Moyes: Fellaini was thrown in too early

David Moyes has expressed regret over his use of Marouane Fellaini, with the Belgian having struggled since his move from Everton.

It could have been the £70m midfield highlight of the United versus Arsenal showdown but the Marouane Fellaini-Mesut Ozil clash might not even get off the ground at Old Trafford.
The Belgian and the German were the focus of engine-room transfer deadline day business back in September.
Arsenal’s club-record £43m splash on Ozil from Real Madrid stunned the Premier League and has inspired the Gunners.
United manager David Moyes’ long summer pursuit for his former Everton midfielder ended in the final minutes of the window with the Reds having to pay £27.5m for the 25-year-old.
But, while Ozil hit the ground running in England after being imported from La Liga helping to propel Arsenal to the top of the league, Fellaini has struggled to make an impact at Old Trafford.
Last Tuesday in San Sebastian his sending off for two yellow cards against Real Sociedad put the tin lid on a difficult opening to his United career.

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Marouane Fellaini in pictures

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  But Moyes says he had to fast-track Fellaini into a Reds shirt and the plan has backfired on his new recruit.
“I didn’t think Marouane started slowly but when I had watched him playing I thought he looked a little bit behind,” he said.
“We had to put him in a bit earlier than I’d have liked. My plan was to put him in much slower and bring him on and give him a chance to settle in but we put him in early because we needed it and I didn’t think he was quite ready.
“But I actually thought he played well in Sociedad. We could have taken him off after the first booking but the referee was very close to the incident so he must have got it right.”
With Fellaini battling to bed down as a United force, Reds fans have looked enviously at Ozil’s impact on Arsenal’s form.
It has further narked the United support that the German could have move to Old Trafford when he was being hawked around Europe as Real Madrid prepared for the arrival of £85m record buy Gareth Bale.
Moyes, however, says Ozil wasn’t on United’s shopping list.
“We weren’t close to buying him but something was mooted a little bit before that,” he said.
“I didn’t even say it was an interest, it was put to us and it was just something at the time we didn’t need. We didn’t need that position.
“We had Shinji Kagawa and Wayne Rooney and people of a similar style so it wasn’t quite what we required at that time. We were looking at different positions.”
Meanwhile, Moyes turned the focus on last Tuesday’s Champions League referee Nicola Rizzoli in the Ashley Young diving debate.
“I think you should be saying the referee who refereed the Champions League final last season was two yards away from the incident,” he said.
“I think the attention should be on the referee and not Ashley Young – the referee was as close as anyone could be to give the decision. He could not have been in a better position if he’d tried.”
But Moyes hinted there was, however, a question mark over the incident.
“Having seen it again I think that’s why I have been one of the ones who has quite often said that we should have retrospective diving,” he said.
“If it was retrospective and they thought it was worth it then I’d be the first one to say, ‘Fine’. If Manchester United found something happened in that way then we’d accept it.”