Their midfielders looked like school kids next to him, he absolutely dismantled them, it was absolutely hilarious.
The decision to sell Fellaini
- Thread starter amolbhatia50k
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Maybe I was watching a different game, but I thought we controlled the game pretty well! However, all our passes were sideways or backwards until McT came on and introduced the forward pass to the team.
Pretty sure az had more possession and passes. Most of our moves ended with miscontrol or a bad pass from midfield, especially fred and matic.
The biggest problem with Fellaini is that he thinks he's a midfielder when he should be a striker. He's a great target man. Maybe not to start a game, but there aren't many in the game with better chest control and hold up play when back to goal...
Fellini is better than Matic, Fred and Pogba in a midfield 2.
But Jose spent 100 million on Matic and Fred. Someone had to be sacraficed and the Glazers were not going to take a 40 million hit on Fred if someone offered 10 million, without giving him a little longer to show his worth, hoping he'll do a Lindelof and go from laughing stock so solid starter.
I think Ed will realize that we urgently need a DLP in January before this team implodes. Sandro Tonali, Longstaff or John McGinn perhaps.
Fellaini won't be mentioned on here ever again if we land a solid DLP in January.
But Jose spent 100 million on Matic and Fred. Someone had to be sacraficed and the Glazers were not going to take a 40 million hit on Fred if someone offered 10 million, without giving him a little longer to show his worth, hoping he'll do a Lindelof and go from laughing stock so solid starter.
I think Ed will realize that we urgently need a DLP in January before this team implodes. Sandro Tonali, Longstaff or John McGinn perhaps.
Fellaini won't be mentioned on here ever again if we land a solid DLP in January.
He did not. Don't know why this is a myth that exists. Fellaini's United career was bad.
The argument in the OP is that the decision was to replace Fellaini with Andreas. That is not true and therefore the point made is invalid. The decision was to get rid of a player that was not congruent with our idea of football. That was a good decision and we were successful at achieving that.
What we haven’t achieved yet is what Ole has been desperately hinting at. Players are to leave but we want to buy to replace.
Our current midfield options is not our end goal
What we haven’t achieved yet is what Ole has been desperately hinting at. Players are to leave but we want to buy to replace.
Our current midfield options is not our end goal
Whilst Fellaini was one of the least talented members of the Utd squad, he was by far one of the toughest mentally, one of the few players you could count upon when the chips are down, and scored some vital goals for us. I’m sure if he was still in the squad as a plan B we would have more points than we currently have.
Absence really does make the heart grow fonder sometimes. There's no way anyone here could list 10 matches where Fellaini put on a great performance. Maybe 5, tops. Going off recollection only I'd say 1 or 2 MOTMs.
His value was as a target man, never as a holding mid, a deep lying mid, a wide mid nor a creative mid. His value was always a battering ram. What a monster he was in that 4-4 battle when he was still at Everton in the 2011-12 season. He pulled off something like that performance a few times, but not more than a few times.
We needed to let him go and move on. The real mistake was in bringing in Fred, hanging on to Matic and hanging on to Mata. McTominay is a promising project and Pereira may or may not come through, but we were never going to get anywhere with Fellaini as a regular starter for us. Could he still be useful as a Plan C sub against clubs like Newcastle and Palace? Perhaps, but if Fellaini was going to be our Plan B this season we were never, ever going to develop a credible Plan A.
His value was as a target man, never as a holding mid, a deep lying mid, a wide mid nor a creative mid. His value was always a battering ram. What a monster he was in that 4-4 battle when he was still at Everton in the 2011-12 season. He pulled off something like that performance a few times, but not more than a few times.
We needed to let him go and move on. The real mistake was in bringing in Fred, hanging on to Matic and hanging on to Mata. McTominay is a promising project and Pereira may or may not come through, but we were never going to get anywhere with Fellaini as a regular starter for us. Could he still be useful as a Plan C sub against clubs like Newcastle and Palace? Perhaps, but if Fellaini was going to be our Plan B this season we were never, ever going to develop a credible Plan A.
He’s an awful footballer but a brilliant footballer at the same time.
I’m not even sure how to describe him.
All I know is that myself and every single fan of the opposition hated playing against him despite mocking him at the same time which speaks volume.
Everybody laughed at the fee including your own fans but in the end I think he was well worth the money.
I’m not even sure how to describe him.
All I know is that myself and every single fan of the opposition hated playing against him despite mocking him at the same time which speaks volume.
Everybody laughed at the fee including your own fans but in the end I think he was well worth the money.
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Feck me Fellaini really? Shit how far we have fallen..
I would rather see us finishing 10th with Greenwood, Garner and Gomes than 6th with Lukaku, Fellaini and Sánchez. They should have been replaced properly, but it’s better to wait for the right player than buying just for the sake of it, which United has done for many years now. Sometimes you have to take one step backwards to take two steps ahead.
He showed his value I think when Bailly was mistiming headers and almost injuring himself at every turn, while Lindelof was losing every aerial battle he could muster. Jose put him as a screen against Burnley to deal with the high long balls and he took care of them all, bailing out those two bullied defenders. He definitely had his uses as a squad player. Professional too. I really don't mind us selling him but I do mind not replacing him.
Perfectly put. The reliance on players like Fellaini, Valencia, Young is what has cost us. These are hard working players who will run around. And give the illusion of doing a lot. But that's just what it is. An illusion.
How can something be a myth that is a proven fact? Look how many important goals and especially late winners he scored for us. Doesn’t change the fact his allround game wasn’t good enough but Fred has been miles worse so far.
We aren’t developing shit without Fellaini neither.
It wasn't actually the goals he scored himself (I'm pretty sure he didn't score than many winners), but it was the chaos that he caused the opposition in his good games that made him so useful.
Herrera I can still understand but fellaini just had to go. He was symbolic of hoofball football and Jose's pet. Had mourinho been in charge fellaini would be on a new long term contract and people would be bitching about it big time.
Our problem is not there players we have let go, as none of them have been pulling up trees since leaving us. Probably AdM was the only one who would have been useful here as a starter. Just because we go on to replace our bad players with even worse ones, doesn't mean the decision to sell these players was wrong. We have to buy better, which we haven't done for about a decade now.
Replacements were targetted in the summer (Rice and Longstaff) but not signed, and Ole, quite rightly, wasn't willing to sign players he didn't really want.
I also think given McTominay has been our best midfielder this year so far criticism of him is unfair, although I don't think Periera will ever be good enough as a first team United player.
The decision to sell Fellaini was the right one, we had to move away from using him as our plan B, however not replacing him with a viable Plan B, and to me more importantly, not replacing Herrera in midfield was not the best of decisions the club have ever made.
You look at the quality behind our attackers barring Pogba & McTominay and its just not there.
Matic, Mata, Pereira, Fred & Lingard have been given opportunity after opportunity, the slow play, lack of creativity its frustrating to watch and whilst much has been said about Rashford not stepping up(I agree to a certain point), the service the striker gets in this team is really poor because the midfield is poor.
Fellaini was a physical presence in midfield and a goal threat in the box but he wasn't a Utd player i.e. you wouldn't have seen him anywhere near the team in any of our title winning teams over last 25 years. Herrera is the bigger miss to the way we play because his work rate in midfield, clever play & awareness of the quick pass makes him valuable for our team, very underrated player in my opinion. Its not coincidence our run last season ended with him out of the team.
We need to find new way to be effective with what we have available, but this season based on our options, Id be tempted to throw Garner in and go back to 4-3-3 with him in midfield alongside McT & Pogba. Its not ideal and its nowhere near the Matic-Ander-Pogba midfield we had last season, but with Matic seemingly running in quick sand and the others lacking, we have to find another way.
You look at the quality behind our attackers barring Pogba & McTominay and its just not there.
Matic, Mata, Pereira, Fred & Lingard have been given opportunity after opportunity, the slow play, lack of creativity its frustrating to watch and whilst much has been said about Rashford not stepping up(I agree to a certain point), the service the striker gets in this team is really poor because the midfield is poor.
Fellaini was a physical presence in midfield and a goal threat in the box but he wasn't a Utd player i.e. you wouldn't have seen him anywhere near the team in any of our title winning teams over last 25 years. Herrera is the bigger miss to the way we play because his work rate in midfield, clever play & awareness of the quick pass makes him valuable for our team, very underrated player in my opinion. Its not coincidence our run last season ended with him out of the team.
We need to find new way to be effective with what we have available, but this season based on our options, Id be tempted to throw Garner in and go back to 4-3-3 with him in midfield alongside McT & Pogba. Its not ideal and its nowhere near the Matic-Ander-Pogba midfield we had last season, but with Matic seemingly running in quick sand and the others lacking, we have to find another way.
Disagree. Fellaini has uses nobody in the squad has. Both players should still be here though, they are better than most of our current ones
The decision to sell Fellaini was the right decision.
The decision to give him a 2 year contract extension in June 2018 at £120,000 a week, to then sell him by January 2019, was a stupid decision. But that's Woodwards 'business sense' for you.
The decision to give him a 2 year contract extension in June 2018 at £120,000 a week, to then sell him by January 2019, was a stupid decision. But that's Woodwards 'business sense' for you.
It's not who we sold but who we didn't buy.
Revisionism at its finest. He was a terrible footballer with 3 attributes at most, stamina, height and good chest control. He definitely couldn't consistently pass accurately over 10-15m and only physical in the sense he could jog all game long and make dirty, c*nty fouls. One of the worst United signings in my memory purely down to the amount of games he played and matches ruined. Championship footballer at best. Also, a hair pulling, elbowing, thick as pig sh*t c*nt.
/rant
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McTominay is the Herrera replacement. Just because he's the same height doesn't make him the Fellaini replacement. His game is far more similar to Herrera.
Fellaini being better than Periera is based on their respective performances for us. Wishful thinking and twisting of the clear and obvious facts, is displayed far better by those who actually think Periera is anywhere near as good from what we've so far. And to be honest, from what we've seen so far, seeing any more is a rather revolting thought. And here I thought Fellaini was a pointless player.
I dont care about what Herrera has done for another club. All I know is that he was better than any midfielder we have right now (given Pogba is on holiday holiday/injury/wrong position holiday this season). He wasn't top class but he was still better than the current lot we've been watching.
It's funny, when we signed Matic, everybody was convinced the midfield had been sorted. We had Herrera the harrier, Matic the defensive rock and Pogba the flair midfielder. Since then Matic has fallen off a cliff, Herrera has left the club and Pogba wants to leave the club, and the midfield is miles worse than it was then. Sigh.
I actually don't really believe that we messed up by selling Fellaini. This thread was more aimed at pondering the transition (it's the positive buzz word for every drop in quality, isnt it?) our midfield has made from what we felt was pretty bad to something significantly worse. I realise that we aren't really done (have we even begun?) with that transition, but the interim period and the direction it may suggest is somewhat strange.
And on that note, I do agree that it's the replacement or lack thereof, that is lacking as opposed to the actual sale of the player. But I do find it ironic that Fellaini was essentially sold, due to the sheer technically oaf-like nature of the player more than countering his plan-B usefulness. And then the next season we have the likes of Fred, Periera and sometimes Mata replacing his role - I mean, that's bizarre. Chelsea replaced Matic's role with that of Jorginho, who hasn't been a smashing success but is a good footballer wholly aliged with the vision of their then manage - Sarri. What 'vision' do Fred, Periera and Mata represent? They're as much misfits as Fellaini was and if anything, he had more fire and heart than all three (harsh on Mata I guess he's probably 60 years old). But that's the thing, as per this season, Periera is Ole's vision midfielder. And he's absolutely rubbish. Obviously given another season (doesnt look likely), he would improve on Periera, but given every season is hugely important at a football club like Manchester United, he is the one who decided to consider these footballers as being worthy of a place in the squad and Fellaini to not, so that's that - terrific squad building from Ole. Well done. The fact that anybody can even think of missing a player as mediocre as Fellaini says everything. Sigh.
All my football non-Man Utd supporting friends really rated him. It used to bemuse me quite a lot.
Andreas has been a winger this season so I would rather say Ander and Fellaini were not replaced at all
Fellaini should never have been signed, and I'd forgotten he played for United. He is a better option than many of our current midfielders and strikers.
His best phase at Everton was playing support behind the striker, where he could pivot and pitching in with goals, which is why I was confused Moyes himself used him in a different role.
Say what you will but at least it always felt we could score with him on the pitch. These days it's the other way around.
Spot on. Look at the EL Final. He destroyed Ajax. Then the Juve game. They panicked so much that three of them including the keeper went for Fellaini and the ball and scored an own goal.
The question is not about selling Fellaini. But not replacing him so at this current moment in time he is a better midfield player than either Matic or Fred or Mata. Games where right now we cannot break down teams, throw in Fellani and he will create chaos and panic in the opposing box.
It is how managers use these kinds of players. No one would say Johan Cruijff would use long balls. But he does. When things get desperate when he was at Barca, he would throw in a tall CF called Salinas and pump the ball into him ala Fellaini.
No one seemed to rate him, except our managers. Either the three of them were nuts or the commentators were. I know which my money is on. As a target for set pieces Fellaini was valuable and hasn’t been replaced.
We've got a lad called Harry now who's an inch shorter but doesn't perpetually give away fouls and somehow is twice the footballer while playing at CB so not sure what you're on about here.
Fact? Look at the facts and try to perpetuate the myths.
A headed goal every 36 games vs every 17 games. So yeah, they’re equivalent.
No, I'm saying Harry is much better because he can actually play football, you know, like contribute to the team rather than making dirty fouls, giving up the midfield and making us play Burnley/Stoke route one football.A headed goal every 36 games vs every 17 games. So yeah, they’re equivalent.
As if your defending him by claiming 2 goals a season while being utter sh*te is better than 1 goal a season being one of the top CB's in the league.
It's how you use a player to get an advantage over the opposition.
That's why most managers like Fellaini. The problem with Jose was that Fellaini became plan A.
If he was such a terrible player he would not have played for Belgium for such a long time.
That's why most managers like Fellaini. The problem with Jose was that Fellaini became plan A.
If he was such a terrible player he would not have played for Belgium for such a long time.
Ole just did what the fans asked: get rid of Fellaini and Lukaku immediately, because they "don't fit the club and they never did and they never will!".
As a Belgian I followed up on the comments on these 2 players every week here. And yes there were also a lot of people saying that getting rid of Fellaini and Lukaku, could only bring a positive effect, even if nobody else came in.
Allowing other players to grow, giving space for the talented youngsters. Well you got what you wanted. Happy now? Now I can see the fans are out of ideas, so that must mean Ole is also out of ideas.
As a Belgian I followed up on the comments on these 2 players every week here. And yes there were also a lot of people saying that getting rid of Fellaini and Lukaku, could only bring a positive effect, even if nobody else came in.
Allowing other players to grow, giving space for the talented youngsters. Well you got what you wanted. Happy now? Now I can see the fans are out of ideas, so that must mean Ole is also out of ideas.
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