Are we now going to pretend he's never had good games against the big teams? I realize this entire thread is a pretty big exercise in revisionism so just thought I'd ask.
27
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 47
- Goals
- 4
- Assists
- 2
- Yellow cards
- 9
- Red cards
- 1
- Status
Did I say never? While we're playing your game here let's pretend he is a great player and should definitely be starting for us.
The implication in your post is fairly obvious and complete bull. I look forward to your backtracking now.
If you can name these great performances of him against good opposition I'll happily backtrack. I just can't remember when he has been this great for us as you seem to argue.
I would if I ever claimed he had great performances against good teams, which I didn't, so I wont. As for good performances against big teams, he's had plenty of those in his time especially under LVG. He's had good games against all of Liverpool, Chelsea, City and Arsenal in LVG's first season alone.
Still not what I personally would classify as performances symbolic for a "very good player" as the poster I quoted claimed.
The major point he made was that he was a player who is useful to have in the squad and has been trusted by three managers at United even though most fans seem to believe that u14 players are better than him.
Should have come on today. Would have made the difference. Sad times when we have to rely on Fellaini to buy us a goal/win
Wonder if we still shouldn't be playing Fellaini? 
Its quite clear that him starting or featuring isnt the reason we play poorly. We had our best midfield and yet our game was even worse.
Yeah I also missed Fellaini today. What have we come to.
Worth remembering his combined goals and assists total in the league this season is zero. Maybe he could have helped tonight but in all likelihood it wouldn't have made the slightest bit of difference.
This is why you shouldn't judge footballers based on stats.
Fellaini would have almost certainly changed the game for us today. He did in the League Cup tie. We were throwing the ball into a bunch of fecking midgets tonight. Only Ibra was tall enough to get on the end of it cause Pogba was camping beside De Gea thanks to the Carrick substitution.
Not based on stats based on reality, on his day in right circumstnces he can change games but most of the time he doesn't. If it was certain it would happen more often, not playing tonight is more likely to have enhanced his reputation than playing would have done.
TBF, if were throwing crosses into the box like we did, youd rather have Fellaini than not cos you know hes gonna be double marked and free somebody else up.
Was missed today... sigh
Definitely could have done with big Fellaz today.
And in the Liverpool game.
We really don't have a better plan B than Fellaini these days (I guess that also depends on how we define the role of Martial). I would keep him on the bench just in case we need his service like we did today.
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Ffs Fellaini wouldn't have made much difference tonight.
How many times has he came on late in a game we are losing/drawing and scored or assisted. Answer very rarely if at all.
How many times has he came on late in a game we are losing/drawing and scored or assisted. Answer very rarely if at all.
Jesus, calling out for a Ronaldo or Messi being the difference tonight I can understand but Fellaini?!?
Maybe the odd game you can point at him providing a contribution but the occasional goal resulted from a hoof ball is nowhere having the contribution a 'good' player. You'd think he was constantly winning games with some heroic last-minute efforts...nowhere near.
Maybe the odd game you can point at him providing a contribution but the occasional goal resulted from a hoof ball is nowhere having the contribution a 'good' player. You'd think he was constantly winning games with some heroic last-minute efforts...nowhere near.
Its not all about scoring or assisting. He would have panicked their defence and potentially got on the end of some of those crosses. If their defence are so focused on him, it would have opened the chance for someone else to score. Its basic football tactics.
Hes won us plenty of games.
And what use would Messi be in those tactics? We needed a physical nuisance in the box. Thats how you win games like tonight.
Would you rather we played "hoof ball" and won tonight or would you rather what we got... which was feck all?
Why was he left out of the squad in favor of Young exactly? If he wasn't injured its just very strange why he wasn't even in the squad
I thought he would have definitely come on as a substitute if we were chasing a goal considering he's knocked in a couple during his last couple of games.
I thought he would have definitely come on as a substitute if we were chasing a goal considering he's knocked in a couple during his last couple of games.
But he's rarely came on and done that for us either mate lets be honest. Thats my point over the last 3 years he's been brought on late plenty of times when we've been chasing games and very rarely has he had an impact.
People keep going on about him being a plan B when we're chasing a game, but he's just not that effective in those situations.
In theory he should be good but at it but he's not even that great in the air. And when he's brought on he often slows the play down, when you really want to be speeding things up. We end up just humping balls into the box, and against well drilled defensive teams sitting deep that quite often plays right into their hands.
Seemed inevitably Young would make the bench after Mourinho saying he might leave then deadline day saying he's staying. Probably promised him more minutes.
Liverpool, Hull in the first leg of the league cup and Brugge last season in the 2nd leg of the Champions League qualifiers are 3 examples I can think of when Marouane was brought on and impacted the game.
Thats just his sub appearances. We played our best football under LVG with Fellaini as a CAM. Scoring a bunch of goals against City and Spurs especially. Fellaini was a big factor in those performances so this whole "We don't play good football with Fellaini" is all a fecking myth.
We played NO football last night and he wasn't on the pitch. At least he would have tried to win it for us. Some of our players are passengers. Doesn't deserve the stick he gets at all.
We were not chasing either of those games though, we were comfortably winning both. I was obviously talking about his effectiveness in being brought on late when we are chasing games. In those situations he hasn't done much for us. As i said he just isn't an effective impact player off the bench, he would have made no difference against Hull yesterday.
Again we're only talking about his sub appearances. And yeah he would have tried no doubt, but just trying isn't enough at Manchester United. We could sign thousands of players who would try, what we need is quality.
In my view, if Fellaini is not injured/suspended, we should always have him in the team (not necessarily the starting lineup):
1. Start him on the bench. If we play well and lead 3-0 after 65-70 (which is almost unheard of this season), then bring him in the final 20 minutes and give one senior player a rest.
2. Start him on the bench. If we need a goal in the final 20-25 minutes or so of the game, bring him on and play direct. This may not be pretty, but at this stage we need points. Plus, it's not that we're laying pretty any way at the moment even when Fellaini is in the game.
3. In the cups, let him play, especially against lower-ranked teams. I know it's sounds obvious, but when we're competing in four different competitions, we have to use our squad efficiently, give the senior players rest, etc. Fellaini can help there.
So, now, he's not great and who knows if we'll have him next season, but why should we think about next season when this one is not over yet?
1. Start him on the bench. If we play well and lead 3-0 after 65-70 (which is almost unheard of this season), then bring him in the final 20 minutes and give one senior player a rest.
2. Start him on the bench. If we need a goal in the final 20-25 minutes or so of the game, bring him on and play direct. This may not be pretty, but at this stage we need points. Plus, it's not that we're laying pretty any way at the moment even when Fellaini is in the game.
3. In the cups, let him play, especially against lower-ranked teams. I know it's sounds obvious, but when we're competing in four different competitions, we have to use our squad efficiently, give the senior players rest, etc. Fellaini can help there.
So, now, he's not great and who knows if we'll have him next season, but why should we think about next season when this one is not over yet?
Leicester 0:3 Man Utd
lol, it happens the next game right after this post.
Maybe Mourinho is reading the Caf?
He should start the next game against Watford in my opinion. They play 5 atb so they'll be hard to break down. A bit of physicality in the box from Felligol and Zlatan will be able to reap the rewards.
Personally, i think having a physical presence from Fellani isnt enough to compensate for his lack of pace and passing, which is decisive to unlock a tight defence. I would play Martial, Mkhitaryan, Pogba, Herrera and Mata behind Zlatan. Pace, skills, intricate passing and creativity is the way against a defending team.
Couldn't disagree more. Look at Liverpool yesterday. They couldn't break down Hull. We couldn't even do it on Wednesday. And I think that was a lot to do with not having a Fellaini type player in the box. We saw what he done against them in the first leg of the League Cup.
I beg to differ.. if we had fast pacy tricky players, it pulls defenders out of position and creates spaces to exploit. Having physical presences helps only in setpieces which are easily mitigated by tall centrebacks. In midfield, most of the best teams prioritise technique n pace.
Yeah true, the last few years we've been missing an option like this off the bench. We need some quality wingers who can come on and stretch teams. A player like Fellaini is very, very rarely the answer to unlocking a stubborn defence.
Man Utd 2:0 Watford
He does well as the sub like today. In fact, he started an attack and needed Mkhi to give him the ball back.
Would rather see him than Rooney come on
Would rather see him than Rooney come on
Yep, was a decent cameo
Come on!! Post something!! It was good for subs I thought. Keep it simple and good defensively.
Played great today. Won the ball a bunch of times and started a few attacks.
Could have had a goal if Mkhi passed it back to him that time.
Could have had a goal if Mkhi passed it back to him that time.
My impression too. Did what he had to do. Clean tackles.
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