I cannot think of many weeks that have gone by when Chelsea have not been linked with a move for Atletico Madrid’s Radamel Falcao this season but it seems as though Marouane Fellaini is also frequently mooted for a move to Stamford Bridge, but I’m not entirely sure why.
Yesterday the Daily Star reported that the Blues are hopeful they will sign the Belgian midfielder for around £25 million from Everton in the summer and are ready to offer a five-year contract with wages of around £4.5m and they believe that this is all the more likely as David Moyes’ future at Goodison Park is currently in doubt.
There was a lot of hype surrounding the player during the first half of the season when Fellaini was enjoying a good run of form and many column inches singing his praises and from what I could see on Twitter, there were a lot of calls for Chelsea to buy him during our midfield problems over the winter, but it seems as though they’ve cooled considerably since then and his form has taken something of a dip in recent months.
I don’t know about you but I don’t want to see Fellaini in a Chelsea shirt, don’t believe he’s the sort of player that we need in the middle of the park and don’t think he’d suit the type of football that we play. On top of that he’s incredibly expensive and doesn’t have the variety of the sort of midfielder we should be looking at, the Joao Moutinho or Fernandinho-type players.
Now I’m not slating the guy as he does have his uses as physically he’s very imposing and he’s very good at holding up the ball, aerial duals and creating a bit of space for his team-mates but has been used as more of an auxiliary forward by Moyes this season for this reason, and also because he has a few significant weaknesses in the position he used to play.
He has a reputation for picking up cards and for good reason as he makes 2.8 fouls a game, 67 in total this season so far, which is quite a lot more than the likes of Ramires and John Obi Mikel on roughly 1.6 fouls per match and they have been deployed in more defensive areas this season.
Fellaini is also extremely wasteful with the ball as his current pass completion ranks at around 78% which is really quite low for a player that statistically favours short passes, he’s way behind John Obi Mikel who averages at 89.3% and Ramires on 85.3%, and he’s even less accurate than Frank Lampard on 81.8% and the England man attempts more risky passes than Fellaini does.
He’d be an improving over Lampard in terms of tackling but that’s about it and I don’t think there’d be any point splashing out big money on someone that doesn’t offer as much as the players we already have, we need someone that is adept on both sides of the ball and passing accuracy is an absolute must as keeping the ball is crucial at the highest level.
I don’t agree, similar could have been said when we signed Drogba.
The reasons I’d sign him are;
We play in the epl which is very physical, he would replace Didiers Ariel threat both in attack and defence.
With the issues we’ve had the last couple of seasons upfront he’s a good and very effective option to play cf if needed.
He’s different to what we have, he’ll do the dirty work for mata, hazard et al.
He has a big presence and will break a lot of play up and allow us to counter.
Your point on his passing is valid IMO but like Didiers first touch, playing and training with better players will hopefully improve it.
He’s only an aerial threat if we can put a decent cross in the box which is something Chelsea have found impossible to do when on the attack
True but maybe that’s because we have been playing with Torres upfront. We weren’t afraid to cross when we had Didier.
We have players like Hazard, Mata, Oscar and Moses…give them someone to aim at who will attack the ball and they will cross!
He can’t tackle though. He just gives free kicks away and gets red cards, which is exactly why Moyes moved him forward.
He’s not good enough to play attacking midfield for Chelsea, is he going to play in Mata’s position? Everton is his glass ceiling, he won’t make it anywhere bigger.
He is a physical presense. He plays with heart, passion, and strength. We seem to lack at least one of those qualities in the majority of our matches. That alone makes him a worthwhile investment. Since Ballack was let go we have no one to play the Giggs-role and run around to kick people in the shin. Mikel is not an enforcer by nature.
don’t you dare compare him to Ballack.
We had a perfect replacement for Ballack but he’s currently on fire for Benfica because we gave him away in the Luiz deal.
I will rather Chelsea to secure the signing of felliani and falcao
Thank you we don’t need him for that money we got plenty of class in our ranks his a big fish in a small pond. Not saying everton are a small club it’s the same as Modric at spurs look what happened at real. And I don’t see where he fits in we’re does he play we got hazard Marin piazon who play left mata Oscar and hazard who play centre and de bruyne Moses and Oscar out right in the holding we have romeu mikel chalobah hopefully lampard mc eachrean Ramirez luiz why add more we need a top striker which will hopefully be falco and I’d like to see feruz playing in the carling cup at least and a top centre half Ashley Williams of Swansea would be a bargain
Valid points,@Shane. But I’ll add mine. They should go for Isco too,especially as Piazon’s already there. I’m sure he’s an upgrade on Oscar(Oscar fan here).
Bafa I’m a xisco fan too but IMO he’d be challenging mata for a place so might end up being a luxury, I think the bench needs to have players like chabolah and ake.
The point for me though is that fellaini is completely different and would complement the players with a different skillset and and make us a more rounded team, I’d have him sitting in front of the centre backs.
Isco…not xisco!
Hey 35M and he’s yours and not a penny less! Either way we’ll have a new team for next season! By that I mean we finish in the top 4 or not!
Re-read Anthony Williams piece, you have better players! But Felli is Felli and I reckon he’s coming back into form!!!! See you at The Bridge!
NO WAY should we buy him. He is THE most over-rated player in the EPL. He is lazy, moody and not as good as what we have and no disrespect to the Everton Foortball Club, he is simply a bigger fish in a little pond. 25 Mill? you are havin’ a laff.
“Big fish in a litlle pond” ??? It’s comments like that that makes the Chelsea fans the most hated in the Prem ! Can you just remind everyone what you had done prior to RA arriving with his billions ?
spot on gary Chelsea were nothing before the dubious Russian came, maybe one day he will take his money and leave and we will be watching Chelsea fighting for survival at the bottom of the premiership with rafa
Most overated player in the EPL – what? More overated than Torres, Terry, Luiz, Malouda and BA!! Now havin a larff. £20m and Mata and you can have him!
Really!! Most overated player in the EPL – what? More overated than Torres, Terry, Luiz, Malouda and BA!! Now havin a larff. £20m and Mata and you can have him!
Really!! Most overated player in the EPL – what? More overated than Torres, Terry, Luiz, Malouda and BA!! Now havin a larff. £20m and Mata and you can have him! oh – throw in Essien too!
Big fish in a small pond I’m sorry Chelsea fans but if you came close to achieving what Everton have in British football you might have something to shout about.We are the 5th most succesful team in English football were do Chelsea come in that list.Give your head a wobble we don’t want fellaini to leave to play in front of you egotistical bunch of one song half wits,so take your prawn sandwiches and crawl back under the rock you came from before abramovich pulled you out of mid table mediocrity
Actually, we’re fifth by honours won as we have 18 to your 15, you’re 7th, so yes you’re perfectly right to feel aggrieved by being labelled a ‘small club’.
But it’s all besides the point. I don’t rate Fellaini, I don’t want him at my club and I think we need someone with more guile, like Moutinho.