Marouane Fellaini - Everton's Catalyst

One of the prime examples of David Moyes' excellent business in the transfer window is Marouane Fellaini. The Belgian international joined the Goodison Park club in September for a fee of £15m, a record for both a Belgian player and a signing for Everton. Fellaini's choice of club was definitely an unusual one, the midfielder rejected offers from Manchester United, Tottenham, Real Madrid and even Aston Villa before signing for the Toffees.

His match winning goal against Manchester United in the opening match of the Premier League has sparked a strong start to the season for the Toffees, as Moyes' side have won two out of their three matches. In these three games, Fellaini has been an influential player at Goodison Park, making an average of 50 passes a game, whilst completing 40 of them, a success rate of 80%.

Marouane Fellaini fits exactly into Moyes' system, he has built the team and his tactics around the Belgian, who's height (6"4) he utilises with direct passing from the back aimed to the midfielder. This tactic was best used in the match against Manchester United, if you remember, Michael Carrick was forced to play in the centre of defence due to his teammates being injured. Fellaini simply stood next to the England international and dominated in the air, as shown by his received passes board.

The central position Fellaini plays is that of most key players in a side, despite the Belgian possessing a completely different playing style to the likes of Ozil and Sneijder. This position is perfect for the giant midfielder, he can have an influence in both the midfield and attack, the latter where which he often gets on the end of crosses from Leighton Baines, the left-back is in the top 5 players for assists this year. His influence in the midfield is vital for the defensive play, the two slots are usually taken up by Darren Gibson and Leon Osman, who aren't exactly tall players (6"0/5"8) so Fellaini is often needed to use his strength to support his teammates. Though he isn't great in the tackle, his dominance in the air is second to none and he often drops deep in a dead ball situation to help out.

The colossal Belgian works well in the side he's played with for four years now, especially the left hand side of Pienaar and Baines where he can often be seen drifting out to. In all the matches he's played in the pass combination of Fellaini to Baines and vice versa are often situated near the top of the pile (3rd vs. Newcastle, 3rd vs. WBA, 5th vs. Aston Villa and 1st [for Everton only] vs. Manchester United).

If Everton are to carry on their good start to the season, Fellaini will need to keep up the form the Belgian has started in as he is definitely a key man in Moyes' plans for the year to come.







Thanks for reading guys! If you enjoyed this article, be sure to follow the blog on Twitter!