Greyco said:
As a Belgian I can perhaps give a little more insight....
Although Fellaini was bought as a DM, he's pretty useless in that position. He's tackling and positional play is rubbish and he won't do a good job shielding your defence. He's more a box-to-box midfielder. Although he looks quite slow and hasn't really got an acceleration on him, his giant legs enables him to burst out of the midfield and turn up in the box. He's a perfect targetman who can hold up play and make other players link up with the forwards. He has some goals in him too. All things Kompany lacks. But I do find Kompany a better footballer.
Fellaini's technical abilities are quite minimal. All you see him do a whole match is going in for high balls, winning them almost every time and playing the little pass to a teammate nearby and then make his way into the box. He's quite hard to neutralize.
Kompany plays better when he can direct play. Technically very gifted, stronger tackling than Fellaini. Not that good on high balls tho. But what flair and what vision! Just seeing him play and making it all look so simple is an indication of his class. And I find it a shame that he hasn't been able to demonstrate his rushes from the backline as he used to do at Anderlecht or the National Side. Being the sole DM at City, I think he has specific instructions to remain in his place but he can bring so much more. He used to pick up the ball when he played as a CB and just slot in between the midfield and rush down half the pitch launching a dangerous attack. He gained a lot of muscle tho, since he left Anderlecht. Might have influenced his game a bit. But he doesn't really have that ability to become dangerous around the box as Fellaini does.
But, I've got no reason to complain. We've got both of them in the national squad. And then can complement eachother just fine. Although Kompany always plays in the back four. He brings the needed calm and footballing solutions to that place and we've got some other great players in the middle of the park that can replace him there aswell. Like Defour of Standard Liege, who some of you might know, or Vertonghen of Ajax who has one of the best left foots I've seen since Frank De Boer, launching perfect balls at the wingers from deep inside the own half. In the future Vertonghen might play next to Vince in the central of the defence and the former Liege boys in the middle of the park.
All under 23, they'll form the spine of the best Belgian national team since the eighties.
As a belgian i mostly agree with what is written here.
Kompany by far is the most talented defensive player i've ever witnessed in belgium. He has technical qualities i haven't seen quite often in a player that was formed a s DC. He's an intelligent guy that looks for the best solution for the team.
His playstyle is a lot more sober because of that (he doesn't think anymore about personal success, he plays in function of the team). In the past he often displayed his technical and physical capabilities in the belgian league and well, he outclassed everybody there.
After that he went to Hamburg and struggled a lot there due to injuries and personal problems (his mother died). Man city picked him up at the best time possible cause with his potential he was heavily underpriced and he was on his way back from a very dark time in his very young life / career. When he was young he turned down Chelsea and went to hamburg instead because he wants to have a natural progression, which is advicable if you come from the belgian league. That shows what kind of character the boy has. Very mature for his age and very intelligent. The only problem he had was being too strict on himself and an instoppable hunger to improve as a player.
Compared to Fellaini, Kompany has more qualities to make it in the big teams. He has intelligence, his positioning is good, his technical capabilities are very strong, he has a good pass and physically he doesn't have to fear anybody. The things he lacks is heading and using his technical capabilities to play more creative in the offensive compartment.
His best position well, because of his pure talent, he's often placed in the midfield but i personally think he has the capabilities to become one of the best central defenders in the world (he has already shown those qualities for Anderlecht and the national team). I think hughes placed him in the midfield cause there's a huge gap that needed to be filled atm and with his pure talent he can even excell at that position. None the less i see him progress towards one of the best central defenders out there once you get players to fill in the gaps in your midfield. I don't see Hughes finding a better central defender then Kompany out there, whereas finding a midfielder that could compete with Vince for the DMC spot might be more realistic (very expensive though!).
Fellaini's more of a bulldog type of player. A player that will fit perfectly in a team that doesn't have the size or the creative talent to create opportunities. Fellaini is a beast and very hard to stop. His talent mostly comes from his drive forwards and from his physical cabalities and headgame.
Kompany despite his size and posture gets his qualities from his technical and mental capabilities (he's mentally rocksolid and can really direct the game aswell). Fellaini gets more out of his size and physical capabilities compared to Kompany. Fellaini fit's well in the Premier League with his kick & rush mentality, while Kompany would probably also thrive in the spanish division, where the amphesis is more towards technic capabilities and creativity.
To summarise, they both have their qualities and have a completely different approach to the game. Kompany is defensively more accurate (doesn't need that much fouls to stop his opponent as Fellaini), has a better positioning and is more capable of controlling the game then Fellaini (a quality very necessary in topteams), while Fellaini is just a pitbull (hence all his yellow cards) but with an immense rush forward which is very hard to defend against.
They both are great players though.
Oh and about other Belgian talents, we seem to be flooding with talent lately, i'd espescially watch Dembele, Vertonghen, Defour, Witsel and the big star to come Eden Hazard.
