THere's been nothing wrong with or any of our midfield for that matter.
Tom Cleverley | 2012-14 Performances
- Thread starter Bebe
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran discuss a horrific month of December and a depressing FOUR defeats in a row - the latest coming against Wolves and Newcastle.
They discuss how much blame is on Ruben Amorim and rank our squad against other Premier League teams.
Do we have any chance of avoiding defeat at Anfield?
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No ambition to dribble or take risks at all. Plays right into the hands of defenders who only need to stand in front of him to nullify any threat.
Yeah it's pretty annoying imo. Could be a way to conserve Rooneys energy but unfortunately Clev doesn't bring much attacking threat plus I think between him and Rooney neither are deep enough when we have the ball in defence and it's slowing our build up and leaving us open to counters when we're in position up the pitch. If Rooney isn't fit to play upfront/in the hole then put him midfield and put Kagawa behind Welbeck, think that would give us a lot more. Ideally though Clev can just sit next to Carrick and Rooney can push up closer to Welbeck.
Went into hiding again.
Passenger again
No bollocks on this lad
Miles better than Carrick though today.
Did nothing wrong. We dominated for the most part and he passed it around well
I don't get why he looks like he's about to shit himself whenever he has the ball. He needs to grow some balls in order to be a regular here. He's not a kid anymore.
Agree but that says more about Carrick's inept display than it does about Cleverley going missing; though in fairness to him, I think it is absolutely ridiculous to ask him to start match after match.
Come on guys a United player should not be praised for "doing nothing wrong". All it means is he played lots of safe (read safe ) balls. He is not a top 8 player. The only midfielder I've seen with no standout quality. Just good at the basics.
Mediocre, nothing new really.
I thought he was gash today... probably our worst performer, and there were plenty of contenders.
I've lost faith in him now. Should be a squad player and not a regular starter in our midfield.
Don't know why he receives so much stick for today. He wasnt impressive but he was alright. Carrick had a shocker though.
Nothing new, just an average player who doesn't stand up when the going gets tough. Squad player at the very best.
He's a squad player that has found himself in the first team way longer than a squad player could ever dream of because of our lack of fortune with midfielders.......People say Fergie neglected the midfield for too long but we were unlucky not to still have the worlds best midfielder among our ranks any more and I think with Pogba it was simply a case of Fergie believing the player was utterly honored to be in our ranks like every other world class youngster Fergie had playing under him during his whole management career and was stunned when he heard he was off.......We missed out on Ramsey by a whisker due to Fergie needing a holiday right when Ramsey was ready to sign a contract somewhere.......And who could ever have guessed that a player tipped to be the new Scholes by half of Europe in Anderson would instead turn out to be the new Djemba Djemba......Who would have thought the best youngster ever to come though our ranks and the boy tipped to replace Scholes would become a convict before his career even started meaning Fergie had no choice but to ship him off to West Ham......And then on top of that we have been unlcuky with Fletcher and Hargreaves........We've been a whisker away from having the best central midfield in this moment with all those mentioned above players and sometimes its just destiny that things don't go your way as a club in terms of getting the right players in............So in many ways it's not really Cleverleys fault that he is a West Ham/Fulham level player playing for the current champions....A great squad player with a great attitude but miles off the pace in terms of being good enough for us...whether Moyes has the pulling power to land the players we need in central midfield looks quite doubtful indeed these days
I thought he played quite well today.
He wasn't worse than half of the squad today. De Gea, Welbeck and Januzaj were good, Evra and Valencia were awful, the others including Cleverley were pretty much at the same level.
You always seem to think he played well.
He wasn't good at all. It was an uninspiring, nothing performance.
Theon is it you? Didn't you criticized me a few months ago for criticizing Cleverley after a performance which was much worse than his performance today?
I don't think so, Cleverley is one of the few players who needs a severe kick up the arse.
I probably criticised you for being a general tit when it comes to Moyes.
Fairly sure it was about Cleverley. Anyway...
Sorry, the manager should be beyond critics, won't do it again
I don't think the team played poorly in general tbh and I said that in the post match thread. If anything put the midfield balance out of kilter it was deploying Carrick so deep. Far too deep to affect the game and almost in a back 5 rather than one of a midfield pairing. I feel that had more of a negative effect on the game than anything Cleverley did or didn't do.
Squad player at best. No surprise there to be honest.
I thought he was alright. Still nothing special, but definitely better than earlier in the season imo.
He's always alright.
But I think to be a Man Utd player you need to have an extra gear in your player. He just doesn't have that.
I don't get it too. When he went out on loan he looked a very good goal threat albeit the championship.
He's definitely improved in the past month or so, for me. I'd argue he wasn't 'alright' 6 weeks ago, he was just shit.
I think we're all agreed in that he shouldn't be first choice for United. Moyes needs to sort that out with a big signing or two.
Strange how you spot things that others don't in terms of players playing in your position.
I think Cleverley is a decent player personally, but positionally he was all over the place tonight. There were occasions today where he was ahead of Welbeck, which simply shouldn't happen when playing the formation we do. People can say what they want about Wayne Rooney, but he was occupying two roles today. Says a lot when your advanced midfield player is dropping deep so often to pick the ball up off the back four, as well as being asked to create things higher up the pitch. Carrick has taken some stick today as well, but he had a huge amount of responsibility on his shoulders today for someone finding their feet back at this level. It's no wonder people have been complaining about our lack of creativity in central areas. You need to have rotation in the side, but we were playing without a midfield at times with Carrick so deep.
I don't know what role he was asked to play today, and I appreciate that with Carrick in the side the temptation was there to get forward (I have no issues with that), but you need to the awareness of when and which runs to make. I'm not one to criticise players, and as I say I don't know what role Moyes asked him to play tonight, but it needs looking at for me.
I think Cleverley is a decent player personally, but positionally he was all over the place tonight. There were occasions today where he was ahead of Welbeck, which simply shouldn't happen when playing the formation we do. People can say what they want about Wayne Rooney, but he was occupying two roles today. Says a lot when your advanced midfield player is dropping deep so often to pick the ball up off the back four, as well as being asked to create things higher up the pitch. Carrick has taken some stick today as well, but he had a huge amount of responsibility on his shoulders today for someone finding their feet back at this level. It's no wonder people have been complaining about our lack of creativity in central areas. You need to have rotation in the side, but we were playing without a midfield at times with Carrick so deep.
I don't know what role he was asked to play today, and I appreciate that with Carrick in the side the temptation was there to get forward (I have no issues with that), but you need to the awareness of when and which runs to make. I'm not one to criticise players, and as I say I don't know what role Moyes asked him to play tonight, but it needs looking at for me.
A very ordinary player for the level we're at. Still, there are plenty if players who are ahead of Cleverley in the line for the axe. Pointless getting rid of him at this stage.
He's very lucky to be playing regularly for a top club though, he has achieved a position beyond his talent.
He's very lucky to be playing regularly for a top club though, he has achieved a position beyond his talent.
I said this the last day and I will say it again...
The lad is a squad player who tries his best. Unfortunately, his best is ordinary and because of this, we lack any real creativity when it comes to the middle of the park when he plays. @Godfather - Carrick has only returned from injury
The lad is a squad player who tries his best. Unfortunately, his best is ordinary and because of this, we lack any real creativity when it comes to the middle of the park when he plays. @Godfather - Carrick has only returned from injury
It was him. Ridiculous doesn't begin to describe it.
I thought it was an average display. He was decent in the first half, but didn't do much when Tottenham scored.
An honest and hard working player who lacks the talent to be a consistent starter in a side hoping to challenge for trophies. We know that.
I can't remember a performance from him that's impressed. With Fletcher, there may have been similar complaints but he still bossed games against Arsenal occasionally at that age. Cleverley is just...there.
He's only a squad player. He shouldn't be a regular in the first eleven. The problem is, we don't have anyone else.
Yep agree he is our invisible man, playing 5 yard passes in the middle of the park with no input in the attacking third and no strength to do anything in the defensive side either. It's not his fault and he shouldn't be made the scapegoat but we need to bring in 2 quality midfielders to compete with Carrick and Fellaini. Cleverley should be 5-6th choice at best as he is just average.
SpongeTom Squareball. The most average player I've ever seen.
Another big game and another game where he goes missing. He has shown glimpses here and there but really he should be showing better than that at this stage.
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