08 Oct 2013 16:44:53
Given a choice and not considering injury record who would you go for

Rodwell or Fellaini

(Assume they cost the same)

1.) 08 Oct 2013
Fellaini every day of the week, it's like comparing Nani & Ronaldo if you ask me.

2.) 08 Oct 2013
You have to consider injury record. If Rodwell never had persistent injuries he would be a very good player now.

3.) 08 Oct 2013
Rodwell.

4.) 08 Oct 2013
08 Oct 2013 17:49:10
Etienne Capoue is a much better DM than either Rodwell who is more a box to box midfielder or Fellaini who lacks pace and positional sense as a DM.

And he cost about half as much as either Rodwell or Fellaini.

Fellaini looks good as a DM for Belgium but he is the deepest of a midfield three with Witsel and Defour/Dembele both being high energy midfielders meaning Fellaini effectively plays as a sweeper infront of the defence, then plays the ball to the more talented players.

5.) 08 Oct 2013
I agree with Shappy, we need to play 3 in the middle if we are to get the best out of Fellaini. With Carrick slowing down I think we are still two midfielders short of a good midfield. If we had Fellaini deep with a player in the Yaya Toure model ahead of him with a playmaker like Cabaye then we would have a very good team.

Perhaps we could get Fellaini, Lars Bender and then look towards a player like Cabaye. But I think Kagawa could play that role quite well or Janzuaj or Powell.

6.) 08 Oct 2013
08 Oct 2013 19:31:18
I'd look to go a different way with the midfield. I think we should play a three man midfield but I think we should be far more positive than play with Fellaini and a player like Lars Bender. Effectively playing with two defensive work horses.

We've got Fellaini now so let's play him deep then play two high energy attack minded midfielders such as Ander Hererra and Ilkay Gundogan. With creative hard working players like them then we would be scoring goals for fun. We could then still play with two strikers and an AM of either Kagawa or Januzaj.

7.) 08 Oct 2013
Fellaini isn't effective defensively for me, he needs to be pushed up for certain games to give the opposition something to think about whilst our attacking players feed off the space and chaos!

I think I've only seen Rodwell play 10 games in his entire career, irrespective of injuries how can anybody say he is better than Fellaini? He may have had potential but at least Fellaini was a consistent high performer for Everton and caused us and many other teams more problems than many "star" players.

I can't think of one stand out Rodwell game.

8.) 08 Oct 2013
I fear that Fellaini is a bit slow to react and a bit casual so far in the DM position. Unlike Carrick he's not great at positioning himself to make an interception. He showed in the Leverkusen game though that his passing is infact very good, playing a few first touch passes into Van Persie, I think he just needs to up the tempo in some scenarios.

I'd like to see a 4-3-3 with Carrick and Fellaini switching with Kagawa being the most advanced playing a sort of Iniesta role. Then Januzaj starting on the right, Rooney on the left with RvP up front. Obviously the front three could all swap positions and find space and drop deep, swapping with Kagawa. I think that team would be our best bet to play clever technical football. Seeing as none of Valencia, Nani or Young are playing well we should ditch them all and try something different.

9.) 09 Oct 2013
I like your suggestion Ozwald. In this way, we could actually make room for Chica to play at least as a sub and perhaps Ando for more attacking games.