Marouane Fellaini | 2013/14 Performances

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Brophs said:
I didn't think he was amazing by any stretch but you'd be harsh to complain about his performance. I still think his immobility is a problem but he did very little wrong today.
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He covered a lot of ground today, getting up into the box quite a number of times, he's not particuarly fast but I wouldn't go so far as to call him immobile,
I mean other than a couple of clumsy challenges he played very well, one of the best midfield displays by any of our players this season (though thats not saying much I guess), some of his one touch/get the ball out of his feet/quick release play was very, very good, it's really a touch baffling that so many here have gone out of their way to find criticism after this particular performance.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
It wasn't me that said that, however Gattuso, from what I remember, was brilliant at breaking up play.

As for Fellaini, I don't want to go over the top because no disrespect to West Brom and Palace, but they're not the best of sides. That said, these were the kind of sides we were struggling or losing against earlier on in the season. Coincidence or not, we've looked a better side with him in the team since he's been back, in my opinion. He must be doing something right.
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Hes better then ando and clev thats a given. Unfortunately its hardly something to rave about.

In my opinion we tend to struggle against every type of club these days.

I am happy for us to give him more time. There again we still need 2 quality CMs
 
Brophs said:
I didn't think he was amazing by any stretch but you'd be harsh to complain about his performance. I still think his immobility is a problem but he did very little wrong today.
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I think getting a mobile player behind him next season could hopefully make up for his lack of. As good as Carrick is, he's not the quickest across the ground and where we struggle, in my opinion, is when teams hit us on the counter.

If we can get a player like Carrick who is more dynamic, then sign him up Moyesy!
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
I think getting a mobile player behind him next season could hopefully make up for his lack of. As good as Carrick is, he's not the quickest across the ground and where we struggle, in my opinion, is when teams hit us on the counter.

If we can get a player like Carrick who is more dynamic, then sign him up Moyesy!
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Carrick is a much better player then him. If we had to choose whom to play between felliani and him id choose carrick every time
 
MDFC Manager said:
Really heartening performance that. There is still more to come too I think.

I agree with whoever said that next season we should pair him with a new classy creative player.
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This is what I keep changing my mind about.

If we pair him with a 'classy creative player', I assume you would drop Fellaini further back - similar to the role Carrick plays now? If that's the case, then I still think the same problems (getting caught on counter) would still occur, in my opinion.

On the other hand, Moyes could decide to get more dynamic Carrick type of player behind him next season, thus allowing Fellaini to go forward and be a nuisance in and around the area, knowing he has someone quick enough behind him to mop up any counters.
 
Here's a hypothetical question:

Now, the Cafe has spent the last few years debating type of player we need to partner Carrick. Carrick is now into his mid-30s and having a quiet season this year. For the arguments' sake let's presume that we are going to build our next midfield with Fellaini in mind. The question is, what sort of partner does he need to play alongside?
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
This is what I keep changing my mind about.

If we pair him with a 'classy creative player', I assume you would drop Fellaini further back - similar to the role Carrick plays now? If that's the case, then I still think the same problems (getting caught on counter) would still occur, in my opinion.

On the other hand, Moyes could decide to get more dynamic Carrick type of player behind him next season, thus allowing Fellaini to go forward and be a nuisance in and around the area, knowing he has someone quick enough behind him to mop up any counters.
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He would be fantastic for Moyes cross the ball tactic.
 
Rowem said:
Here's a hypothetical question:

Now, the Cafe has spent the last few years debating type of player we need to partner Carrick. Carrick is now into his mid-30s and having a quiet season this year. For the arguments' sake let's presume that we are going to build our next midfield with Fellaini in mind. The question is, what sort of partner does he need to play alongside?
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Id bring a quality dm and a quality AM who can score goals similar to kroos. Fellaini would be given a box to box player type of role assisting the DM when were defending and going forward when were crossing the ball
 
Good, much improved from his early days with us. I suppose it doesn't do to judge a player when he's new to the team, carrying an injury and not match fit. :smirk:
 
Ideally both Fellaini and his midfield partner, which must be of the Kroos/ Gundogan/Fabregas ilk, would play relatively box-to-box. Fellaini would assume much of the defensive duties by nature, like he did today. But, I don't think one has to "stay back." I want a dynamic midfield that can pass, move, create and get stuck in. A Bender/Gundogan midfield with Fellaini a bit like a more attacking Bender is what I'd like see us get to, being specific.

I like devilish's idea, too. A strong three man midfield for the big games would be nice.
 
devilish said:
Carrick is a much better player then him. If we had to choose whom to play between felliani and him id choose carrick every time
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That's fine. I agree with that point, however, Carrick can't do the job Fellaini does (i.e get up and down the pitch and be a nuisance in both areas) and Felliani can't do Carrick's job (i.e. dictate the game from deep). However, with Carrick ageing and Fellaini being bought for a lot of money last year, I think Moyes should probably be looking at mdifelders who will get the best out of Fellaini.
 
Kag said:
Ideally both Fellaini and his midfield partner, which must be of the Kroos/ Gundogan/Fabregas ilk, would play relatively box-to-box. Fellaini would assume much of the defensive duties by nature, like he did today. But, I don't think one has to "stay back." I want a dynamic midfield that can pass, move, create and get stuck in. A Bender/Gundogan midfield with Fellaini a bit like a more attacking Bender is what I'd like see us get to, being specific.

I like devilish's idea, too. A strong three man midfield for the big games would be nice.
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A double pivot? I like it.

I think Gundogan would suit Fellaini a lot better than Fabregas/Kroos, in my opinion, as he's defensively more sound than Kroos and Cesc.
 
He's played better but he wasn't great like some are saying. He, as usual, gives away some stupid fouls, makes a few decent passes, and is slow getting back when he ventures too far forward. In the second half, he didn't just run up to the front line after he passed the ball, which was a big plus. At times in the first half, he passed it to Carrick or wide and just legged it towards RVP leaving a huge gap between the midfield and attack, which has been a major problem for us this season.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
A double pivot? I like it.

I think Gundogan would suit Fellaini a lot better than Fabregas/Kroos, in my opinion, as he's defensively more sound than Kroos and Cesc.
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With a lone striker we may find it more difficult to score goals. Hence why i prefer kroos to gundogan.

Ideally we end up with a trio kroos-gundogan-fellaini behind rooney, mata and januzaj. Such team can shift to 4-5-1 when defending to 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 when attacking. That would be fantastic


However that would put great stress on fellaini and gundogan who must shoulder alot of cm defensive duties
 
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devilish said:
With a lone striker we may find it more difficult to score goals. Hence why i prefer kroos to gundogan.

Ideally we end up with a trio kroos-gundogan-fellaini behind rooney, mata and januzaj. Such team can shift to 4-5-1 when defending to 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 when attacking. That would be fantastic

However that would put great stress on fellaini and gundogan who must shoulder alot of cm defensive duties
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This is unreal, we are worrying in advance about possible shortcomings of Having Kroos and/or Gundogan.

I would jizz all over my iPad. In fact, I'd probably have to buy 4-5 replacement iPads before I even worry about anything at all, and that includes world peace.
 
antohan said:
This is unreal, we are worrying in advance about possible shortcomings of Having Kroos and/or Gundogan.

I would jizz all over my iPad. In fact, I'd probably have to buy 4-5 replacement iPads before I even worry about anything at all, and that includes world peace.
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Its not thaaat impossible. Both players are at the end of their contacts and dortmund would be probably be interested in kagawa.

I was pretty sure that a tactically sound poster as you would love it. The interchanging of roles between kroos, fellaini, mata, rooney and januzaj would drive opponents defenses crazy.
 
The problem this year is Rooney playing higher up. This means Carrick and Fellaini have more ground to cover and our immobility shows. Last year with Rooney coming deep, RVP would get more space as Rooney would drag players with him, and Carrick could sit because Rooney would take up the positions ahead.

Now Carrick has to push up which IMO weakens his game as he is brilliant when the game is in front of him but not so brilliant when he has to play a quick pass. Also you have the issue of everything becoming congested up top as the defenders Rooney used to take away are now crowding Rooney and RVP.
 
Thought it was another encouraging display. I'm not so keen on him pushing quite high, it's good that he's looking to get in the box but I'd prefer him playing a bit deeper at times to allow Mata/januzaj more freedom. But he's done pretty well in the last two games at tidying up defensively and keeping the ball moving in attack. Was a bit more expansive in his passing as well today.
 
devilish said:
With a lone striker we may find it more difficult to score goals. Hence why i prefer kroos to gundogan.

Ideally we end up with a trio kroos-gundogan-fellaini behind rooney, mata and januzaj. Such team can shift to 4-5-1 when defending to 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 when attacking. That would be fantastic


However that would put great stress on fellaini and gundogan who must shoulder alot of cm defensive duties
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Providing RVP is still here, I don't think we're going to play with a lone striker next season.
 
I thought he was the best player on the pitch, dominated and was everywhere the action was, his positioning was excellent and displayed that he has a good pass and touch for a big fella, it made a big difference to us, really happy with his performance.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Providing RVP is still here, I don't think we're going to play with a lone striker next season.
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Rvp will be 31 next year and with his injury record he wont play week in week out. If the year after he decides to leave it wont be an issue. Good luck 4 him to find a big club like ours who can guarantee him first team football
 
Heard he did well today, good stuff.

Wonder will Moyes be tempted to put him in against the Greeks? Surely he'll play against the scouse anyway.
 
Good to see him showing a lot of improvement. Long term I still don't think he'll turn out to be a very good signing, but he's showing more now to demonstrate he thankfully may not be a complete flop.
 
He can prove to be a decent player, nothing spectacular but decent nonetheless. He's better than Cleverley and Carrick's on his last legs. I still think he'll improve further playing alongside a quality midfielder. Said in the summer I was happy to sign him as long as it wasn't our sole midfield signing, unfortunately he was. But hopefully he will have bedded in nicely by the time next season kicks off and we've better midfielders.
 
I think the complete opposite, the longer he's at the club I can see him improving. He will end up being an important player for us.

Hopefully he kicks on now and stays injury free for the rest of the season.
 
BennyBlanco said:
"Fellaini was the pre-eminent figure. He had the most touches (98) and made the most passes (71) of anyone on the pitch. He was everywhere, covering 12.04km according to the Premier League tracking data. Again, that was more than anyone on either side."

Not bad for an "immobile lump who only did his job & nothing more" today.
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11979/9202805/fellaini-reminder
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He was excellent, he does appear to trudge about but his positioning was excellent, he was at he pitch of everything and unlike earlier in the season, once he got into the action areas, he was quick and decisive to either break up play or distribute the ball.
 
mattsville said:
He was excellent, he does appear to trudge about but his positioning was excellent, he was at he pitch of everything and unlike earlier in the season, once he got into the action areas, he was quick and decisive to either break up play or distribute the ball.
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Michael Owen put it very well when he stated that he is a nightmare to play against, and he appeared today to not be as rash as he has previously
 
I called it a month ago, still think he'll get the winner against Liverpool. I feel it in my balls.
 
The annoying thing about his fouling isn't that he does it a fair amount of times, but the fact that he's sometimes punished because of his 'reputation'.
 
BennyBlanco said:
"Fellaini was the pre-eminent figure. He had the most touches (98) and made the most passes (71) of anyone on the pitch. He was everywhere, covering 12.04km according to the Premier League tracking data. Again, that was more than anyone on either side."

Not bad for an "immobile lump who only did his job & nothing more" today.
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11979/9202805/fellaini-reminder
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Impressive stats indeed. Looked comfortable playing with Carrick too. A very good partnership in the making.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Impressive stats indeed. Looked comfortable playing with Carrick too. A very good partnership in the making.
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I think Fellaini's likely to have a new midfield partner next season to be honest. Carrick's on his last legs I reckon, don't see him starting the majority of games next season, especially if we sign some of the midfielders we're been linked with.
 
SilentWitness said:
The annoying thing about his fouling isn't that he does it a fair amount of times, but the fact that he's sometimes punished because of his 'reputation'.
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No doubt, we've see that at United already. I think it was Sociedad away when he was getting pulled up for just challenging for headers. European games do tend to be softer than in the Premiership but it was getting ridiculous.

It isn't just his reputation, often it's simply the sheer size of him I think.
 
devilish said:
Rvp will be 31 next year and with his injury record he wont play week in week out. If the year after he decides to leave it wont be an issue. Good luck 4 him to find a big club like ours who can guarantee him first team football
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Even then I think Moyes would probably go with Welbeck and Rooney, as opposed to a 3-man midfield. Could be wrong, though.
 
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