He showed good recovery and nicked in well at times. I still think though positionally he has issues where he tries to push up on the wing when we already have both Evra/Rafael and the respective winger pushed up. In those situations I think if he just held his position we would be in a much better defensive position.
Tom Cleverley | 2012-14 Performances
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He showed good recovery and nicked in well at times. I still think though positionally he has issues where he tries to push up on the wing when we already have both Evra/Rafael and the respective winger pushed up. In those situations I think if he just held his position we would be in a much better defensive position.
I can't believe he didn't take that shot on at the end. It summed up how unwilling he is to be adventurous going forward.
Was understandable IMO. The Sunderland player tracked him well and he couldn't get the space to make such a long shot.
I thought he was good today, especially with his tempo in the 2nd half.
He's just a very unimaginative player but he works hard and atleast has more pace and energy than Fellaini.
I think he's a good player to have around the club and can certainly be useful in certain formations and systems. The problem is that in a two man midfield with Carrick, we have 0 creativity from central areas and are relying heavily on Rooney dropping in to give us more creativity from the middle.
He's just a very unimaginative player but he works hard and atleast has more pace and energy than Fellaini.
I think he's a good player to have around the club and can certainly be useful in certain formations and systems. The problem is that in a two man midfield with Carrick, we have 0 creativity from central areas and are relying heavily on Rooney dropping in to give us more creativity from the middle.
Did well enough today but at the top level he'll always be an ordinary player. That said, think there's still more to come from him. Good player to have at the club.
This.
This too.
This as well. Hate to get on Fellaini's back in the Tom Cleverley thread but if they're both competing for that slot next to Carrick its gotta be Cleverley every time, at least for now.
Deserves his starting place in midfield.
95% passing accuracy and 8 tackles.
95% passing accuracy and 8 tackles.
Didn't notice him much either, but he kept the ball going on several occasions. He offers something different from Carrick and Fellaini as when he gets the ball he often turns his marker before passing the ball. He hasn't improved as much as I hoped, but there's clear signs of improvement in his general passing game. I think he hit 95%+ passing completion today. His defensive work has also improved a lot, as TheSkeldinator pointed out. I think a decent spell in the team could do him a lot of good, and I really don't see which other United midfielder is better alongside Carrick.
The thing at the end was a bit weird, yeah. I wanted him to have a go as well, but you can sort of see why he didn't. Hitting the goal from that range is not as easy as it some times look and by not shooting we kept the ball in our ranks. But yeah, just have a go! I thought Welbeck ran into a decent position to receive the ball as well, but not sure how covered he was.
I thought he was decent. Lots of energy and keeps the ball. The problem is that Carrick uses the ball in a very similar way and sometimes I just feel like a more forward thinking player would work better.
Other than his battling and defensive work, I was really dissappointed. Was even less effective on the ball than Rooney and Carrick in the first half
Today I noticed that quite often he would lay off the ball to Carrick and then bomb forward. It never really came to anything today but it's better than laying the ball off to Carrick and then standing still waiting for him to pass it back.
Personally I would say that he does this too much, particularly when he often runs outwide where we already have two players pushed high. Sometimes its better for him to just hold his position when there are a lot of other players already ahead of him.
Tracked back well, plenty of effort and some good challenges, he still offers very little in attack and I still feel we are very one paced in midfield, but he's a good squad player
I remember Fletcher getting slated for bad passes. In 1 game in the first 10 minutes he made 3 bad passes and after that didnt give the ball away once. He ended up with the highest percentage of successful passes in the game but afterwards everyone was complaining that he gave the ball away all the time.
Today after about 25 minutes Tom gave his first bad pass of the game and it was immediately mentioned in the match thread.
Like Fletcher I think people are watching and waiting for any mistake and completely missing the good stuff which far far exceeds the mistakes.
If you watch the next game he plays in his bombing forward is to clear defenders away. He doesnt actually expect the ball back and if you watch his body shape when he makes those bombing forward runs you will see sometimes his body shape is open for the ball back and sometimes its not. thats when he is clearing channels and defenders with off the ball runs.
Promising performance. Looked like he was fighting for it today, which is what he's been lacking. Too often he just cruises and doesn't apply himself. I hope he keeps playing with passion, the rest will come if he does.
I thought he was very good. Carrick was good too. Shame our attack was below par.
Cleverley was boss today. His pass accuracy was excellent. Even though his critics argue he's not incisive enough, I think his retention of the ball is the best in the team at the moment. He rarely loses the ball and he keeps his passes very tidy.
Side to side like you just don't care.
Strange thing to say. He was only second to Januzaj today in performance.
His game is uncomplicated, gets the ball ,passes the ball looks for space to receive the ball. Its what he does and he does it pretty well.Personally I think both he and Carrick would be more suited playing in a 3 with a more creative player but as we are overloaded with strikers that won't happen too often.
The problem with playing Carrick and Cleverley in a 2 is neither of them get beyond the strikers that's what we miss.
The one element missing from Cleverley's game is the willingness to dribble from midfield and drive the team forward when the option for the pass isn't on. He did this when he first broke into the side in 2011/12 so I can only assume he's made the conscious choice not to take risks and to prize possession above all. Still, despite the possibility of running into trouble if he starts dribbling more I do feel that Cleverley could do a lot for himself if he just ran with the ball more. It may be more risky but if you aren't willing to risk anything you'll never achieve anything.
Definitely the second best player on the pitch after Januzaj. Cleverley was excellent today. Really good defensive contribution too and was positionally disciplined.
I think this why his partnership with Anderson flourishes. They can make those little triangles and beat their markers. However, they leave a gaping hole behind them should they lose the ball and we come under instant pressure. I really think our best bet is to field Carrick at the base of a 3-man midfield and have Cleverley & Anderson in front of him.....
Cleverley makes us look so better when he plays.
I'd say it was up there with being amongst our better players, I'd put Carrick ahead of him though simply cause Carrick makes more stuff happen, if you look on those 442 stats, it's carrick who was providing the ball the most to Rooney, Januzaj and Nani, as well as doing a lot of defensive work. That's my issue with Clev, it's great to be someone who retains the ball well, but that alone isn't enough, Scholes retained the ball brilliantly but he also makes stuff happen, Carrick retains the ball really well but he also provides a great defensive shield and starts a lot of attacks. Today Clev did well with his tackles and work rate and he needs to keep that up if he isn't going to become a more forceful player attackingly.
without being harsh on Fellaini as it is still early days, it's almost like we'd forgotten Cleverley's strengths today. Very mobile, keeps it simple, breaks up the play. Pretty effective today.
Certainly prefer him over Fellaini if the opposition has any semblance of mobility in their midfield.
Certainly prefer him over Fellaini if the opposition has any semblance of mobility in their midfield.
I thought he had a good game yesterday, these are his stats
58 passes, 95% pass accuracy, 2 key passes and 8 tackles won (100% tackle success)
58 passes, 95% pass accuracy, 2 key passes and 8 tackles won (100% tackle success)
Agree the only thing is Tom seems to freeze in the final 3rd and just keeps it simple wish he'd take more responsibility and try something now and then.
I was happy with his performance yesterday as I think it encouraged others around him after a while to keep the ball and not be extremely wasteful with it (Evra and Vidic), and we actually then started playing decent stuff and atleast looking like a team playing on the same wavelength. It is a bit of worry how reluctant he is to pass a ball forward however, so he's a bit limited at this stage to be a Manchester United starting central midfielder. I thought he showed more drive in his play a few seasons ago but don't know where that part of his game has disappeared to now.
We had 63% possession yesterday. Both our CM's were fine
He was getting loads of stick on twitter and the BBC website.
Thought it was odd as he was fine and wasn't afraid to get stuck into the midfield battle. Still think he needs to add more to his game if he wants to be first choice there but he's playing better than he did in the second half of last season and he's a fighter. Last week against West Brom we lacked that severely in the second half.
Thought it was odd as he was fine and wasn't afraid to get stuck into the midfield battle. Still think he needs to add more to his game if he wants to be first choice there but he's playing better than he did in the second half of last season and he's a fighter. Last week against West Brom we lacked that severely in the second half.
Don't see why he was getting stick. Was one of his better games for us especially with the defensive contribution and still managing two key passes. Carrick made 116 passes to Cleverley's 65 though so I think he needs to share that burden a bit more, but I thought he played really well yesterday.
Tom may not be a headline grabber, possess immense flair or score goals but he is exactly what we need. He does the basics right: works hard; challenges for the ball; passes; tackles; and offers much needed dynamism in getting up and down the pitch.
There maybe a plenty of players better than him at most things but fewer may provide as good a fit to our side than him at the moment. He helps with keeping the tempo up, isn't afraid of getting stuck-in when need arises, and most importantly he frequently wins the ball back without fouling the opposition.
He is a tidy player who is gradually growing into the role that Fletcher used to play. I like his simplicity and awareness of the fact that the team depends on quick distribution of the ball for it to be effective. He is one of our own and it feels me with pride seeing our academy players make it here. I hope he stays fit and keeps up the good work.
There maybe a plenty of players better than him at most things but fewer may provide as good a fit to our side than him at the moment. He helps with keeping the tempo up, isn't afraid of getting stuck-in when need arises, and most importantly he frequently wins the ball back without fouling the opposition.
He is a tidy player who is gradually growing into the role that Fletcher used to play. I like his simplicity and awareness of the fact that the team depends on quick distribution of the ball for it to be effective. He is one of our own and it feels me with pride seeing our academy players make it here. I hope he stays fit and keeps up the good work.
I thought he was excellent yesterday. He was a bundle of energy and constantly moving and looking to get the ball forward. Remember some really good tackles and one moment in particular that stuck out was him sprinting to midfield after a corner was cleared to put pressure on the Sunderland player, don't think I've ever seen him run that fast.
He keeps playing like that and I say fantastic for us. Should keep Fellaini out of the team with these kinds of performances, at least until Fellaini can show better control and ability to retain possession.
He keeps playing like that and I say fantastic for us. Should keep Fellaini out of the team with these kinds of performances, at least until Fellaini can show better control and ability to retain possession.
Good post.
Spot on. Spot on.
If he wasn't an academy player people on here would be far more critical of that performance.
Cleverley has been very good all season so far. He was excellent yesterday. I feel better whenever I see his name on the teamsheet.
No because he had a good game yesterday. It had nothing to do with him being an academy player. People have criticised him for a while but it was a good performance yesterday. Credit where it's due.
Good post, sums up my thoughts to be honest. I think he'll continue to grow into the role and will start to take more responsibility over the course of the season, providing he stays fit.
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