Getting the best out of Wayne Rooney and more - Marouane Fellaini might prove to be the ace of the pack

Though this was just the curtain-raiser, Fellaini’s bite and discipline in central midfield could possibly provide the missing piece in United’s midfield.

With the Belgian ably supporting Carrick in keeping things ticking in the middle, it could possibly remove a lot of the burden on Rooney’s shoulder to drop deeper and deeper to provide cover for his central midfielders and free him up to support Van Persie upfront.

Marouane Fellaini of Manchester United in action during the UEFA Champions League Group A match between Manchester United and Bayer Leverkusen at Old Trafford on September 17, 2013 in Manchester, England.

The presence of Fellaini gave Evra the added insurance down the left hand side.

(source: squawka.com)

With Shinji Kagawa predominantly occupying the central areas of the pitch as seen below and his own barraging runs down the flank, Patrice Evra potentially risked a swift counter from his side as the in form Sidney Sam posed a considerable threat on the counter.

The Belgian drifted out to the left to nip any potential counter by Sam in the bud and regain possession for his team. As seen in the graphic below, Fellaini did occasionally drift wide left to act as an auxiliary left sided midfielder.

The black circles indicate Fellaini’s presence down Leverkusen’s right -

Heat Map to the left; Action zones to the right (source: squawka.com)

The sight of the diminutive Sidney Sam trying to glide past the monstrous Belgian, only to eventually lose possession and bounce of him into the turf, thereby setting the gory locks of Fellaini into motion remains one of the sights of a satisfactory evening at Old Trafford.

It is interesting to note that against Chelsea, it was Carrick who did the same, instead of the more agile and swift Cleverley -

Michael Carrick taking up the responsibility of covering for Evra during the Chelsea game. (source: squawka.com)