Why Manchester United should hold on to Marouane Fellaini

Fellaini scored his first goal in United colors vs West Brom

This past Premier League gameweek, Manchester United played out a thrilling 1-1 draw at Old Trafford against league leaders Chelsea. After the match, Manchester United fans voted Marouane Fellaini as the Man of the Match. Quite rightly so. This Man of the Match award came immediately on the back of an impressive performance against West Brom as well where he even netted the first goal for the Red Devils.

In both these games, Fellaini’s towering presence was well and truly felt and it was pivotal to Manchester United snatching a vital point from each of the two games. Here is my take on why the curly haired Belgian should stay on at Old Trafford.

Persistence despite a torrid first season

All the aforementioned laurels are pretty much in contrary to the season he endured under David Moyes. He was acquired by the Premier League giants on transfer deadline day last season for 27.5 million pounds in a move which wasn’t very well received by fans and pundits alike. He made just 15 starts in the 2013-14 season as compared to the 31 starts he made for The Toffees in the 2012-13 season.

Many people felt he looked a pale shadow of his Everton self and many people even went on to say that he just got lucky to play for the 13 time Premier League champions and that he is not a ‘Manchester United’ player. Just like him, his former manager too was enduring a poor season and was sacked after being at the helm of things at Old Trafford for 10 months.

So, when Louis van Gaal took over the reins at Manchester United, many felt that Moyes’ blue eyed boy would be offloaded in the transfer window as part of the Dutchman’s bid to resurrect Manchester United. He also had an injury lay off at around the same time. Had that injury not happened, he would have been loaned out to Napoli. Even though Fellaini managed to stay on at United, not many felt that he’d get enough gametime.

Possesses Natural Physical Ability

But somehow, the Belgian seems to have regained fitness and with that, the kind of physical killer instinct as well that he possessed at Everton. As a matter of fact, he’s a very big presence quite naturally with his height of 6’4”. Add to that those big curls he’s got and it’s never to hard to spot him on the pitch. More than his technical ability, it is just his sheer physical ability and presence that makes him a perfect fit for the Premier League.

For instance, on setpieces, he can be very effective both defensively and going forward. He really can outmuscle the players around him to gain possession of the ball and even play it forward. He’s also got a nice touch as was seen in the game against Chelsea where his lovely first touch relayed the ball to Adnan Januzaj on the left flank.

Fellaini’s touchmap vs Chelsea

These attributes of his make him a very useful player for the struggling former champions in the current scenario. Though United have a plethora of attacking talent at their disposal, their defensive frailties have been exposed time and again this season.

With Michael Carrick recuperating from injury and Ander Herrera still finding his feet at Old Trafford, Fellaini can act as a very good shield to the back 4 alongwith Daley Blind, specially in matches that involve a lot of physicality and pace. As mentioned, he can be very good defensively on setpieces as well. He’s also a very good attacking option as he showed against Chelsea with his header that led to Van Persie’s equaliser.

Impressive against both Chelsea and West Brom

In the game against West Brom, the tactical genius that he is, Van Gaal certainly spotted something in the Baggies’ defence in the first half and the tall and strongly built Belgian was brought in for Herrera who did not really have a bad first half.

And the Belgian midfielder certainly made an instant impact, scoring United’s equaliser in the 47th minute. The way he outmuscled Lescott to win the ball was great to watch. Even after that he was a constant threat in the box and many a times won possession from West Brom and thwarted their attempts to counter United’s relentless attack.

The keen eyed Dutchman was surely impressed with his number 31’s performance and handed him a start vs Chelsea. And yet again he vindicated the faith that LVG had bestowed in him. His role was pretty clear, to shadow Fabregas and also to prevent Matic from initiating attacks, thus thwarting the Blues’ attempts at playing the ball forward. And boy was he effective.

Graph depicting Fellaini’s and Fabregas’s defensive score in the match

He allowed the Premier League’s best midfielder this season to complete just 11 passes in the first half which is enough proof of the fact that Fellaini was truly effective. He was also involved in United’s equaliser in the dying minutes when he met Di Maria’s cross and it was from his header that forced a save that Van Persie drove the ball past Thibaut Courtois.

With the mid season transfer window approaching soon, speculation is rife that an exit from Old Trafford could be on the cards for the 26 year old. I think that United should hold on to him just a little longer. He surely had a poor last season and looked out of sorts for the major part, but he is the kind of player that can offer the best of both worlds to Manchester United. With their resurrection still a work in progress, Fellaini is the kind of player that the 20 time champions need at the moment.

Stats courtesy Opta and Squawka