Set to join Everton on July 1st upon the expiration of his Manchester United contract, Tom Cleverley has spent the season on loan at Aston Villa and seems to have found a new lease of life under Tim Sherwood’s management – but was he a flop at United?
Born in Basingstoke but brought up in West Yorkshire, Cleverley was never too far from Old Trafford even as a young boy. After a year with Bradford in 1999, United signed the then 11 year old in July 2000. After impressing throughout various Academy levels with United in his multiple years at Carrington, Cleverley had to wait until he was 20 for his United debut, in 2009. One of the under-21s most promising players by the time he graduated into the senior side, his energy in midfield was something of excitement to the Old Trafford faithful.
His first full season with the club he had spent so long with has to wait until 2011 however, as he was sent on loan, as many academy graduates are, to gain experience. He had spells at Leicester City, Watford and Wigan Athletic before Sir Alex Ferguson saw it fit that he join the United squad full-time. He played 90 minutes in a preseason game against Barcelona and was heralded as the best player on the pitch by his manager, who had identified him as a like-for-like replacement for the newly-retired Paul Scholes. With big shoes to fill, Cleverley would need to put in more and more impressive performances to justify his place at such a prestigious club.
His first appearance of the season came as a substitute in a dramatic Manchester derby turnaround, with Cleverley replacing Michael Carrick and playing very well before setting up Nani’s goal as United went on to win 3-2 and pick up the Community Shield.
Many United fans will remember how he and Anderson as a partnership dominated the Premier League in midfield, but their rhythm was disrupted by injuries and the partnership was not given the time to prosper fully, which is a shame. Cleverley was certainly impressive in his debut season with the club and was more than deserving of multiple starts, including in the Champions League. He looked every bit a player who could fulfil his potential.
The poison chalice for Cleverley was the change in system under David Moyes. Instead of the high tempo played by Ferguson’s sides, which allowed Cleverley to roam the centre of the park from box to box, passing the ball from front to back and dictating the tempo of attacks much like Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick, David Moyes was much stricter with his central midfielders. It has been recently revealed that Moyes insisted Cleverley stay behind the ball, meaning that he had to sit deep and pass it sideways rather than push on into the box and pick up goals – which he does have an eye for.
Many Manchester United fans seem to only remember this rather restricted Tom Cleverley whose potential was supressed by a conservative possession-based system. He perhaps would have fitted in better under Louis van Gaal, who allows and encourages his midfielders such as Ander Herrera to push forward and look for goals, but Herrera himself, as well as Juan Mata and Angle Di Maria, are clearly better players than Cleverley so he would likely not have got a look in had he stayed for the 2015-16 season.
Tom Cleverley was not a ‘flop’ at United – he was simply a scapegoat who was never given the necessary means to prove himself in the red, white and black of the Red Devils. He certainly has potential to make something of himself with the ball at his feet and I expect him to thrive at Everton where he will likely be given more freedom, as he was under Tim Sherwood at Aston Villa.
