Tom Cleverley | 2012-14 Performances

Status
Not open for further replies.
Liked the bite in his defensive work today. Asbolutely miles better than the likes of Giggs and Fellaini in a defensive sense.

Also, very, very nice to see him actually make some runs into the box and get into goalscoring positions. Nicely taken goal as well.
 
He often plays well with Welbeck, maybe it's simply the greater movement he provides.

Today couldn't have gone much better, Clev and Welbeck playing well, and the whole team looking a lot sharper and fluid.
 
Much better from him today, I've thought he's shown flashes in recent games of getting some confidence back and today he was trying to do more, you could se the marked difference with him coming deep to get the ball and then playing it forward. Needs to keep this going in to the next game.
 
His best performance since that start of season 2011-2012 IMO. Controled the midfield, made some good runs and scored a goal with a very good finish.

His understanding with Welbeck is very good.
 
Credit where it's due, he was brilliant today and followed on from midweek! I hope he realises he has been gash of late and recognised that in his interview to be fair.More of that and he can be sure of a career with us.
 
I like the positive Clev way more and he did exactly that today. Positive passes, good movement, not shying away. Keep that up lad!
 
Yup good performance. Looked like he stopped trying to 'be' a poor version of Carrick?
 
Looked so much better when we played three in there.

I'd go for three in midfield from now until we've fixed the midfield.
 
marjen said:
Looked so much better when we played three in there.

I'd go for three in midfield from now until we've fixed the midfield.
Click to expand...


I didn't think it was a proper 3 until the last twenty mins or so where Rooney properly dropped and personally hope people don't start thinking the difference was that. For me the difference was him showing energy and bite in the middle to win it back with his positioning being better- he wasn't making runs too early or ending up wide, he stayed quite central, and then on the ball playing it positively and trying to get it forward. I thought our best moments were before Rooney actually became a third midifelder and he simply played in the hole where he or kagawa have been and then having both giggs and clev looking forward with their passing and actually executing it.
 
Ash_G said:
I didn't think it was a proper 3 until the last twenty mins or so where Rooney properly dropped and personally hope people don't start thinking the difference was that. For me the difference was him showing energy and bite in the middle to win it back with his positioning being better- he wasn't making runs too early or ending up wide, he stayed quite central, and then on the ball playing it positively and trying to get it forward. I thought our best moments were before Rooney actually became a third midifelder and he simply played in the hole where he or kagawa have been and then having both giggs and clev looking forward with their passing and actually executing it.
Click to expand...

Rooney was playing much, much deeper than he's done earlier this season. It meant Cleverley and Giggs always had a third man to pass it too and meant we didn't get dominated in midfield like we did against Newcastle.

Obvious that he played much more authoritively as well but I definitely felt our tactics contributed to the improved oerformance.
 
Only for amazing displays from Valencia and Welbeck he would have been a sho-in for MOTM today. Was great and showed the balls that he's been missing. Well done Tom.
 
marjen said:
Rooney was playing much, much deeper than he's done earlier this season. It meant Cleverley and Giggs always had a third man to pass it too and meant we didn't get dominated in midfield like we did against Newcastle.

Obvious that he played much more authoritively as well but I definitely felt our tactics contributed to the improved oerformance.
Click to expand...


Fair enough, I thought whilst Rooney did come quite deep at times in the first half that wasn't something we've not seen from him before, but it was more clev taking the onus to make more ambitious passes that added to the middle and Rooney didn't really drop properly deep until mid second half. Probably a mix of both but I think it Clev played/plays with this attitude more often than Rooney won't need to drop quite as often.
 
Himself and Welbeck stepped up today, as any true United player would in the current situation. They'll hopefully kick on now and erase any doubts that they aren't cut out to make it at this club.
 
Much improved performance. Didn't hide away like he's done of late. Given what he said midweek maybe the penny has dropped for him. If he's realised himself he wasn't doing enough this is a good way to start the comeback.
 
He played the way we know he can. Was so reassuring to see him controlling play from midfield and making himself available as we attacked. He should be contributing more with goals and assists, and this was a big step in the right direction. Hopefully he's found his form at the right time and can keep producing that level of performance.
 
Clev had Giggs and Rooney to show and share his best attribute, one-two short passing in midfield.
 
More like the player I thought he was two years ago.
Lets hope he just cracks on from here.
 
Great game from him today. If he kept this up, he'd be deserving of his place in the starting XI (although that'd only be a good thing in a 3 man midfield) & he is definitely capable of doing it. Hope he starts the next game and shows he has an important role for us to play.
 
Loved his celebrations, showed how much the goal meant to him.
 
His passing and moving worked so well because he was playing in a three man midfield and always had options to pass to close by. We were less spread out than usual and he had Rafael, Valencia, Rooney and Welbeck as options to link up with. Rooney was disciplined (maybe too much so ?) and really recited the urge to go bombing forward and Cleverley really benefitted from having that extra man in midfield. It also saw an improvement in him defensively as he had less space to cover when the opposition had the ball.

Whilst RvP is out I really hope we see 4-3-3 (or a variation using 3 in midfield) more because I really think it benefits the team and makes our midfield deficiencies less marked.
 
He's been much improved since his scandolous performance at Cardiff. Every match since then has been continuous improvement I feel. Yesterday was the best of all, and even better considering we were away, against 3 in the middle, and Giggs was totally useless alongside him.
 
He was brilliant yesterday; exactly the sort of performance he needs to be putting in. Always an option when we had the ball and controlled the midfield throughout. His goal summed up his performance really. Constantly looking to play on the front foot, and it was great to see him pushing on from midfield and getting a goal. Jones has been doing a decent job in the middle, but you need someone capable of picking the ball up off the back four and orchestrating things, and with Giggs and Rooney around him in central areas he was given the freedom to play a bit higher up the pitch on occasions and create opportunities with his movement.

Hopefully his goal and his overall performance will be boosted by that yesterday, but he played well from start to finish. We need to see more of it.
 
Another good performance tonight.
 
MOM today IMO. A great performance by him both attacking and defending wise.
 
Another performance that makes me think confidence is the main issue for Cleverley. The Newcastle game may have done him favours.
 
He has really picked his game up recently. Since his sub appearence against Shakhtar, he has really started to look promising.
 
He has been decent to very good for his last 3 games now.

I am not overly shocked, he is still young and went through a bad patch like the rest of the squad
 
Nice to see some of the lads who received a lot of stick over the last few weeks performing. Hope Tom can put in a good run of games with the momentum he has going now.
 
Ever player plays better when the team plays well. He was struggling with all the players, his stick was over the top because he is in the middle of the park where we need improvement. Easy target.
 
Another very good performance tonight. Looked to have that zip in his play thats been missing for a while.
 
Eric'sCollar said:
Ever player plays better when the team plays well. He was struggling with all the players, his stick was over the top because he is in the middle of the park where we need improvement. Easy target.
Click to expand...

I think that played a big part in it. Because we weren't scoring and creating chances etc I think he was an easy target. I won't lie, I did criticise him but also criticised many others. I'll stick with my opinion that he's a good player but don't see him ever being a first team regular.

But he's been great in his last two games.
 
Played pretty well again and like seeing him keep fighting for balls and trying some forward passes. Now would really like to see him add a forward pass when he carries the ball forward, he does well to create the space but then his pass it backwards. There were some frustrating bits between him and valencia where they'd make the space for either a wide cross by Valencia or a slightly infield cross by Clev and they kept passing up the opportunity. But either way a clear improvement with his last game and good to see.
 
My MOTM last night, I thought we had signed a new player he was so different from the Cleverley of the last few months. Aggressive in his tackling, confident in his passing, he didn't really look like the shy and afraid player he showed so many times. Hopefully a sign of a real transformation in him.
 
So what has happened, are we saying the goal he scored on the weeken has changed him? I dont think so, quite frankly i dont think he should be in the first team at all. He is a real liability, i'm not a fan and probably wont be won over. He has been in the first team for a while and has failed to deliver every time he gets the opportunity. One would have thought that he would have benefited with Paul Scholes in the team and learnt fromt he master, but clearly he hasn't. We dont need passengers in the team, Cleverley isnt my cup of tea
 
Nathan said:
So what has happened, are we saying the goal he scored on the weeken has changed him? I dont think so, quite frankly i dont think he should be in the first team at all. He is a real liability, i'm not a fan and probably wont be won over. He has been in the first team for a while and has failed to deliver every time he gets the opportunity. One would have thought that he would have benefited with Paul Scholes in the team and learnt fromt he master, but clearly he hasn't. We dont need passengers in the team, Cleverley isnt my cup of tea
Click to expand...

No we're not saying that, we're just appreciating his performance that's all. It doesn't have to be all black or white when talking about players.
 
Nathan said:
So what has happened, are we saying the goal he scored on the weeken has changed him? I dont think so, quite frankly i dont think he should be in the first team at all. He is a real liability, i'm not a fan and probably wont be won over. He has been in the first team for a while and has failed to deliver every time he gets the opportunity. One would have thought that he would have benefited with Paul Scholes in the team and learnt fromt he master, but clearly he hasn't. We dont need passengers in the team, Cleverley isnt my cup of tea
Click to expand...

Interesting. So, if we a player plays well we shouldn't appreciate him but if he doesn't we should all join together and start bashing. Right?
Cleverley is a good player, maybe not a world class player, but can be very useful in the team if he performs to the level he is capable of and that is the point most are making. In lat couple of games, he has put in much improved performance and that has reflected in our overall play as well.
 
Nathan said:
So what has happened, are we saying the goal he scored on the weeken has changed him? I dont think so, quite frankly i dont think he should be in the first team at all. He is a real liability, i'm not a fan and probably wont be won over. He has been in the first team for a while and has failed to deliver every time he gets the opportunity. One would have thought that he would have benefited with Paul Scholes in the team and learnt fromt he master, but clearly he hasn't. We dont need passengers in the team, Cleverley isnt my cup of tea
Click to expand...

Cleverley isn't my favourite player and quite far from it, but what is wrong with people acknowledging that he has put in some good performances lately?

Since his sub appearence against Shakthar, there has been a massive improvement in his game and his performance levels have really picked up. No-one is claiming he is the second coming of Scholes but I think it's only fair that his good performances get recognised as he gets a-lot of criticism for his bad ones.

Personally, I would prefer him to be a squad player for now and desperately want us to reinforce our midfield, but if he can maintain his performance levels, he will be a valuable squad member.
 
Nathan said:
So what has happened, are we saying the goal he scored on the weeken has changed him? I dont think so, quite frankly i dont think he should be in the first team at all. He is a real liability, i'm not a fan and probably wont be won over. He has been in the first team for a while and has failed to deliver every time he gets the opportunity. One would have thought that he would have benefited with Paul Scholes in the team and learnt fromt he master, but clearly he hasn't. We dont need passengers in the team, Cleverley isnt my cup of tea
Click to expand...

I was at this, but he has been very good in the last few games and my MOM yesterday. He isn't a first team quality player (well he is, but that's more because of our lack of options) but if his performances are as good as last few ones, then I think he's a good squad player. He just needs to play consistently like that, cause the performances like those against Cardiff, Stoke etc are unacceptable on this level.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.