Before Manchester United hosted Valencia in their final pre-season game on 12 August Louis van Gaal met Marouane Fellaini in his office. The Belgian’s time at the club had been the focus of relentless derision following the previous summer’s £27.5m move and with Napoli interested the midfielder thought his number might be up.
Yet despite suffering vilification as the playing personification of David Moyes’s doomed tenure Fellaini was about to experience a pleasant surprise. Instead of being told he was free to leave or was on a final chance to impress, Van Gaal said the slate was wiped clean and that the manager viewed Fellaini as part of his plans for the new season.
Dutchman gave no guarantees of a berth in the starting XI but he did make Fellaini feel how all footballers wish to feel: wanted.
Fast forward to Monday evening at West Bromwich Albion. After taking animated instructions on the bench from Van Gaal on came Fellaini for Ander Herrera at half-time and within three minutes made the statement he, his manager and a derisory congregation had been waiting for.
It said: “I am a Manchester United player.” With a sweetly-cushioned chest-down, a deft swish of his right boot to remove Sébastien Pocognoli as a factor and a rocket of a shot from a tight angle that gave Boaz Myhill no chance, Fellaini-sceptics everywhere were forced into a major rethink.
“It was a good feeling, I have waited for a long time for this moment and now I have scored, so I hope to score some more goals this season,” he said.
This was only his 23rd outing since joining from Everton. Of his travails, Fellaini said: “It was very difficult but I work hard every day and I know that when I am 100% fit then I can be dangerous. Football is like this, sometimes you have bad moments and that was one. But I am ready for the challenge and to play every game. I am happy here and the manager has shown trust in me. Every day in training, I work hard and after that the manager makes a decision.”
The person in charge of the West Brom Twitter account was also forced into a large slice of the humble stuff. On seeing he was about to come on, the club tweeted: “Fellaini has now taken his tracksuit off, fortunately he has a Man Utd strip on underneath.”
After Fellaini’s performance, came the apology tweet. “Sorry if a joke about a footballer not having a shirt on under his tracksuit top has caused such outrage. It was not intended as a slur,” it said.
Fellaini had the last laugh after coming on as a substitute during the Valencia game in August. After having any touch or pass greeted sarcastically by a section of the home support, it was Fellaini who scored the winner in stoppage time.
Van Gaal’s word in his office proved reliable as four days later he was again a second-half substitute against Swansea City in the opening Premier League game, though he could do nothing to prevent the visitors departing with a shock 2-1 victory.
When Fellaini injured a foot inside the closing fortnight of August and so would not be able to play again until after the window closed, the joke ran that this had saved his United career. But armed with Van Gaal’s assurances Fellaini went home to Belgium to begin his recovery with a renewed focus.
The strike at The Hawthorns – it is worth watching on replay – was greeted with a pumped-up celebration that illustrated his frustrations since leaving Goodison Park. Six separate injuries blighted a debut season in which Fellaini also had to contend with Moyes’s troubled leadership of the team that allowed no time for him settle.
Moyes’s use of Fellaini was curious. Having been deployed him as an effective No10 or more advanced midfielder for Everton, the Belgian was asked to operate in the holding midfield role for United.
Gary Neville pointed out on Sky’s Monday Night Football that last season Moyes was “probably worried and anxious about using him in that role for fear of being accused of replicating what he had at Everton”. Yet Van Gaal does see him as the attacking force Moyes supposedly viewed him as, and Neville says the Dutchman should make no apologies for that.
“You say it’s not the United way, I don’t get that,” said Neville. “For 25 years Manchester United, as an option, not as a rule, would lump it forward. It’s not the way you start the game, it’s not the way you try and win the game, absolutely not, but during periods in the season you are going to need that alternative, that second option, plan B, plan C. Don’t be embarrassed. Use it.”
Asked what his instructions were at The Hawthorns, Fellaini said: “I have to put pressure [on the opposition] and go into the box. I did that and I scored, so it was good for me and the team.
“It was my first goal this season and for Manchester United as well, so it was good for me. But the result was a disappointment because our two next games are very difficult games. For the confidence, it is not so good.”
Maybe not for the side as Chelsea are up next on Sunday at Old Trafford before the short trip across town for the derby with Manchester City, but for Fellaini a new phase may be emerging.
As Daley Blind said: “He came in and scored a fast goal, a great goal I think. His goal gave us a lot of trust in the game again and that’s why we created a lot of chances after that. I thought he played well.”
