Tom Cleverley

[Smile]

Been looking for a thread on him, can’t find one. What do people here think about him?

Have to say becoming a bit of a fan of his lately. At first watching him I was like ‘Who’s Tom Cleverley?’ always seemed like a Mokujin type player to me, watching other players and stealing their qualities and trying to be them, you can see he study’s Iniesta (movement etc), how he strikes the ball like Beckham, but on reflection what is wrong with that? You have to learn from the best if you want to be the best you possibly can be at something.

But yeah seems to be little underrated a lot in England, probably due to the fact he’s slightly older than some other talents (namely Wilshere), but at still only 23 himself he he has a lot of potential imo. Especially when you watch videos like these:-

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CY94JWBkSns" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

And see his allround contributions to games.

Not sure what everyone here thinks.

 

[Deco 20]

I've only seen a few games at the beginning of the season and I wasn't too impressed but I'm hardly an expert

 

[AnfieldEd]

He's the third most complete midfielder on earth - after Xavi and Carrick.

 

[I Wonder]

Jack Wilshere is bad form

 

[Smile]

He's the third most complete midfielder on earth - after Xavi and Carrick.

I don't know m8, Jordan Henderson & Jonjo Shelvey is up there too and let's not forget Jay Spearing.

 

[Jenks]

Difficult to judge Cleverley because as low as you'd expect his ceiling to be due to his limited technical ability, he does seem to keep getting better. I certainly don't think he'll ever be a great player, but he'll probably do a job for United for quite a while yet.

 

[ammarfcb]

meh.

he's ok but his made to look even better by man utd's lack of midfielders

 

[jamrock]

meh.

he's ok but his made to look even better by man utd's lack of midfielders

yep.

 

[Deco 20]

He's the third most complete midfielder on earth - after Xavi and Carrick.

You're right if we consider Kroos and Jones out of this world

 

[gunnerthoughts]

Severely overrated, in my opinion. He'll of course improve as he plays for Manchester United, but he wouldn't even make the bench for clubs with midfields like Barca, Madrid, Bayern etc. And at 23, that's not very good...

 

[silky_soccer]

He's the third most complete midfielder on earth - after Xavi and Carrick.

Ironic, as the player your trying to take the piss out of, for 65 minutes on sunday took the piss out of your entire team, funny how things work out eh.

 

[Smile]

Severely overrated, in my opinion. He'll of course improve as he plays for Manchester United, but he wouldn't even make the bench for clubs with midfields like Barca, Madrid, Bayern etc. And at 23, that's not very good...

23 is not old!

Players develop at different ages too, see Zidane/Lampard/Xavi/Pirlo/Schweinsteiger.

I find some of the comments here a little harsh, he's a player with good technical ablity, someone here said he had little which i found strange :icon_confused: he's played against all the best midfields in the Premier League and more than held his own against players deemed WC and he's improving all the time, let's see how he does against Madrid.

It's just that feeling you get when you look at a player though, you think 'he's going to be class' and i get that with him and think by 26 Cleverley will be rated highly throughout Europe in the same way some other English midfielders (Lampard/Gerrard/Beckham/Scholes) have recent seasons.

 

[gunnerthoughts]

23 is not old!

Players develop at different ages too, see Zidane/Lampard/Xavi/Pirlo/Schweinsteiger.

I find some of the comments here a little harsh, he's a player with good technical ablity, someone here said he had little which i found strange :icon_confused: he's played against all the best midfields in the Premier League and more than held his own against players deemed WC and he's improving all the time, let's see how he does against Madrid.

It's just that feeling you get when you look at a player though, you think 'he's going to be class' and i get that with him and think by 26 Cleverley will be rated highly throughout Europe in the same way some other English midfielders (Lampard/Gerrard/Beckham/Scholes) have recent seasons.

Perhaps you're right, he's a regular for one of the biggest sporting franchises in the world, so he's definitely got talent. But considering players like Thiago/Isco/Oscar/Wilshere/Leitner, who set the bar very high at a young age, I don't think he's quite up there, despite being years older. But as you say, it differs from player to player, and at a club like United he will only improve. But I just don't think ever enough to be a world class midfielder.

 

[jamrock]

Beckham

 

[Semi-Neutral]

Cleverly-Carrick-Wilshere could actually be an excellent midfield for England if they all develop well and work together properly. Cleverly as the attacking midfielder, (I see him as a less talented Fabregas) Carrick a holding midfielder and Wilshere running around everywhere as usual.