Roberto Martinez has said that Mauroane Fellaini was a tough act to follow, but feels that he has replaced the big Belgian.
He said: “I’ve been very impressed with the reaction to Fellaini leaving. When you lose a senior player there is a void that you need to fill and the other senior players in the dressing room have taken responsibility and filled that gap.
“You’ve got two options; one is to feel sorry for yourselves or two is to see it as an opportunity and to grow with it. We’ve been doing that.
“We have strong individuals and a team that is now open for competition because there are places to be earned. We can play in different ways and we’re flexible. That becomes a real plus.”
“You can’t replace Felli like for like,” he said. “He’s such a fantastic footballer that you need to find a way to replace his role with other ways of playing, other ways of getting goals and I think we’ve got that in the side. Look at the full squad and we have really good options.
“Anyone we’d tried to bring in like for like would have been under massive pressure and you’re risking them taking a long time to settle. We had to share Felli’s role and influence throughout the side and do things in a different way and that’s the way we’ve coped.”
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