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New Manchester United signing Marouane Fellaini has injected hope into the ranks at Old Trafford, and while most expect Tom Celverley to drop straight out of the side to accommodate, we take a look at how the big Belgian compares to the England international he looks like partnering – Michael Carrick.
Carrick played 36/38 for United last season and was pivotal to their title success, whereas Fellaini appeared on 31 occasions for Everton, racking up a total minutes tally of 2785.
In that game time, the Toffees man played 1283 successful passes, while Carrick successfully completed 3045, accumulating an accuracy percentage of 88. The average length of Carrick’s passing was 19m, while Fellaini’s was 15m, and the former played 33 key passes while the latter 35.
Fellaini won 60 tackles – Carrick 58 – and won 151 of his headers – Carrick just 17.
Neither player received a red card, although Fellaini got into a bit of trouble for elbows and heads, and while the former Everton man picked up nine cards, Carrick was shown just three.
There’s an evident difference in the way the two play, Carrick sitting in the deep role making tackles and spraying the ball around the pitch while Fellaini is more of a threat driving forward, and it’s noticeable in their goal return. Carrick scored just once, but Fellaini hit 11.
The pair, on paper, look like a good match. Carrick with the coolness on the ball and Fellaini with the bite, so fingers crossed we’ve heard the last of United’s search for a central midfielder!
all statistics provided by Squawka.
