I just don't think referee's understand the idea of Marouane Fellaini as a concept... and so just award a foul for his mere presence on the pitch.
Marouane Fellaini | 2013/14 Performances
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I just don't think referee's understand the idea of Marouane Fellaini as a concept... and so just award a foul for his mere presence on the pitch.
Never thought it was his forte but there is quite a considerable distance between that and "cant tackle". I thought he was pretty competent at it but I defer to the judgement of people who have seen him more than I have, I only ever watched Everton when they played against us.
If that's what you think fair enough. I strongly disagree though.
I genuinely hope you're right, and the lad proves me wrong.
And that's why I think no one should continue to debate this with you. Personally that CM performance is better than any defensive performance we've seen this season, but hey ho let's continue with Cleverley trying to put in a defensive shift for us instead.
He's a good enough tackler when faced with a player running at him, and he's strong in 50-50s, his problem defensively is that when he's positioned further forwards and the opposition counter he's often not quick enough to get back goalside and he commits fouls.
This is a case of how we've used him so far. At Everton he did very well in specialised roles where his job was to dominate his area of the pitch, whether as a DM or an AM. He's strong technically and he's a decent passer but he's not particularly mobile so he struggles to impose himself when he's asked to play box-to-box. If we switch to a more modern system and use him as a destroyer in front of the centrebacks I think he'll do very well for us.
This is a case of how we've used him so far. At Everton he did very well in specialised roles where his job was to dominate his area of the pitch, whether as a DM or an AM. He's strong technically and he's a decent passer but he's not particularly mobile so he struggles to impose himself when he's asked to play box-to-box. If we switch to a more modern system and use him as a destroyer in front of the centrebacks I think he'll do very well for us.
That not exactly saying much though is it?
Well that is quite promising then isnt it? If you are right and he was playing as one of the holding two then that would be playing to his strengths, he wouldnt be expected to get forward, it would be positively discouraged from it, as you said he would just have to dominate that area in front of the defence. That is what I have been expecting / hoping for.
I do think he could be a useful cog in our midfield once we find a way for it to work. He's only had 8 games for us so writing him off seems a bit mental.
Those stats do not sound like the player that everyone is falling over themselves to slag off in this thread. Look at the number of passes and tackles - with a decent success rate as well. With the proviso that stats are often misleading, I still take considerable encouragement from those figures. I have read so much negativity on here about him I was starting to doubt myself but they reinforce the initial impression I had of him over the summer which was he would be a good player to have, different from what we have already and better placed to protect the defenders than most of them.
The difference I've noted between his Everton days and United days (although he's not played a lot) is his pressing. He was more likely to press even when deep in midfield and more likely to close someone down. He just hasn't shown that energy at all for us and now that we're all well aware he's completely injury-free, people will be looking out for these things once the Mata effect settles.
You've said it yourself; stats are often misleading. All you need to do is watch Fellaini bundle his way around a pitch clattering into people to see that he's not a good tackler and that his passing is safe at best. It still bothers me now that he's a United player.
Think your being very harsh Sam
All because it's our strongest side doesn't mean it would be good enough to play that way against the better teams. Midfield 2 is not good enough in my opinion especially considering how attack minded our fullbacks are as well. When we strengthen that area we should and probably will play that way.
Where did you get these, are there any more up to date figures kicking about? These must be from 2011-12 'cause Gibson signed for them in January 2012 and Cahill left in that Summer
Quite. I dont read too much into the few games he has played for us, it has been a very strange time for everyone. What we saw at Everton is a more reliable guide to the player he is. OK some people struggle to adjust to the expectations of the bigger clubs but I dont think that will be a problem for him. You never know though I guess. Im expecting him to prove his doubters wrong between now and May.
When a video shows the player taking the fecking kick off you know it's bollocks
Yep.. however, maybe he's been told to sit at United, in which case it's not really his fault that he's not pressing and making the amount of tackles he use to. It's a problem because he's so immobile that he needs to position himself well to compensate - and he hasn't has the play time in that position to do so. Massive risk to bring a player to United and then play him in a different position with different instructions. We can't really afford to give people the time to learn on the job, not in a defensive minded role.
What's the alternative with what we've got? With Rooney dropping deep when needed that side would be more than capable enough of holding it's own against any side in the league. The other option is to put another midfielder in and seeing as none of our midfielders offer anything creatively I think that would simply create nothing but a dull, defensive side.
It's not as if that means the rest of the video should be ignored!
True!We don't have one. We will play that way I'm sure but we won't rival the better sides until we improve the potential midfield 2 that's all I'm saying.
I figure of all the instances of giving Moyes the benefit of the doubt, this is the easiest one for me. If there is one thing we can expect him to know it is what Fellaini is and isnt capable of.
Oh of course, I absolutely agree midfield needs strengthening. I don't think anyone doesn't. That's a bit different to "we'd get torn to shreds" though which is what you said in the first place.
I think Fellaini could work well in two roles - one is as a deep midfielder with two in front of him (for example, shielding the defence with Carrick and Powell in front of him), and the other is pretty much as a support striker. With his current game he is not well suited to partnering with Carrick in a two man central midfield - there's just not enough of an engine there and it's a midfield that can be cut through too easily. Just possibly things would work better with a fully fit Fletcher, but it's scratching around really.
Basically I think we bought the wrong player. His defensive and positional game needs a lot of work and I am not convinced our current coaching staff are in the right place to do it considering they didn't get very far at Everton. Let's face it, his best performances there were pretty squarely in a support striker role. I do think he could do a job masking with two in front as he would have more passing options and he could focus on a small area of the pitch where the positional discipline should be easy enough, but it's not ideal for us.
Basically I think we bought the wrong player. His defensive and positional game needs a lot of work and I am not convinced our current coaching staff are in the right place to do it considering they didn't get very far at Everton. Let's face it, his best performances there were pretty squarely in a support striker role. I do think he could do a job masking with two in front as he would have more passing options and he could focus on a small area of the pitch where the positional discipline should be easy enough, but it's not ideal for us.
Against the big teams and by them I mean the European heavyweights plus City, I think we'd get torn to shreds.
How many times ?
Hope he's had a haircut during his thumb injury period.
If he can be the player he was for Everton for the remainder of the season we could make top 4
I don't know why but this made me genuinely laugh out loud.
With the signing of Juan Mata (still can't believe we've signed him btw!) I think this will be an absolute God send for Fellaini.
Before there was too big a gap between the midfield and attack, and having out-and-out wingers didn't help him at all either. We were essentially hoping Fellaini would be a Scholes and it just won't work.
With Mata in the team and more creative outlets in that gap between Fellaini and the main striker, I think Fellaini will flourish. He can now focus more on holding and passing it on to a more creative player rather than being pressured to do things he can't do. I think he will surprise people from now until May. Let's see if I'm right.
Before there was too big a gap between the midfield and attack, and having out-and-out wingers didn't help him at all either. We were essentially hoping Fellaini would be a Scholes and it just won't work.
With Mata in the team and more creative outlets in that gap between Fellaini and the main striker, I think Fellaini will flourish. He can now focus more on holding and passing it on to a more creative player rather than being pressured to do things he can't do. I think he will surprise people from now until May. Let's see if I'm right.
That means dropping Mata/playing him out wide, and lumping balls to Fellaini as an SS...
Fair enough. I don't...I think that is about all he is. There were other options that moved clubs for less money that were more suited to us than him. I think he's a huge mistake of a signing...still I am happy to be proved wrong.
That means dropping Mata/playing him out wide, and lumping balls to Fellaini as an SS...
Yep, and no bother to Mata in lumping them into him either.
When Fellaini said he wanted to be the new Roy Keane, I wonder whether that was one of those cases where the interviewer said, "would you like to be as important a player to Man United as Roy Keane was?" And Fellaini said, "Yes, that would be great." Because if he actually volunteered that of his own accord... well, that would be very silly. And that is speaking as someone who is quite positive about his arrival. If he can be half the player Keano was for us he will be a very considerable help.
I don't understand why people think all he can do is play behind the striker and chest/head it down to the forwards. Does he play like that for Belgium? Did he play like that in every season he was with Everton? There's more to him then that, i think he just needs to have a bit of a run in the side to properly find his feet. There's really no reason to start calling this our worst signing ever at this stage.
to summarize: most people hasn't been impressed with him so far. About half puts it down to him not having a proper pre-season, transfer fee damaging his mentality, playing him out of best position, him being injured. The other half thinks he's simply not good enough.
Time will tell. Arguing with him out of the action is bit pointless.
Time will tell. Arguing with him out of the action is bit pointless.
I like the fact he can turn out monstrous for us and we have nothing to lose. Seeing as people (partly me as well) have written him off, he'd be like a new signing if he can come good.
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