The problems Manchester United are facing early this season aren’t because of Marouane Fellaini, although he is a symptom for some of them. It’s better to look at David Moyes and his decision making; the squad left to him by Arsene Wenger; the poor ability by the defense and the continued benching of Shinji Kagawa and Javier Hernandez before the Belgian midfielder is blamed for everything.
Fellaini is injured with a ligament problem in his wrist, which calls for a surgery. Upon the news of his potential absence, which might take up to two months, Twitter and Facebook were filled with comments and messages from Manchester United fans joyfully wishing for Fellaini to stay away from the pitch as long as possible.
Fellaini isn’t at fault that Manchester United overpaid for him in their disastrous handling of the summer transfer window. Whether it was Ed Woodward who didn’t know what to do in order to sign players, or simply David Moyes giving him the wrong shopping list; Fellaini is a good player, who shouldn’t be blamed for what clearly isn’t his fault.
But as United fans try and give Moyes the benefit of the doubt, they need someone else to blame, and Fellaini is a comfortable target. He hasn’t played well since joining the team, and from the start he has been deemed as someone who is OK for the league, but not for anything else. Manchester United see themselves as one of the biggest clubs in Europe (although the last two years have taught us differently), so someone of Fellaini’s caliber shouldn’t be brought in to play such an integral rule by that logic.
Once again, that’s a problem that begins even before David Moyes landed. Alex Ferguson, for all of his pluses and achievements, hasn’t done a great job over the last two-three years when it comes to creating a deep, filled with quality squad. Despite the title last year, no one was convinced that this is even remotely close to a great team. Having Robin van Persie carry you on his back is no way to win Champions League titles.
There’s also Moyes ignoring the talent he does have. He’s slowly finding out that using Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia was a mistake, but with his current tactics, there’s simply no room for the talented Shinji Kagawa to do anything. Moyes plays with two wingers, who currently seem like the overrated Nani and Adnan Januzaj. Rooney and Van Persie are the two forwards. Right now, Moyes doesn’t have room or any plans to use Kagawa, who seems to be like a bone stuck in his throat.
Javier Hernandez? The one time he started this season, in the 1-0 win over Liverpool in the League Cup, he scored. In other matches? Hernandez has played a total of 95 minutes in four league & Champions League matches this season. The best scorer-per-minute in the Premier League isn’t good enough for Moyes, who prefers using Danny Welbeck as his tactical answer to most challenges he faces.