It is rather ironic that despite the arrival of several expensive and world-class players, the transfer that got almost every Manchester United fan cheering was the departure of Tom Cleverley to Aston Villa on loan. For a player who promised a lot when he broke into the scene a few years ago, Cleverley looks a mere shadow of that today. The bitter fact that the player (read, Paul Pogba) he kept in his shadows as a youth player and was eventually let go by the club has now become one of the world’s best central midfielders hasn’t helped his case either. From being booed by his own team’s fans every time he touches the ball to being a butt of all jokes on social media, Cleverley has bared it all and the celebration of his departure is the final nail. But if Cleverley is to answer all his critics, then now is the time.
Here are 3 reasons why the loan move to Aston Villa this term will help the former England international-
- NO BURDEN OF PRESSURE
The main issue with Cleverley has been his reluctance to play the ball forward. Cleverley has always maintained a healthy pass accuracy rate; but the credit to such a neat rate goes to his natural game that tends to play a sideways or backward pass more often than playing the ball forward, even when the team is trailing behind. A comparison with Carrick proves he is the better passer of the ball but is extremely poor when it comes to chance creations and key passes that led to goals. This attribute of his game has subjected him to that cyclic process of facing criticism, reduced confidence and dipping performances.
With the constant pressure to perform at Old Trafford, Cleverley was stuck in a rut and now he has been offered a breather. At Villa, he is under no form of heavy expectations or pressure and yet, may have the opportunity to start every week-in week-out alongside the newly capped England international Fabian Delph. A consistent run of starts and a few decent performances should give him a huge boost on which he can gradually work his way back up.
- PRESENCE OF ROY KEANE
The presence of Roy Keane at Villa Park as an assistant manager should also be a huge advantage for Cleverley. The former Manchester United and Ireland captain was a central midfielder himself and was among the best of his times. Unlike Cleverley, Keane was pretty attack-minded and was keen on getting the ball high up for the forward; and this quality is precisely what Cleverley would look to imbibe from his mentor.
Keane is also known for his no-nonsense and aggressive attitude, and surely Cleverley would have a lesson or two to learn on how to handle pressure and stay positive from the old maestro.
- SUCCESS OF PREVIOUS LOAN MOVES
It was in the 2011-12 season that Cleverley first made a competitive debut for Manchester United. Cleverley impressed with his confident performances initially, as he stepped into the void left by Paul Scholes, but some unfortunate injuries limited him to just 10 league appearances in the season. Ever since that return from injury, Cleverley’s confidence has kept consistently dipping and currently seem to have hit its lowest point. A loan away from Old Trafford at this point should allow Cleverley to gain back all the lost confidence, because it was on the back of three very successful loan moves to Leicester City, Watford and Wigan Atheltic respectively that Cleverley first entered the Manchester United side.
At Leicester, he played a crucial part with impressive showings on their way to the Championship title and securing promotion in the 2008-09 season, while he had an even better 2009-10 season with 11 goals and 5 assists in 33 appearances for Watford and was even chosen as their Player Of the Season. In his first taste of Premier League football in 2010-11, he made 25 appearances for Wigan and scored thrice and assisted 2 goals and was one of the standout performers for Roberto Martinez’s side that battled hard to stay out of the relegation zone.
If Cleverley can replicate the sort of performances he put up at these 3 clubs, then he might be able to rejuvenate his sinking career and fulfill at least the slightest of potential he promised of, not long ago.