FELLAINI IS A REAL CLASS ACT
<M<IP B@:B# <M<IP >F8C# <M<IP >8D<# He’s our unsung hero insists Matic
NEMANJA MATIC reckons Marouane Fellaini doesn’t get the respect he deserves.
Fellaini has struggled to be loved at Manchester United since joining them from Everton in 2013 for £27.5m.
The big Belgian has long been associated with the failed tenure of David Moyes and found himself ridiculed by his own fans at times.
But he is enjoying a new lease of life under Jose Mourinho as he quietly establishes himself as one of United’s most important figures.
Fellaini produced another impressive display to score twice and help United swat aside Crystal Palace, piling on the pain for Roy Hodgson and his flops.
Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku chipped in with the other two goals to leave Palace pointless – still goalless – and rooted to the foot of the Premier League table.
Lukaku’s late strike saw him equal Andy Cole’s record of scoring in seven successive games for United.
But it was Fellaini who stole the headlines for once – and Matic admits he is baffled why his midfield sidekick doesn’t get more praise. Matic said: “He doesn’t get the credit that he deserves, but I am sure that this season he will show all his quality.
“He is a great player. If you see him and how he works every day in the training sessions, his games that he plays don’t surprise me – that he played well, that he scored goals.
“He deserves everything he gets as he works a lot and is a great player.
Strong
“I really enjoy playing with him and I am sure that we will continue like this. “It’s nice to have him in the team because he can defend, on long balls he is strong and he’s always dangerous in attack. He’s a great, great player.” The result was inevitable once Mata had fired United ahead inside three minutes and Palace never looked like ending a goalless run that now stretches to seven league games. In two consecutive trips to Manchester, Palace have conceded nine goals and Hodgson will spend this week’s international break searching for a way to regroup and somehow lift his players. Next up is a visit from champions Chelsea.
And the former England boss said: “There’s no point worrying about that.
“You can’t say, ‘You’ve got to get points in this game. You’ve got to get points in that game’.
“Chelsea, like the two teams we’ve just played, are clearly stronger on paper than we are.
“But (Christian) Benteke won’t be back for a few weeks, so we still won’t have a recognised centreforward. Wilf Zaha probably won’t be back and Ruben Loftus-Cheek (on loan from Chelsea) can’t play.
“So there are three quality players I can name off the top of my head who could have helped us do a better job against Chelsea.
“But they’re not there. So it’s got to be the lads I put out there who go out there and run their b ***** ks off, if you excuse my expression, to try to do the best job they can possibly do.
“We’ve got to try and pick ourselves up off the floor and make certain that we don’t get beaten 4-0 by the next team we play.”