[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Agreed. Cleverley can still improve his game under LVG, I don't see Fellaini changing his game much.

I don't see how, personally. Cleverley isn't really good at anything. Everything he does is at the absolute bare minimum required for a footballer. His passing, dribbling and tackling are all distinctly average, at best.

And to be fair to Fellaini, he has had two or three impressive seasons in the Premier League. Cleverley's best season came at Watford, and hasn't really impressed since.

I'd give Clev the edge on Fellaini re passing, mobility and first touch. And after doing that would conclude that there's no hope for Fellaini, really.

Mobility, I'd agree with. Fellaini's passing is underrated though IMO. He's not outstanding, but he passes reasonably well. Cleverley seems to give away the ball needlessly with some awful passes, and rarely seems to opt for the forward pass. Also, Fellaini's first touch is probably his strongest asset. His ball control is very good.

 

[Ole240599]

Shit, I just saw Fellani's goal versus Valencia. It was very well taken. He can be a handful further up the pitch and his ability to receive long passes on his chest are as good as I've seen. Could this guy do a job for this season?

 

[ivaldo]

It was encouraging when he came on in the friendly, he played reasonably well, I very much doubt he will be moving on in the next few weeks so he'll be a United player for another few months yet.

Hyperthetically, if Fellaini were able to consistently perform at the level he did against Valencia, would people be happy with him staying at the club and playing back up to whoever we end up with in midfield?

 

[REJE]

It was encouraging when he came on in the friendly, he played reasonably well, I very much doubt he will be moving on in the next few weeks so he'll be a United player for another few months yet.

Hyperthetically, if Fellaini were able to consistently perform at the level he did against Valencia, would people be happy with him staying at the club and playing back up to whoever we end up with in midfield?

To be fair, when he wasn't given the number 6 role for us he did quite well last season and his short passing is pretty good.

 

[ivaldo]

To be fair, when he wasn't given the number 6 role for us he did quite well last season and his short passing is pretty good.

He'll never live up to his price tag but he could definitely do a job for us.

 

[REJE]

He'll never live up to his price tag but he could definitely do a job for us.

I agree completely, but we could of got him for £20,000,000 I feel, we only had to pay the price we did due to Ed's incompetence in signing anybody else before deadline day lol.

 

[Invictus]

I agree completely, but we could of got him for £20,000,000 I feel, we only had to pay the price we did due to Ed's incompetence in signing anybody else before deadline day lol.

Good luck with that since his buyout clause was £23.5million.

Also the myth about Ed's incompetence last summer has been debunked with certain reporters attesting to the fact that they heaped disproportionate blame on his door while essentially giving our previous manager a free pass.

 

[Bwuk]

It was encouraging when he came on in the friendly, he played reasonably well, I very much doubt he will be moving on in the next few weeks so he'll be a United player for another few months yet.

Hyperthetically, if Fellaini were able to consistently perform at the level he did against Valencia, would people be happy with him staying at the club and playing back up to whoever we end up with in midfield?

If he consistently played at that level he'd start every week.

 

[ivaldo]

If he consistently played at that level he'd start every week.

Well if he's capable of it there's no reason not to expect someone of LVGs calibre to get it out of him. Here's to hoping!

 

[ZDwyr]

It was encouraging when he came on in the friendly, he played reasonably well, I very much doubt he will be moving on in the next few weeks so he'll be a United player for another few months yet.

Hyperthetically, if Fellaini were able to consistently perform at the level he did against Valencia, would people be happy with him staying at the club and playing back up to whoever we end up with in midfield?

Definitely. If he can maintain that he'd be fine here. He won't live up to his price tag though, that ship has sailed and people need to accept that. It isn't his fault though, he didn't value himself as 27 million or whatever it was.

 

[Winrar]

If LVG can get the best out of Young, who I thought was completely hopeless, then we can at least hope that he can also get the best out of Fellaini. We'll see what happens, though. Liked the look of him against Valencia but a 20 minute cameo won't be enough to turn anyone's opinion around just yet.

 

[Man of Leisure]

Shit, I just saw Fellani's goal versus Valencia. It was very well taken. He can be a handful further up the pitch and his ability to receive long passes on his chest are as good as I've seen. Could this guy do a job for this season?

Really? Thought it was more of a case of their GK and defender colliding and Fellaini taking advantage of their comedy of errors. I'd be really worried if he or any of our players couldn't score from there.

 

[Kyonn]

Good luck with that since his buyout clause was £23.5million.

Also the myth about Ed's incompetence last summer has been debunked with certain reporters attesting to the fact that they heaped disproportionate blame on his door while essentially giving our previous manager a free pass.

This doesn't debunk anything. It just means reporters ran with one angle over another but the truth is they don't really know one way or another what really happened.

 

[Fortitude]

Elbows Ki in the face. Should have been sent off.

I cannot stand the thuggery of the man.

 

[Dans]

One elbow, one knee..........par for the course.

 

[Invictus]

Has completely killed the momentum by replacing Herrera. Also what's with the ball watching for Gylfi's goal ? Mark your freaking man or atleast defend your zone... Ughh.

 

[sullydnl]

Couldn't give a feck about Fellaini. I'm more concerned by how poor a lot of our other players have been.

 

[Mockney]

Does he get instructions to go up front every game, or does he just play where the feck he wants?

 

[Big Ben Foster]

He's ten feet tall yet he can't win a single header.

 

[charleysurf]

Fecking hell, scapegoat activated. Good news for Fletcher and everyone else that has been poor. The hacked together defence is not a problem either.

 

[shaggy]

Another one where a decent 20 minutes in pre season made some people think he was a good CM

 

[Invictus]

Yeah it's really bothersome. Passes the ball around a couple times and just charges upfield, without any care for his primary duties as a midfielder.

 

[Dans]

The problem is he just waits for the ball to arrive rather than attacking it. Attacking an opponent on the other hand comes so easily.......

 

[Pexbo]

Has completely killed the momentum by replacing Herrera. Also what's with the ball watching for Gylfi's goal ? Mark your freaking man or atleast defend your zone... Ughh.

Yup. Van Gaal might have played him today but there's no way he's impressed him. Definitely one of the ones on probation still.

 

[Mockney]

Fecking hell, scapegoat activated. Good news for Fletcher and everyone else that has been poor. The hacked together defence is not a problem either.

Tbf, his substitution was the turning point in the game. LVG's fault more than his, but still...

 

[Invictus]

Fecking hell, scapegoat activated. Good news for Fletcher and everyone else that has been poor. The hacked together defence is not a problem either.

Yeah Marouane's the unfortunate scapegoat :

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/darren-fletcher-2014-15-performances.394124/page-4#post-16256569
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/chicharito-in-this-setup.394809/#post-16256618
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/so-the-3-5-2.393874/page-21

 

[Fortitude]

Fecking hell, scapegoat activated. Good news for Fletcher and everyone else that has been poor. The hacked together defence is not a problem either.

What has him elbowing an opposing player in the face got to do with the rest of the team, win or lose?

 

[MikeUpNorth]

Why the hell did Fellaini come on when we were starting to play well?! I hope Van Gaal realises his error pretty quick.

 

[charleysurf]

What has him elbowing an opposing player in the face got to do with the rest of the team, win or lose?

I don't know. Maybe you can tell me?

 

[devilish]

If only he was as good with his feet as he was with his elbows

 

[Fortitude]

I don't know. Maybe you can tell me?

No, you're the one saying his being made a scapegoat, whilst he is the only one on the pitch elbowing anyone in the face, so you tell me.

 

[charleysurf]

No, you're the one saying his being made a scapegoat, whilst he is the only one on the pitch elbowing anyone in the face, so you tell me.

Jesus, what he feck are you raving about. Go have a wank or whatever you need to calm down.

 

[dirkey]

Nothing to do with Fellaini being a scapegoat, he has just again proved that he is simply not good enough to play fast football, and again resorts to thuggery. Elbows someone, again. People will claim it's his height. It's isn't, he's just a scumbag. Won a couple of balls when he came on and I thought maybe he'd show something. Then did his usual thing of strolling around the pitch. Horrific positional sense for the 2nd goal, just shambolic. Lovely awareness then to be caught offside from a ball played up to him. Slows the tempo down any time he gets near the ball and doesn't win enough headers up there for his height. Better off, if we're going for that tactic, to put Jones up there. At least he has some drive and determination.

Most of the team were bad today. The difference is that we've seen good performances from those people before in a red shirt. Fellaini is just not good enough and is a thug, quite simple.

 

[Godfather]

Elbowing cnut.

 

[An Irish Red]

I'm not eloquent enough to emphasis accurately just how much his ball watching annoys me. It winds me up no end.

He needs to leave. Nowhere near good enough.

 

[Sir Matt]

He's shit. His half-assed running around is infuriating. He never actually does anything other than foul because he's too slow to get there before the ball is gone.

 

[Kyonn]

My GOD, the club record signing Juan Mata play like compelete shite and people what to bash Fellaini.

 

[Fortitude]

Jesus, what he feck are you raving about. Go have a wank or whatever you need to calm down.

'Raving about' whilst you're the one running in here claiming Fellaini is being made a scapegoat and then ducking my question?

And I'm far from irate, nor am I the one throwing out ad hominems when asked a simple question.

 

[MelvinYeo]

When he's on the pitch we just give up on passing altogether. Added to the flaws in his game there is really no point in keeping him.

 

[Boycott]

As I said in the match thread, the tactics were to get the ball up to him. He won knockdowns but no one bar Rooney anywhere close to take advantage.