Marouane Fellaini’s Premier League season is over.
In a campaign where the Belgian’s elbows have generated enough headlines and discussion to warrant their own Twitter account, Fellaini’s decision to thrust one in the direction of Robert Huth’s face last weekend has seen the FA ban him for three games.
Some have pointed out that the ban is harsh, given that Fellaini only seemed to unleash his elbow after the Leicester defender grabbed a clump of his hair.
Jamie Carragher however, has pointed out in his Daily Mail column that Fellaini deserves more than a three-game ban for the incident, given that he is a ‘repeat-offender’.
‘How did they get the same bans?’ Carragher asks. ‘One man deliberately swings an elbow, knowing full well the damage that can be caused. The other grabs a clump of hair. Both, somehow, end up with three-match suspensions.
‘Huth, a giant in Leicester’s fairytale campaign, misses his side’s big celebration for an incident you associate with a school playground.
‘Yet Fellaini could end up playing in the FA Cup final. Can pulling someone’s hair cause the same damage as a flailing elbow? No. Not in a million years.’
And Carragher wasn’t finished there. Claiming that it ‘can’t be right’ that Fellaini will be available for United’s big day against Crystal Palace on May 21, he adds that he hopes Fellaini’s time in the Premier League is up.
‘My personal hope is that we would never see him playing in the Premier League again.
‘Three games is not a sentence that will prove a deterrent to Fellaini. He is a repeat offender and it has gone beyond the point now where people can attempt to defend him by saying he is a tall lad who is using his arms for leverage.
‘Look at the incident with Huth again: Fellaini takes a glance around and sees where Huth is before swinging. Yes, he may have been provoked but the Belgium international knew what he was doing.
‘Had he connected firmly, the Leicester defender could have been left with a broken cheek or jaw.’
Finally, Carragher adds that Fellaini isn’t worthy of playing for United.
‘He is a menace in the worst possible sense. I don’t use that term lightly but he is not a Manchester United player in any shape or form.
‘I was never convinced he would fit in at Old Trafford when he left Goodison Park and have never been given reason to change my mind. Yes, he’s a good player with some qualities but he is absolutely not United standard.’
Don’t sit on the fence so much next time, Jamie.
