I thought he had a great first half. Not as good second half, and probably would have gotten a red if he was kept on. Would love to see him and Ando in midfield two again.
Tom Cleverley | 2012-14 Performances
- Thread starter Bebe
- Start date
- Status
I find that he still gets drawn to the ball a bit too much at the expense of his tactical position and then once he does that if players knock the ball away he's over committed himself. He is still working on the balance and it'll come with time but with Ando doing well he might come under some pressure.
Defensively he did well don't get me wrong. Not involved enough in our forward play though.
I was a bit of a meh performance really. We have Carrick to keep things ticking over. I think we saw when Anderson came on how much more creative he is with his passing. I think that we lack that creativity though the middle with the Cleverley - Carrick partnership.
I'd agree with that in fairness. I think people saying it was average and off the pace is harsh. Cleverley and Anderson in the middle should be given more chances.
Cleverley did well today.
Anderson came on and showed a lot of energy and desire to make things happen, but remember he had the luxury of playing against 10 men for the most part...
Anderson came on and showed a lot of energy and desire to make things happen, but remember he had the luxury of playing against 10 men for the most part...
When we get really high up the pitch that's where Clev shines as his touch and thinking really help our momentum, from deeper though he doesn't quite have the range and he can't carry the ball like Ando can. Tbf though I think cause in this sort of system there's less short options for him it doesn't suit him that well. Still like I said on the ball he did well, doesn't give it away and keeps things ticking.
What I like about him is his ability to play us out of trouble when under pressure with some quick passing. He showed that today. He didn't show a lot of creativity but in this system his job is to sit deeper and leave the attacking play to the wingers and attackers. Would be a bit harsh to blame him for that.
It's hard to fault Cleverley when we're playing him in such an expansive setup. You could tell by the amount of long balls we played to either wing. It wasn't necessarily setup to exemplify his best qualities. More so, keep the play ticking and put the emphasis on the wings. When our attack is so spread out like it was today, you'd prefer seeing someone like Scholes out there but he has liabilities of his own. It was a decent performance but people need to remember if we play expansively, don't expect Cleverley to be at the heart of our attacks. It was all about the wingers and strikers today.
Does anyone think Cleverley performs better in a 3 man central midfield?
Can't understand the criticisms of Cleverley. I thought he was excellent. Thoroughly outplayed Wilshere and was the reason he got frustrated and picked up his yellows. His tackling looked better too (excluding the fouls, but who'd begrudge a midfielder a bit of bite?), didn't get shaken off so easily.
The majority of modern midfielders do. I've said it a thousand times and I'll say it again today... Anderson-Carrick-Cleverley. It's a no-brainer.
We really should be playing with those 3 in midfield but I feel like SAF hesitates to do so due to Anderson's fitness and him wanting Rooney to be central to our play.
Yes both he and Anderson do. But for rotation purposes its unlikely that we will play all three of Carrick, Anderson and Cleverley in midfield. Its a lot better for the squad and resting purposes to play a midfield two with Rooney dropping deep to keep us from being overrun by the opposition, because a midfield 2 lets us rotate both our attacking players and midfielders and still field good sides.
We dont have any problems playing a midfield 2 lately, so its a bit pointless to sacrifice our attack just to play a slightly better midfield.
I thought he was very good today. Not as good as Carrick, but did almost everything right. And he's a player with a lot of movement off the ball as well. A type that United needs.
Didn't think he played badly. Though I'd agree with being lucky. I thought he was going to get a second yellow, and was likely any poor tackle would have seen him sent off after that. So good call to bring him off when he was.
Taking off either young or valencia wouldn't make that much difference to our attack i feel.
We gain more from having anderson bursting runs down the middle..
Nah. I think he played very well. Should have been sent off though. Well... kind of.
It's not a no brainer at all.
I too think that combo would be brilliant but Fergie loves his wingers and will of course play Rooney and Van Persie.
So unless you're playing players out of position (Rooney) then there's only gunna be 2 midfield spots in most cases.
I agree that the left side isnt working out as it should, and I wouldnt mind playing a diamond with no left winger (but Valencia still on the right). If we did this then we could potentially field all of Ando, Cleverley and Carrick but it wouldnt be a traditional midfield 3 anyway if we still play both RVP and Rooney. Cleverley would probably have to play a left-ish role.
Still there would be rotation issues with using that as our main formation, especially as long as Kagawa is injured. When he comes back we could possibly play all three of Anderson, Cleverley and Carrick without worrying too much about that though.
I thought he was very good today, especially in the first half. He completed 98% of his passes today, that's probably one pass misplaced in about 60 minutes.
Fantastic today. So full of energy and really makes a difference when someone is capable of closing down opposition quickly. What impresses me the most about him is he never panics with the ball when under pressure, is capable of picking out a short pass in tight spaces and can play some one-two's to speed up the pace of our attack.
Against an Arsenal side like that a lot of midfielders would look impressive.
He's clearly developing and I hope he makes it but to say he was fantastic is way over the top
Should he have been off today? My Gooner mate is banging on about it, but I didn't notice anything..
His close control and ability to pass the ball out under pressure is extremely pleasing.
Was impressive today. Hope both him and Cleverley play midweek, it's about time we saw those two together again.
The Cleverley twins?
Well they couldn't be any worse than the Djemba twins.
Anderson. Bollocks.
Anderson. Bollocks.
Decent shift from him. He was never going to be able to play completely to his strengths in this game. I think he was picked due to his superb fitness, intelligent movement and his ability to recycle possession in an effective way. I think Wilshere was well off the pace, but Cleverley didn't let him settle at all.
Unselfish display from him, a little rash and maybe rode his luck at times. He is a team player through and through and I'm learning to accept his current flaws because he is working damn hard to correct them. I still think he needs to believe in himself a little more, sometimes feel he isn't convinced he can become the fine player he so blatantly should be.
Unselfish display from him, a little rash and maybe rode his luck at times. He is a team player through and through and I'm learning to accept his current flaws because he is working damn hard to correct them. I still think he needs to believe in himself a little more, sometimes feel he isn't convinced he can become the fine player he so blatantly should be.
Thought his first half was really good. You get to see a lot of off the stuff ball at the stadium which isnt picked up on TV. His movement and tracking especially first half was great. Dont remember him giving the ball away in he first half.
I think the ref was pretty much booking everybody for every foul. Fergie did the right thing by subbing him off when he did. Do think his short one touch passing is good but his long range passing needs work.
I think the ref was pretty much booking everybody for every foul. Fergie did the right thing by subbing him off when he did. Do think his short one touch passing is good but his long range passing needs work.
Yeah, Tom was excellent first half. Kept possession in tight spaces, worked nicely with Carrick, fed the forwards well. Looks confident at the moment. I love the way he always knows what he's going to do before he gets the ball.
He had a nice little moment just outside our own box. Ball was passed to him/rebounded towards him from our defence, and he had a couple Arsenal players around him. Somehow he had the awareness and composure to dummy it, and the ball made it's way to I think Carrick who was stood behind him.
Not sure if anyone else noticed it at the time.
Not sure if anyone else noticed it at the time.
He's still always looking for that extra movement and pass from Carrick. It's just not going to happen. But happy to see him continue to play in smart areas. A couple of times he visibly had the shits when Carrick could have been smart and played him in after his clever movement.
Far more dynamism is needed when he is partnered in midfield.
Far more dynamism is needed when he is partnered in midfield.
I noticed it! Tom's quite the footballer.
Of course it's not a no-brainer in the sense of what will actually happen. As you say, Fergie loves his wingers. But I think it's the stand-out option for us at the moment. None of our wingers are in great form, and all three of those midfielders are. So get a 433 going. You can always use one winger with RVP and Rooney up top.
Yeah, Scholesian in that respect. What makes Scholes so incredible, is that his awareness both before and after receiving the ball, is only facet of his game (passing and shooting being two other prominent ones.)
Be nice to see some stats of ground covered - he seems to be covering a lot of ground, pressing, harassing - given a sort of attack dog role. His passing has been pretty good, but I think all the defensive work is hampering his creative side a tad.
But, it's not a major concern, he's working hard to cement a place in the side, and doing what's being asked of him...can't really complain about any of that.
He's also a good example for some of our younger kids - obviously they have Fletch as an example, but Cleverley too now - players who didn't light up the world at 18-19, but kept working at it, and look at them now!
But, it's not a major concern, he's working hard to cement a place in the side, and doing what's being asked of him...can't really complain about any of that.
He's also a good example for some of our younger kids - obviously they have Fletch as an example, but Cleverley too now - players who didn't light up the world at 18-19, but kept working at it, and look at them now!
What was going on between him and Wilshere ? Some kinda rivalry ?
Wilshere with small man syndrome - completely unwarranted.
Sat out the last 18 months, seen the hype around Cleverley(justified and unjustified) - thought he'd make a point.
He certainly made one
he's certainly a talent,Wilshire but a little twat. feckin full of himself. The way he was getting into RVP and apparently some shit at handshakes, as well as the TC stuff. Small man syndrome sounds about right.
- Status