Tom Cleverley

[MikeH72]

What do you want him to say? he's very average technically? He rates him, Alex Ferguson rated him, he must have some ability.

As for Ballack - the clue was in the word "ONE" of the best free transfers. Are we now going to carefully scour free transfers from the last 25 years to compare them all against him? Ballack was quite a while ago now.

It's no big deal, he has just praised a player he rates highly, is that a major concern?

At no point did I say Cleverley doesn't have ability. I'm not one of these people you're thinking about that will just slate him forever, I said he's alright, because he is. Martinez just goes unnecessarily overboard with praise sometimes, like coming out and saying Barry was one of the greatest English players ever. You don't need to say that, you're just making yourself look a crackpot. Just acknowledge that Barry is a solid, dependable pro who does a very good job for our team

 

[Carlito]

I'm afraid Martinez is destined to end up sharing a padded cell with Benitez one of these days.

 

[Will Escott]

Had to laugh at this.
Quite rightly saying that Martinez comments were 'over the top' before stating that Cleverly has become 'priceless' for us
I think Cleverly was a great signing, but I doubt we would be turning away any silly bids like.

But we're also not going to get silly bids for him. Yeah, priceless was an overstep but there's no way we're going to sell him in the near future as he's too important at the moment.

 

[orly]

"He's phenomenal in one-v-one situations – fast feet, low balance, and a really penetrating look about his runs. He can play left or right and has a good appreciation of space. He's a player who can give you a lot".

On Aiden McGeady, January 2014

Similar level of player, about the same level of hyperbole.

 

[kev]

But we're also not going to get silly bids for him. Yeah, priceless was an overstep but there's no way we're going to sell him in the near future as he's too important at the moment.

Fully agree. As I said, I think he has been a great signing.
I was merely pointing out the hypocrisy of calling Martinez out for his 'over the top' praise, then in the same post calling Cleverly 'priceless'

 

[Will Escott]

Fully agree. As I said, I think he has been a great signing.
I was merely pointing out the hypocrisy of calling Martinez out for his 'over the top' praise, then in the same post calling Cleverly 'priceless'

I bloody love hypocrisy!

 

[BlueToff]

On Aiden McGeady, January 2014

Similar level of player, about the same level of hyperbole.

In his 6 months here Cleverley has achieved more than McGeady did in two years.

Also, McGeady didn't help United win a league title.

Cleverley is a very good player and I'm glad he's in our side. Gives us the versatility of being able to play anywhere in midfield. Great signing. Glad he's here.

 

[orly]

In his 6 months here Cleverley has achieved more than McGeady did in two years.

Also, McGeady didn't help United win a league title.

Cleverley is a very good player and I'm glad he's in our side. Gives us the versatility of being able to play anywhere in midfield. Great signing. Glad he's here.

This is what I like to call the Djimi Traore Paradox - absolute tosh players being carried to titles they barely deserve. Neville made a career out of it; Clenevilley is currently only a shadow of the true master

 

[BlueToff]

This is what I like to call the Djimi Traore Paradox - absolute tosh players being carried to titles they barely deserve. Neville made a career out of it; Clenevilley is currently only a shadow of the true master

Cleverley wasn't carried in that side though. He played well in that season but then struggled to find form under Moyes and then was shipped out by LVG.

He tended to play it safely at United, but it's obvious when he's come to us that he came through their academy under the likes of Scholes and Carrick. Much like Gibson, his first thought is always to look for a forward pass.

 

[orly]

Cleverley wasn't carried in that side though. He played well in that season but then struggled to find form under Moyes and then was shipped out by LVG.

He tended to play it safely at United, but it's obvious when he's come to us that he came through their academy under the likes of Scholes and Carrick. Much like Gibson, his first thought is always to look for a forward pass.

Nah, he's much like those Arsenal supporting biffs who play park football, wearing snoods / Under Armor / leggings pretending to be Thierry Henry, putting their fingers to their lips when they score. Weak imitation.

Here's a local rag savaging of Neville Mk II.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co...tball-news/tom-cleverley-go-wrong-man-8313167

The sea-change came during his spell on the sidelines. Cleverley set up his own website, established a TC23 clothing range and inherited the nickname "The Brand" from unimpressed United supporters. Cleverley's hero is David Beckham and he was acting like him after a handful of first-team appearances.

You can see that a mile off, even now.

However, his sudden timidness on the ball was reminiscent of Darron Gibson, another midfielder fortunate to be integrated into the United first-team and his shooting technique was an over-elaborate homage to Beckham.

Life imitating art here - if you watch Neville trying to imitate Beckham's technique as he used to chip-loft the ball out of play.

Shouldn't get anywhere near a fully fit Everton XI. Barely should be making the matchday squad.

 

[orly]

This is Thomas during his time at Aston Villa

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-criticism-wont-tom-8611732

Tom Cleverley was blamed by Manchester United fans when results weren’t going their way and he’s quickly becoming a scapegoat at Aston Villa, too.

Berated by fans for not bringing enough to the team and subjected to ironic cheers when he’s substituted on match-days, it’s fair to say the midfielder has not hit the expected heights.

It’s true that Cleverley should be doing more. He hasn’t scored or assisted a goal this season [Feb 2014] and creates, on average, less than one chance per-game.

And they played him is favourite position.

His memorable (for the right reasons) this season have come at Newcastle (twice) and Stoke. I daresay he will do well against West Brom.

Not massively sure what else there is to be honest.

 

[oldblue]

Cleverley wasn't carried in that side though. He played well in that season but then struggled to find form under Moyes and then was shipped out by LVG.

He tended to play it safely at United, but it's obvious when he's come to us that he came through their academy under the likes of Scholes and Carrick. Much like Gibson, his first thought is always to look for a forward pass.

Consistent thing over the years that lots of fans won't accept someone replacing their favourites. United got a very good player who they decided to destroy because he wasn't Scholes. Never understood this. Think he's now marked as a scapegoat by a certain type of fan. I suspect he's not even suffering because he's less than what we've had but they've decided he's less than someone they've picked out on Football Manager or maybe Yarmalenko.
It's just a bit sad that they'd rather a player was rubbish than they ever had to face up to showing some humility.

 

[oldblue]

This is Thomas during his time at Aston Villa

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-criticism-wont-tom-8611732



And they played him is favourite position.

His memorable (for the right reasons) this season have come at Newcastle (twice) and Stoke. I daresay he will do well against West Brom.

Not massively sure what else there is to be honest.

How big is your Cleverley scrapbook compared to your Loch Ness one?

 

[Steve Wigan]

Absolutely none of that changes the fact that nobody was interested in signing him when United wanted to sell him for 7 or 8 million. So how much do you think he is worth then? What calibre of club do you think would be after him if he was put up for sale? He's a squad player, and we wouldn't have even signed him if he wasn't free.

Well, first of all the game is about accumulating points in a league, and not how much you can buy or sell a player for...but if you want to explore that route....lets establish a standard shall we? Naismith was worth £8.5 million to Norwich....and if they stay up its a great deal for them. Is that a fair standard by which to judge values? After all Kone was £6 million....Cleverly on a free was excellent business because Martinez, being a skillful dealer and knowing the players potential, saw the opportunity...in the same way our previous manager did with Naismith. You see, monetary value is based on circumstances, not just a sliding scale with Messi at the top and every other player in a 'rightful' place.Your argument is similar to the once well worn argument about the over importance of 'net sale' . Value is value to the club only...fortunately we are not yet completely driven by the 'moneyball' philosophy like a few clubs. If you judge a player simply by his percieved value in the transfer market, you will rarely build a successful team.

 

[davek]

Christ, Prenno and McNulty are decent enough, was an honest mistake. Why is everything such a big conspiracy.

Decent enough? How do you measure decency? "Prenno" is a confirmed plagiarist (if you dont believe me ask a Guardian reporter or two), who has today on his twitter account called everything the manger of this football club ever says as "tosh". Do you think that's 'decent'? We know for a fact he and the rest of the Echo hacks would never in a million years go after a Liverpool manager like that and vilify him, so why does he feel he can do it with our manager?

McNulty: when he was at the Echo he soft peddled on the owner of the day (Johnson) and did their bidding by going after and vilifying Joe Royle to the day he resigned. Again: 'decent' in your estimation?