Wait, where did Pearce play him?
Tom Cleverley | 2012-14 Performances
- Thread starter Bebe
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Didn't see yesterday's game but I know last summer in the Euros he was used wide right.
Initially off the striker then after half time wide right.
Maybe nominally, but he played pretty centrally in the second half I thought.
He filled in very briefly on the right in the 2nd half but there's no doubt he played centre mid for most of it.
Cleverley showed at Wigan what he has to offer out wide. It might not blow you away but he can cross well and he tracks back well, which already makes him better than England right winger James Milner
I dunno when the Ramsay switch was made he sort of moonlighted in the middle and he kept drifting centrally but it was quite clear that he was meant to be wide right tracking Neymar and whenever England didn't have the ball thats where he'd end up.
He's done very well today. I'm not sure how he hit both posts and didn't score though...
Kenny Dalglish has possessed him.
Please stay fit this season, please.
The thing I love about Cleverley is that he never over complicates it. it's always the simple and right pass which may not look spectacular but over the course of 90 minutes adds up to a great game statistically. Much the same way Xavi does it. One move at a time.
Very true, he also doesn't have the Hollywood pass tendency too. Pleased too ser him performing well.
Very good midfield performance. Another 90 minutes. Lovely stuff.
He's done very well today. Very unlucky not to score and a very good ball to Sturridge for the goal.
Good performance. Kept things ticking over very nicely, made himself available to teammates and used the ball intelligently. Very unlucky with the shot off 2 posts. The worry i have about him is his lack of bite when we don't have the ball. Its not for lack of effort, just that he's got very little strength. Hope he starts the season for us in the middle with Carrick.
Few games with Scholesy should sort that out.
He is getting his match fitness back I hope. Two 90 minute games back to back.
Thought that he was mediocre in the first game but close to excellent in this game, there wasn't much pressing from the UAE though, there are tougher tests ahead for him but that was encouraging.
Aye definately. Good sign to see a player improving game by game which i suppose is to expected at this stage of the season.
Yep. He looked fitter in that game than he has done for a long time. Getting on the ball a lot more and his passing was nearly always spot on. Far better than he was in the first game.
United really need someone who can play the right ball from deep and drive forwards, and he did that really well. Albeit against poor opposition.
United really need someone who can play the right ball from deep and drive forwards, and he did that really well. Albeit against poor opposition.
Tom Cleverley has the potential to be a top class centre midfielder and he proved that again tonight.
He's too small and slight to be more of an influence elsewhere on the pitch (however competently he might play in other positions). We saw that in what happened when Stuart Pearce decided to switch him and Giggsy at half time and break up his budding partnership with Joe Allen in the GB midfield. It reduced Cleverley's influence on the pitch and GB's fluency. As soon as the sub was made and Cleverley was pushed back into the heart of midfield he started getting on the ball again and playing those through balls and thankfully Sturridge made more of them than Sordell did.
Hopefully, after this, at last, 'Psycho' will get it through his head that Tom Cleverley is not a winger or a second striker. He's a centre midfielder and should be played there whenever possible.
He's too small and slight to be more of an influence elsewhere on the pitch (however competently he might play in other positions). We saw that in what happened when Stuart Pearce decided to switch him and Giggsy at half time and break up his budding partnership with Joe Allen in the GB midfield. It reduced Cleverley's influence on the pitch and GB's fluency. As soon as the sub was made and Cleverley was pushed back into the heart of midfield he started getting on the ball again and playing those through balls and thankfully Sturridge made more of them than Sordell did.
Hopefully, after this, at last, 'Psycho' will get it through his head that Tom Cleverley is not a winger or a second striker. He's a centre midfielder and should be played there whenever possible.
played very well. lets hope he stays injury free. looks a definite first teamer.
Very impressed by Cleverley tonight,fingers crossed he can keep injury free this season.
Very hopeful for him for the new season. Hopefully he'll be able to stay injury free. If he can then he could have a big future for us here.
Against Brazil in the friendly last week:
I just can't get over how aesthetically like Scholes he looks/moves/plays 
it sounds like he would do well to do a bit of weight lifting. i remember a few years ago fletcher bulked up during the summer and it seemed to really benefit him.
Cleverley and Allen make for a good steady partnership.
I don't see the similarities at all. I like Cleverley, but he doesn't have the goal threat or the passing range/ability to dictate play like Scholsey.I just can't get over how aesthetically like Scholes he looks/moves/plays
I think he means he just literally looks a bit like Scholes the way he's moves on the field.
He's got a great tempo to his game, never lingering on the ball and always moving. That's something our centre mid has been prone to lack at times, even great players like Carrick and Scholes can be accused of slowing the play down too much.
Not sure what is because he doesn't have their passing range, but there is an urgency to his play that our other CM's lack. Maybe it is because he runs with the ball so much more, even when he just moves 5/10 yards with the ball before releasing it, it is just so much more direct.
Not sure what is because he doesn't have their passing range, but there is an urgency to his play that our other CM's lack. Maybe it is because he runs with the ball so much more, even when he just moves 5/10 yards with the ball before releasing it, it is just so much more direct.
I'm not talking about his ability.
I am just saying aesthetically. The way he moves on and off the ball.. If he put a ginger wig on and I sat in the nosebleed's I'd mistake him for Scholes I'd reckon.
His movement isn't nearly as clever as Scholes', yet at least. Scholes can find a yard of space like no other player in the league, even though he is often marked he always manages to be in a position to recieve the ball.
What's intrigued me the most is that he's looked much better and much more comfortable deeper in the midfield rather than behind the striker. Which bodes well for us.
I thought he showed great vision at times. His movement after passing the ball was very good, always trying to find space to receive it back and taking an opponent with him to create space for others. I agree he needs to bulk up a bit, especially considering the very physical nature of the premier league in general. However, I can see why Ferguson really rates him and believes he has the potential to be a dam fine player for united.
I think he would work just fine alongside Carrick.
This place is mental sometimes. Cleverley gets the piss taken out of him when holiday snaps show him looking heavyset and now he needs to bulk up? He's plenty strong enough, as it is. If anything, he'll get leaner once he plays a decent run of games. That won't do him any harm though.
I thought he played very well last night. Definitely improving with each game he plays. Which is similar to what we've seen from Anderson on tour. If him and Anderson can stay fit for most of the season and push on and improve their game (which is not impossible) they could play a really big role in our season. Throw Kagawa and (possibly) Nick Powell into the mix as well as Carrick, Giggs and Scholes and our options in central midfield look nowhere near as bad as many would have us believe.
I thought he played very well last night. Definitely improving with each game he plays. Which is similar to what we've seen from Anderson on tour. If him and Anderson can stay fit for most of the season and push on and improve their game (which is not impossible) they could play a really big role in our season. Throw Kagawa and (possibly) Nick Powell into the mix as well as Carrick, Giggs and Scholes and our options in central midfield look nowhere near as bad as many would have us believe.
Our numbers in CM are probably fine, provided we can keep some of them fit.
It's the quality a lot of people are questioning.
Compared to last summer, Scholes, Powell and possibly Kagawa has been added to the mix, while Pogba is no longer with us(and was no where close to a first team regular) and Fletcher is out.
I still think we're on reliable, consistant performer short in CM.
I dont think anyone is denying that a midfield of Cleverley, Anderson, Kagawa, Carrick and Scholes, where the usual suspects "can stay fit for most of the season and push on and improve their game", is strong enough to get by without need of further reinforcement. Its just that the bit in quotation marks is by no means a given on historical evidence - especially the first part of it (if the first part came to pass then I am confident the second would follow).
However, it seems this is the way we will be going anyway, so fingers crossed.
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