Marouane Fellaini | 2013/14 Performances

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Lu Tze said:
Regaining possession is better than not regaining possession. Or am I taking crazy pills? I'd rather have Fellaini's 9 tackles than Carrick's invisible man act.
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you can make a tackle and lose the ball right after making one...your tackle count still goes up
 
He was nowhere near the worst on the pitch. The fact he actually did make a few tackles compared to Carrick's pussy footing around made a difference. Atleast he was challenging aerially and actually getting involved.

Also considering Gerrard basically assaulted him, he did well to carry on at a decent level. His head must have been killing at that point.
 
TheReligion said:
I thought he was okay yesterday in fairness. Not sure why he is getting so much stick based on that.
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Because in the general sense he's nowhere near good enough for where the club want to be. Yes, he was better than Mata, RVP, Rooney, Januzaj etc.. but at least those players have shown the kind of player that means they are good enough to play here.
 
Blasphemy said:
Because in the general sense he's nowhere near good enough for where the club want to be. Yes, he was better than Mata, RVP, Rooney, Januzaj etc.. but at least those players have shown the kind of player that means they are good enough to play here.
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Granted, but if the lad is playing better than those around him then to single him out as being shit seems a bit, well, bizarre?
 
Amazed he received so much abuse after yesterday. Didn't think he played that badly at all. Probably one of the few players who actually tried to make an effort in trying to win the ball. Didn't do much wrong at all.

Hope he starts again on Wednesday.
 
Fellaini doesn't deserve any criticism really. As others have said, he was nowhere near the worst performers on the pitch. He showed fight and did well with the ball in tight situations on a few occasions. He's starting to look more settled now and it's Carrick who is probably now the weak link in the centre based on his recent showings.
 
He wasn't very good, he wasn't very bad, he was... Fellaini, pretty much. That's what we can expect of him. It's not a lot but until we sort out the midfield it's better than nothing.
 
Varun_Utd said:
He's an easy scapegoat. That's all there is to it.
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Not all there is to it.

He's getting blamed because he epitomizes what Moyesball is all about, that's why people are slagging him off even though he were far from our worst player.

Having said that though, there another factor to consider in all of this: He's not good enough.
 
marjen said:
Not all there is to it.

He's getting blamed because he epitomizes what Moyesball is all about, that's why people are slagging him off even though he were far from our worst player.

Having said that though, there another factor to consider in all of this: He's not good enough.
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He's better than every other CM we have bar Carrick who's getting old. He's far from our biggest problems in CM. People need to accept the price he came at and move on.
 
Varun_Utd said:
He's better than every other CM we have bar Carrick who's getting old. He's far from our biggest problems in CM. People need to accept the price he came at and move on.
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I'm not ready to accept that level of footballer as a permanent fixture in the United side, no matter what he costs.

EDIT: Having said that we've got far bigger problems to deal with than a midfielder who's not good enough - the scores of players who ARE good enough but can't function properly, for instance.
 
marjen said:
I'm not ready to accept that level of footballer as a permanent fixture in the United side, no matter what he costs.

EDIT: Having said that we've got far bigger problems to deal with than a midfielder who's not good enough - the scores of players who ARE good enough but can't function properly, for instance.
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Well you're in for a long wait then because we're unlikely to sign 5 CMs better than him anytime soon.
 
Varun_Utd said:
Well you're in for a long wait then because we're unlikely to sign 5 CMs better than him anytime soon.
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I've got no problems with Fellaini being a squad player who'll contribute to us beating the likes of Palace and WBA.

As massively evidenced though, neither he nor our manager can cut it vs decent/good/top opposition.
 
He wasn't that bad, I actually thought he was doing fairly well up until the first goal, after the second half and immediately going two down, he like the majority of the team went into their shells and didnt want to take any responsibility, but that was an issue with the whole team, RVP for example lost the ball more times yesterday than the entireity of the whole last season combined.
I guess he's being singled out most because he's a Moyes buy and his style conflicts with some.
 
BennyBlanco said:
He wasn't that bad, I actually thought he was doing fairly well .
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This is the key with Fellaini. That is his level, fairly well, not bad.

It's not what you need, you need a centre mid to be excellent and make a big impact on the game
 
marjen said:
I've got no problems with Fellaini being a squad player who'll contribute to us beating the likes of Palace and WBA.

As massively evidenced though, neither he nor our manager can cut it vs decent/good/top opposition.
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Hard to disagree with that but I believe he's better than what the forum thinks of him generally. Is he top drawer? No. Is he just an average player though? No again.
 
Varun_Utd said:
Hard to disagree with that but I believe he's better than what the forum thinks of him generally. Is he top drawer? No. Is he just an average player though? No again.
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For a team aspiring to win things, he's average at best IMO.
 
Sandikan said:
This is the key with Fellaini. That is his level, fairly well, not bad.

It's not what you need, you need a centre mid to be excellent and make a big impact on the game
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Unless you possess Pirlo, Xavi, Scholes like passing ability you need a modern CM to have an engine and run. Fellaini cannot run. This is the main reason why he is so poor and will never be good enough here. He belongs at Stoke or somewhere as a spoiler.
 
Sixpence said:
Unless you possess Pirlo, Xavi, Scholes like passing ability you need a modern CM to have an engine and run. Fellaini cannot run. This is the main reason why he is so poor and will never be good enough here. He belongs at Stoke or somewhere as a spoiler.
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He actually is pretty quick and tracks back well. He "cannot run" is common just because he is big. If you look at the game yesterday, he was tracking back well.
 
NM said:
He actually is pretty quick and tracks back well. He "cannot run" is common just because he is big. If you look at the game yesterday, he was tracking back well.
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Give up. There is no amount of evidence that would convince his detractors he's not Charlie Adam.
 
NM said:
He actually is pretty quick and tracks back well. He "cannot run" is common just because he is big. If you look at the game yesterday, he was tracking back well.
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When he was chasing Suarez he looked he didn't know how to run and clattered straight into the back of him like an oaf TWICE in the box and should have conceded a pen. And quick is the last thing he is.
 
Sixpence said:
When he was chasing Suarez he looked he didn't know how to run and clattered straight into the back of him like an oaf TWICE in the box and should have conceded a pen. And quick is the last thing he is.
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Look at the game again objectively. You aren't doing that right now.
 
He certainly isn't "Pretty quick" by anyone but Charlie Adam's standards!
 
He's alright. He's probably always going to suffer on the count that he's neither great defensively, nor great going forwards and hence nothing about him particularly stands out. I think he's a good squad player to have, but the issue for many is that we bought him in a summer when we were dying for genuine class and got him for the fee you'd expect genuine class for.

Personally, I'm more disappointing in Carrick this season. He's supposed to be our main man in midfield, as absurd as that sounds. Fellaini doesn't have that much ability from what I've seen.
 
marjen said:
As massively evidenced though, neither he nor our manager can cut it vs decent/good/top opposition.
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Disagree. Fellaini had excellent games against 'top opposition' whilst at Everton. He always gave us a torrid time, and other good teams. He's been a stand out performer in the Premier League for the past 2 or 3 years prior to this season, which he's missed most of with injury. And he's still only 26. He's arguably got his best years still ahead of him.

He's a good player, and he's doing his job deep in midfield. Breaking up play, winning the physical battles and looking assured on the ball. Some of his passing whilst he was being pressed hard was very good. We've looked awful against teams that press for years, where we see Carrick and Cleverley constantly look to play it back to the defence/goalkeeper. Fellaini handles pressing well and still looks capable of shifting the ball forward. Looks comfortable playing high up the pitch as well. His ball control is impressive overall.

I don't know what people are expecting of him. He's not Yaya Toure. He's not going to win games on his own like Yaya sometimes does. That's not a slight on him though. He's still a very skilled player who looks pretty classy on the ball, passes well, rarely loses physical battles and covers alot of ground for someone who "cannot run" according to some.
 
The problem for Fellaini is that he will always be linked with Moyes. That is why IMO it is very hard to judge him objectively since the overall view of the manager is one of negativity.

I thought he did decent yesterday without setting the world alight.

He was much better than some of the other more highly rated players, a lot of whom disgraced themselves and the club yesterday.
 
Ole's_toe_poke said:
The problem for Fellaini is that he will always be linked with Moyes. That is why IMO it is very hard to judge him objectively since the overall view of the manager is one of negativity.

I thought he did decent yesterday without setting the world alight.

He was much better than some of the other more highly rated players, a lot of whom disgraced themselves and the club yesterday.
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He'll outlast Moyes here anyway.
 
Fellaini was played as a box to box midfielder yesterday against a very energetic Liverpool midfield, with 3 men in the middle, who pressed high up the pitch. Being the box to box midfield, you have to be able to link glue things together and dictate play. Due to Fellaini not be the greatest on the ball, it was hard for us, as a team, to get a passing flow going. I know he was good against Palace and West Brom, but these teams dropped pretty deep, thus allowing Fellaini time on the ball where he could get his head up and pick a pass. Against high pressing teams, Fellaini struggles (this is not helped with the system we play. I still maintain that we'd see all of our midfielders move up a level if they were put in a 3 man midfield).

This is why I feel Fellaini should be our deepest midfield and could still prove to be very effective there for us. He wasn't bought to play eye of a needle passes or fancy through balls, he was bought with the idea of adding more bite into our team (something we've lacked over the years) and, although he wasn't brilliant yesterday, (who was?) Fellaini did get stuck in, completing eight tackles in the game, which is pretty high.

This is why, with the expense of Carrick next season, I would play, or at least give Fellaini a run of games playing as our deepest midfielder. Although Fellaini hasn't got the passing skills and positional awareness of Carrick, I feel he presses the ball pretty well. He's more of a 'I'll go and make the tackle with the possibility of getting dribbled past, rather than a 'I'll drop back to close down the angles with the possibility of a player running 30 yards with the ball and shooting', type of player. As good as Carrick is, I find he drops a bit too deep sometimes, thus forcing teams onto us.

I feel if we were to play Fellaini in defensive midfield as I explained in the 'How would you use Fellaini?' thread, he would need a player of Scholes's ilk next to him. Someone who will get on the ball and dictate play, while Fellaini can worry about breaking up play and keeping it simple.
 
He is wasted next to Carrick. Fellaini will not control and dictate play for you, he's not a Scholes type player. At the same time he's not as mobile as Keane but he does carry a goal threat with him and is solid defensively. I've found him to be a very rash player though. Even at Everton he'd give away needless fouls and receive cards for fun. In fact was he not one of the most carded players last season?

Toni Kroos to control the game for us and Marouane to aid our attacks when need be. A defensive overhaul will also be needed because our defence not playing a highline leaves us FAR too exposed in between the midfield lines and we get stung time and time again because of our slowness.
 
He's our best midfielder, make of that what you will.

Put him in a three with Jones and Kagawa and we would see a big improvement by actually having a midfield.
 
He's too slow and clumsy for me. I mean at times in the first 10 minutes he was getting out muscled by Sterling ffs. Putting Kroos next to him won't make him better. Putting Xavi or Iniesta wouldn't.

He's just not up to the standard we should be expecting. You see Pirlo and Alonso having these energetic midfielders alongside them. That's the sort of system we should aim for. And Fellaini does not fit the bill.
 
He was one of our best players which doesn't really say much.

As I said in numerous occasions he's a jack of all trades master of none. I can't see him as a regular first teamer at a big club.
 
Did a huge job when he came on. He prevented those final 5 minutes form being agonising, all on his own. His hold up play is quite spectacular. He classy with the ball at his feet, when he rolls defenders like he does.
 
27 million pounds worth of time wasting, brilliant! He really did shut down that last 5 mins.
 
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