Marouane Fellaini | 2013/14 Performances

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Annahnomoss said:
Well you make a good point of Cleverley, one I agree with. That if Carrick is injured we should not remain playing a 4-2-3-1 as Cleverley is far from being Carrick and we would probably do better changing the strategy a bit. I think Cleverley and Anderson both had the same hindrance, they had a certain style and the first thing we asked was for them to become 100% different footballers. Cleverley has a lot of quality traits like you say but they aren't suited for the defensive midfield role.
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To me, I think Cleverley's game is all about having a 'mover' beside him or if he's forward enough 'options to pass to'. Having Carrick out may not be the worst thing if we have Fellaini in the team (we'd be fecked if we had no other DM though). He can play as a pureDM or even manipulate the space in front of the back four with tough tackles and closed space to assist Cleverley if he were to play the Carrick role. I personally think that is more of a role where Tom could shine. Not in a quick passing and medium range threader of passes but he's got the skill on the ball and the quick and smart movement to get out of tight situations with the right player. I just don't really think the way Carrick plays suits that type of game which is why we can look a bit lost in the midfield.

He would benefit from having be less combative in midfield in this deeper role for sure. He looks ragged when he's finishing games these days. Especially in that Liverpool game where nobody really got time to settle on the ball or play at their own pace. He'll grow and learn though.

lem8sh said:
I'm on about champions league level, we would go close in the league with or without Fellaini. Its against the Bayerns, Barcas and Madrids of this where he is "completely" unproven. And its the aforementioned teams that we aspire to be like.
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Well, why not say that then? Being a top class CM and having the ability to play in midfield against top opponents isn't the same thing. It's not as though he farms ice to sell for a living. He actually plays in midfield and would probably relishing the chance to make it in the CL. Which is also important in a player's attitude.
 
ghaliboy said:
To me, I think Cleverley's game is all about having a 'mover' beside him or if he's forward enough 'options to pass to'. Having Carrick out may not be the worst thing if we have Fellaini in the team (we'd be fecked if we had no other DM though). He can play as a pureDM or even manipulate the space in front of the back four with tough tackles and closed space to assist Cleverley if he were to play the Carrick role. I personally think that is more of a role where Tom could shine. Not in a quick passing and medium range threader of passes but he's got the skill on the ball and the quick and smart movement to get out of tight situations with the right player. I just don't really think the way Carrick plays suits that type of game which is why we can look a bit lost in the midfield.

He would benefit from having be less combative in midfield in this deeper role for sure. He looks ragged when he's finishing games these days. Especially in that Liverpool game where nobody really got time to settle on the ball or play at their own pace. He'll grow and learn though.



Well, why not say that then? Being a top class CM and having the ability to play in midfield against top opponents isn't the same thing. It's not as though he farms ice to sell for a living. He actually plays in midfield and would probably relishing the chance to make it in the CL. Which is also important in a player's attitude.
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Your assessment of Cleverley is something I've thought as well for a long time. Carrick gave us a lot of problems because of how great he is at what he does - but how he didn't fit in with Ando/Clevs/Kagawa.

For me Cleverley needs to play with a DM, his work in the defense is really poor at times and like you say he moves way too much to be efficient all game long.

If he had a DM behind him in Fellaini but also another creative CM with him(Kagawa or even Anderson) then he would be great. Especially with Kagawa based on the way they work together I can see us managing to dominate possession as well as creating a lot if we had Nani/Valencia on the sides or Nani/Zaha/Welbeck.

I think Cleverley has a position in our first eleven in the future if we play a formation that suits him better.
 
Annahnomoss said:
Your assessment of Cleverley is something I've thought as well for a long time. Carrick gave us a lot of problems because of how great he is at what he does - but how he didn't fit in with Ando/Clevs/Kagawa.

For me Cleverley needs to play with a DM, his work in the defense is really poor at times and like you say he moves way too much to be efficient all game long.

If he had a DM behind him in Fellaini but also another creative CM with him(Kagawa or even Anderson) then he would be great. Especially with Kagawa based on the way they work together I can see us managing to dominate possession as well as creating a lot if we had Nani/Valencia on the sides or Nani/Zaha/Welbeck.

I think Cleverley has a position in our first eleven in the future if we play a formation that suits him better.
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I've never liked this sort of argument, carrick scholes and fletcher our main midfielders over the last 7 years or so have each played with very different partners and managed to play very well consistently. If clev can't do the same it's a fault on his part. I can't see clev getting good enough for us to play a 3 in the middle consistently to get the best out of him and play him over one of Rooney, nani, Valencia, welbeck or Hernandez unless a particular game calls for it. I expect carrick to be able to play very well with fellaini, I have my doubts if clev will shine in the middle with fellaini often until he changes his approach and looks to influence more from a deeper role without drifting wide.
 
Player Focus: Fellaini Adds Goals and Muscle to Manchester United's Midfield

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Whatever about the farcical manner in which his club’s transfer window ended, it’s eminently safe to say this is not the first XI that David Moyes envisaged starting his era at Manchester United with.

The Scot’s intentions were clear. Understood to have had a few reservations about the overall quality of the squad on taking over in early July, he ideally wanted to bring in two different types of midfielder and one marquee signing.

So, without an all-rounder such as Cesc Fabregas or even Ander Herrera in the centre - and particularly without the sparkle provided by someone like Cristiano Ronaldo, as ambitious as it always seemed - the new regime is going to have to wait. Until Moyes brings in a greater amount of his own men, it's going to feel like United are in an even more curious transition between the end of Alex Ferguson’s last team and his replacement’s first one.

As such, it was perhaps appropriate - if also obviously frustrating for a section of United fans and somewhat predictable - that Moyes’ only first-team signing has been one of his old players in Marouane Fellaini.

It will not be until January - or perhaps even next season - that it will be truly fair to judge the new United manager’s reign on anything like its own terms. It’s also not surprising that he has immediately reverted to something very like a style he knows best.

This is not to say, though, that Fellaini does not offer United qualities that they were missing even under Ferguson.

As was vividly illustrated in some of the Old Trafford side’s matches against Everton, not least on the opening day of last season, the Belgian provides a power and heavy industry that the English champions have missed since the loss of Darren Fletcher and Owen Hargreaves, and that the still-raw Phil Jones has only partially covered. Fellaini will greatly increase the muscularity of the team through the middle. Fellaini made more tackles per game (2.6) than any Manchester United player last season other than Rafael (3.1), while only Grant Holt committed more fouls (82 compared to 80) in the entire Premier League. The manner in which United got overpowered by Manchester City in April 2012, or bullied by the Belgian himself at Goodison Park a few months later, now seems much more unlikely.

Moreover, there are the goals he provides. Notwithstanding the key fact that Fellaini regularly played much further forward than midfield, there was still a stark contrast with all of United’s central players in terms of strike rate last season. As the chart below illustrates, midfield was one of the most barren areas for United. Even more damningly, not one of the side’s true central players got more than two to his name in the league. Tom Cleverley was their top-scoring midfielder with two. That pales next to Fellaini, who hit 11 goals in 31 Premier League appearances.

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Even if Fellaini does not play so close to the centre-forward, though, there is the simple fact that he is more suited to goal-getting than all of United’s current midfielders - especially in Moyes’ current system.

That was emphatically illustrated by the game away to Liverpool. To break United’s play down to rather basic levels, they seemed to be maintaining possession around the centre before trying to work the ball out to the wings for crosses towards on-coming midfielders. Except, none of United’s current crop are suited for that role. In the 1-0 defeat, Moyes’ side hit 32 crosses to Liverpool’s 5, but barely fashioned a chance of note out of them.

By contrast, the 4.9 aerial duels won per game from Fellaini last season was far better than any other Unitedplayer; the closest was Vidic with 4.2. Additionally, only Michu scored more headed goals in the Premier League in 2012-13, with 6 to Fellaini's 5.

The Belgian’s muscularity will also aid other aspects of the new approach. Last season, United played just 59 long balls per game (16th in the league) while Everton hit 64 (third). Under Moyes, the Old Trafford side have so far averaged 73, which is currently the second highest after Southampton. The benefits of Fellaini’s height in this regard are obvious.

It may not be United’s way, but it is also unknown whether it is the way Moyes wants either. That will have to wait.
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http://www.whoscored.com/Blog/3xjpd...als-and-Muscle-to-Manchester-Uniteds-Midfield


I find that long ball stat at the bottom concerning. I know it's only three games in but I can only see it increasing with Fellaini in the team.
 
It's definitely been noticeable in the first few games and has been pointed out on here too. It was, naturally, shot down by the usual suspects though.
 
Carl said:
It's definitely been noticeable in the first few games and has been pointed out on here too. It was, naturally, shot down by the usual suspects though.
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I noticed it with Evra's early crossing tendencies these days. He used to love to run at the full back and get as close as possible to the line.
 
kouroux said:
I noticed it with Evra's early crossing tendencies these days. He used to love to run at the full back and get as close as possible to the line.
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Jones has done that a few times. Infuriating.
 
kouroux said:
I noticed it with Evra's early crossing tendencies these days. He used to love to run at the full back and get as close as possible to the line.
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And it would usually end up with the defender blocking the cross out for a corner, I like the early crossing tactic better.
 
Slevs said:
And it would usually end up with the defender blocking the cross out for a corner, I like the early crossing tactic better.
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Really? I don't. Get to the line and whip it in!
 
Ainu said:
It will definately not increase. 3 games is not a good sample size, especially not when one of those games was away at Anfield with Rio's usual hoof ball performance.
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How can you say that with such conviction?
 
We will be fecking dangerous from corners this year. That's for sure.
 
We were pretty lethal from corners last season tbh.
 
Ash_G said:
I've never liked this sort of argument, carrick scholes and fletcher our main midfielders over the last 7 years or so have each played with very different partners and managed to play very well consistently. If clev can't do the same it's a fault on his part. I can't see clev getting good enough for us to play a 3 in the middle consistently to get the best out of him and play him over one of Rooney, nani, Valencia, welbeck or Hernandez unless a particular game calls for it. I expect carrick to be able to play very well with fellaini, I have my doubts if clev will shine in the middle with fellaini often until he changes his approach and looks to influence more from a deeper role without drifting wide.
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I am not trying to suggest that Cleverley should be part of our first team, it was talks about if Carrick was injured.

I share the doubts you have about Cleverleys ability to play in a 2 man midfield against the best teams - I think we would have a better chance to play with a 3 man central midfield of Clevs-Kagawa and Fellaini as a DM. Because of the reasons you say.
 
Annahnomoss said:
I am not trying to suggest that Cleverley should be part of our first team, it was talks about if Carrick was injured.

I share the doubts you have about Cleverleys ability to play in a 2 man midfield against the best teams - I think we would have a better chance to play with a 3 man central midfield of Clevs-Kagawa and Fellaini as a DM. Because of the reasons you say.
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Fair enough, personally I don't see why that set up would suit clev any more, I think the problem is he's too limited in his style, fellaini adds defensive power but he lacks the passing carrick has so you get the trade of there if you did go for that style.
 
LR7 said:
How can you say that with such conviction?
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Because our current average is already significantly higher than Everton's average of last season. I imagine it's even higher than Stoke of last season. It's an anomaly, it will balance out. We will not turn into a long ball team for christ sake. It's probably Ferdinand with his fecking hoof from defence balls. He's been awful at it so far this season and you'd imagine he'll either stop doing it or find himself out of the team in favour of Evans before long.
 
As I said when the question of what Moyes style would be, Everton did indeed play direct with long balls up to Fellaini. Its not that surprising he's going the same way again... Fellaini used to be one of, if not the most, booked player in the league when playing in DM and made the most fouls too. That isn't good. On the bright side, from watching him so far this season he hasnt got himself into much trouble, possibly being more calm and collected this season... possibly
 
I'm really excited to see Fellaini in the team. I've been waiting for his transfer all summer and was surprised at the timing of it to be honest. I just hope he doesn't get injured while playing for Belgium.
 
United number two Round says Moyes and Fellaini will shoot Reds to new heights

6 Sep 2013 07:41
Steve Round tells Stuart Mathieson that new boss Moyes and star signing Fellaini will be big successes
New signing Marouane Fellaini and David Moyes will prove the doubters wrong at United.
The Reds’ new assistant boss Steve Round is convinced the pair will sway early opinion and become Old Trafford successes.
And the 42-year-old should know as he tracked the Belgian midfielder as a teenager and gave the green light for him to join Everton.
Round also ditched his own ambitions to become a manager in 2008 to work underMoyes at Goodison.
The champions have come under fire after gaining just four points from their first three games – even though two of those were heavyweight contests against Chelsea at Old Trafford and at Liverpool.
The post-Sir Alex Ferguson era has attracted fierce early scrutiny. United’s bungling transfer deadline day hasn’t helped matters and fans are split on the impact that sole big money newcomer £27.5m midfield buy Fellaini will have on the title holders.
But Round, who joined Moyes’ new backroom team in July and served under him for five years at Goodison, moved to Everton just weeks before Fellaini came to the Premier League as a raw 20-year-old from Standard Liege, is certain the player will win over the sceptics.
“I am sure Marouane will settle in very quickly and be an integral part of United’s success in the future, I really do,” Steve told M.E.N. Sport.
Round had monitored the progress of Fellaini in Belgium for Middlesbrough and Newcastle before teaming up with Moyes, who was already a committed Fellaini fan.
“I had seen Marouane play because he was on the radar of a lot of clubs at that time being such a young player,” added the Reds number two.
“I had watched him for a couple of years in some of the Belgian junior teams. Then I joined Everton and within weeks I saw him again for Standard Liege against Liverpool in a Champions League qualifier. He played really well in that game. He was the number one target for David that time.
“I came back from that match and I gave him a really good report and then we signed him.
“He was a little bit raw but had a lot of the attributes you would need. Over the five years at Everton he has really established himself as a top Premier League player.
“He is a regular scorer with really good physical presence.
“When David came here he looked at the squad and thought one of the players we needed to bring in was someone with those physical attributes in the middle of midfield who could give us strength and aggression in certain games and maybe allow one or two of the others to play.
“That, coupled with his ability to score, made him feel Marouane would be a really good acquisition for United.
“When you get to work with him every day, you get to realise that technically he is excellent. His chest control is arguably one of the best in the world. You can bang the ball at him from anywhere and he will bring it down on his chest and bring others into play. :nervous:
“His feet and his technique work are really good. He is aggressive and tackles. He also has great fitness stats.
“He is one of the highest runners in matches. He will regularly do over 12k a game and he can run, goodness me he can run.
“He is a lot better footballer than he gets credit for and he has good passing ability.
“He doesn’t have the same range as a Michael Carrick in his long passing but his continuity and the way he keeps the ball and short passing is very good
“When you are building a squad to compete on all fronts you don’t want every single player to be the same. You want options and differences. In a certain game it might be Tom Cleverley and Carrick in midfield, it might be Fellaini and Carrick, or Fellaini and Anderson. There are different permutations
“It has given the manager options he didn’t have before.
“Marouane was ready for this step up. He’ll fit in well with the professionalism here and relish the challenge.
“He is a 10-15 goals a season man and that is good from midfield.
“He can play number four, sat in front of the defence, he can play an eight in the centre doing box-to-box and can play a number 10 where he drops off the front man. That’s valuable when the range of games is so varied.”
Following Fergie was always going to be a task that would attract the closest of scrutiny. But Round insists Moyes can rise above any early negativity and make it a smooth and silver-lined transition.
“Without a doubt David was ready for this job,” he added. “I had five years at Everton with him and he impressed me every day. There is not a day goes by where you take your foot off the gas with him. He is 100 per cent every day with an incredible work ethic.
“He also has an incredible desire to succeed. He now has the stature and presence to move to a club like this. I really do believe he will be a big success here.
“Now I have been in this club and environment I can understand why Sir Alex and the board appointed him, to keep that continuity, work ethic, drive and feeling about the club going.
“It was very important to them and I can understand now that I have been here and lived it. They were made for each other.”
Round knew in 2008 that he was the right fit as Moyes’ sidekick after spells with Derby, Middlesbrough, England and Newcastle.
“David really impressed me from the first moment I met him,” he recalled.
“I had done one year at Newcastle and I got a call off David to say he’d like to meet me because he needed a new assistant and he said I was his number one target
“From the first minute we met I knew I was going to work for him. At that time I was at a bit of a crossroads in my career because I was starting to wonder whether it was time for me to be a manager.
“I had a couple of opportunities to have an interview for the manager’s job. But after five minutes in David’s company I knew I had to work with him. He sold me a vision and I was hooked.
“He is a terrific person with great honesty and integrity. He really knows his football stuff and he will succeed at United.”

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co...ester-united-assistant-manager-steve-5845939?
 
Its fairly obviously he will be used in an advance role now and again. Its his best position by far.
 
thegregster said:
Its fairly obviously he will be used in an advance role now and again. Its his best position by far.
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Think he could be just as good playing a few yards deeper as the most advanced of a midfield 3. Instead of lumping the ball up to him, let him get involved in passing moves and then be in the box for when crosses come in and chances are there to be had

The problem with that is we'd have 3 attackers instead of 4 from playing 2 wingers and 2 forwards.
 
Joke of a booking. No doubt that he's playing the much vaunted 'box to box' tonight.
 
I wish I could watch this but with the Ireland game on I'll have to rely on the youtube video that will undoubtedly come out.
 
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