13 May 2020 10:04:49
Hi ed001,hope you are doing great. what's your opinion on ander herrera? A big fan of him.

{Ed001's Note - I really like him, always have done. I thought he was an excellent signing and a better player than many give him credit for. His graft often covered up how technically strong he was, with a very good touch, but it often gets overlooked that he could play. It was a big loss for United when he left.}

1.) 13 May 2020
13 May 2020 11:14:17
I disagree on Herrera, I thought he was good enough for the team we had at the time and would possibly still get in now but he would never have been a player to take us to the next level which is where we want to be. I am just not sure what he was, he was good at a lot of things but he wasn't a defensive midfielder and doesn't create enough to be an attacking midfielder, I wasn't bothered in the slightest when he left and had the same opinion of him throughout his time with us (to the dismay of many on here a few years back when I aired that opinion) .

Seems like a great guy and always gave 100% I just think he lacked that special something that could take us to the next level.

{Ed001's Note - that is not how it works. You need grafters in every team, players like Nicky Butt, Sammy Lee etc played in great teams without being great players but were still key players at times to the success. Not every player has to be either defensive or offensive to be any good. What a bizarre statement by you. You can be an all round player, especially in midfield where you are normally called upon to be involved at both ends of the pitch. A player who can be good at both ends can be far better for the balance of the team than a defensive midfielder or an attacking midfielder, especially in the modern 3-man midfields that usually have one to complement the DM and AM.}

2.) 13 May 2020
13 May 2020 11:56:58
Totally agree Ed and I miss Herera too!

3.) 13 May 2020
13 May 2020 12:13:28
Good enough but nothing special. It is no wonder he almost never makes the Spain team and has been warming the bench at PSG with less than 10 appearances before the season halted. I wouldn't be surprised if they look to move him on.

4.) 13 May 2020
13 May 2020 12:55:45
A good box to box mf and we certainly miss him.

5.) 13 May 2020
13 May 2020 14:21:17
Far better player than pogba, at least he tried and gave it his all. I was disappointed to see him leave. He was a great tenacious player.

6.) 13 May 2020
13 May 2020 16:35:41
I think everyone has forgotten the europa game they destroyed us in under Sir alex. Beisla’s system amazing game.

7.) 13 May 2020
13 May 2020 16:51:07
He will probably go down as one of those underrated players. Its a weird football landscape currently where some footballers such as defenders are expected to be multi functional and have the ability to play in midfield. While Midfielders are now expected to have only one key role in midfield. You are either a tackler, a passer, a dribbler or a scorer. But never more than one of these.

While at the same time Pogba is slammed for not doing all of the above.

You have to be a defensive midfielder, making tackles and interceptions.

A playmaker hitting 60 yard passes to feet.

A box to box midfielder breaking the press by dribbling out from midfield.

Or an Attacking midfielder scoring goals and gaining assists.

The thing with Ander Herrera is he can do all these jobs, while having great technique, work ethic and a nasty side. But he doesn't excel at any one of them more than the others.

He is the type of midfielder who acts as the glue that holds a midfield together, but isn't considered as important as the "key" components.

Liverpool are the best team in the land currently by a country mile. Yet arguably only Fabinho could be called a midfield specialist. Sitting deeper making tackles and playing the ball forward with purpose. Henderson, Milner, Wijnaldum and Keita are all multi functional midfielders. Guys who put tackles in when tackles need to be made, guys who drive forward with the ball when space opens up in front of them, guys who score a few goals or play key passes to the forward line.

Currently we have McTominay and Fred doing a similar role. I would argue that Herrera is currently better than both of them in that role.

The only downside to Herrera is in the last couple of seasons he has started to pick up niggling injuries, these have followed him to Paris and have limited his chances at PSG this season.

Oddly enough the last "World class" all round midfielder we had was Roy Keane. A player every United fan would give their left leg to have a peak Roy Keane back in the side. Ander Hererra has never been at Keanes level, but few all round midfielders reach the world class level. Most get pigeon holed long before they get a chance to round off their skill set.

Losing Herrera weakened us, we will bounce back of course, but he is a player we needed to replace last summer and didn't. If he was still here then he would have filled a massive hole in our midfield when Matic, Pogba and McTominay were injured. Which in all likelihood would mean we would be 4 or 5 points better off and sitting in 4th place right now rather than 5th.

8.) 13 May 2020
13 May 2020 19:07:21
Shappy, i would also say that he was a player for the big games. Against Liverpool at Anfield he prodused one of the best perfomances i have ever seen from a United player with 16 tackles, 11 interceptions and 5 take ons completed, against Chelsea he made Hazard desapear and he was man of the match etc. He played extremely well as defensive midfield the year we won Europa League, he played well in different positions and different roles . And as for the stats (with Pogba mostly), taking into account that Herrera is more defensively and they don't have exactly the same role and taking account the numper of shots and penalties i don't thing the gap is so huge. I don't say is better than Pogba offensivly but the boy clearly could play.

9.) 14 May 2020
14 May 2020 01:00:19
Herrera played with heart and intelligence. We have definitely missed him. To me he was like Henderson is to Liverpool. Or Deschamps was to France. Cantona called them water carriers but they helped their team to win.

10.) 14 May 2020
14 May 2020 00:12:19
Ed001,

I didn’t expect you to agree as you rate him, having watched him every week I just didn’t have the same opinion as you on him. Don’t think anything about what I said was ‘bizarre’, I am fully aware players don’t have to be great at attacking or defending to be an important cog in a team, he was an important cog in the team but not somebody irreplaceable. Like I said, worked hard with what talent he had and had some good games for us but too many average ones imo to be a player to take us to the next level.

11.) 14 May 2020
14 May 2020 17:29:27
Big fan of Ander. Had a nasty streak in him too.

12.) 15 May 2020
15 May 2020 15:23:08
I don't get this love in for Anders, he was too rash in the tackle often picking up unnecessary cards, he fell over most of the time looking for free kicks, he ran around a lot not really doing much but looked busy but he was a lovely guy though and so down too earth :)

13.) 15 May 2020
15 May 2020 17:53:13
Rash in the tackle, picking up unnecessary cards? Are you talking about Ander or Scholes?

Ander was a clever player, he made tactical fouls and won challenges that weren't there to be won.

He sewed everything together, he made others around him look better. Every team needs 2 or 3 players like Ander. Sadly they are never fully appreciated.

14.) 15 May 2020
15 May 2020 21:56:21
Shappy,

He’s not even 1/ 10th of the player Scholes was though, you can ignore the negatives if the positives outweigh them as much as they did with Scholes.

15.) 15 May 2020
15 May 2020 22:13:38
I think he would have done better with a different set of coaches. Always gave his all but was not best suited to play under lvg or joses style of play.
Hardly gets a kick at psg. He left for big money at his age a couple of years earning a fortune sitting on the bench might suit him before he goes home to Spain. Ole didn't really fight to keep him and rarely played him he had to move on
Nice lad seemed intelligent and he enjoyed playing here.