Tom Celeverley deserves every bit of criticism he has received

Cleverley has been horrible this season

Manchester United have a host of under-performers playing for them this season and one of the biggest below-par players in the team is undoubtedly Tom Cleverley. The Premier League Champions’ already disappointing season hit rock bottom yesterday when they were beaten 2-0 by Olympiakos in the Champions League. The midfield combo of Cleverley and Carrick was extremely toothless which shows just how bad their situation at the center of the park is.

The Englishman has given a string of third rate performances this season which is shocking as he looked extremely promising some years ago. Cleverley needs to pull up his football socks or risk being shut out of the team completely.

Manchester United fans have heavily criticized Cleverley for his performances this season with one fan going as far as submitting a petition to the club urging them to sell the midfielder. In a recent interview to the Mirror, Cleverley was quoted as saying: “When I first started getting singled out, it stung, yeah,” Cleverley says, “but it’s something you have got to learn to take when the team is not doing well.” Cleverley has taken the criticism with a pinch of salt but has not done anything to up his game.

“My job goes under the radar at times. I am not a player who’s going to beat three or four people and stick it in the top corner or go round tackling people like Roy Keane.” the 24-year-old continued. If he’s not a player who does all these things then what kind of a player is he? The midfielder has shown a complete lack of creativity and has been as good as a spectator on countless occasions. This is not something one expects from a Manchester United player.

The England international feels he is being unfairly targeted saying:

“I feel I’ve been made a scapegoat a little bit. A few people in the media certainly seem to have a perception of me not doing much in the team.

“Don’t get me wrong, I know I can do better but people are making a big thing about how I don’t score enough goals when that is not necessarily my first job in the team.”

Tom Cleverley is not being made a scapegoat, he quite frankly has been underperforming heavily. He is one of the weakest players in spite of completing 90.1% of his passes. Nobody expects him to score goals frequently but his ploy of keeping the ball without doing anything with it does not help his team. The least he should endeavour to do is to try and create chances for others to score them. This defeatist talk from him sounds as though Cleverley is writing off his abilities as a player. Cleverley is not a young player anymore and is running out of time to prove himself at the top level.

Nick Powell will return from his loan next season and will fight for Cleverley’s place in the team. Powell, who scored on his Manchester United debut, has shown everyone that he is perfectly capable of playing for Manchester United. It won’t be surprising if Cleverley loses his place in the team to the young attacker.

The only thing left for Cleverley to do is pick himself up and improve his game. A new central midfielder is certain to arrive at United next season which will further add to the player’s woes. If Cleverley does not change his game then he will certainly be sold in the future.