Generally, I expect Manchester United midfielders to be able to do it all. Fellaini can't do that and that's why he isn't good enough to be here in a starting capacity.
Doing the bare minimum - such as passing it to Pogba and winning a few tangles in midfield - isn't a "brilliant" performance. It's a passable performance in a United side that is still under construction. I appreciate what Fellaini can offer in certain scenarios and he certainly has his uses, but I dislike the way lots of people justify his weaknesses while expecting the world of other players that, on a weekly basis, put in a lot more to benefit the side.
You ask about Lingard and Mkhitaryan and that highlights our differences quite appropriately. Yes, I do expect Lingard to compete with Mkhitaryan. Lingard plays regularly here and his numbers are pathetic - and the latter's weren't a great deal more impressive either. If Lingard is here at the club as a regular in the side, then why on earth shouldn't he be compared to his peers?
A world isn't expected from them, you're exaggerating it now, what is expected from them is playing to
their level/ability/potential. It's quite obvious that Fellaini's level is nowhere near Herrera's or Pogba's, hence he's played 1400 minutes less than Herrera and over 1700 minutes less than Pogba. Today's contribution to the goal is, as somebody earlier put it, a perfect resume of his, chest the ball down, do a simple pass, he did, it was a forward opening pass to Martial but not type of an opening pass you'd expect from Herrera or Pogba. Still, it was good enough. It's the same type of shit as you do when you're a teacher at school, you've got kids more and less talented, you don't expect the same type of performance from a kid who's less gifted than his peers but it doesn't mean that he cannot do 'brilliantly'. Subsequently, you cannot pretend that it's okay for the more gifted kids to be slacking and underperforming just because Billy thicker than them.
Mkhitaryan was brought here for cash, brought after a fantastic season for BVB so there are expectations from him that he'll be able to perform to a certain level, a level alike to what he's done for BVB. Thus far he's failed to do that, credit where it's due for his EL performances because he's done great job there. Lingard is an academy product, whom I myself dislike too, but with limited ability, another squad player who's played less than both Martial or Mkhitaryan (although the gap in time spent on the pitch isn't as big as in the central midfielders' case). He should be playing probably even less but if somebody is to blame here, it's both Mkhitaryan and Martial who were inept enough last season not to be able to muscle him out from the starting line up. People can talk all they want about Mourinho being a defensive coach wanting your players to defend and blah blah but if Miki and Martial were banging in goals left and right last season, they'd be in the starting line up far more often.
