Patrick Rees
It was September 2013, when the red half of Manchester, Manchester United, signed the former Everton star Marouane Fellaini on a thumping price of £27.5 million.
The midfielder joined the Old Trafford outfit and carried a huge expectation on his shoulders as he was one of the brightest stars for the Toffees. “I think it’s definitely a position where people have said we’ve been short of numbers, with the likes of Paul Scholes [retiring] and Darren Fletcher not ready to come back just now,” Moyes said. “I felt we needed to strengthen there and I’m glad we got him.” United’s then manager, David Moyes said this after completing the deal for the Belgian.
Just two months later, the then 25-year-old received his first red card in United’s shirt and soon after the 2013-14 season ended, he was named as one of the “10 worst buys of the Premier League season” by The Daily Telegraph.
His first season for United ended in a horror show, but soon after the arrival of Louis van Gaal, Fellaini started to cement his place, and for the initial stages, many believed that the Belgian might come to his good, but his inconsistent performances and nonsense tackling made himself the enemy number one at the Theatre of Dreams. Even though he was a regular fit for the Old Trafford manager, van Gaal, fans believed that he never was a worthy candidate for United’s shirt for the fans.
After the series of horrendous performances, the Old Trafford spectators strictly wanted to get rid of the Belgian, but the 28-year-old stayed intact. So after the 2015-16 season and the sacking of Louis van Gaal, many believed that the time has come for Fellaini to pack his bag as the new Manchester United manager, would never prefer the Belgian in his squad, well, to some extent that was perfectly true. But the new Portuguese tactician amazed the beholders by his recent statement about the midfielder. The manager said that he texted Fellaini a day before arriving at the club and discussed what he heard and read, and further stated that he wanted him to stay.
“Maybe a simple phone call can make a difference,” said Mourinho.
“[He was] a player that was feeling not loved. A player that when the season and the market opened, everybody was saying he was leaving and was not a player for me.
“But maybe a simple phone call the day after my presentation as Manchester United manager changed a lot because I told him ‘forget everything you read, for me you don’t leave, for sure.”
Manchester United have the services of Michael Carrick, who signed a new one-year deal with the Devils as the manager clearly stated that he sees the 35-year-old performing for the Devils for another season and besides that, the club has the versatile playmaker Ander Herrera and Morgan Schneiderlin so it was obvious that Fellaini would be nothing more than a scapegoat for the manager, but the Portuguese clearly had something else in his mind.
The manager, introduced Fellaini in the game against Leicester and soon after his horrendous backpass to De Gea, which Vardy intercepted and finished into the back of the net, he was booed by the United’s section, but the Belgian stood firm. In the game against Bournemouth, the manager surprisingly introduced Fellaini in the central midfield and the majority of the crowd never looked convinced, but he had a pretty good game. Unlike his physical gestures, he played a soothing game and completed more than 75 passes with an accuracy of 99%. A Couple of days later, United completed the signing of Paul Pogba and that was the time many felt that there is no way that Belgian will feature in the next game , but then again, the manager shocked the crowd as he was named as a defensive midfielder against Southampton alongside Pogba.
The Belgian did the unexpected. he was majorly used as an attacking threat under van Gaal, but this time around, his role transited and he sat back to defend the backline for the team and allowed Paul Pogba to have a much-deserved freedom in the central area and that rewarded him very well.
“Fellaini is playing well,” Mourinho told reporters after the final whistle at Old Trafford. “It’s a complete change in the relationship and I am happy with the result.
“Maybe that confidence in him was unexpected. The more organised the team is, the easier it is for players to feel confident. He has played will with Michael Carrick, he has played well with Ander Herrera, he has played well with Paul [Pogba].”
Right at this very moment, Fellaini has portrayed himself as a completely different personnel under Mourinho and that has awarded him a lion’s share of time on the pitch. While we saw his arm flying around the player’s face and all (under van Gaal), we observed a cool and composed possessive figure, who guarded his backline with ease (under Mourinho). He was heavily trolled in social media for past few seasons,but it looks like the Belgian beast will have the last laugh.
