Marouane Fellaini image 27

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2015-16 Performances


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RedDevil@84

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Moot point. Rooney is England's top scorer of all time... but he isn't even the best striker in the team.
On the contrary Fellaini did those goals recently in qualifiers I believe. I am not saying Fellaini is their best chance at scoring, but their coach's words are not entirely wrong
 

Cee90

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I said against us.

And yes, it's true.
Again, I never said only against us, so I'm not sure why you're trying to argue that point when it wasn't my point in the first place.

Also, you're wrong, but I'm not going to go out of my way to prove it to you.

Fellaini at Everton was a menace for many teams in the league, that's not even up for debate.
 

MThomas

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Again, I never said only against us, so I'm not sure why you're trying to argue that point when it wasn't my point in the first place.

Also, you're wrong, but I'm not going to go out of my way to prove it to you.

Fellaini at Everton was a menace for many teams in the league, that's not even up for debate.
It's not really complicated.
Whenever (and wherever) he played for Everton he was an absolute menace to play against.
. Unless you have absolutely no concept of "whenever and wherever", it's a valid reply that he's only had one match against us where he was a menace, so your point about whenever and wherever is clearly incorrect.
 

Cee90

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It's not really complicated. . Unless you have absolutely no concept of "whenever and wherever", it's a valid reply that he's only had one match against us where he was a menace, so your point about whenever and wherever is clearly incorrect.
You're something else.

Do you have to take the post so literally? Of course I'm not saying he was excellent in every game he's ever played in his life, but I thought that was obvious, clearly not.

My point is that Fellaini was more often than not an absolute handful to play against whilst at Everton, not just against us, but many teams in the league.

Are you disagreeing with that point? or were you just being anal about the 'whenever (and wherever)' part?
 

MThomas

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You're something else.

Do you have to take the post so literally? Of course I'm not saying he was excellent in every game he's ever played in his life, but I thought that was obvious, clearly not.

My point is that Fellaini was more often than not an absolute handful to play against whilst at Everton, not just against us, but many teams in the league.

Are you disagreeing with that point? or were you just being anal about the 'whenever (and wherever)' part?
So now your issue is that your comment was taken seriously.

What about this comment of yours, is this supposed to be taken seriously, or not literally at all
 

stevoc

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Whenever (and wherever) he played for Everton he was an absolute menace to play against.
Nah he was only ever a handful to play against when Everton moved him further forward and basically built the team around him.

He was ok in midfield for them at times but his best spells for them were when he was deployed in basically a free target man role in between the midfield and striker. It's basically the only position he's any real use in. He doesn't have the positional sense or the passing range to play anywhere else in midfield to a high level in a good side.
 

Loublaze

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I remember at least 2. The 4-4 draw towards the end of 11/12, and the 1-0 away defeat on the opening day of 12/13. He was toying with us in both games.
He gave us problems in the 1-0 win against a makeshift defence. Carrick couldn't handle him in the air simples.
 

Rood

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The position Van Gaal played him at the back end of last season is the position i'd play him. He was excellent and unplayable at the time.
And that was basically the box to box that Wilmots talks about - #8 or #10 in a 4-3-3 with one DM

Even against Liverpool the other day he was one of our best players in the first half playing the more advanced midfield role - Klopp obviously realised it and put 2 players on him in the second half to completely nullify his threat.
He's not so good playing in a midfield two though, but neither is he as bad as some make out.
 
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Sandikan

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Will never shake off being the first Moyes signing for starters, and then being criminally limited for a club at the level we're looking to compete at.

The biggest question of Moyes, is that he knew exactly what Fellaini was about, but didn't play him where he'd best used him for Everton.
Not to mention all that fuss about how the first signing had to be a key one, ending with just Fellaini to show for a summer of almost championship manager who can be buy fantasy!
 

OnlyTwoDaSilvas

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He gave us problems in the 1-0 win against a makeshift defence. Carrick couldn't handle him in the air simples.
Rio and Evans didn't handle him any better in the 4-4 draw, worse infact, so a full strength defence wouldn't have really made a difference. He dominated both centre backs at their place, Vidic included. The majority of times he had the beating of Carrick was when the ball was on the ground.

He was much more than a battering ram that day anyway. He kept drifting wide left like he did for us last season, and he was causing problems for anyone who came near him. Him and Pienaar were running circles around Valencia, Cleverley and Nani down our right.



He's been predominantly awful this season, but that now seems to have rewritten history and that he has always been awful. It's just not true.
 

RedDevil@84

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If only Belgium could draw on your knowledge
Lolz.. It was not about knowledge. Fellaini had one of his best years for the NT last year. Hence the coach's comment makes a bit of sense.
Anyways with Hazard looking suddenly gone the likes of Fellaini scoring along with Lukaku maybe is their best chance at going somewhere in the Euros.
 

shamans

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Which part about "against us" did you fail to understand ?
So the point you were making was that the 2-3 times we faced Everton with Fellaini he was only once unplayable? :houllier:

Fellaini's good run is being glorified like it was the holy grail of good runs, it's slightly bizarre.

Was he good, yes. Was he superb, no. It was just a surprise that he went from utter shit to good.

The other teams had no plan for him, a bit like the infamous match against us which he is still remembered for, when we allowed him to roam between midfield and defence and unchallenged he kept chesting the ball down and caused us huge problems.

We then played Chelsea, who nullified him with ease, and he then went off to be complete shite for the rest of the season, with the added bonus of an insanely daft red card.
Again with the rewriting of history. I don't see what people get out of this. Fellaini when on form is unplayable at what he does. Just because he's been playing crap right now wont change that.

During that run of his he was brilliant. Not just "good". If you think that, you have an agenda against him.
 

shamans

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Nah he was only ever a handful to play against when Everton moved him further forward and basically built the team around him.

He was ok in midfield for them at times but his best spells for them were when he was deployed in basically a free target man role in between the midfield and striker. It's basically the only position he's any real use in. He doesn't have the positional sense or the passing range to play anywhere else in midfield to a high level in a good side.
I am not sure what your definition of "to a high level in a good side is". If you mean a side like Manchester United, then you might be right but if you are talking about a side like Everton, Fellaini had pretty good days in Midfield (I recall him starting there against Arsenal and did pretty well). I personally don't recall him being absolutely destructive in midfield so I guess his best position is a bit further forward.
 

Boycott

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He was a very good player for Everton. I had him in my fantasy team in 12/13 :D.

Schneiderlin was a very good player for Southampton.
Ashley Young was a very good player for Villa (when they were top 8 quality)

You get the drift. Players from lower down the table can still be one of the best performers over the league season but there are factors that have to be taken into consideration. For instance with Fellaini, that Everton team had peak Baines and Coleman down the flanks with Mirallas and Pienaar drifting inwards. Everyone dovetailed beautifully and Fellaini with his skill-set benefited most. Put him in a team where he simply isn't good enough to be given a roaming role regularly then you see his limitations come through. It works from time to time but there are better players than him who should be given the opportunity to grow into the role because they've got more quality.
 

Loublaze

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Rio and Evans didn't handle him any better in the 4-4 draw, worse infact, so a full strength defence wouldn't have really made a difference. He dominated both centre backs at their place, Vidic included. The majority of times he had the beating of Carrick was when the ball was on the ground.

He was much more than a battering ram that day anyway. He kept drifting wide left like he did for us last season, and he was causing problems for anyone who came near him. Him and Pienaar were running circles around Valencia, Cleverley and Nani down our right.



He's been predominantly awful this season, but that now seems to have rewritten history and that he has always been awful. It's just not true.
Can you honestly say that he's generally done well since his move? Considering what he cost and what he's brought to the team he's been a colossal flop
 

OnlyTwoDaSilvas

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Can you honestly say that he's generally done well since his move? Considering what he cost and what he's brought to the team he's been a colossal flop
No, I don't think he has, bar a handful of games last season, where he was very effective. Other than perhaps 7 or 8 games, he's not been good.

That wasn't what my post was about though, or what the discussion over the last couple of pages was about. His tragic form this season seems to have deleted all trace of him ever being a good player, according to many here.

He was a very good, very effective player at Everton. He was a tough customer in a lot of big games for them before we signed him. He gave us a few very difficult games. One of them single-handedly ripped the title off out of our hands. His unpopularity here currently is rewriting history.
 

Randall Flagg

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All of his best games for us were last season and for a while he actually was looking an important player for us, which at the time was hilarious...

Wilmots is right though, it was when he was given a more free role on the midfield that he showed his best

This season for whatever reason, maybe He has also been "van Galled" it just hasn't happened

It will be very interesting to see what Jose thinks of him. Will he be first out the door or will he see something he likes in him?
 

Bwuk

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All of his best games for us were last season and for a while he actually was looking an important player for us, which at the time was hilarious...

Wilmots is right though, it was when he was given a more free role on the midfield that he showed his best

This season for whatever reason, maybe He has also been "van Galled" it just hasn't happened

It will be very interesting to see what Jose thinks of him. Will he be first out the door or will he see something he likes in him?
Jose won't keep him as a starter, but I can see him keeping him to do a similar job to what Mikel did under him. Come on and be a physical presence to try and close out narrow leads.
 

Joemo

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Jose won't keep him as a starter, but I can see him keeping him to do a similar job to what Mikel did under him. Come on and be a physical presence to try and close out narrow leads.
He's nowhere near good enough for that. Mikel isn't the best player to grace the Premiership, but he's the perfect destroyer and has a habit of getting away with plenty of fouls.

Fellaini on the other hand has almost zero defensive positional awareness, is completely conspicuous with his fouls, tends to make more brutish tackles rather than the cynical ones that Mikel makes and probably is even worse on the ball.
 

stevoc

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I am not sure what your definition of "to a high level in a good side is". If you mean a side like Manchester United, then you might be right but if you are talking about a side like Everton, Fellaini had pretty good days in Midfield (I recall him starting there against Arsenal and did pretty well). I personally don't recall him being absolutely destructive in midfield so I guess his best position is a bit further forward.
Yeah for a run of the mill defensive mid table side like Everton were he can sit in there and push his weight around and use his physicality he can be alright in midfield. I don't remember him having any particularly outstanding games in there for them. All his best games that i can remember were further forward.

He for me is one of those niche players that doesn't really have an actual position, he does need a free role with no midfield responsibilities to get the best out of him. Problem for United is to get the best out of Fellaini we have to basically change the way we play. And it's just not worth it for what he brings to the table.
 

dichinero

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Another awesome, card free, elbow free performance from him today. Keep it going Fellaini!
 

MThomas

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So the point you were making was that the 2-3 times we faced Everton with Fellaini he was only once unplayable? :houllier:
I don't see the problem.

Again with the rewriting of history. I don't see what people get out of this. Fellaini when on form is unplayable at what he does. Just because he's been playing crap right now wont change that.

During that run of his he was brilliant. Not just "good". If you think that, you have an agenda against him.
Either he's extremely rarely on form or he's not really unplayable at what he does (whatever that is). And no, he wasn't brilliant. Either you have a very special definition of brilliance that only counts for Fellaini, or you surely have a hard on for him if you reckon that was a string of brilliant performances by the human bog brush. It's not really rewriting history. Unless you happened to grow up in chernobyl in the late 80's, Fellainis amount of great matches can be counted on one hand. We went on a run which, considering the opposition, was a surprise. We dominated Tottenham, won against Liverpool, dominated Villa and managed an impressive comeback against City where we won 4-2 and Fellaini was yet again impressive.

Then Mourinho stuck Zouma on him to prevent Fellaini from roaming freely, and he was completely nullified. We then went on to get battered by Everton, in a match where Fellaini was so fecking useless he got subbed off at half time. Back in the starting lineup to be useless against WBA, scored a crucial goal against Palace, useless against Arsenal, sent off against Hull after 18 mins on the pitch.

Some reckons he's a hard man, but somehow he managed to look utter clueless against Arsenal, the biggest fannies out there. Kudos.
 

Charlie Foley

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In fairness, he had a good run earlier in that season too, including games against, ironically, Chelsea and WBA among others. I certainly wouldn't say he's brilliant though. Maybe he'll score a few goals against Ireland or someone at the Euros and get a confidence boost like after the World Cup.
 

dichinero

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I don't see the problem.



Either he's extremely rarely on form or he's not really unplayable at what he does (whatever that is). And no, he wasn't brilliant. Either you have a very special definition of brilliance that only counts for Fellaini, or you surely have a hard on for him if you reckon that was a string of brilliant performances by the human bog brush. It's not really rewriting history. Unless you happened to grow up in chernobyl in the late 80's, Fellainis amount of great matches can be counted on one hand. We went on a run which, considering the opposition, was a surprise. We dominated Tottenham, won against Liverpool, dominated Villa and managed an impressive comeback against City where we won 4-2 and Fellaini was yet again impressive.

Then Mourinho stuck Zouma on him to prevent Fellaini from roaming freely, and he was completely nullified. We then went on to get battered by Everton, in a match where Fellaini was so fecking useless he got subbed off at half time. Back in the starting lineup to be useless against WBA, scored a crucial goal against Palace, useless against Arsenal, sent off against Hull after 18 mins on the pitch.

Some reckons he's a hard man, but somehow he managed to look utter clueless against Arsenal, the biggest fannies out there. Kudos.
But this never happened in history!!!
 

devilish

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Yesterday was one of Fellaini's best performances. I hope he continues playing in that role
 

devilish

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All of his best games for us were last season and for a while he actually was looking an important player for us, which at the time was hilarious...

Wilmots is right though, it was when he was given a more free role on the midfield that he showed his best

This season for whatever reason, maybe He has also been "van Galled" it just hasn't happened

It will be very interesting to see what Jose thinks of him. Will he be first out the door or will he see something he likes in him?
I agree. In that role, Fellaini won't need to be the main defensive outlet in midfield (he lacks the positioning, discipline and pace to do that role) and he wouldn't be the main creative outlet either (he lacks football brain, technique and passing skills to do that). He will be free to run around, elbow the occasional player and head the ball to his heart consent.

However we should be asking whether its wise to play a player as box to box midfielder because of his weaknesses rather then his strengths? Why should we stick to Fellaini when we can get Gundogan whose perfectly suited for the role and would be an asset to the team? In my opinion we've got two players who are more suited for the box to box midfielder's role than Fellaini (Bastian and Blind).
 
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Sied

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Heavy involved in that goal with the build up and finish. Good performance today in general. Fair play to him.
 

Giant Midget

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In the team for his aerial presence and decided to use his foot to clear a high ball from a corner. Fecking genius, son.
 
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