An Imperfect Player
Marouane Fellaini is not a modern player in the mold of his expensive teammate Paul Pogba. He’s not even a hybrid player the way Vidal, Alaba and Dani Alvez have been in recent years. He’s just a terribly awkward player.
At the beginning of his EPL career, he was often deployed as a segunda punta, a role he played extremely well behind the likes of Tim Cahill and Nikica Jelavić at Everton. This choice made tactical sense: his physical presence, his stamina and his length meant that he could win aerial duels, pressure high and win back balls. Occasionally he’d even score.
At his best, the results can be impressive:
In theory, Fellaini has all the qualities you would want in an all-around modern football player. He’s tall, physically dominant, and versatile. To be fair, his versatility and physicality have never been in question. Before joining the EPL, he was touted as a modern box-to-box midfielder, then he eventually was used as a striker, a segunda punta, and a holding midfielder. He showed flashes of brilliance in all of these positions, however as a talent, he’s never been transcendent.
Why? Well, because Marouane is a flawed football player. All of his qualities and strengths come with clear weaknesses that cannot be ignored. He’s not great with the ball, which means that he cannot realistically keep the ball for more than 3 touches. He’s a mediocre passer which means that as a segunda punta he’s never been good at creating goal scoring opportunities for the main striker with his feet (albeit he does create a lot of opportunities by winning aerial duels). It also means that as holding midfielder he makes a lot of bad passes in critical areas. As a destroyer, he’s a good but reckless tackler therefore he gets booked a lot. Last but not least, he’s not a fast player which means that he’s not exactly an effective box-to-box midfielders.
In short Marouane is a functional player who’s good at a lot of things but not exactly great at one thing (aerial duels excluded of course) and brings baggage. Which brings me to today’s derby. I’ve written extensively about the philosophical differences between Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola. Manchester City looked legitimately impressive in the first half. They did not stop pressing for a single minute and were extremely focused. If anything Guardiola is showing doubters that tiki-taka and Cruyffism can be imported to other countries and can be implemented with reasonably talented players.
United looked overwhelmed, their sit-and-see passive defense was shameful to watch and they were lucky to get a break at the end of the first half. There were other apparent weak links and tactical mistakes. For starter, Rashford might be the most talented offensive player on this team and has to start going forward. His presence was a net positive for United. Second, both recruits were objectively horrible. Mkhitaryan was non-factor and Pogba was the least impactful midfielder on the field (both teams included). Third, Rooney is past his prime and can no longer be expected to produce at a high level.
The Pogba situation is the most important question though. Defensively he did not make his presence felt, he didn’t win balls back, he didn’t even pressure well. Offensively he made a lot of bad passes, lost the balls in crucial area and did not create. There were a few touches that showed us his ability, but they were flashes and nothing more. I rate Pogba very highly and I did not necessarily approach his “105 Million Dollar” move with all the skepticism most did. I genuinely think he can be the best player in the world but with this potential, he has to perform better. At the very least, in this type of game, he cannot be a liability for his team as he was on both ends of the pitch today.
Ironically, it was Marouane, a cruder less-talented version of Pogba himself, who was the most important midfielder for United. At half time Mourinho introduced Herrera and Rashford, pushing Fellaini forward as the central offensive midfielder in Mou’s classic 4–2–3–1 where he acted an aerial anchor for Ibra — a role he’s played well with Belgium in 2014 and 2016. It was a weird yet inspiring performance that reminded me of his excellent segunda punta days at Everton. Unfortunately though, it exemplified United’s weakness as whole: Fellaini should never be the most important player in a team that aspires to win the EPL.
With all that said, the most creative side won. City’s fluidity, speed and offensive display (in the first half) was Cruyffism at its best: precise passes, excellent ball movement and relentless high line press. In David Silva and De Bruyne, they have the most talented offensive midfield duo in the league. Add, Aguerro, Gundogan and Guardiola’s vision to the mix and what you get is a genuinely excellent team that will be a contender in the Champions League.
It’s only September but there is a lot to fix at United. The good news for them is that the Special One is a good student and this type of performance will not happen again.
