01 Mar 2014 02:41:11
Wanted to give my opinion on Cleverley.

To start it off, Cleverley is one of my least favorite players in the squad. When he first came on the scene, and people started calling him our midfield savior, I didn't see it. In 2011, Anderson was the one that was making things happen. Every attack started at his feet, and every stray ball in midfield found it's way to his left foot.

Cleverley looked like a decent enough midfielder. He was accurate with his passign and kept the ball moving.

Atm, Cleverley is still an accurate enough passer. his long range passing has improved, so has his tackling and his ability to intercept balls. So why does he look so shocking all the time. It's pretty easy.

At the beginning of 2011, Cleverley was playing with Young, Rooney, Welbeck, and Nani. Not to mention Anderson.

Now, Cleverley ( when he gets a game ) is playing mostly with Young, Valencia, Rooney and Van Persie.

Rooney and Welbeck were taking turns as the most advanced striker, dropping back quite often. Evans, Smalling and Jones were often picked at the back, playing a reasonably advanced defensive line. Young was playing on the left, cutting in and finding himself in the middle quite often, and so was Nani. Anderson was also very adventurous with his runs, offering an extra body up here.

Cleverley's was passing it to these guys, quickly and accurately. He was consistent, accurate, and moved the ball quite quickly. he was performing brilliantly.

Since then, Cleverley got injured, and improved as an all around player. He gained experience, improved his passing range, positioning and tackling ability. So why is he performing like utter sh**?

Easy. Atm, Cleverley, when played, is partnered with Carrick. His job is to keep the ball moving by passing it to players in space. But the problem is, when Cleverley is played, Young and Valencia also are. They stay on the wing, hugging the touchline. Carrick is playing deeper than Cleverley and Rooney and Van Persie are too far forward, and neither drops back consistently nough, while he does not possess the passing range that allows him to make a 30 yard pass to them in a congested area.

Therefore, when Cleverley has the ball, his options are Carrick ( behind him), Young and Valencia on the wings, and Rooney/ Van Persie.

Passing it to Carrick would make a back pass. Young and Valencia are hugging the touchline, not to mention kept at bay by the full backs. Rooney and Van Persie are both too further forward. The defenders are maintaining a deep line, causing Carrick and Cleverley to go further back to collect the ball. His options are to pass it backwards, pass it to the wing or drive forward with it. But Cleverley is not a skillful player, and his arrays forward consist more of quick one twos with the attacking midfielders to create space for him to run into. When there are no attacking midfielders to show, the Midfield consists of opposing players who'd close him down quickly and rob him off the ball.

That's where the difference lies. tactics. Cleverley can still pass the ball forward, quickly initiating attacks and interchange with the other midfielders. But when there is no one he can pass the ball to in front of him, his jo is to carry it himself or either hit Scholes like passes all over the pitch. He is not someone who will drive forward with the ball, nor someone who will consistently hit 50 yard through balls all over the pitch.

That is the reason I would not want u to get rid of Cleverley. He offers a reasonable amount of creativity and passing qualities in a narrow system. but when he keeps playing in a much wider, more rigid system, his qualities are well hidden. If Cleverley keeps improving his all around abilities, he can be a frequent starter for us.

Next time you see cleverley making a back pass/ wing pass, try, just try, to look at it objectively, and look at his options. If we have 3 players on each wing, who is he supposed to pass it to?

Hodgeson sees Cleverley's qualities, and so does Moyes ( so did ferguson, who rarely gets it wrong with our young players ). He performed well int eh championship ( just as good, if not better, than Powell is performing right now ) and was brilliant for Wigan. he was brilliant for us when we were playing a less rigid style and he has been underperforming for england ( who play a very rigid style ) and even worse for Moyes ( need I say more? )

Having said that, I still don't like Cleverley. I believe he could be as good as Henderson is for Liverpool and while he lacks Wilshere's talent, few players are on that level. That does not make Cleverley a bad player or not good enough for our team.

if Xavi came to United, he would struggle since he has no one to pass the ball to except on the wing. he would still improve us by a lot, but he would not perform to the best of his ability, because our rigid system does not allow continental players to flourish.

1.) 01 Mar 2014
Mick1

Nice write up but have to disagree. Cleverly is not a united quality player period. I am not one to sign petitions but when a player is so poor in quite a few areas people need to stop making excuses for them. Everyone will have howlers but he has been like this for a long time now. Can't shoot, Can't pass and worst of all does not want the responsibility to try a telling pass and has zero courage.

We have dropped a long way from the days of robson, keane, scholes and others who were lions the middle of the pitch to be making excuses for poor Tom. He is almost 25 years old mate.

Next you are going to tell me how Bambi is gong to be great:) did anyone see that one play against olympiakos when the cross was waste high and he did some weird attempt to head the ball, Some of the strangest things I have ever seen from a striker. His brain and body don't function as one IMO :)

England are f. ed i'd these guys are the best they have for the world cup.

2.) 01 Mar 2014
Great post with good reasoning but I personally would struggle to gather enuf words for a sentence on TC!

3.) 01 Mar 2014
It's funny how quickly things can change for a footballer . Over 12 months ago people generally thought that cleverly was a decent player and Henderson was crap. Most felt relieved we didn't sign him after being interested . Now people think cleverly is crap and Henderson is some world beater he is just average playing in a confident set up

4.) 01 Mar 2014
Shahram, Cleverley for me is a bit like Moyes. Decent, maybe not good enough for the top level.

But fact is, Every big team has squad players, and they can't all be Scholes and Xavis. Toure have Garcia and Rodwell, City have Mikel and Lampard, Arsenal have Arteta and Flamini.

In the right set up, Cleverley can be a decent squad player imo. He has his qualities and didn't become a crappy player overnight. he showed promise in the right set up, and while he showed he lacks the overall quality of a first choice center midfielder, he can be a pretty decent squad player ( until a more promising youngster replaces him that is )

5.) 01 Mar 2014
I'm sorry Mick, but squad players need to offer more than Cleverley. If you look at his overall game, he does one thing relatively well: he can help maintain possession. A cm player who can't tackle, create, shoot, beat a man, provide strength or dictate the tempo of a game is simply not good enough for a top side. Players like Lampard, Arteta, Flamani, Garcia and even Rodwell when he's fit can all do what Cleverley can do and much much more. A midfield player needs more than one string to their bow, especially when they're aren't even spectacular at the one thing they are good at.

The argument can be made that with better players Cleverley could play better. But the simple fact remains that if we has better players, Cleverley would be nowhere near the first team. For a player who should be approaching the best years of his career, I think we all need to accept that Cleverley hasn't developed into a top player and as we bring in better players he should be phased out until he is sold to a club more suited to his level.

6.) 01 Mar 2014
Mick1

I agree in the right set up he is a squad player. In a united setup and homegrown quota stuff he is at best a league cup and few pl games guy and nothing more. I generally give people the benefit of the doubt but way past that with him.

There times with any player you see something that makes you think ok maybe he needs mores time or different circumstances to shine i.e. Kagawa but with Cleverly never seen anything to make me think that and frankly put he is rubbish and decent gofer when you want someone to run around and chase an break things up for 30 minutes.

7.) 01 Mar 2014
Pancho

12 months ago he was piss poor and this has been going on for some time. Many greater talents than him have not panned out as people thought so I don't understand the obsession with some of trying to make out this guy is something better.

He was never that good even before his injury and he is what he is a academy lad in the mild of gibson and good for a middle of the table team and if we ever depend on guys like him going forward we are never going to reach the heights we all want for the club.

8.) 01 Mar 2014
GCU
I agree he is not going to be a top player and I didn't indicate he was or is I am just pointing that he was seen as better than he is being looked at now. I have never rated Carrick as a top player although better than TC . What I was pointing out is that the majority of fans rated TC over 12 months ago. Most Liverpool fans until this season thought Henderson was crap. I don't think he is better than TC he is just playing with more confidence because his team are playing well.

9.) 01 Mar 2014
I do believe he can be a very useful member of the squad.

He is on relatively low wages, ever improving, and will perform well in a system. There is absolutely no reason why Cleverley cannot do a similar job to Neville and Butt. He is never going to carry the game by the scruff of the neck, or be the main man, but with better players, and in a narrow system, Cleverley can do a good job, and allow the likes of Gundogan (? ) much needed rest.

Now, I don't believe he should be here for the long haul. We're producing midfielders by the bucket loads, all of whom have the potential to be better than Cleverley ( Petrucci, perreira, Goss, Rothwell, James and Pearson are possibilities ) and should take his place in the squad in the long term, but to suggest we need to push him out of the door, or start petitions to stop him from going to games, is a disgrace.

I repeat, I do not rate Cleverley highly, nor do I particularly like him, but the level of abuse he gets is not warranted. he plays in a system that does not suit his rather limited style.

You would not see Pirlo playing to his best in Barcelona, nor would you see Xavi playing to his best in Manchester United. I'm not saying Cleverley is anywhere near as talented or as good, but the fact that he does not suit Moyes' style of play remains.

And until we see other youngsters develop, it would make no sense to get rid of Cleverley, and spend a bucket load on an overpriced squad player ( already got Fellaini for that ).

10.) 01 Mar 2014
Gibson was better

11.) 01 Mar 2014
Absolute bottle job is tom cleverly, hiding all the time, no courage to go and take the ball and make something happen, always taking the easy pass(usually backwards), don't give me all this talk about having nobody to pass too because its complete rubbish, put a young scholes in the team and there would be a pass on every time and not just a switch of play either, his short passing and vision was exceptional, cleverly's shooting has to be the worst I've seen, doesn't matter whether he's 20 yards out or 6 yards out the ball always finds itself up on the 2nd tier. would be the first shipped out in the summer if I had my way.

12.) 01 Mar 2014
I generally agree with Sharams post but on this not so much I think a few times over the last couple of seasons TC has shown glimpses of what a talent he could be not enough of course but very occasionally. As a squad player he would do a good job when called on which would not be very often imo should we purchase the midfielders that we want or need. So another question should be will HE want to stay on as nothing more than a carling cup player? I personally think there is a good chance of him moving on in the next 2 windows and think that it may well be our loss in the long term. Reliable to a point, a youth product with the club at heart and a half decent player. He is never in a million years going to be the answer to our problems but a useful backup plan imo.

As far as petitions and twitter campaigns against him go I find it pathetic and a sad indictment of people in general not just football fans the need for a scapegoat is out of control atm.

13.) 01 Mar 2014
It doesn't matter if Cleverley is on relatively low wages, he's still not good enough. And what are his wages relative low too, because I imagine it takes most posters a couple of years to earn Tom's wage.

14.) 01 Mar 2014
Dean1210

I do agree this petition is pathetic and I wonder which idiots are signing up to something like this. It will definitely be very bad for the boys confidence and will affect an already poor season for the worse I fear.