Tom Cleverley

[Barkley85]

He'd be an improvement on Osman, but that's not saying much at all. It all depends on the price tag - sub-£5m and he's a good squad buy and I can't really complain, but anything near £8m would be barmy IMO.

he actually wouldn't though I would have osman anytime over this lad and that says alot.

and all this "judge him at wigan" crap winds me up, thats like saying judge torres at Liverpool forget about his time at chelsea

 

[Whitty]

For those saying he doesn't create (or offer anything at all) - look at his stats for Watford and Wigan before he was asked to play a different role. Did fairly well in the new role under Ferguson. He just looked really poor under Moyes but same could be said for many Utd players this season

 

[toffeejack]

Totally different players. I'd love Diame though.

we showed at home vs palace that we don't have that box-to-box player with a good engine to come in and replace him, cleverley won't solve that problem.

i just don't know what he does. the report says replacement for osman, where the fook does osman play? most of us think he should be stuck on the bench. the only position he should be playing is the same one naismith and barkley play, why would we have 4 players to share that one spot? why would we buy someone to be the 4th best in that position, which is why i can't see him being bought for there.

ah well.

 

[Barkley85]

For those saying he doesn't create (or offer anything at all) - look at his stats for Watford and Wigan before he was asked to play a different role. Did fairly well in the new role under Ferguson. He just looked really poor under Moyes but same could be said for many Utd players this season

look at torres's stats for liverpool I haven't a clue why chelsea need to buy costa with a superstar striker like torres tbh....

 

[BoysInBlue]

and all this "judge him at wigan" crap winds me up, thats like saying judge torres at Liverpool forget about his time at chelsea

The thing is though mate, some players have torrid times at clubs, then look like world beaters at others. It's simply not black and white that Cleverly is a bad player. Imagine you're in that lad's shoes. What are his confidence levels like? I'd imagine shot to pieces, given there's morons signing petitions for him never to play for England. He's had a bad season and hasn't played well, but he did do well elsewhere. Maybe Utd wasn't the club for him. Spurs wasn't the club for Pienaar either. Man Utd hasn't been 'the club' for Fellaini either.

Look at history - Peter Reid was rubbish at Bolton, and Andy Gray was thought to be washed up at Wolves, but they both came to us in 1982 and 1983 and were absolute revelations. These things happen. A lot of it is down to good management and confidence.

I'm willing to give the lad a chance if he comes. So what if other numpties take the piss? Who cares - they took the piss about all the loans ('Everloan') and look how that turned out. I only care about Everton and sod the rest.

 

[Tubey]

For those saying he doesn't create (or offer anything at all) - look at his stats for Watford and Wigan before he was asked to play a different role. Did fairly well in the new role under Ferguson. He just looked really poor under Moyes but same could be said for many Utd players this season

I'd be the first to blame Moyes for Cleverley if it was fair to do so, but he was lacklustre the season before and was comfortably one of the weakest links in their title winning side. In fact, without him, I think they would have won the league by a lot more.

I don't think his Watford/Wigan stats are in any way relevant now. He plays a different role and it looks like that injury took everything out of him as an offensive engine type of player. He's had three years at United and done absolutely nothing of note. There doesn't seem anything that he's good at; basically a more utilised version of Jack Rodwell.

 

[Barkley85]

The thing is though mate, some players have torrid times at clubs, then look like world beaters at others. It's simply not black and white that Cleverly is a bad player. Imagine you're in that lad's shoes. What are his confidence levels like? I'd imagine shot to pieces, given there's morons signing petitions for him never to play for England. He's had a bad season and hasn't played well, but he did do well elsewhere. Maybe Utd wasn't the club for him. Spurs wasn't the club for Pienaar either. Man Utd hasn't been 'the club' for Fellaini either.

Look at history - Peter Reid was rubbish at Bolton, and Andy Gray was thought to be washed up at Wolves, but they both came to us in 1982 and 1983 and were absolute revelations. These things happen. A lot of it is down to good management and confidence.

I'm willing to give the lad a chance if he comes. So what if other numpties take the piss? Who cares - they took the piss about all the loans ('Everloan') and look how that turned out. I only care about Everton and sod the rest.

it sends the completely wrong message out us buying a team below us cast off. We could sign players like cleverly anytime but we have european football to offer this season which isnt guaranteed next season so its vital RM brings in players we could normally not attract. think back to some of moyes' s signings when we first got europe that was a big turning point in the quality of our squad and it needs to happen again.

 

[Stephenlloyd]

I'm not convinced martinez wants him
He mentioned about going to the world cup and hoping a few players had poor tournaments to keep their prices down may have been tongue in cheek of course
Also I think he will either go for a Barry type player or just play with one defensive midfielder and two more attacking type players to the left and right Barkley and IE Milner a player who works hard but is dangerous in the final third and can score goals
I don't think cleverly fits any of these roles???

 

[BoysInBlue]

it sends the completely wrong message out us buying a team below us cast off. We could sign players like cleverly anytime but we have european football to offer this season which isnt guaranteed next season so its vital RM brings in players we could normally not attract. think back to some of moyes' s signings when we first got europe that was a big turning point in the quality of our squad and it needs to happen again.

It only sends the 'completely wrong message' if that player turns out to be rubbish FOR US. Anything else is just people slagging off Everton and people do that anyway.

Imagine if the internet was around in 1986, when we sold a 40 goal a season striker in Gary Lineker for £2.8m, and the only people we brought in were 33 year old defender Paul Power for £65,000 and a centre half from Norwich, Dave Watson for £925,000. People would have 'cried about the message' that sent too, yet we went on to win the league, with Power turned out to be one of the best players of that season, and Watson eventually became one of the club's legends and all time great captains.

Buying players based on their current perceptions at their clubs is a very dangerous thing. You have to have confidence in your own ability to spot talent and coach talent, regardless of other people's opinions. If Martinez had listened to many on here, we might not have signed Barry on loan. Otherwise you just become a vain club like Spurs, signing the immediate bright fancy objects but not looking at things long term and actually building a side.

 

[Matelot]

The thing is though mate, some players have torrid times at clubs, then look like world beaters at others. It's simply not black and white that Cleverly is a bad player. Imagine you're in that lad's shoes. What are his confidence levels like? I'd imagine shot to pieces, given there's morons signing petitions for him never to play for England. He's had a bad season and hasn't played well, but he did do well elsewhere. Maybe Utd wasn't the club for him. Spurs wasn't the club for Pienaar either. Man Utd hasn't been 'the club' for Fellaini either.

Look at history - Peter Reid was rubbish at Bolton, and Andy Gray was thought to be washed up at Wolves, but they both came to us in 1982 and 1983 and were absolute revelations. These things happen. A lot of it is down to good management and confidence.

I'm willing to give the lad a chance if he comes. So what if other numpties take the piss? Who cares - they took the piss about all the loans ('Everloan') and look how that turned out. I only care about Everton and sod the rest.

Well said. This pretty much sums up exactly why I always give players/managers a chance before judging them.

Some players/managers fit in and suit a club and some just don't. This applies to all clubs/leagues everywhere in the world.

If Martinez fancies Cleverly then he clearly sees value in the lad.

 

[Joey66]

Look Cleverly he has been badly injured - like Arteta he went from a player who could beat man to a crab like passer he has lost a big dimension to his game after the injury I keep on mentioning via Boltons kevin davis horror tackle he was out with that injury for an age he needed operating on - forget him there are better players than him out there and cheaper - that blond haired derby midfielder yesterday looked great! The Cleverly injury, and the period of time he was out as for me it certainly ruined him as a midfielder of the class he once was!
see link below - ligament damage after a broken foot!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/14879044

http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/f...challenge-on-tom-cleverley-bolton-man-united/

 

[LinekersLegs]

Looking at this transfer from the other side it seems a bit odd if this deal is done before United make any other signings.

Currently their CM consists of Carrick, Fletcher, Fellaini and Cleverley. The only one with a consistent lot of energy is Cleverley and they are rumoured to be trying to get rid of Fellaini as well. I suppose they can put Jones in midfield but they are short of CBs and cover for the injury prone Rafael as it is.

I know that they have no CL this season but they do need to get back into the top four and that midfield looks weak.
They are apparently trying to sign Strootman but he did his ACL in March so not sure when he will be able to play regularly again. Some of their other targets (Kroos, Muller, Fabregas) seem to falling through and foreign players often take a little while to settle into the league.

Makes their fans sneering at McCarthy, a player who would literally hit the ground running and barely stop, all the more odd. One of Redcafe's posters was dismissing him on the grounds he has no experience of European football without seeming to realise that it is being good in the premier league that makes your team qualify for Europe and James has plenty of experience in that unlike some of their dream signings.

 

[billycopper]

I don't think anyone has worked out what type of player Cleverley is. He doesn't appear to have the composure and eye for goal of an attacking midfielder, he's not an anchor man and he seems to lack one particular talent such as long range shooting or dribbling ability that make him stand out. From what I've seen of him he's the sort of generic midfielder like Webb and Phelan that SAF likes to have in his squad.

To give him his due, when he was on loan at Wigan he did look like he had more class about him than his team mates. And, if there is a 24 year old England international with more than a half century of games for United under his belt going cheaply, we'd be foolish not to be interested. McCarthy and Cleverley could be a really good, young, energetic partnership and he could also give us extra cover for Barkley.

I'm all for trying as get as many promising players into the squad, especially if they're English and especially if they're not going to cost a lot.

 

[bullensview]

If Martinez wants him, that's good enough for me. I really liked him at Wigan but he has clearly lost his way a bit.

 

[joe harper]

so would you mate if you were throwing a mix into that bird of his everynight