That's racist
Tom Cleverley | 2012-14 Performances
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He has the tools, lets see how far he can go
Nani too IMO.
I think everyone can agree with this, since over the last two or three years some of our best moments happened mostly when Nani was involved.
I'm surprised a good amount of people haven't picked up on this enough. It's one of his best attributes and it gets thrown under the bus of being "neat and tidy". You summed it up well there and once he has more players around him with a similar mindset, his qualities will shine even more.
To be fair, our tactics usually overload one wing when we play an offensive 4-4-2. Santos is Arsenal's weakest link in defence so we were always going to go down that side. Hence, why Valencia got so much joy with the ball.
I think we can expect anderson and cleverley to get a game together soon. Anderson is showing he is in form and we are coming up to a few easier fixtures so they could be a good chance to put the pair out together to see if they can overcome the defensive issues they had previously together.
How did he do tonight?
Pretty well, didn't shine.
Gerrard wasn't really doing his job linking bringing the ball away from our defenders, so Tom didn't get enough of it. Once or twice clearly got frustrated and dropped back to do it for him, with obvious ease.
Suffers from Roy's misconception that he's a number 10. He's good on the edge of the box, but he's wasted if he's not given lots of the ball and a position where he can be influential. We probably would have done better swapping him and Gerrard, to be honest.
Still, done nothing to harm his growing reputation. Did his best in a strange and often lacklustre team
Gerrard wasn't really doing his job linking bringing the ball away from our defenders, so Tom didn't get enough of it. Once or twice clearly got frustrated and dropped back to do it for him, with obvious ease.
Suffers from Roy's misconception that he's a number 10. He's good on the edge of the box, but he's wasted if he's not given lots of the ball and a position where he can be influential. We probably would have done better swapping him and Gerrard, to be honest.
Still, done nothing to harm his growing reputation. Did his best in a strange and often lacklustre team
I think he is going to be a great player for United. What I love about him is his determination, his total seriousness about the game. He is always wanting the ball, trying to get into good positions to feed other players. I reckon he's going to learn fast and these sorts of matches can do nothing but good for him. It many take a season or two, but I think he's going to be a vital player for us.
He wasn't that great last night, but its due to the fact that while he is pretty nimble.. he's not nimble enough to play in a number 10 role. Operating deeper he is more effective, its like putting Xavi in Messi's role... just wouldn't work and I think the way Woy is using Tom isn't particularly suited to him.
shame he didnt get some minutes with wilshire, you'd hope they'd compliment eachother well. Dare i say England might actually end up with a midfield that understands how to play penetrative football without smacking it 40 yards every 2 minutes
An England manager using a midfielder in the wrong way? Shock!
Tom does this thing where when he asks for the ball, he points to his feet ('put it here'), even if he's surrounded by opposition players, cos his first touch is good enough for him not to lose control of it. Usually for us, the people carrying it will trust him and actually have the ability to pass it (it can be a 15-20 yards pass from a defender, for example, that has to go past a set of opposition players in tight spaces). Yesterday, a couple of times, be it Caulker, Cahill or Gerrard, in that position, didn't pass it to him when he had made a run to come pick it up. Either they didn't trust their ability to make that pass, either they don't trust him.
Anyway, didn't touch enough of the ball to really shine yesterday.
Impressive performance for England IMO. The difference in the balance and play before and after his substitution spoke volumes.
At the moment I reckon he ought to be the first name on England's team sheet. Can't wait for Wilshere to get back to form and fitness and see what the pair of them can do.
England need to get rid of the old guard before they can hope to win anything.
Gerrard, Johnson and Lampard (like Rio and Terry) should not play anymore for England. Carrick, Young and Cole to follow them not in a too distant future, but probably should play 'till after World Cup.
Gerrard, Johnson and Lampard (like Rio and Terry) should not play anymore for England. Carrick, Young and Cole to follow them not in a too distant future, but probably should play 'till after World Cup.
This is excellent from him.
On the contrary, perhaps a tad harsh.. I see the gif as exactly what's wrong with him and our midfield. He does well all the way till the final part, and this is where separates the worldclass and good midfielders. He bring the ball forward with his involvement, taking the opposition midfield out of position. Iniesta would have drop his left shoulder and beat the opponent in front, and perhaps bring the ball forward before threading it through. Cleverley on the other hand undone all his good attacking work and play a backward pass to his left winger, allowing the "out of position opponents to cover back". This is precisely our problem, inability to thread the ball through the middle and over reliance on wing play. That GIF is really no big deal personally and it shows how standards and expectations are so low nowadays.
I agree. It would have been perfect had the player on the left (Evra?) been 15 metres higher up the pitch. In this case, the correct pass to make would have been to Rooney or RvP, to keep the momentum going.
Although I think it's a tad harsh to say that it represents 'everything that's wrong with our midfield'. There's so much more to that than what Tom does there, which isn't criminal in any way. It's just not the best option.
Although I think it's a tad harsh to say that it represents 'everything that's wrong with our midfield'. There's so much more to that than what Tom does there, which isn't criminal in any way. It's just not the best option.
This place, honestly...
So Iniesta et al only ever take the ball forwards and play a through ball every single time? I must be watching a different team.
The gif isn't very exciting, I agree. The rest of your post is fairly daft.
I agree with SB
That GIF really is just meh. We are Manchester United, we shouldn't be getting excited about a midfielder playing three bloody passes that end up with the ball back in our own half.
This is what we need from the middle of the park
That GIF really is just meh. We are Manchester United, we shouldn't be getting excited about a midfielder playing three bloody passes that end up with the ball back in our own half.
This is what we need from the middle of the park
People are Ihni binni dimi diniwiny anitaime really. Iniesta's ability is out of the world and he's probably amongst the very few who can do that sort of thing(which is mentioned by SittingBull) consistently.
Not as good as Iniesta?
Our standards are low
Not as good as Iniesta?
Our standards are low
You know what I mean Pogue. We don't have that type of creativity from the CM on a regular basis.
So? We're scoring a shit-load of goals. More than one way to skin a cat.
I always find that expression puzzling. If someone asked me to skin a cat, I wouldnt know where to start.
I'd be at a loss myself but I'm confident that a cat-skinning expert would have a number of different approaches up his sleeve.
It's the rolling stone gathers no moss thing that always gets me. So much depends on whether you see the accumulation of moss as a good or bad thing.
I think Pogue is making a fair point. It's harsh to criticize Tom in that gif. He rarely had a second to think and for a player who values keeping possession, it's easy to see why he played it to Evra. I'm sure as he develops, he will spot that pass to RVP a lot quicker. Keep in mind, he was playing quickly to begin with. By the time he received the ball from Young, his body wasn't really in a good position to play the ball to RVP and knowing his tendencies to play the ball quickly, he spotted Evra and played it to him. I'm sure with time, it's something he'll improve.
To say it shows everything wrong with our midfield is just daft though. If anything, it shows how we haven't clicked as a team yet. When such things happen, your attacks can be more progressive and fluid.
To say it shows everything wrong with our midfield is just daft though. If anything, it shows how we haven't clicked as a team yet. When such things happen, your attacks can be more progressive and fluid.
It's a fecking gif, who cares?
I reckon if you boiled it for a bit that would help. It would loosen the skin a bit, surely. If you were lucky it would then come right off.
Ridiculous response to that GIF. Particularly the Iniesta comparisons. Have any of the critics actually watched Barcelona?! 'Barca would have done the direct thing, taken a big risk, gone straight for goal with as few passes as possible.' Yup, sounds about right.
99% of the time, that pass is exactly what Iniesta or Xavi would have done. So much
It's a brilliant little bit of play from Cleverley, and he does exactly the right thing. There was no through-ball on there, and no dribble unless you're actually Lionel Messi. If that wide player who ends up with the ball had been another Cleverley, you wouldn't even have these absurdly slender grounds for complaint, because he'd have seen the pass coming and got himself into a more advanced position.
99% of the time, that pass is exactly what Iniesta or Xavi would have done. So much
It's a brilliant little bit of play from Cleverley, and he does exactly the right thing. There was no through-ball on there, and no dribble unless you're actually Lionel Messi. If that wide player who ends up with the ball had been another Cleverley, you wouldn't even have these absurdly slender grounds for complaint, because he'd have seen the pass coming and got himself into a more advanced position.
All the fur would fall out then. I think you're confusing skinning a cat with plucking a chicken. Rookie error.
Ridiculous pass.
There is actually some truth to it. Cleverely did well to get all the Arsenal midfielders suckered into the center and decides to play the pass backwards. I would have preferred that he squeezed the little pass to Van Persie who's in an advanced position, but there's no harm in going for the safe option. One thing to note is that he doesn't have the ball entirely under control throughout it all, so its good that he managed to maintain possession.
What I like most about him is his attitude, by that I don't just mean that he's hardworking or professional because I think we have a lot of players with those qualities. Whenever he makes a mistake you can see that he is genuinely pissed off with himself, it's not a show for the cameras or the crowd, you can just tell that he's really thinking about what he could have done better.
His performances could really start to take off as he becomes more experienced and he could far exceed players with similar technical ability.
His performances could really start to take off as he becomes more experienced and he could far exceed players with similar technical ability.
Fergie not a huge fan then Giggs, Carrick,Scholes and Ando > Cleverley apparently.
I do think SAF's selection policy in regards to Tom (and perhaps Anderson) is influenced by his injury record.
Tom must feel like a lot of people in our country right now: Trying to get the job but can't because of lack of 'experience' but can't get the experience he needs cos the Boss won't give him a chance at the job...
Which along with Fletcher leaves us with little option in CM.
Tom Cleverley is slowly inching towards the Not Allowed category.
Well for me he's in an integral part of that category
Good enough for England but cant get a starting spot in this game. This is insane.
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