Fellaini | Gone

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UncleBob

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Surprised we're getting rid in this window, especially when you consider the back up options we have.
I'm going to assume it's because of two things:

He reckons he'll be getting limited time on the pitch under Ole and the club is more than happy to allow him to leave because he's not highly rated.
 

IrishRedDevil

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A parting stat:

Marouane Fellaini scored in the semi-final of each major competition Manchester United have won since Sir Alex Ferguson retired:

⚽ vs. Everton (FA Cup)
⚽ vs. Hull (League Cup)
⚽ vs. Celta Vigo (Europa League)
 

Untied

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He was never one of the players to cover the most distance, so when anyone says he always worked hard I guess they must mean he got in the faces of everyone and was a bit of a menace. Basically the sort of rubbish you'd expect from the stereotypical Stoke team, a team that regularly got hammered for that style of play on here. Always remember the abuse Charlie Adam would get when we played them, yet Fellaini gets praise for getting up to the same tricks.
Ahh I remember when the Caf was so desperate for us to sign a central midfielder that people were genuinely suggesting Charlie Adam as an option Good times.
 

sullydnl

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Ahh I remember when the Caf was so desperate for us to sign a central midfielder that people were genuinely suggesting Charlie Adam as an option Good times.
Those corners alone....... :drool:
 

It's B Rubble

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Christ. Worked hard, did his job, played for every manager he served under. I sometimes wonder what you lot want. His attributes are not to be taken for granted. I refer you to Chelsea's gilded stars. I wish him all the best.
Thank you, sir.
 

devilish

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I don't buy the fact that he survived just because he was loyal to the managers. Moyes didn't get the best out of him at United. LVG did as did Jose. He was hurt when inherited by Ole. Could he have played a part of this squad for the remainder of this season, of course and we wouldn't have complained like we did when he first came to the club. But again, he's been hurt/on the block.

Darmian has showed loyalty, but then Fellaini has played more and probably contributed more than him or Rojo...yet they are still here. Why? Loyalty for the manager(s)? Mata has showed loyalty to the managers and loves the club.

If anything, the managers saw a use out of him when there weren't any other better options at the club for whatever reason. I do not believe McTominay is a better option than Fellaini. Andreas is not a better option than Fellaini. We're talking about backup/squad players, not first XI.

And you might notice but the reality is, Manchester United isn't the same club anymore compared to 2012. The standards have always been there and it will remaining, to win the league, challenge to make deep runs in Europe and domestic cups. But applying yourself and reaching those standards, no, not really close. We've been in transition and still are. However, winning matters a lot at this club. Winning the Europa League was a calculated gamble to forego a run at 4th place and go all in for the trophy, yet get passage into the CL. Winning the FA Cup is still a big deal if you're a top team because it's part of the treble (which Fellaini did with United and played a central role mind you with Mata, Rooney and Lingard). Win the league - great. Domestic double - greater. Treble - greatest.

Its difficult to say whether Darmian has been loyal or not simply because he is the epitome of a non entity. You barely ever notice him on or off the pitch. Fellaini is limited, very limited, but to his credit he's also a fighter, something Darmian is not. Anyway I would be surprised if Rojo and Darmian would still be here after next summer.

You're also making it sound that Fellaini was wanted to OT or that he was never at any risk of leaving which isn't the case. So lets go through his career with us. We signed Fellaini on deadline day and on a higher fee then to what we could have paid for just few weeks before simply because Moyes persisted in bringing in Fabregas. Even when we became interested in him it was initially part of a package deal with Baines which Moyes threw a ridiculously low combined fee for. It was evident that we only signed Fellaini at the very last minute of deadline day because Moyes preferred signing someone then no one.

When LVG joined the club he placed Fellaini on the transfer list. Unfortunately no one wanted to sign him up on a permanent deal so he remained. LVG's inability to understand EPL football meant that he reduced to squad size to the bare bones. Which meant that once injuries started coming in he needed all hands in deck especially since it conceded at a time when he was losing the dressing room. Fellaini's loyalty to his manager became valuable at a time when loyalty became scarce and the team was clearly working against the manager.

Fellaini fell way down the pecking order under Mourinho as he was busy buying new CMs. However as the manager starting losing the dressing room, Fellaini's high tolerance to BS + Mou's inability to come out with a half decent plan B meant that Fellaini became valuable again. Mou would just throw him upfront, let the team spray him with crosses and hope for the best. Not to forget that he became his beating stick towards the likes of Martial and Pogba. However that doesn't mean every one at the club wanted him. It took us ages to renew his contract and once his protector was out, he is being shown the door.

So seriously Fellaini survived that long because

a- no one was willing to match United's salary. That still applied even when the fee wasn't an issue anymore
b- his attitude of just go there and do the job irrespective of how he's treated or how the team is performing was valued greatly by three of the worst man managers there were in the EPL history.

Finally, if you think that winning just the FA cup is great for a top club who spent 400m in transfers and has the 3rd/4th highest salary bill in football then you're deluded.
 

devilish

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A pay cut at United still equates to top earnings at other clubs. I don't think any other Prem club would match what he's on here.
They could match it if no fee is involved (since he was a free agent at a time)
 

roonster09

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A parting stat:

Marouane Fellaini scored in the semi-final of each major competition Manchester United have won since Sir Alex Ferguson retired:

⚽ vs. Everton (FA Cup)
⚽ vs. Hull (League Cup)
⚽ vs. Celta Vigo (Europa League)
Good one. He played good role in all the 3 trophies we won after SAF and also during that run of few games under Van Gaal.
 

Galactic

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To be honest, I thought it was a great buy when it happened. He was a real handful for oppositions while he was at Everton. It would have been much better if we have gotten Baines though. Imagine those quality crosses coming in for him to attack. We had no one who could send even one bloody decent cross.
 

Bobcat

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Was always struggling coming in as Moyes man in that first dreadful window.
What was most surprising, was that Moyes tried to use him deep in centre mid, when he should have been the best man to know his actual strengths, which are sticking as close to the other box as possible.

Scored a fair few goals, but caused no end of havoc with his stray elbows, the long balls up to him, and the sheer immobile presence in midfield.

Did well to stay here if we're honest.
Seems surprising that this China lot didn't come in for him in the summer when he was free!
Yeah, that always confused me as well. I remember when we played Everton he was always a menace when played in that position and in that system. I think Fellaini has the skill set to be the most important player in a smaller club, but the possession based system that most top clubs play simply does not suit him.

I kinda feel bad for him, he played here under three hopeless managers and when we finally look to turn the ship hes leaving. Also the fact that Moyes fecked up his transfer and paid to much for him gave him a worse start here than needed. Been a good servant though and i wish him well
 

devilish

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I think if you question Fellaini’s attitude to football, you must have an axe to grind.

I believe for Solskjær as for many United fans including me, he’s the epitome for what United doesn’t stand for. He’s not elegant, he’s not particularly technical, he’s neither fast nor exciting, he isn’t young and he isn’t local. He isn’t even much of a colourful character.

Yet as a technically limited and somewhat cumbersome player he has fought is way into (and back into) the best Belgian youth teams and A teams of decades, and into a quite good Everton side and then into the sides of three different managers (with limited success at United, yes, but to say all these three managers know nothing about players and football would be stupid, no?) with plenty of midfielders to compete with. With patience and effort he has clawed his way to the top stages of world football and stayed there while others came and were flushed away, despite not being the taste of the town. He’s a fighter, not a quitter, he’ has earned well, but he has earned it every time. He has never made it easy for himself before this.

That speakes volumes about his attitude to football, this doesn’t.
I do believe Fellaini has an attitude but not the way you see it. Fellaini knows he's too limited to be playing football at this highest level. However he would do anything to be paid as much money as possible for the longest period of time possible That was evident when he remained loyal to Moyes, LVG and Mou when no one did, why he tried to exploit his free agent status even though the manager adored him, why he swallowed his pride and returned to OT when that plan didn't work and why he's now moving to China when he could probably move to somewhere better if he agreed to a massive pay cut. Don't think for a second that such motivation isn't enough for someone to work hard. I've seen people who literally fell at work with exhaustion because of their greed for money.

The rest I explained it in the previous post. I also don't understand the hype around Belgium tbh. Sure there have/had 3 top players in Kompany, De Bruyne and Hazard but these players were never in direct competition with Fellaini. His competition for most of the time were Witsel (who moved to China at one point when he could stay in Europe, that speaks volumes of his attitude right?) and Nainggolan whose basically a mad dog prone to press the self destruction button on his career at any time.
 

Raees

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Good servant for United and was treated poorly by fans during his time here. Having said that he never quite suited the club and it is a statement to the world we are leaving behind the ugly football and rediscovering our mojo. So good luck in the future Fele.
 

roonster09

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Good servant for United and was treated poorly by fans during his time here. Having said that he never quite suited the club and it is a statement to the world we are leaving behind the ugly football and rediscovering our mojo. So good luck in the future Fele.
Yeah, it's sort of making the statement. Few months back, it looked like Fellaini will play big role and Martial will be sold, now Martial signed 6 year contract and Fellaini is gone.
 

ice-bionic red

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Very happy he’s gone. Couldn’t believe Jose resigned him to a new deal!

Never a player for our club. Glad we can both move on
 

Ban

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It was really not his fault we used him in panic mode or when we ran out of ideas in attack or that we bought him in he 1st place. As someone said here he was the best when playing forward causing havoc in opponent defense but usually it was even we needed a goal or were chasing a result.
I think he got too much hate here for a guy who really always had heart on his sleeve.
Saying all that it really shows a new direction in which the club is going and its exciting.
 

Ish

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Certainly not, most teams do it in dire circumstances by throwing a defender up front for the last 5-10 minutes. I can even remember Ferguson doing it at times.

But let's honest here thats not exactly what we did with Fellaini the last few years, especially under Mourinho. Where it was quite often a favourite tactic if we were losing or drawing when Fellaini was available. Hoofing balls up to Fellaini for 20-30 minutes when chasing games was a bit embarrassing for a club with United's history and resources.
Another factor, slightly ignored, is our wage bill & the players wishes. If Fellaini was on "10 minute plan B" option type wages, then I'd guess the club wouldn't mind having him around - not to mention the fact that the player, himself, probably would have liked to feel a bit more love or more importance than a simple plan B.

But all of the best to him. His attitude and dedication was never in question.
 

RedRazor

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He did a great job on the odd occasion, and that's the problem. Never have I known a player be bought on a sub with the job of shoring up and protecting a lead leave me so nervous. He has probably cost us as many points as he saved us, with his lack of anticipation and vision.
Reminds me of a big lumbering dog at the park. He'll fetch the ball on instruction, but what he does with it is anybodies guess. Good luck to him, but I'm not sad to see him go.
 

stevoc

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Another factor, slightly ignored, is our wage bill & the players wishes. If Fellaini was on "10 minute plan B" option type wages, then I'd guess the club wouldn't mind having him around - not to mention the fact that the player, himself, probably would have liked to feel a bit more love or more importance than a simple plan B.

But all of the best to him. His attitude and dedication was never in question.
Definitely i agree mate, has to be a factor under Ole or any manager who want's to play similar he would only be useful for defending high balls in his own box or for going route one in the oppositions box late in games. We can use a tall defender for that role and pay them less than the £100k Fellaini is supposedly on.

Also he's too good a player for such a limited role, he doesn't suit the type of football the majority of us want to see. But he isn't a bad player, he can go somewhere like china and have a team built around him.
 

Ish

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Definitely i agree mate, has to be a factor under Ole or any manager who want's to play similar he would only be useful for defending high balls in his own box or for going route one in the oppositions box late in games. We can use a tall defender for that role and pay them less than the £100k Fellaini is supposedly on.

Also he's too good a player for such a limited role, he doesn't suit the type of football the majority of us want to see. But he isn't a bad player, he can go somewhere like china and have a team built around him.
100%. Or we could have signed Crouch on a quarter of those wages :drool:
 

GBBQ

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Another factor, slightly ignored, is our wage bill & the players wishes. .
Absolutely this, he was on a comfortable contract and would not be obliged to move unless he actually wanted to go. Even if Ole didn't rate him he might hang on to see who the next manager is if his only wish was to make it at united.

Also I am sure he could have signed for a decent premier league team or a European team playing in the champions league if that was his motivation but he specifically chose China so i do think he goes willingly.
 

Ish

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Absolutely this, he was on a comfortable contract and would not be obliged to move unless he actually wanted to go. Even if Ole didn't rate him he might hang on to see who the next manager is if his only wish was to make it at united.

Also I am sure he could have signed for a decent premier league team or a European team playing in the champions league if that was his motivation but he specifically chose China so i do think he goes willingly.
Yeah, it does seem to be the case/make sense. I've also just checked the press conference thread and Ole mentioned that he's had lots of good chats with Fellaini. So I guess Fellaini wasn't happy with his limited role at the club.

I think he chose China, ultimately for both the money, a new culture and (obviously) playing time. But, probably more the money. Who can blame him? He's nearing the final stretch of his career and he can always try and come back and end his career off in Europe, if he chooses.
 

Grande

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I do believe Fellaini has an attitude but not the way you see it. Fellaini knows he's too limited to be playing football at this highest level. However he would do anything to be paid as much money as possible for the longest period of time possible That was evident when he remained loyal to Moyes, LVG and Mou when no one did, why he tried to exploit his free agent status even though the manager adored him, why he swallowed his pride and returned to OT when that plan didn't work and why he's now moving to China when he could probably move to somewhere better if he agreed to a massive pay cut. Don't think for a second that such motivation isn't enough for someone to work hard. I've seen people who literally fell at work with exhaustion because of their greed for money.

The rest I explained it in the previous post. I also don't understand the hype around Belgium tbh. Sure there have/had 3 top players in Kompany, De Bruyne and Hazard but these players were never in direct competition with Fellaini. His competition for most of the time were Witsel (who moved to China at one point when he could stay in Europe, that speaks volumes of his attitude right?) and Nainggolan whose basically a mad dog prone to press the self destruction button on his career at any time.
You seem to have a very crude and simplistic model of human motivation. All players are to a degree wanting to get the best possible economical terms throughout their careers. And I don’t judge them for it. However, that’s only part of what drives them. You don’t need to know much about Marouane Fellaini to know that your ‘profile’ of him is a hopelessly shallow and skewed portrait.

Often it is the case that people’s assumptions about how others think and feel, tells volumes about themselves.
 

devilish

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You seem to have a very crude and simplistic model of human motivation. All players are to a degree wanting to get the best possible economical terms throughout their careers. And I don’t judge them for it. However, that’s only part of what drives them. You don’t need to know much about Marouane Fellaini to know that your ‘profile’ of him is a hopelessly shallow and skewed portrait.

Often it is the case that people’s assumptions about how others think and feel, tells volumes about themselves.
Actually its based from my experience in working with people in HR and beyond. There are few reasons why a player would move to china apart from the money especially since this motivation is consistent to the decisions taken by him through time
 

Chesterlestreet

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As a starter in a more or less standard midfield capacity (DM-CM range), Fellaini has been mediocre for United, I don't see how anyone can deny that. Not quite as useless as his harshest critics claim, obviously, but that seems beside the point if the question is whether he's worth keeping on the books. You don't go from "he isn't a pub player" to "let's give him a testemonial".

One has to look at his performances as a specialist, then. He has contributed to results here and there, undoubtedly, both as an offensive and a defensive impact sub. But he's hardly done so to any remarkable degree. The question isn't whether he can, potentially, be of use in a given match scenario - but, again, whether it makes sense to retain his services.

The "everyone can use a hoof target" argument certainly makes no sense. We used to send Schmeichel up into the box as a desperate measure, and he even scored once, but that's no argument for hanging on to a player whose standout qualities are mostly useful in a scenario which a top team should be able to avoid most of the time. If you need a hoof target, you use whoever is most suitable (see the Pique example above), you don't pay an otherwise utterly replaceable player top coin in order to sit on the bench as a permanent "Plan B".

At least not when the player in question isn't remarkably, uncommonly effective in said capacity.
 

Siorac

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Yeah, it's sort of making the statement. Few months back, it looked like Fellaini will play big role and Martial will be sold, now Martial signed 6 year contract and Fellaini is gone.
Which is a great indicator of why sacking Mourinho was the best thing that happened to the club in quite some time.
 

roonster09

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Which is a great indicator of why sacking Mourinho was the best thing that happened to the club in quite some time.
Without a doubt. He was on his knees begging Fellaini to stay.
 

Based Adnan

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So happy he's finally leaving

Will never quite understand the 'but 3 managers have all used him' point made in support for Fellaini as if those 3 managers weren't absolute failures.
 

stevoc

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As a starter in a more or less standard midfield capacity (DM-CM range), Fellaini has been mediocre for United, I don't see how anyone can deny that. Not quite as useless as his harshest critics claim, obviously, but that seems beside the point if the question is whether he's worth keeping on the books. You don't go from "he isn't a pub player" to "let's give him a testemonial".

One has to look at his performances as a specialist, then. He has contributed to results here and there, undoubtedly, both as an offensive and a defensive impact sub. But he's hardly done so to any remarkable degree. The question isn't whether he can, potentially, be of use in a given match scenario - but, again, whether it makes sense to retain his services.

The "everyone can use a hoof target" argument certainly makes no sense. We used to send Schmeichel up into the box as a desperate measure, and he even scored once, but that's no argument for hanging on to a player whose standout qualities are mostly useful in a scenario which a top team should be able to avoid most of the time. If you need a hoof target, you use whoever is most suitable (see the Pique example above), you don't pay an otherwise utterly replaceable player top coin in order to sit on the bench as a permanent "Plan B".

At least not when the player in question isn't remarkably, uncommonly effective in said capacity.
Well said mate, under Mourinho given his brand of football it made sense to keep him. But now it doesn't make sense on any level just for an expensive plan B and as you pointed out he isn't nearly as effective in that role as some like to believe. I'm not convinced for example that someone like Smalling would have been any less productive in the same role the last few years. Smalling has 15 goals during Fellaini's time at the club in which time Fellaini has scored 22.
 

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Actually its based from my experience in working with people in HR and beyond. There are few reasons why a player would move to china apart from the money especially since this motivation is consistent to the decisions taken by him through time
If I was a player like him in this situation, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Earn a filthy amount of money in combination with the adventure of being a star in China, being flown all over the place while living like a king. It would be an amazing live experience. Live is short, why not make the most of it. Good for him he does.
 
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