Hard to be objective about this and Im not expecting anyone on here to be. But I wonder sometimes whether Fellaini's reception would have been different if SAF had signed him. It would be a different kind of endorsement, for SAF to think he was United quality, to his own former manager thinking he was. I imagine a lot more people would be giving him the benefit of the doubt now, rather than writing him off after half a dozen appearances.
Marouane Fellaini | 2013/14 Performances
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I'll probably get laughed out this thread for saying it, but I think he could be a handy little tool for us in the Champions League.
I would say you're spot on. The reality is that he simply hasn't had enough games here for people to be lambasting him the way they are. He also has shown himself to be a quality player at club and international level but because he's a Moyes' signing from Everton a lot of people seem to assume he's not up to it.
It's going to be nice when he actually starts playing football again so he can either prove people right or wrong. It's all speculation at the moment whether he'll be a success here or not.
Someone mentioned a few pages back that he could be deployed in a destroyer DM type role that controls the area in front of the center backs. I think this could work alongside a mobile passer of the ball.
Give him a run of games and let him settle. Has been underwhelming but too early to write him off.
Give him a run of games and let him settle. Has been underwhelming but too early to write him off.
My only concern witht this is that he tends to give away a shit load of freekicks. YOu dont wanna be giving away alot of these close to our own box.
You will, because the people in this thread are ridiculous. It's actually boring now seeing the number of people judging him from the first few performances, and saying things like how our entire gameplay will now change to lobbing balls forward to him as a target man. Even without him on the pitch we do that all the time, and we've been dire at it. At least with him on the pitch we have an extra man on the box who is actually good aerially and can effectively deal with those crosses, if Moyes does not want to change his ways. That, and he is actually better than people give him credit for, and I really hope he has a good second half season to shut some doubters up.
Sadly, he will always be a Young/Valencia/Cleverley type-target in that he could do 5 things right and one thing wrong in a game, and half the forum will target that one bad thing.
The thing you have to take into account is the kinds of free kicks he concedes.
I'd say the majority of his fouls are committed when the opposition is running with the ball on the counter and he's having to chase quicker players back, his size and his general lack of mobility mean that he gets pulled up a lot when he attempts to make that kind of tackle. In a deeper role I think he'd commit far fewer fouls.
When Everton played well Fellaini stood out as a vital player for them , but it does not mean that he will play well for United , they played a different system and had different players , he might just not fit in , I honestly thought he would make a big difference to us in midfield , he still has the chance to and I would like to see him given the opportunity to do just that , but at the end of the day it might not work out for him for whatever reason , be it not good enough , can't handle the pressure or as I mentioned before he just doesn't fit into Uniteds way of playing , would you build a team around him ? I wouldn't .
You'd like to think so but knee jerk decisions about the long term potential of new signings have always been the norm amongst football fans. Even when it was SAF making the decisions. Remember the grief Paddy Evra got in first 6 months at the club?
I do indeed.
This is different in as much as most people seem to be basing their opinions on seeing quite a bit of him at Everton, rather than the situation with Evra where most of us wouldn't have seen that much of him. I think he can be a decent-ish player for us, based both on what I've seen of him at Everton and, to a lesser extent, here. I don't ever see him being a first team player if we are challenging for the league and CL, though.
If Fellaini was actually able to catch a high ball in his hair and run the length of the pitch with it nestled in there, like an egg sitting in a nest, and he reached the opposition penalty area and then flicked it out with his neck and into the opposition goal - is there anything in the rules of the game to say that isnt allowed?
Honestly, I don't think whether him being signed by Fergie would have had any impact. Most of the caftards were already questioning Fergie's judgement in anything midfield related, so if anything Fellaini playing like he has would've led to further criticism of SAF in that regard. It would've been.. he got rid of Pogba and signed Fellaini?? so, the Moyes issue is irrelevant when it comes to Fellaini, although obviously.. if things don't work out and we are still buying poor midfielders, he will deservedly get alot of flak.
I have hope for Fellaini. I don't think he's going to be a club legend, but he could offer something useful to us. What he needs is the right players alongside and in front of him.
Fair point. It does play into the whole midfield blind-spot narrative.
I think Talksport put this very question to Dermot Gallagher on Dermot o' query. I'm sure they said they could disallow it somehow.
Same here. I still think he will turn out to be decent for us. Way overpriced but I'm looking forward to him coming back.
That Kerlon bloke used to do his seal dribble and, from memory, he used to get kicked in the face quite a lot. In that instance self-policing might be the best option.
Thing is, he's not even been the player he was for Everton for us yet (and I mean this in terms of putting himself about/being a bit of a force... which are characteristics he's not really shown for us - even if it is a different position) ... and I'm sure he is capable of doing at least that, and in turn showing more for us then he has so far (who know's how much this wrist injury hampered him at the start?)
I think a lot of people have made judgements called on the ceiling he can acheive here - based in most part on what they've seen on him at Everton (which is fair enough really). Personally I think he could be a decent squad player, but nothing more for us... though I won't rule out the possibility that he could surprise everyone.
I think a lot of people have made judgements called on the ceiling he can acheive here - based in most part on what they've seen on him at Everton (which is fair enough really). Personally I think he could be a decent squad player, but nothing more for us... though I won't rule out the possibility that he could surprise everyone.
I think the answer to the question is important in determining the fair market value of Fellaini. If he cant get away with it then we definitely overpaid. If he can then maybe not.
He's quite tall. I can imagine players picking up injuries trying to kick Fellaini in the face while he is running.
It's the word "ever" that bothers me. I don't think anyone can make accurate long-term predictions about how well he will or won't cope with the step up from Everton to United when he will play with better players, yet need to perform at a consistently higher level himself. Some players thrive in a scenario like that, some players fall at the wayside. Very inexact science predicting which category a new signing falls into.
I'm also not sure how often the various people writing him off actually watched him play for Everton. I'll freely admit I only ever watched him in games against us and maybe a handful of other games against title rivals, which happened to be televised. Not really a big enough sample of games to be confident in my own opinion. Especially when you consider that these are games where Everton were under the cosh and more likely to be forced to use him as a glorified target man. Have other people really managed to watch him much more than that?
Fair enough if initial impressions are confirmed after 20-30 games for the club. 8 games (half of them carrying an injury) doesn't really tell us much about anything.
You cant judge Fellaini on his first season. We need to assess him in December.
Its an Everton thing.
Its an Everton thing.
That's definitely another string to his bow.
I'm not professing to be peddling an exact science. I don't see any point in hedging my bets if it's not what I believe. It's my opinion, based on watching him probably 6 or 7 times a season for the last few years. Yeah, I might be proven wrong, in which case I'll be delighted, but I've seen nothing to suggest I will be.
I think he will come in against Olympiakos.
Why buy him and not play him, yes i know he has this wrist injury. But it makes no sense at all. I dont think he can be happy with the amount of games he has played.
So you know he's been injured, but you don't know why he hasn't been playing?
I still have hope for him. Its too easy to forget just how good he was for everton, he showed he could do it.
However, i worry when i hear reports of him being so bad in training that he's (apparently) become a real joke on the training ground. There was another report where rooney and fletcher were overheard laughing about how bad he was and that they actively avoid passing to him.
words pinch of salt come to mind though
However, i worry when i hear reports of him being so bad in training that he's (apparently) become a real joke on the training ground. There was another report where rooney and fletcher were overheard laughing about how bad he was and that they actively avoid passing to him.
words pinch of salt come to mind though
Definitely, sounds like nonsense. Where did you hear it?
Eh? Where's this coming from?
News to me. Sounds like complete bullshit, and I'm not a Fellaini fan at all.
Like most rumours, it was written on a bus shelter with pink highlighter and human shit.
haha.
it was from Red Issue's 'word on the street'. They've mentioned it a few times from different sources. As i say, pinch of salt
I'm convinced he'll come good and as someone mentioned above somewhere, I think he'll be a vital cog for us in the CL.
The ones who've tagged him as a buffoon and a flop, how about giving him a chance when he's 100% fully fit and given a string of games?
The ones who've tagged him as a buffoon and a flop, how about giving him a chance when he's 100% fully fit and given a string of games?
I disagree. When Baines was discussed, most people had problems with his age and the amount of money asked for him, not the fact he could be a Moyes signing from Everton. Football supporters aren't a bunch of blind idiots. We've seen Fellaini play for Everton enough to make up our minds about him.
I'm not saying anyone is a blind idiot but there's a lack of trust there and I suppose that's natural; Moyes has to earn it. If Fergie had signed him people would probably give him the benefit of the doubt, and rightly so.
I couldnt for one second imagine Fletcher mocking another player like that, considering he was one that was bullied by Roy Keane shortly before Keano was shown the door. Its complete nonsense. Why would they even print that crap never mind it be spread around forums
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