And again, the set piece had absolutely nothing to do with aerial ability, which is what he offers. I don't see how it's relevant.
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Maybe that's why he's always giving free kicks away? Because that's his only use. Very clever
Are you following on teletext? The ball was low, he wouldn't have made an ounce of difference.
I am aware that it wasn't a high ball. The notion that Fellaini is just a big floating chest and afro with no legs is a bit bizarre though.
We can guess "what if" situations all day, the fact is that we took Fellaini off against Southampton and conceded a late set piece, and the next time he is out of the team (now) we concede another immediately.
We can guess "what if" situations all day, the fact is that we took Fellaini off against Southampton and conceded a late set piece, and the next time he is out of the team (now) we concede another immediately.
Which is what you're doing right here.
Again, the conceded set piece has absolutely nothing to do with Fellaini's aerial ability. You could've easily gone into the Will Keane thread, or Ashley Young thread and said the same thing...because I'm not sure what Fellaini offers us on the ground from set pieces that no one else does.
I get that you like to defend Fellaini...but defending him even when he's not playing, by citing something that isn't related to what you're saying he's good at, is incredibly tenuous.
I'm not mate. To quote a great man, I am talking about fachts.
I didn't say it was an aerial ball, nor did I say that Fellaini is only useful against aerial balls. I said he is good at defending set pieces.
If we REALLY want to delve into it - which I don't particularly - then we can take about the way we were set up (expecting an aerial ball) the marking assignments (Martial on Defoe) and other factors.
My opinion is that with Fellaini in the team we may not have conceded that goal - that's the opinion. The fact, is that we have been weak on set pieces without him lately.
Got it pains me to say it, but no Fellaini, two set piece goals conceded.
FFS.
FFS.
He wouldn't have been able to do anything about either of them, on the along the ground and the other one was smalling losing his man in area fellaini doesn't normally defend from set pieces.
We might not be a good team without him but we are even worse one with him.
Not just set pieces, he is a far better partner for Carrick then Schneiderlin.
Van Gaal logic.
Van Gaal logic.
We're at least better defensively with Fellaini. We're no worse offensively.
He also cuts the crosses coming in and prevents them ever being put close to goal.. He's a United player who deserves more credits than he currently gets(
He probably would have gotten in the way of that first goal but during corners he's not on man mark duty and that ball would have gone over him.
Yep, have to say it. He's a much needed presence when defending set pieces.
No it really wouldn't as he's usually defending around the first post and, as clearances during defending corners go, he's doing damn good job at it, agree about the first one.
Not that it matters anyway really.
For me this speaks less about Fellaini and more about Blind/Smalling. United have never had to be reliant on a non-defensive player to survive set plays, but the 2 CBs just can't get it done.
Mind, it wouldn't hurt if we had a big striker. RVP/RVN etc were actually reasonably handy at defending too. Drogba was a one man defensive machine.
What a nice, polite bunch we are without him.
The only player that can head a ball here.
The only player that can head a ball here.
We are worse, we get less points when he play and our best defensive record was when he wasn't playing. we lost today because we aren't very good, fellaini doesn't change that.
You know who is awesome at defensive corners? Zlatan.
We'd have won our last 2 games if he'd played 180 minutes. Fellaini solidifies us in a way that Schneiderlin should but doesn't.
It's not just about set pieces. Fellaini shows physical presence that no other player in our team has. He's not technically gifted, but he has attributes that separate him from others. We conceded against Soton without him and looked very weak in the midfield when he was out. Chelsea took control of the game when he was subbed and today it looked like Sunderland could easily get to our box with him out of the team. The set pieces are easy to see, but to me he is more important for the team than just defending these.
So we like him now?
Please, this game did not miss Fellaini. He would not have improved anything. How many times have we conceded from set pieces with him in the line up. The Fellaini fan boys have come out to play now that we have lost without him. We lost because the whole team played poorly today, I wonder what universe some of you live in if you think Fellaini has the magic touch carry a whole team.
There is no Fellaini fan boys, there is people who doesn't see him as a useless bog brush though.
All our best performances have had Fellaini in the side. Last season and this season.
Could say the same about Herrera too and most of our worst performances have been with Fellaini in the side too!
Look I don't think by any means the future of the club is Fellaini, but I'm sick to death of the lad getting blasted by people when there are so many other players that get away scott free. The reality is he didn't play and we were still shite, so lay off him next time. We're crap as a whole.
Has there been any confirmation as to why he wasn't in the squad today? His aggression seemed perfect for an away trip to Sunderland...?
Today will confirm his name being one of the first on the team sheet when ever hes fit.
He's spent best part of three seasons not being one of first names on team sheet, doubt one loss will change that, especially as our results on the whole are better without him.
LVG will see that we conceded two set pieces today (without fellaini). On top of conceding one against Saints when he went off, plus conceding against Chelsea after he went off.
Right or wrong, I can see LVG now making him one of the first names on the team sheet cos of his "aggression" which was lacking today.
He was missed today basically because Carrick / Schneiderlin doesn't seem to have gelled yet - both quite poor today. Fellaini would have offered much more protection to the back two/four and is another get-out option for De Gea other than rolling the ball to Blind
He was missed because Carrick and Schneiderlin are a pair of fecking wimps. At the very least Fellaini isn't afraid of a tackle.
He isn't the answer to our problems but give me his presence in the middle any day over those two pussyfooting around the place.
He's been on a good patch of form. It was quite obvious we missed him, just like we did against Chelsea.
Fully agree - his substitution against Chelsea was pointless
We like him now as he out of the team, the moment he starts again he'd be the one of the worst players to play for us.
Typical
He's been okay, but I'm still struggling to see the fuss. As other posts have said, we'll no doubt be moaning about him once he's back...and the fact that other players performed poorly doesn't make him any better. He'd have perhaps been useful for defending the 2nd set piece, at a push...but it's still based purely on conjecture, because it's a set piece that he could've been in a different position for, or not gotten to anyway. And we shouldn't have to rely on a midfielder to defend set pieces against an average relegation contention side anyway.
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