Tom Cleverley | 2014/15 Performances (on loan at Aston Villa)

[dwd]

There's no point me criticizing him anymore cause I'm gone beyond the point

I know he's a local lad and everything but he's stealing a living playing for the club

He's not a local lad but he's definitely not worthy of playing for us.

 

[IceDevil]

I don't think he was that bad. At least not as bad as Fletcher, who was beyond shite.

 

[JohnDoe]

Definition of a gutless passenger. Offers nothing. Better than Fletch though, but that's not saying much.

 

[manusteve]

I don't think he was that bad. At least not as bad as Fletcher, who was beyond shite.

They were both embarrassingly bad, but Cleverley irritates me whenever he plays because he is consistently shite.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

His shooting technique is absolutely hilarious. He just can't shoot.

It's shocking isn't it. Although I don't even know if you can call what he does a shooting technique, he just can't shoot. That effort he made in the first 10 minutes was laughable at how inept it was.

I thought for a long time Cleverly was decent and would be ok to have in the squad as a backup. I don't think he can even be that though now, he's not just failed to develop from a few years ago, he's regressed. That central midfield today was arguably the worst we've fielded in the last 25 years. Park and Rafael were a better combo.

 

[pseudo_canadian]

It is amazing how much he's regressed. A few years ago it looked like he was on the verge of being a really good player for us. Shame.

 

[JohnnyLaw]

I can see that he really tries and I feel like he gives it his all but he's just so out of his league that it's unfair. And Fletchers performance today and against Swansea reminds me of pensioner that's starting to show signs of dementia (perhaps a bit harsh but it did anyways). I can't see any harm in trying other people in cm until Herrera and Carrick or a new player comes in. I doubt it could get any worse. Hopefully Powell and some other cm from our youth-team will get a chance to impress the manager on tuesday.

 

[RDCR07]

Wow for all the talk about him being LVG's man this year, he has done feck all in pre-season and in yesterday's game. He can never get his confidence back here I think because with his form he is never going to get a consistent run in the team. I don't know why we are so reluctant to move him on. And talks of him getting a new contract is just laughable. At this point in time, I don't care if he is our academy product or not. If you're not good enough, you're not good enough. End of story.

 

[dar10nian]

Can't shoot, can't tackle, can't dribble, can't run - offers nothing except the occasional simple pass. How he is a Man Utd player is beyond me. Lee Cattermole is a far far superior player than the great TC23.

 

[Kakeru]

At this point in time, I don't care if he is our academy product or not. If you're not good enough, you're not good enough. End of story.

That's the exact same line I keep repeating day in day out. I just can't understand how and why our footballing people can't understand that when every football fan and his dog can see the same thing with Cleverley.

 

[JohnDoe]

To be fair to him literally nothing works for us at the moment. Something is seriously broken in our team, and it's not all Cleverley or Fletcher's fault.

 

[RedStarUnited]

To be fair to him literally nothing works for us at the moment. Something is seriously broken in our team, and it's not all Cleverley or Fletcher's fault.

We are talking about what he is bringing to the table to solve our issues. And he isnt bringing anything.

I'm sorry but he's utter shit. And what's that sideways shimmy he always does before he passes the ball, does my head in.

YES!!

He does this thing when he passes or crosses where it looks unnatural. It like he is trying too much. It looks sort of like the way Beckham passes but with Beckham its natural. With him its really not, it looks forced.

Cleverly genuinely makes me sad that my parents didn't push me enough to make it as a footballer. I came from a match today before watching our game and I honestly dont know If I would look any worse in our midfield when Herrera and Carrick are not playing.

 

[ZDwyr]

At least he wasn't the worst player on the pitch (although that says something).

 

[MUFCpiffgawd]

I blame Nolan for that stupid tackle 3 years ago.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

According to whoscored.com his strengths are 'concentration' and 'passing' ... I think it's fair to rule passing out (he's capable of knocking an eye-catching ball every now and then, but it's few and far between, and his simple passes are often mind-bogglingly shit) so that leaves us with 'concentration'.

So, in conclusion, according to one website - we have a central midfielder, who's only strength is his concentration...

 

[Raven Blade]

It is amazing how much he's regressed. A few years ago it looked like he was on the verge of being a really good player for us. Shame.

He's unrecognisable now. Such a shame, because he used to be an accelerator of the game with a quick passing style and always seemed to be moving forwards. I thought he could be a useful part of our future midfield where we would employ a more relentless passing and pressing game. These days he's safe, predictable and a complete passenger.

 

[matherto]

Aye sadly was pretty bad today, think his time is up tbh, surely one of the academy lads would be better taking his place now, personally i'd go for Pearson.

Maybe a cheeky £5 million + Cleverley bid for McCarthy is the way to go.

I'd give them £5 million just to take him. They probably value McCarthy at £20 million or so, so this suggests Cleverley is worth £15 million.

Even with massive, twice as much as normal English tax he's not worth into double figures. Utter, utter shite.

 

[Raw]

I'm getting sick of thinking: 'right, everyone's injured so this will be his opportunity to stake a claim in this squad'. So far he's just been utter dross with every chance he got, even during pre-season where even Young looked amazing.

He just has to go, would not look out of place at a club like Burnley or QPR.

 

[Lay]

I said before how I don't get why people think he's a good squad player. A squad player has to still play 20 games a season, I would not trust Cleverley to play 5 games a season in all honesty. He wouldn't get in any other top teams squad but he's starting for us.

 

[golazo]

According to whoscored.com his strengths are 'concentration' and 'passing' ... I think it's fair to rule passing out (he's capable of knocking an eye-catching ball every now and then, but it's few and far between, and his simple passes are often mind-bogglingly shit) so that leaves us with 'concentration'.

So, in conclusion, according to one website - we have a central midfielder, who's only strength is his concentration...

He makes simple balls look 5 times harder than they are. Player is 10 yards away and he puts his full body into it like he's taking a free kick, when he could have just poked it like any normal player. Trying too hard to be different when he should just keep it simple

 

[Loublaze]

I hate this guy so much right now. He can't even do the simple things right anymore.

 

[Sir Matt]

He had a 90% pass completion rate, mainly because they were all sideways 5 yard passes.

 

[WR10]

Every match he plays in, he has a few moments where you really think to yourself, does this lad even play football? He has this perpetual habit in games, where he starts off full of beans the first 10 minutes making some solid runs and passes then come the 15th minute he completely fecks a simple thing up, gets really mad at himself, loses focus, starts fecking up more simple things, rages at himself some more, and then starts his glorious runs into absolutely feck nowhere far far away from any teammate/ball.

 

[golazo]

Every match he plays in, he has a few moments where you really think to yourself, does this lad even play football? He has this perpetual habit in games, where he starts off full of beans the first 10 minutes making some solid runs and passes then come the 15th minute he completely fecks a simple thing up, gets really mad at himself, loses focus, starts fecking up more simple things, rages at himself some more, and then starts his glorious runs into absolutely feck nowhere far far away from any teammate/ball.

And then he screams at team mates when they don't pass the ball

 

[Bojan11]

So does Martinez still want him?

 

[Rykker_4united]

He is the prime example of players in our squad who are like night and day when it comes to the preseason we just had and the regular season. Fletcher, Rooney, Cleverley, Young were all excellent in preseason. We looked worry-free. Now they're the same shite again.

 

[Shane88]

Needs to be kicked out of the club.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, keeping him here sends a terrible message to youth players. Minimal effort and talent = huge rewards.

You don't want to encourage that.

 

[kouroux]

He makes simple balls look 5 times harder than they are. Player is 10 yards away and he puts his full body into it like he's taking a free kick, when he could have just poked it like any normal player. Trying too hard to be different when he should just keep it simple

This is so fecking spot on, I have always hated the way he shaped himself awkwardly when making a pass and a shot. Like he wants to always bend them like Beckham, his shooting is horrible because of that, he shapes himself weirdly.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Near the end of the match yesterday he was over the left hand side of the pitch near the Sunderland box, someone passed to him and he randomly kicked the ball into a Sunderland defender and then it started an attack for Altidore. An absolute liability.

 

[NK86]

I can understand players not being good enough for the jersey but I detest a coward like him. Hiding behind opponents when the CBs don't have an option to pass.

 

[.Rossi]

Can we all stop bringing "that" tackle up every time??

It happened in 2011. . If a tackle from 3 years ago has messed him up, then its a damn shame that Keano and Brucy aren't still about. . . One tackle from them in training would have shown him up for what he is.

 

[bosnian_red]

I blame Nolan for that stupid tackle 3 years ago.

If he wasn't such a pussy he could've recovered from that no problem, he was out for like 2 months only anyways, hardly a big deal. That scenario was probably a sign of things to come to show how spineless he actually is.

 

[.Rossi]

I can understand players not being good enough for the jersey but I detest a coward like him. Hiding behind opponents when the CBs don't have an option to pass.

Say what you want about Djemba Djemba but, he never hid away. .

Cleverley is the English Liam Miller.

All fur coat and no knickers

 

[NinjaZombie]

Needs to be kicked out of the club.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, keeping him here sends a terrible message to youth players. Minimal effort and talent = huge rewards.

You don't want to encourage that.

I've defended him in the past but I agree with this. I'm getting tired of seeing him refusing to take responsibility and take charge of the game.

 

[NK86]

And then he screams at team mates when they don't pass the ball

Towards the end, Mata had the ball and Cleverley made a dart to make himself available for the first time in ages near their penalty box. Mata saw and completely ignored him. Almost seemed like he didn't trust him to give him the ball knowing full well that he will get it back 2 secs later.

 

[NK86]

I can see that he really tries and I feel like he gives it his all but he's just so out of his league that it's unfair.

By trying and giving his all, if you mean hiding behind opponents, not taking any responsibility and being in general a coward and a passenger in this team; then we are on the same page.

 

[NK86]

Definition of a gutless passenger. Offers nothing. Better than Fletch though, but that's not saying much.

Fletcher, when he was healthy, was twice the player Cleverley can ever hope to be. Fletcher was one of our star players during his prime season and his koss was missed in the CL final against Barca.

 

[golazo]

This is so fecking spot on, I have always hated the way he shaped himself awkwardly when making a pass and a shot. Like he wants to always bend them like Beckham, his shooting is horrible because of that, he shapes himself weirdly.

Yep, like that first-time shot that he took just outside the box in the first half. He was pretty much laying on the floor while he kicked it

 

[MoskvaRed]

Not much to add to the above except to speculate if that was his last game for United. We have a coach who has managed some of the finest midfielders of the last 20 years (Davids, Seedorf, Xavi, Iniesta, Schweinsteiger) and he must know an imposter when he sees one. I predict a similar career trajectory as for the club's other Eric - another premier league club based on the kudos of being at United followed by a drop into the Championship.

 

[ZDwyr]

Near the end of the match yesterday he was over the left hand side of the pitch near the Sunderland box, someone passed to him and he randomly kicked the ball into a Sunderland defender and then it started an attack for Altidore. An absolutely liability.

Watching the replay now and that just happened. Absolutely awful.