The reaction of Manchester United fans when Marouane Fellaini stripped down to come off the bench at Goodison Park on Sunday was telling of their feelings about him. The groans from the away end inside the stadium, the dismay on social media and the frustration for those watching in pubs were a reminder to any in doubt of how unpopular the Belgian is at United.
Years ago, those same supporters would dread seeing him line up in blue at Old Trafford, with his height and determination always causing problems. Some of those fans were rather keen to see him sign for United, wanting someone who would throw their weight about in midfield given how flimsy the team was in that area at the time.
But from start to finish, his time at United has been a farce.
First, the club had to pay £4 million more than his buyout clause that had expired a month earlier, making him David Moyes’ “marquee” signing of the summer. Convincing Wayne Rooney to stay was talked about as if it was a new transfer, comically enough, but in a summer that United could have spent some serious funds to mask the manager’s ineptitude, Fellaini was all Ed Woodward could offer.
When thinking about Fellaini’s highlights, one could point to his goals in the 4-2 win over Manchester City the season before last and his FA Cup semifinal performance last season against Everton. Considering that he’s played 100 games at the club, a remarkable tally for someone clearly so lacking in ability, the lack of so few memorable moments is an embarrassment. It’s also incredible that he has had more appearances for United than Diego Forlan and Wilf McGuinness; he’ll probably overtake the likes of Robin van Persie, Louis Saha and Jaap Staam by the end of the season.
Fellaini marked his century by costing United the win they deserved against Everton, and just two minutes after replacing Henrikh Mkhitaryan. To be fair, Idrissa Gueye was going to ground before Fellaini even made his minimal contact but the fact that it was him conceding a penalty came to as a surprise to no one, Everton fans included.
Post-match, Leon Osman talked about his days of playing alongside Fellaini at Everton: “We used to want Fellaini as far from our goal as possible when we were defending because he was always liable to do something that like that.” Still, for whatever reason, Mourinho seems to be a fan of Fellaini, with only six outfield players racking up more appearances in the league than him this season.
Fellaini was a permanent fixture in Mourinho’s early games before rightly losing his place to Ander Herrera and Michael Carrick. However, as United have been chasing games in recent weeks, Fellaini is the player Mourinho has turned to, as if this is a move that has ever been successful.
In the 85th minute of United’s 1-1 draw against West Ham, Fellaini was brought on in place of Jesse Lingard, who had scored a brilliant goal in injury time against Feyenoord just three days earlier. With added time, Fellaini had 10 minutes of football yet completed just one pass, won no headers, won no tackles and made no interceptions. In the 0-0 against Burnley, he played over 20 minutes of football after replacing Juan Mata, who had been playing brilliantly. He completed 10 passes (five in the attacking third), won one header and made no tackles or interceptions.
So what exactly does Mourinho see in Fellaini that makes him believe it’s worth withdrawing his most creative players in order to bring him on? He surely can’t have rated the Fellaini from his time at United. When manager of Chelsea, he never faced Fellaini at Everton, so his desperation to include the midfielder isn’t borne of haunting memories of last-minute winning headers from the Belgian, either.
However, if you look back to Mourinho’s most recent title-winning season with Chelsea, and to the 1-1 draw the teams played out at Old Trafford, maybe we can find a clue as to where the manager’s admiration began.
In the 94th minute of that game, with Chelsea leading, Fellaini headed down a cross in the box that Van Persie proceeded to smash into the back of the net. Mourinho cut a disgusted figure on the touchline. United fans are all too familiar with that reaction, given that their team has conceded more goals in the final 10 minutes than any other club this season.
Mourinho defended his decision to bring Fellaini on against Everton by claiming United needed his height after they had allowed the home team to attack them for the final 15 minutes. Clearly Fellaini’s height should make him a threat in the air but, remarkably, it doesn’t really.
This season, Fellaini has won an average of just over three aerial duels a game. To put that in perspective, Christian Benteke averages just under 10 per game and Sam Vokes over seven. It’s a myth that Fellaini is much use when put up front to try and score a much-needed late goal or played deep to try and hold on to a lead.
Fellaini shouldn’t be anywhere near United’s squad, particularly with players like Daley Blind, Juan Mata or Bastian Schweinsteiger all available. Will Mourinho stubbornly persevere or will he eventually listen to the voice of reason? Time will tell but the decision among the fans on this one is fairly unanimous.