Fellaini back injury

He was pretty poor against Hull. Kept getting beaten by simply running past the ball as it was going the other way, which is a baffling thing to happen even once.

Pretty decent in the two games before it but I think the position next to Pogba is one of those still up for grabs.
 
Excellent compared with what we use to have is what I meant by that. A change of formation to accommodate our options wouldn't make us any worse I reckon. What do you see Schneiderlin as?

I see Schneiderlin as more of a box to box midfielder.

What formation would you use with the options we have?
 
Not sure we've played 433 under jose. The 433 talk needs to stop really as a likely scenario.

Gutted for fellaini, and us. I think hes been great so far.

I didn't say we had played 4-3-3 under him but that we should. It makes the most sense with the players we have.
 
I see Schneiderlin as more of a box to box midfielder.

What formation would you use with the options we have?
I'd love to see Pogba further up the the pitch - he already is I guess but without worrying about defending would be nice to see - but Wayne would have to give way and I don't see that happening. As you said, Morgan is the closest we have to Marouane and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get the nod.
 
I didn't say we had played 4-3-3 under him but that we should. It makes the most sense with the players we have.

I know what you said. Its as relevant as saying we should play 352. No indication from the manager that we're going to play it.
 
He was pretty poor against Hull. Kept getting beaten by simply running past the ball as it was going the other way, which is a baffling thing to happen even once.

Pretty decent in the two games before it but I think the position next to Pogba is one of those still up for grabs.

I agree, he started the season with a couple of good games and was a mixed bag against Hull, but suddenly he's turned into Keane or Redondo the way some are talking. It's a bitch for him that he's gotten an injury but the idea that it could cost us the derby is crazy.
 
I agree, he started the season with a couple of good games and was a mixed bag against Hull, but suddenly he's turned into Keane or Redondo the way some are talking. It's a bitch for him that he's gotten an injury but the idea that it could cost us the derby is crazy.
Has anyone said that?
 
The longer he's out the the more opinion will swing back to him being shit.
 
I know what you said. Its as relevant as saying we should play 352. No indication from the manager that we're going to play it.

So we're just never supposed to discuss formations and whether they would work or not on a discussion board because we're not the manager of the club?
 
Fellaini has been great but do we need aerial presence against Aguero/Silva/Nasri etc? I think Carrick/Morgan can do a good enough job for this one game.
 
I dont think Lingard missing is a problem at all. We have enough cover there. Even Fellaini Im not too fussed we will spring a surprise in midfield for the derby.
Hopefully Mourinho can pull another rabbit out of his hat.
The inclusion of Mkhitaryan does mean we miss Lingard less, I agree. But Jesse has become a good player.
 
As good as he has started out this season I still think we would be better off playing Herrera and Schniederlin with Pogba. I really hope Jose doesn't just bring in Carrick, that's a disaster waiting to happen in the City game.
 
There doesn't seem to be any timescale on this one, so not quite sure why people are of the definite opinion he's out for City?

Could it not be the classic "preventative" ie, get them out of internationals type job, like Aguero's other "Injury" is?
 
If his back injury is serious then fairly sure Utd wouldnt be remotley interested in letting him sit on a plane to wherever Belgium are playing. Something very odd about this.
 
He was pretty poor against Hull. Kept getting beaten by simply running past the ball as it was going the other way, which is a baffling thing to happen even once.

Pretty decent in the two games before it but I think the position next to Pogba is one of those still up for grabs.

Poor? he was 7 or 8 in all the paper/media ratings. He got a yellow and was solid after that
 
If his back injury is serious then fairly sure Utd wouldnt be remotley interested in letting him sit on a plane to wherever Belgium are playing. Something very odd about this.

Mourinho mind games maybe, let City think he won't be playing (normally you do that with your better players though)
 
If his back injury is serious then fairly sure Utd wouldnt be remotley interested in letting him sit on a plane to wherever Belgium are playing. Something very odd about this.

Not really. Kolarov at City has done the same thing. He's with the Serbian squad for moral support but won't be playing.
 
We'll see...
If Fellaini is available he'll play against city in essentially the same team we have been fielding. But if he is unavailable, we don't really have a player similar to him and Mourinho may be forced to change formation.

I can see him using 2 out of Carrick/ Schneiderlin/Ander, and Pogba as a 3rd midfielder. If so, the front 3 might be Rooney (LW)- Ibra -Lingard. I would much prefer Mhikitaryan to Lingard in most games, but for the City game Lingard might get the nod for his work-rate.
 
We'll see...
If Fellaini is available he'll play against city in essentially the same team we have been fielding. But if he is unavailable, we don't really have a player similar to him and Mourinho may be forced to change formation.

I can see him using 2 out of Carrick/ Schneiderlin/Ander, and Pogba as a 3rd midfielder. If so, the front 3 might be Rooney (LW)- Ibra -Lingard. I would much prefer Mhikitaryan to Lingard in most games, but for the City game Lingard might get the nod for his work-rate.
Work-rate is one of the last of Mhiki's weaknesses. He'd start ahead of Lingard without a doubt if it's the RW in question.
 
Mourinho mind games maybe, let City think he won't be playing (normally you do that with your better players though)

I hope it is just mind games. Fellaini has been very good this season and without him we are probably looking at a different formation.

Not really. Kolarov at City has done the same thing. He's with the Serbian squad for moral support but won't be playing.

Daft. If they are injured then keep them at the club instead of leaving them travel.
 
Not really. Kolarov at City has done the same thing. He's with the Serbian squad for moral support but won't be playing.

Different scenarios. Back injuries can be aggravated by sitting for long periods. Shouldn't be flying if the injury is as bad as Mourinho seemed to think it was.
 
I see Schneiderlin as more of a box to box midfielder.

What formation would you use with the options we have?

Nothing wrong with having two box to box players as long as they are defensively aware. Schneiderlin has an excellent motor and can be coached to be a bit more conservative if need be, Pogba wins his fair share of duels and tackles in midfield as well. I think as soon as those two play together we'll start clicking as a team and the third CM spot is up for grabs between Herrera, Fellaini and Rooney.
 
Poor? he was 7 or 8 in all the paper/media ratings. He got a yellow and was solid after that
What do you expect from some on here ? He gets called a 'toilet brush' in the thread about him rescuing a lady from the crowd stampede. He needs to have a brilliant game to be said to have 'done ok' and when he's good/decent most people will tell you he's been average/wank respectively. Thankfully many caftards have treated him fairly this season and haven't failed to acknowledge his obvious improvement.
 
I have a feeling this 'injury' is a ploy by Mourinho, so City underestimate the height/ power in our midfield. Otherwise you don't leave one of your best performing players on the pitch, and neither do you let him go out on international duty.
 
Nothing wrong with having two box to box players as long as they are defensively aware. Schneiderlin has an excellent motor and can be coached to be a bit more conservative if need be, Pogba wins his fair share of duels and tackles in midfield as well. I think as soon as those two play together we'll start clicking as a team and the third CM spot is up for grabs between Herrera, Fellaini and Rooney.
I still think Blind would be the best complement to Pogba, but CB is probably the last position you want to be monkeying around with. A Morgan with a renewed confidence under this new regime would be the best alternative against a top team, despite how much I like Herrera.
 
Lol...even though he's been pretty outstanding so far, and key to allowing others to play around him, he still up against it with some on here. I hope he's better as City aren't the biggest team so set pieces he's gonna give them some serious problems even if he isn't scoring the goals....
 
1. Never hated the big man.

2. Not sure he's playing as well as some are saying.

3. This injury is likely BS and a way out of International Duty.
 
I don't think Fellaini has reached indispensable status as some seem to be going about. We've got a good and strong squad with plenty of cover up, if not better players if played and revitalized. Fellaini job is relatively pretty simple in the team, to break play and recover the ball. Schneiderlin can do the dirty job and recover play for us. While he lacks Fellaini's height which has been an advantage to us, he is better on the ball and faster than Fellaini, meaning he can recover quicker and bring more energy in MF.

I see the Fellaini's loss the same as Lingards. While both started well and in form, it's quite easy to replace them with even more quality players, so there isn't really any need to panic.

All that needed in this thread is to wish Fellaini to recover quickly and his injury to not be serious and hope Mou is just playing mind games with his "bad" statement(I'm actually very confident that his injuries isn't even that bad and Mou is just trolling and doing his mind games with the "bad" statement.)
 
Schneiderlin needs to step up
He murdered City's midfield a couple of times for Soton so there's hoping. Seeing he hasn't really featured this season at all Herrera must be the more realistic option coming into the game, though.
 
He murdered City's midfield a couple of times for Soton so there's hoping. Seeing he hasn't really featured this season at all Herrera must be the more realistic option coming into the game, though.
Well if Mou wants someone to do the dirty job and recycle the ball for him from opponents like he's tasked Fellaini to do so then Schneiderlin is his guy.
 
Schneiderlin needs to step up

Agree with this. This might be his big chance to stake his claim. We'll need a hard runner/tackler for the derby, and that should be Schneiderlin's type of game.

I actually look forward to seeing how he does under Mou's guidance.
 
He was pretty poor against Hull. Kept getting beaten by simply running past the ball as it was going the other way, which is a baffling thing to happen even once.

Pretty decent in the two games before it but I think the position next to Pogba is one of those still up for grabs.

I've not been his biggest fan but I can only presume you didn't watch the full game against Hull. After his yellow card he really picked things up and by the second half he was breaking up every Hull attack.

He had a good game.
 
As good as he has started out this season I still think we would be better off playing Herrera and Schniederlin with Pogba. I really hope Jose doesn't just bring in Carrick, that's a disaster waiting to happen in the City game.
But that would mean we change our formation and go with a 4-3-3. Not sure Jose wants that just now, and who would he drop? Rooney? Martial?