him to be not such a key player for us, but someone who we can use in certain situations and against certain opposition (it was clear we had a plan to exploit their weak point - Can - with him today).

Similar to what someone like Park was for us, when the situation calls for it we use him and use him well.
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Fair enough, it was left pretty open deliberately but I am looking for the more long term opinion. Anyone can see and rate current form, I am more interested in the longer term view for the future.
 
One of the first names on the team sheet at the moment, surely, and can play a part as the squad hopefully improves. Who knew? Not me, I voted sell last time.
 
He has found his role and has been playing it very well. On current form and in that role surely deserves to keep his place
 
At the moment he's a good player who should start most of our games.

Next year? Hopefully we'll have strengthened even further and he'll be pushed into more of a squad role. Not because he's a bad player but because that's how strong we want our team to be.
 
His performances have improved dramatically to the point where he is pretty much a guaranteed starter for the time being, that much cannot be denied in fairness to him. Plus he has shown good application and effort, which is heartening to see.

Having said that, I still wouldn't want him to be part of our long term plans once we get more well rounded midfielders in the summer or any such time in the near future. Some might construe this as hate or a vendetta against Fellaini but it's just an aesthetic preference. Personally I'd love to see a technical midfield of Ander, Carrick (or his long term replacement) and someone like Pogba or Verratti, and don't necessarily ascribe to the theory that you must have a somewhat limited but physically gifted player in the team. And there is some justification for that notion when we look at our own past and some of the elite clubs in Europe right now. So the vote is predicated on that opinion rather than any form of indictment of him as a player per se.

The same as before. Last option.
 
He's been excellent the last few games. However, a few games does not make a player. I'd still sell if we get a decent amount of money back, and buy a WC box to box midfielder.

Voted option #3
 
He's been good, much better than I expected and he gives us something nobody else in the team does. That being said there's only so far we can go with hitting balls upto Fellaini, he should be used as an option but we shouldn't plan our game around his aerial ability.
 
Voted 'decent' but my opinion is slightly higher. Basically he'd play many games but not most games. He's a useful weapon.
 
In all honesty i am near gobsmacked at the turn around Fellaini has made. Be honest - if we signed him this summer, shaved his head and was called a different name we would be calling him one of the best midfielders in the league now he's "settled".

Okay i might be over-doing it. But seriously this guy is such a handful for the opposition. Controls ball in the air so easily, has a great touch and turn on him. He contributes really well providing chances for other players and has scored a few.

I've gone for key player. I want him starting whenever possible until we sign a Pogba style player. Sure he encourages a more direct approach to our play at times, but i love the way he gets stuck in and just shrugs off defenders with ease when getting onto a long pass. He manages to chest down a huge percentage of them aswell retaining possesion. Delighted for him. Before season started i was desperate for him to leave, haha!
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Well, I think it was a bit unfair to judge Fellaini last season with all what happened. However, judging on this season so far, I voted for good. Since he's come in against West Brom, he hasn't looked back, and I honestly hope it continues.

I said it before, he's not the most elegant of players, but he's a nuisance, and we've lacked a nuisance in midfield for a good while now.
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Still maintain the same opinion, although he's playing a bit further forward now.
 
Sultan said:
He's been excellent the last few games. However, a few games does not make a player. I'd still sell if we get a decent amount of money back, and buy a WC box to box midfielder.

Voted option #3
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Same here.
 
I'm happy to keep going like this for this season but I would want him as a squad player next season tbh. Harsh as that may be.
 
I'm struggling to vote. This season he's easily 'good', but that's a season where we've struggled for form at times and where his physical presence has been very helpful in overpowering the opposition when we've been incapable of outplaying them.

Next season I expect us to add players that lessen the need for a player like Fellaini. I think we'll shift towards playing more quickly along the ground as we add technique and pace out wide and up front, as well as a more rounded and secure midfielder to partner Carrick and Ander. In a team that plays the way Van Gaal wants them to play, Fellaini is far less effective.
 
Keep him in the squad but shouldn't be a part of the strongest 11 after the summer.
 
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