So frustrating. I didn't think he was that bad first half but he wasn't good. From the deeper role so far he really offers very little. Isn't a commanding presence and his passing is so basic. I'm sure his completion stats are high but so are clevs. Problem is their passing doesn't really progress the team in any way most often. Really needs to up his game.
Marouane Fellaini | 2013/14 Performances
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And yet he was awful today and a lot worse compared to Fellaini.
We're just suffering from the midfield complex, we see every single midfielder playing better than our midfielders.
Right. And if we wanted him, the bidding goes up to 40. Because we have one glaring, obvious need, so the price goes up. Way up. It's pretty simple supply and demand stuff.
You all wait. In 10 years the keano gif 
will be replaced with the fello
will be replaced with the fello
"Sometimes you look in a field and you see a cow and you think.. no wait, hold on a minute, it's not a cow it's actually Maroune Fellaini.".
True story.
True story.
It was Shaktar, and I totally agree with you
Fellaini was pretty average in possesion but nowhere near as bad as people make out and the main point is that he plays a defensive role that we need - we were looking pretty comfortable until he went off, then it all changed
Monaco wanted him badly too. Monaco also have a much bigger budget than we do thanks to the petrodollars hence how they signed Falcao.
We could have got Moutinho for the same price as we signed Fellaini but we didn't. Got nothing to do with our need. The world does not revolve around MUFC.
Plus even if we had been forced to pay £40 million for him, so what? Arsenal paid more for Ozil. Are we no longer competing with Arsenal? Had we not wasted £27.5 million on a player obviously unsuited to the role we want him to play we'd have had the budget.
was frustrating watching him play today, just casually jogging beside the Southampton players not cutting out passes or getting tackles in
Only slightly knee jerk.
Saying he's not lived up to expectations so far is a reasonable assessment but to dub him at this point one of the worst transfers ever is laughable. It's so retarded I don't even know why I'm dignifying it with a response.
Yep, it's laughable. Almost as laughable as paying £27m for Marouanne Fellaini.
He's awful. In fairness, a lot of us knew this already and said so throughout the summer.
It's only seeing him at close quarters that I've realised quite how shit he is. Can't retain the ball under pressure, passing is wayward, positional sense is non-existent and he's suddenly turned into a limp dick that gets outmuscled by the renowned brute that is Jay Rodriguez.
£27.5m.
It's only seeing him at close quarters that I've realised quite how shit he is. Can't retain the ball under pressure, passing is wayward, positional sense is non-existent and he's suddenly turned into a limp dick that gets outmuscled by the renowned brute that is Jay Rodriguez.
£27.5m.
Yeah, he played a role protecting the back four. Before the sub Southampton players were occasionally gliding past him but at least they had to get past something.
I'm willing to wait and see with him, but after spending the whole Summer "happy if we get McCarthy+Fellaini" I have a distinct feeling the cheaper one we missed out on would have worked better.
Who said budget? I said need. My belief is simple. If a big team has had a glaring need in one position for 3 years, they will pay heavily to land a player to fill that position. What you've said is Monaco have money, which is irrelevant to my statement.
No, we absolutely could not have. If we entered the bidding, it would rise greatly. This is simple supply and demand.
Yes, you and i think that. I do not think the Glazers share this opinion. I think Fergie may have been able to push them because he had power with the fans and they knoew he had power. Moyes has no such thing.
The thing is though, we replaced him with Giggs in midfield. Of course we're going to look worse playing a 40 year old in there instead of Fellaini. Anybody could tell you that.
Even Boruc could have dribbled past him today if he tried. Never disliked any United player as much as him. I know it's early days but show some dedication FFS. I lost count of how many times some Southampton player got past him so easily and he loses possession more than anyone in the team. Even his passes aren't that good. He needs to really improve to be worthy of that red jersey. Was raging when he was beaten by an attacker just outside the box and was jogging indifferently towards the goal while RvP(?) was jostling and wrestling to get the ball back.
Also, all referees seem to have him blacklisted. They pounce on anything he does and call it a foul, something which many other players get away with.
Also, all referees seem to have him blacklisted. They pounce on anything he does and call it a foul, something which many other players get away with.
Effectively your argument amounts to Fellaini is the best player we can get and I absolutely disagree with that statement.
You're asserting that United are unwilling to enter a bidding war to sign a player and that as a result we can't expect to get better than Fellaini. Even if accepted the first part of that argument I see absolutely no reason to accept the second bit.
There are other players out there we could have got for less than we got for Fellaini. I said at the time we were buying him I thought West Ham's Momo Diame was actually a better option as a combative box to box centre midfielder and nothing I've seen from Fellaini has caused me to changed my mind. Spurs got Paulinho for £17 million, do you think they would've got into a bidding war above £27.5 million for Paulinho (they've got money but they're no Monaco).
Frankly it would be fairly straightforward to list better number 8s we could've got for £27.5 million quite easily, principally because Fellaini is no number 8, as he keeps proving.
It wasn't just the abu's.
Yep, McCarthy has more potential than Fellaini and would have suited us better. Still, we need better than either of them, we're light years away from our rivals in that position.
He seems timid and like he doesn't know exactly how to contribute.
Would love to see him put his weight about a bit more, even if it sometimes leads to fouls, better than watching him stand off and get easily brushed past.
The worst bit tonight was when RvP had to run back to get a tackle in whilst Fellaini looked like he was the ref, jogging behind and observing.
Would love to see him put his weight about a bit more, even if it sometimes leads to fouls, better than watching him stand off and get easily brushed past.
The worst bit tonight was when RvP had to run back to get a tackle in whilst Fellaini looked like he was the ref, jogging behind and observing.
Nevermind the potential McCarthy is simply a better player
Defensively I thought we were looking pretty comfortable until he went off - but ye he needs to offer a bit more in possesion
Moyes?
I think what's surprised me the most about him is his natural defensive instincts. Or rather, his lack of natural defensive instincts. He lets his man run off the back of him time and time again.
All the passing and sharpness etc etc I think will come but the way he switches off and ball watches when defending is a real worry.
All the passing and sharpness etc etc I think will come but the way he switches off and ball watches when defending is a real worry.
I think he wants to do what Carrick does in the holding role, but he's not as good as Carrick and you can't win many games with two players that reserved.
One of the big plusses (for me) when we signed Fellaini was that he could come in for Carrick from time to time to give him a rest but the way he just doesn't pick up runners and just leaves his man whilst he ball watches is a massive concern.
The positional thing I'm afraid we're probably going to have to accept, players don't usually start 'understanding' football at age 25, they either have the brain for it or don't. But the outmuscling thing really baffles me. He's definitely not weak, and he doesn't have bad technique either. I have no idea if he's got too many new instructions flashing in his mind when the ball comes to him, or if he's just scared at the moment playing for such a big club, but I sincerely hope he cuts this out. When the ball goes to him, as long as it's a decent pass, it should definitely stick.
He's just too fecking lanky to move.
passing was limited to within about 5-10 yards today and I honestly can't believe how little he offered....
seriously needs to stop playing with fear (I'm hoping thats what is holding him back)
seriously needs to stop playing with fear (I'm hoping thats what is holding him back)
Take away SAF and most of our fans are just as shit as any other, a few games is enough to declare someone shit and a failure.
His passing is pretty bad. Even the ones he is accurate with don't have the right pace on them.
I don't actually know that one thing he excels at is... anyone?
I don't actually know that one thing he excels at is... anyone?
He's not awful, he's just very 'meh' for a player at a club like United. Our midfield needs more than mediocre players, and it's worrying that Moyes felt that Fellaini would be enough to improve our midfield in any significant way. I mean, he must have been thinking that if he sanctioned the £27m transfer fee.
He looks awful. At best he will be decent in the end.
Such a waste to buy a player who, even if he fulfills his max potential, won't get us close to CL success.
Such a waste to buy a player who, even if he fulfills his max potential, won't get us close to CL success.
Shit argument.mate.
The AfroWigMan has been playing in this league for a few years. Two seasons are more than enough to know is a player is good enough or not.
He was such a desperation buy. We didn't even want him until we failed pathetically with all out other targets.
Short term thinking from Moyes that reflects just how shit our midfield was/is.
Short term thinking from Moyes that reflects just how shit our midfield was/is.
He's certainly not a player to solve or help in any way solve our problem of holding on to the ball and handling pressure against teams like Southampton. It's early and we know that sometimes players need time. But I'm a little pessimistic about this one. Other than having another player we can call 'a midfielder', I don't see what he adds.
Correct. If Moyes rated him that highly he'd have brought him in within a few weeks of the season even starting. We fecked about and fecked about for ages with Fabregas and Everton saw us coming a mile off on that last day.
if he cant handle pressure against teams like Southampton then whats the point of getting him ?
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