One of the players that was tipped by many to be shown the exit door upon Mourinho’s arrival at the Theater of Dreams last summer was Belgium international Marouane Fellaini, with his dismal campaigns since he switched Everton for Manchester United back in 2013 hinting his quality wouldn’t convince the Portuguese manager enough.
Schweinsteiger was banished from training with the first team, the likes of Depay and Schneiderlin hardly made the matchday squads, while Martial, Shaw, Blind, Smalling and Rooney lost their automatic starting berths in the starting XI.
Despite all the changes that affected even the promising Rashford and newly signed Mkhitaryan, Marouane Fellaini was a constant presence on the substitution bench, while he indeed started Manchester United’s Premier League campaign in the starting lineup, playing full minutes in the opening games against Bournemouth, Southampton, Hull City and Manchester City.
Mourinho showed an unusual character of having faith in a player who looked below his own standard and quality given his knack for specialists. The erstwhile Chelsea manager was bent on bringing out the best in the 29-year-old despite talks in the media, with Fellaini even playing full minutes against Liverpool and Swansea as the manager kept looking for a permanent starting XI.
Not even the fans turning their backs on Fellaini after he gifted Everton an equalizer in the closing minutes of a game, United looked bound to win was enough excuse for Jose to axe him, with the no-nonsense perfectionist who had criticised Smalling and Shaw for not playing through injuries surprisingly leaping to his player’s defence.
Mourinho was keen on bringing out the very best in a player that hasn’t lived up to the billing or looked anywhere capable of being a Manchester United quality despite being in his 4th season at the club, and the difference is there now. While the player hasn’t become world class, the signs are promising.
He was an inspired substitution against Hull City in the first leg of the EFL Cup semifinal, as his goal ensured the club eventually scaled through to the finals after the Tigers won the return leg.
Marouane Fellaini: Has scored 2 goals in his last 5 appearances having failed to score in his opening 20 apps this season for United
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) January 29, 2017
Fellaini also played a huge role in the late draw against Liverpool, as his header that bounced off the upright allowed United to get the equalizer. His slow and steady improvement continued at the weekend, as he helped opened the scoring in the dying minutes of the first half against Wigan, setting the tone for an eventual emphatic victory in the end.
Marouane Fellaini has now found the back of the net twice in his last 5 appearances for Manchester United. This is coming after a goal drought that had seen the midfielder fail to score in his first 20 games for Manchester United, and there can be no denying that Mourinho has uplifted Fellaini’s career at Old Trafford.
The player is still a work-in-progress, though, but one can only imagine how better he would become in the coming months as Mourinho continues to have faith in him while he continues to repay it with his solid performances on the pitch. A new Marouane Fellaini would be “unveiled” in the coming weeks and months from the look of things.