Marouane Fellaini | 2013/14 Performances

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Loublaze said:
He's clearly the most disappointing midfielder we have because he was bought to improve our current midfield. Fernandinho and Matic were bought to improve their respective teams and they've lived up to their billing. Fellaini was already a proven player in this league and he looks like he was bought right out of the Belgian first division! Giggs has been more productive in his limited appearances. He has 75 fouls committed and counting this season...the highest in the league, and only 1 assist. How poor can you get as a United player at this level?
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You think he has been more disappointing than Cleverley, a player that has been here for 3 seasons and has so far made us look like we have 10 players on the pitch, or Michael Carrick whose performances have gone from world class last year to the level he has been playing now, and then comparing him to Ryan Giggs who has started a grand total of 3 games in the centre in the league against the likes of Everton (where he was crap), Cardiff and Villa?

You use foul count as if we have had the cleanest players throught the premier league era. Clearly you have forgotten the likes of Keane and Scholes in the centre, much like some other fans. He is an improvement over our current bunch, and if you weigh up the good games against the bad for this club, the good would outweigh.

Oh by the way, if you want to be counting assists, how about Carrick's 1, Cleverley's 1, Fletcher's 0 and Kagawa's 2?
 
Shamwow said:
Can you share a link saying he has conceded 75 fouls as I find that hard to believe.
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I have managed to find Fellaini's fouls stats for the current season and he doesn't even have half of what Loublaze claims. http://www.whoscored.com/Players/22738 shows that he's commited 31.5 fouls (not sure how you can commit half of a foul, but 2.1*10 + 3.5*3 = 31.5). Even if you count his time from Everton, which I guess is the pre-season, it's still only 40 fouls, nowhere near 75.
 
CrypticClash said:
I have managed to find Fellaini's fouls stats for the current season and he doesn't even have half of what Loublaze claims. http://www.whoscored.com/Players/22738 shows that he's commited 31.5 fouls (not sure how you can commit half of a foul, but 2.1*10 + 3.5*3 = 31.5). Even if you count his time from Everton, which I guess is the pre-season, it's still only 40 fouls, nowhere near 75.
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You can hover on Fouls and you can see total fouls conceded.
If we go by that numbers it's 51. 29 at United in Prem, 14 in CL and 8 for Everton in Prem.
 
Red Shorts said:
You think he has been more disappointing than Cleverley, a player that has been here for 3 seasons and has so far made us look like we have 10 players on the pitch, or Michael Carrick whose performances have gone from world class last year to the level he has been playing now, and then comparing him to Ryan Giggs who has started a grand total of 3 games in the centre in the league against the likes of Everton (where he was crap), Cardiff and Villa?

You use foul count as if we have had the cleanest players throught the premier league era. Clearly you have forgotten the likes of Keane and Scholes in the centre, much like some other fans. He is an improvement over our current bunch, and if you weigh up the good games against the bad for this club, the good would outweigh.

Oh by the way, if you want to be counting assists, how about Carrick's 1, Cleverley's 1, Fletcher's 0 and Kagawa's 2?
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He's only a marginal improvement over Cleverley, which is nothing to write home about. Even Scholes thinks he's been a flop, and you know he was being kind on Sky because I can't imagine what he really thinks about him behind closed doors. You can mention Keane and Scholes as dirty players but they were great at other things.

What is Fellaini great at? Has he influenced any games at all? He's been shown up by quality players everytime he's come up against them, while being average against shite teams doing basic things you expect from a United player at this level. Im sorry, the man is average and he'll be nothing more than an expensive squad player if we reinforce this summer.
 
thegregster said:
Fair point.

But I think we all wish that he had been brave enough to sign Herrera. Ok he wasnt worth the 31mil Bilbao were looking for. He probably was worth around 23mil in my book. But over paying for a player by 8mil who suits our style is much better than spending 27mil on a player who wont. Fellaini isnt exceptional at anything that we currently need in our CM.
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I agree, I can't help but feel there was some element of Woody really not wanting to look like a weak negotiator so early in his career there. I guess his big test is this summer, can we solve all our problems without spending an absurd amount of money
 
Loublaze said:
He's clearly the most disappointing midfielder we have because he was bought to improve our current midfield. Fernandinho and Matic were bought to improve their respective teams and they've lived up to their billing. Fellaini was already a proven player in this league and he looks like he was bought right out of the Belgian first division! Giggs has been more productive in his limited appearances. He has 75 fouls committed and counting this season...the highest in the league, and only 1 assist. How poor can you get as a United player at this level?
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there are lots of stats he's doing really well in though, every game he wins a ton of aerial challenges, more impressive considering he's always marking the oppositions best header, his passing stats at times are very good, his interceptions are usually fairly high too. There are stats you can cherry pick to prove that any player is 'as poor as you can get at this level' and plenty you can cherry pick to show a player is doing ok
 
Loublaze said:
Even Scholes thinks he's been a flop, and you know he was being kind on Sky because I can't imagine what he really thinks about him behind closed doors.
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For some reason providing things people didn't say as evidence for how they feel always seemed silly to me. Do you not have any more concrete evidence than something Paul Scholes didn't say?
 
Crashoutcassius said:
there are lots of stats he's doing really well in though, every game he wins a ton of aerial challenges, more impressive considering he's always marking the oppositions best header, his passing stats at times are very good, his interceptions are usually fairly high too. There are stats you can cherry pick to prove that any player is 'as poor as you can get at this level' and plenty you can cherry pick to show a player is doing ok
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You expect someone like him to win most aerial challenges in all honesty. He barely has to jump! Funny you bring that particular stat up though, because he lost the most aerial challenges in the whole round of week 31 games, 15 in total.

http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2014...m-gameweek-31-in-the-english-barclays-premie/

Stats aside, he doesn't bring much more to this team than we already had. Would you say he has actually improved our midfield from last season? And if so, what in particular has he improved that we were missing? You'd be hard pressed to answer that. He's an extra body we can use, not much more in terms of pure quality.
 
Loublaze said:
You expect someone like him to win most aerial challenges in all honesty. He barely has to jump! Funny you bring that particular stat up though, because he lost the most aerial challenges in the whole round of week 31 games, 15 in total.

http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2014...m-gameweek-31-in-the-english-barclays-premie/

Stats aside, he doesn't bring much more to this team than we already had. Would you say he has actually improved our midfield from last season? And if so, what in particular has he improved that we were missing? You'd be hard pressed to answer that. He's an extra body we can use, not much more in terms of pure quality.
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You wouldn't be hard pressed to find my opinion on what he brings, or what anyones opinion is on what he brings. Say Moyes wants to have 4-5 centre mids in his team eventually and rotate them for games that they are suited to. Well Felli is suited to certain games. I saw you say he played average versus shite teams above - we are basically never going to agree on anything because I thought he's had 3 good - very good performances since coming back from injury. So if you think he plays average when everyone else in the world thinks he had a good game and is voting for him in our MOTM thread etc then just give up posting in this thread, obviously your opinion is wildly different to other peoples and can't be reconciled
 
Crashoutcassius said:
For some reason providing things people didn't say as evidence for how they feel always seemed silly to me. Do you not have any more concrete evidence than something Paul Scholes didn't say?
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http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2014...m-gameweek-31-in-the-english-barclays-premie/

Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes says that he expected to see a lot more from Marouane Fellaini this season.

Fellaini moved to Old Trafford for £27 million on transfer deadline day and has been criticised for his performances at times, particularly earlier in the campaign.

The Belgian midfielder has not yet scored for David Moyes's side and also missed two months of the season with a wrist injury, and Scholes has been disappointed with his impact so far.

"He's not been great, has he? You have to admit that," the recently retired United hero said on Sky Sports in the build-up to the Manchester derby.

"He did have problems with his wrist and I know he missed a lot of games but, for the money they paid for him, I'd be expecting a lot more, to be honest with you.

"I'd be expecting a few goals, at least. For a central midfielder at Manchester United for £27m, I'm expecting a few goals."

The greatest midfielder of our generation doesn't rate him at all.
 
Loublaze said:
http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2014...m-gameweek-31-in-the-english-barclays-premie/

Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes says that he expected to see a lot more from Marouane Fellaini this season.

Fellaini moved to Old Trafford for £27 million on transfer deadline day and has been criticised for his performances at times, particularly earlier in the campaign.

The Belgian midfielder has not yet scored for David Moyes's side and also missed two months of the season with a wrist injury, and Scholes has been disappointed with his impact so far.

"He's not been great, has he? You have to admit that," the recently retired United hero said on Sky Sports in the build-up to the Manchester derby.

"He did have problems with his wrist and I know he missed a lot of games but, for the money they paid for him, I'd be expecting a lot more, to be honest with you.

"I'd be expecting a few goals, at least. For a central midfielder at Manchester United for £27m, I'm expecting a few goals."

The greatest midfielder of our generation doesn't rate him at all.
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yeah i watched the interview, i just find it funny when people say 'even XXXX thinks this... of course he didn't say it but i looked in his eyes and could see what he really thought'

another example of fellaini specific analysis around things that didn't happen is when people say, as part of why he didn't play well in a certain game, 'he could have given away a penalty', referring to no particular incident, just the general threat that they perceive. You'd think if he was that much of a flop they'd fill their time typing out the evidence that actually happened
 
Crashoutcassius said:
You wouldn't be hard pressed to find my opinion on what he brings, or what anyones opinion is on what he brings. Say Moyes wants to have 4-5 centre mids in his team eventually and rotate them for games that they are suited to. Well Felli is suited to certain games. I saw you say he played average versus shite teams above - we are basically never going to agree on anything because I thought he's had 3 good - very good performances since coming back from injury. So if you think he plays average when everyone else in the world thinks he had a good game and is voting for him in our MOTM thread etc then just give up posting in this thread, obviously your opinion is wildly different to other peoples and can't be reconciled
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I respect other people's opinions but i'm not a follower. If Paul Scholes doesn't rate this guy that's enough for me, and thats in addition to what I see on the pitch. If Moyes signs real quality midfield reinforcements this summer I can only see Fellaini being a glorified squad player. He was bought to sort our midfield dilemma but sadly the saga continues. Let the fro play against the weak teams, keep him out the big games and we'll be fine
 
Loublaze said:
I respect other people's opinions but i'm not a follower. If Paul Scholes doesn't rate this guy that's enough for me, and thats in addition to what I see on the pitch. If Moyes signs real quality midfield reinforcements this summer I can only see Fellaini being a glorified squad player. He was bought to sort our midfield dilemma but sadly the saga continues. Let the fro play against the weak teams, keep him out the big games and we'll be fine
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yeah he will be a useful squad player - but city and chelsea have expensive squad players, we're competing with Billionaires, this is the age we live in, so a 27m rotational centre mid is not that big a deal
 
NK86 said:
Who wanted De Gea out? People were all for giving him time. This was a lad of 20 from a different league settling in a new country and learning a new language. Not to forget the fact that he was regarded as one the most promising young GKs and also a future Spain #1.
Fellaini has been in this league for 5 years and is entering his prime. All this while most on here thought he was not good enough for us even before we went for him. How is the two situations even remotely similar?

People can raise the silliest points.
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You were not even on the site when he signed so how would you no if it was silly or not? :rolleyes:

They are similar in the way I described, not too difficult, in Fellani's first season people think he is not good enough and in De Gea's first season people thought he would not be good enough - Get it?
 
Red Shorts said:
You think he has been more disappointing than Cleverley, a player that has been here for 3 seasons and has so far made us look like we have 10 players on the pitch, or Michael Carrick whose performances have gone from world class last year to the level he has been playing now, and then comparing him to Ryan Giggs who has started a grand total of 3 games in the centre in the league against the likes of Everton (where he was crap), Cardiff and Villa?

You use foul count as if we have had the cleanest players throught the premier league era. Clearly you have forgotten the likes of Keane and Scholes in the centre, much like some other fans. He is an improvement over our current bunch, and if you weigh up the good games against the bad for this club, the good would outweigh.

Oh by the way, if you want to be counting assists, how about Carrick's 1, Cleverley's 1, Fletcher's 0 and Kagawa's 2?
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Sense is not welcome in this thread.
 
I wouldn't say that Scholesy doesn't rate him. If anything, Scholesy rates him highly enough to expect more of a goal output as per his Everton days. We're talking about a seasoned Premier League player here. Scholes is just setting the bar according to what he knows Fellaini is capable of.

The likes of Young, Kagawa and Mata have also suffered big slumps in their numbers. You could make the same claim about them even if you do rate them.
 
This time last season Henderson and Ramsey were deemed not good enough for their current clubs. This season however, for some reason or another, these players have arguably been the most important players for their clubs this season. This could be down to confidence, change of systems, personnel, etc.

This is not to say Fellaini will go on to make the transformation the aforementioned players have next season, who knows, however, I personally feel we should give him a fair judgement when he's playing with a team full of confidence and next to a player who will compliment his attributes.
 
DFreshKing said:
Sense is not welcome in this thread.
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I do think I will be taking it into other threads, because it falls upon deaf ears in this place. We should just revert to Cleverley and Carrick for the remainder of the season and let him rot on the bench; those two are far superior in the middle.
 
DFreshKing said:
You were not even on the site when he signed so how would you no if it was silly or not? :rolleyes:

They are similar in the way I described, not too difficult, in Fellani's first season people think he is not good enough and in De Gea's first season people thought he would not be good enough - Get it?
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Are you deliberately acting dumb? You do realize you dont have to be a member on the site to be able to read the mains section. Just read and not being able to reply. You do realize that, don't you? Or should I need to start with a lesson of how internet and this site works?

Secondly, as I said most on here were willing to be patient with De Gea for the very points I mentioned in my post earlier. So even if there were perhaps a minority who gave gave up on him, most here knew that we have a potentially great young GK om our hands. Whereas Fellaini was never thought of to be United standard from before he was even associated with us and with very good reasons. Most of which he is proving now.
Also, before you start quoting me the next time, try and take a moment to read my posts on that matter before acting a amart ass with all the rolling eyes smileys. I simply said that Fellaini has failed to turn up in any of the games against the top sides, barring maybe Arsenal away. Personally I don't think he is good enough but I don't have any problem with people who think he can turn it around. But that does not change the fact that most on here did not want him in the first place as they knew he would not be a good fit for this United midfield which needed different and better players than him.
 
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Red Shorts said:
You think he has been more disappointing than Cleverley, a player that has been here for 3 seasons and has so far made us look like we have 10 players on the pitch, or Michael Carrick whose performances have gone from world class last year to the level he has been playing now, and then comparing him to Ryan Giggs who has started a grand total of 3 games in the centre in the league against the likes of Everton (where he was crap), Cardiff and Villa?

You use foul count as if we have had the cleanest players throught the premier league era. Clearly you have forgotten the likes of Keane and Scholes in the centre, much like some other fans. He is an improvement over our current bunch, and if you weigh up the good games against the bad for this club, the good would outweigh.

Oh by the way, if you want to be counting assists, how about Carrick's 1, Cleverley's 1, Fletcher's 0 and Kagawa's 2?
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Why is anyone claiming that Fellaini has been poorer than Cleverley. He most definitely has not and he has also turned up and done well against the lower opponents in the league. However, for the money we paid for him, we hoped he should be doing better in the big games as well but he has failed to deliver. And he has looked lethargic and lazy in those games. None of which can be argued. So is that a confidence issue or simply how he actually plays. From what I have seen of him so far, it is the latter and that does not fill me with confidence that he can be much better going forward against the top sides.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
This time last season Henderson and Ramsey were deemed not good enough for their current clubs. This season however, for some reason or another, these players have arguably been the most important players for their clubs this season. This could be down to confidence, change of systems, personnel, etc.

This is not to say Fellaini will go on to make the transformation the aforementioned players have next season, who knows, however, I personally feel we should give him a fair judgement when he's playing with a team full of confidence and next to a player who will compliment his attributes.
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I agree regarding Henderson. And that is what happens when a manager is there who can trust you and can help you improve. Only problem is thaf Fellaini has been with Moyes for 5 years now and the best I have seen of him in the big games is when he played the #10 role and used his aggression to bully defenders. We don't need him for that here and he has failed to show anything else so far, at least to me, that he can cut it against the big boys.
 
NK86 said:
Are you deliberately acting dumb? You do realize you dont have to be a member on the site to be able to read the mains section. Just read and not being able to reply. You do realize that, don't you? Or should I need to start with a lesson of how internet and this site works?

Secondly, as I said most on here were willing to be patient with De Gea for the very points I mentioned in my post earlier. So even if there were perhaps a minority who gave gave up on him, most here knew that we have a potentially great young GK om our hands. Whereas Fellaini was never thought of to be United standard from before he was even associated with us and with very good reasons. Most of which he is proving now.
Also, before you start quoting me the next time, try and take a moment to read my posts on that matter before acting a amart ass with all the rolling eyes smileys. I simply said that Fellaini has failed to turn up in any of the games against the top sides, barring maybe Arsenal away. Personally I don't think he is good enough but I don't have any problem with people who think he can turn it around. But that does not change the fact that most on here did not want him in the first place as they knew he would not be a good fit for this United midfield which needed different and better players than him.
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Great, so you agree with me now, that's a bit more sensible. At least we can end our relationship with you learning something.


I am not a fan of reading extreme stupidity in posts so I will leave it there.
 
DFreshKing said:
Great, so you agree with me now, that's a bit more sensible. At least we can end our relationship with you learning something.


I am not a fan of reading extreme stupidity in posts so I will leave it there.
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How do you write a post here then? With your eyes closed so that you don't have to read the incredibly dull nonsense you spout?
 
Crashoutcassius said:
because moyes signed fellaini and we must prove moyes is an idiot at all costs
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Yeah, there are posters who hope we lose and look for any excuse to bash Moyes and Fellani. We have had a nightmare no doubt, but mistakes were made in the summer with the late start of Moyes and Ed, we have been playing catchup ever since. Our really poor performances this season have come without Fellani, I am really disaponted in Carrick more than the new kid.
 
Crashoutcassius said:
because moyes signed fellaini and we must prove moyes is an idiot at all costs
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Yeah, there are posters who hope we lose and look for any excuse to bash Moyes and Fellani. We have had a nightmare no doubt, but mistakes were made in the summer with the late start of Moyes and Ed, we have been playing catchup ever since. Our really poor performances this season have come without Fellani, I am really disaponted in Carrick more than the new kid.
 
Am I the only one who thinks we should play him behind Rooney tomorrow. We not going to outpass Bayern.
 
Crashoutcassius said:
because moyes signed fellaini and we must prove moyes is an idiot at all costs
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Cleverley is a homegrown talent, Fellaini isnt. Cleverley seem to be a nice guy, Felliani is a dirty player. Cleverley cost us nothing, Fellaini is a 27m signing.

I think Fellaini is better then Clev however the difference is not that big. For sure the Belgian is not worth even half that fee.
 
Now that we've spent the money, I think we need to accept Fellaini for what he is: Good enough for a United squad player. He is an upgrade on our midfield options - but probably not as a first teamer. He is actually pretty excellent to have against lower-league opposition, and to be honest, that's what his role will be from next year on (please for the love of God).

Things that are not his fault:
1. We don't have another midfielder who would get into a top 10 team to play alongside him.
2. Our defense is rotated every game, injured every other game, and desperately needs shielding.
3. He was hurt for 3 months, at the crucial bedding in time.
4. He cost 27m.

Things that are his fault:
1. Reckless challenges and unnecessary cards
2. Not scoring a single goal this season
3. Losing countless aerial duels
4. Not tracking runners from midfield into the box

I think over time he'll be a valuable member of our squad, and we need to get over his price, and his negative association with our (hopefully soon to be ex) manager.
 
KiD MoYeS said:
The day Moyes utilities Fellaini in the hole as plan A is a day I dread.
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There's a time and a place for taking a moral high-ground on tactics. I doubt anyone wants to see us playing with Fellaini as a second-striker against 90% of the teams we'll face, but if Moyes goes with it against Bayern and it comes off I'd be over the moon with absolutely no complaints.
 
jeff_goldblum said:
There's a time and a place for taking a moral high-ground on tactics. I doubt anyone wants to see us playing with Fellaini as a second-striker against 90% of the teams we'll face, but if Moyes goes with it against Bayern and it comes off I'd be over the moon with absolutely no complaints.
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It won't. Simple as that. I don't know who made the idea that you can win against better teams with shit players. If Fellaini plays well against the likes of Bayern as a second striker then why we wouldn't want to see him there against teams worse than them?
 
Bojan11 said:
Am I the only one who thinks we should play him behind Rooney tomorrow. We not going to outpass Bayern.
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I'm not averse to the idea of a target man in general but, against Bayern, it'd only work if we had genuine pace on the wings to help us counter attack. That would mean playing Valencia, which I don't see that happening on current form, especially when Welbeck can do both jobs himself if needed.
 
Bayern aren't Barcelona anyway. They're perfectly capable with Martinez and Boateng of dealing with aerial play, we're not talking Mascherano at centre back here.
 
Revan said:
It won't. Simple as that. I don't know who made the idea that you can win against better teams with shit players. If Fellaini plays well against the likes of Bayern as a second striker then why we wouldn't want to see him there against teams worse than them?
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I feel like we might not see eye to eye because I don't think Fellaini is 'shit'. I don't see Kagawa behind the striker vs. Fellaini behind the striker as being a case of a playing a good player or playing a 'shit' player, I'd see it as horses for courses. If our gameplan is to try and outpass a team (which should be true in the vast majority of games we play) I'd definitely put Mata or Kagawa in that position. On the other hand, in some games we're not going to dominate possession and it'd be naive to base our gameplan on the assumption that we will. The benefits of having someone like Fellaini in that second striker role against technically superior opposition are obvious to anyone who has watched Everton's games against the likes of us and City in the last couple of seasons.

Anyway, I never said I thought it'd work. What I said was that if it did work I'd be ecstatic and I'd praise Moyes for making the call. I certainly wouldn't be straight on here moaning about us not trying to out-pass the best team on the planet.
 
KiD MoYeS said:
The day Moyes utilities Fellaini in the hole as plan A is a day I dread.
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Like @Bojan11 said, we're hardly going to out possess Bayern, so putting Fellaini up top as an outlet to be a handful wouldn't be a bad idea. If playing Fellaini behind Rooney (although I don't think it'll happen) means it gives us a better chance of winning the game, then so be it. That's what tactics are all about.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Like @Bojan11 said, we're hardly going to out possess Bayern, so putting Fellaini up top as an outlet to be a handful wouldn't be a bad idea. If playing Fellaini behind Rooney (although I don't think it'll happen) means it gives us a better chance of winning the game, then so be it. That's what tactics are all about.
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I agree with making the best out of a bad situation. But this idea that Fellaini is a presence and can cause trouble is based on his time at Everton, besides and elbow or two, he has not been able to impose himself on any defenders this season. Guys half the size have been able to bully him. Obviously he is better than that but when confidence is low, these things happen. So putting him up there would be a mistake in my opinion.
 
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