Maybe. But it's not like everyone else was great either.
21
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 31
- Goals
- 8
- Assists
- 5
- Yellow cards
- 6
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
- Status
I'm a big fan, but he was shit in the last 2 games.
true. But van Gaal seems to be pretty harsh on him. One average game and he finds himself on the bench. We have more options in his postitons too.
I thought he was better than Mata and Fellaini but that's not saying much, disappointing from him tonight.
Herrera was fine tonight. He wasn't great, but the team clearly was able to retain possession more effectively as soon as he came in to the game even if we didn't create much with the ball in that time.
No - only Fellaini does these things did you not get the memo?
A bit harsh. He had an ok-ish performance and didn't do anything particularly bad like Fellaini.
I like his attitude, always work his arse off. It could've been worse if someone else had played in his position.
I like his attitude, always work his arse off. It could've been worse if someone else had played in his position.
When he was moved to CB he was MOTM, at CB.
I thought he wasn't that bad. Not brilliant or even good by any means but it wasn't a shocking performance. When the while XI barely functions as a team I can make it a forgettable performance from him.
Herrera seems to be judged more harshly by LvG than, say, Fellaini.
Fellaini was absolutely abject yesterday - if LvG is to apply his much-vaunted philosophy at the weekend, he should drop the Bogbrush.
Fellaini was absolutely abject yesterday - if LvG is to apply his much-vaunted philosophy at the weekend, he should drop the Bogbrush.
I can see why Herrera isn't an automatic starter.
I just hope other posters don't overreact the next time he is on the bench.
I just hope other posters don't overreact the next time he is on the bench.
And Fellaini is?
Fellaini is supposedly in there for his physicality, but got bullied by Wanyama and was getting beaten in the air, supposedly another strength of his. Ander dares to give the ball away and he is rubbish. Fellaini last night was the cause of us conceding one. LvG has to get that defence sorted or we will be seeing more of this type of football. It is no good if Blind/Carrick are forever being drafted into the backline. The midfield needs them.
I don't understand why LVG keeps playing him as an AM, Mata most of the time was almost playing as a CM alongside Fellani yesterday while Herrera was in the AM role. If we had played Herrera in the middle, i felt he would have been more involved in the play, even against Hull and Stoke i felt he was being played in an AM role, when we signed him i was delighted by the fact that we have signed a CM, he has all the attributes to play that position, and he has played for Bilbao in that CM role, yesterday we were crying for someone who can collect the ball from the CB's and play forward, Fellani was awful yesterday in that aspect and we just couldn't keep the ball.
He was poor but the whole team was sh!te apart for RVP, Young and De Gea.
To be fair Fellaini had been one of our best players for the past month. Herrera has been up and down.
That's what disappointed me most yesterday about Fellaini (well, next to his piss poor passing). Herrera was ok and did better than any of our other midfielders
He was shit last night I thought, though in fairness the whole team was really. Reading through bits of this thread is odd though, it's similar to the Kagawa one I find. One of them players who's stock has risen by not playing, probably due to the rest of squad being pretty poor mainly.
yeah, it's very similar to the Kagawa situation. Becomes world class when he does not play. When he does play, a poor performance by him is put down to the the rest of the team not playing well, or an injury he had months ago. And much distress and confusion is expressed when the manager chooses not to pick this world class player.
Hopefully Herrera will ultimately prove to be a much better player for United than Kagawa though. He's still early in his time in England, and I think he more about him than Kagawa.
We were terrible before Herrera came on, so the problems were there already. He did help improve things, but I think last night was more down to that damn formation and yet another injury. All these constant changes. We were playing reasonably well in the 4 previous games, so why change it. I think LvG tries to prove he is some tactical genius sometimes when it isn't necessary.
We were just as bad against Arsenal. And I don't think we were great against Palace or Stoke.
Score was misleading against Palace, we could have won that game 2-0 or 3-0 which would have made it look more convincing but still the performance was good. Against Stoke we went missing for about 2 minutes of the game at the end of each half, other than that we were comfortable.
We weren't great against Palace and Stoke, but TBH they are extremely well organised and tough to beat. Stoke have won 1-0 at the Etihad, beat Arsenal 3-2 (should've been 4-0 up before Arsenal got two goals back), only marginally lost at Anfield and just about lost to us. They are hugely improved this season IMO, not an easy three points. Besides that we made enough chances to put 4 or 5 past them, just one of those days where we couldn't put the ball into the net.
Crystal Palace on the other hand are quite similar, beating Liverpool 3-1, only lost 1-2 against Chelsea and held us until the 75th minute mark to a nil nil draw. Again we played OK, but I really think it's getting harder beating those so-called small teams these days. There is so much money involved in British football now that even teams like Stoke, Hull, Palace can stockpile decent to good players.
Furthermore, we're building from ground zero and it takes time. Our players are still getting their confidence back from last season's disaster. 3-5-2 needs to stop though, we keep shooting ourselves in the foot by using it.
Exactly, we have some of the pieces needed but not all. People are saying about players going, but we need more players not getting rid of some and then replacing them and the extra ones. Unfortunately having to reduce the squad size due to lack of games might not have helped, but tbh the players who have gone out on loan are not in the defence where we have been found short. I can see him having to get defenders in January. Don't think he has a choice.
Good post.
Our result against West Ham is looking better and better with each passing week too.
Agree about 3-5-2 too. We're making tough fixtures even tougher.
@Amar__
I am really not sure why you think I hate Herrera, but if you care to actually read my posts in this thread you will likely see that that is not the case at all.
I am really not sure why you think I hate Herrera, but if you care to actually read my posts in this thread you will likely see that that is not the case at all.
I don't think you hate Herrera, I am just teasing you, don't worry mate. But you are big fan of Fellaini, that's for sure.
Once Herrera came on, we got more control of the game and matched Southampton towards the end of the first half. Without him, we were always hoofing the ball forward and relying on Rojo or Smalling/Evans to play our players into the game. Carrick was easily closed down, and Fellaini was frequently going long, looking for a long ball, whilst Mata would drop deep at times but play too safely with the ball. When Herrera came on, he joined up the defence and attack and made us more assured in possession against Southampton.
In the second half, Herrera was very important in us keeping control of the match. He was getting Mata into the game, and Fellaini always had an option when playing the deeper role. I was disappointed that we didn't do more with this possession, control, and fluidity that Herrera provided us. Once we scored the second goal, we became very negative in our approach, preferring to play the ball back at every opportunity then hoof it away, which made everyone including Herrera ineffective.
Every time I see Herrera on the pitch, we become much better on the attack and gain much more control of the game. We also start creating gaps in the middle, and attacking players like Mata and Rooney get more involved in the game.
In the second half, Herrera was very important in us keeping control of the match. He was getting Mata into the game, and Fellaini always had an option when playing the deeper role. I was disappointed that we didn't do more with this possession, control, and fluidity that Herrera provided us. Once we scored the second goal, we became very negative in our approach, preferring to play the ball back at every opportunity then hoof it away, which made everyone including Herrera ineffective.
Every time I see Herrera on the pitch, we become much better on the attack and gain much more control of the game. We also start creating gaps in the middle, and attacking players like Mata and Rooney get more involved in the game.
He only made 19 passes with an accuracy of 75%. Impressive he could do all that while hardly getting involved at all.
If he was a bit more polished he'd make a great 'number 10'. He has the eye for the pass, the ability to link up, but his technique can be sloppy and he sometimes shows a lack of urgency.
He's been good so far. Nothing more or less. I think people see the positive impact that they want to see a lot of the time. He tends to have a few nice moments each game, but I don't think he's been as great as other people seem to think.
It's possible that van Gaal isn't as keen on him as many people on here. And no, that doesn't mean van Gaal hates him, doesn't rate him at all, or wont ever play him.
He's been good so far. Nothing more or less. I think people see the positive impact that they want to see a lot of the time. He tends to have a few nice moments each game, but I don't think he's been as great as other people seem to think.
It's possible that van Gaal isn't as keen on him as many people on here. And no, that doesn't mean van Gaal hates him, doesn't rate him at all, or wont ever play him.
Agreed. I like him because of his style of play and creativity but his passing can be atrocious at times recently. Not sure if it's related to his injury? Is he fully fit yet? Saw him holding his chest at the end of the Stoke (I think, might have been arsenal actually) game.
His involvement was only possible during the period before we scored the 2nd goal, as I mentioned. Otherwise, we were very negative and static in our game. As I also said in my last post, once we scored the second goal, the team decided to not keep possession to see the game off and, instead, drop deep and clear the ball away at almost every opportunity. It was only during the brief period after he came on and during the second half before van Persie scored that we were in control of the match, with Herrera being very involved in our build up.
The one thing that was clear from this match is that, whilst Herrera may make us better, he's not someone who will singlehandedly make us better. The same goes for everyone else in the team. Everyone has to perform well if the team is to perform well.
Na, from what I saw of him before, while obviously he's capable of great passes and dribbling (he showed that against us at Old Trafford obviously) his technique can seem a bit rushed and scrappy at times. A bit like Aaron Ramsey's.
It's just how he is really. I don't think it's got much to do with any injuries.
I'd agree. He was the same at Athletic Club so the injury isn't an excuse. I think he needs to learn that sometimes it's better to play...slower. He seems to want to play at 100mph every game, probably a result of playing for Athletic for so long.
Yeah, definitely.
I think it's too late for that to be taken out of his game. But if somehow it was, I think he'd make a great number 10 option. His vision and intelligence is still so typically Spanish. I don't think his ability to see a pass is far (if at all) off Thiago's, but their composure, technique and execution is quite far apart.
I haven't watched much of Athletic Club for a good while now, but they seemed to have a few players like that. Definitely Muniain has that same untidiness too.
Oh God. Herrera is becoming the new Kagawa. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy, and think he's a good player, but he did not play well the other night.
Of course. He was rarely involved and almost invisible. I'm not talking about him playing well or poorly. All I'm saying is that he brought us more control into our game, allowing Mata to get into his game whilst also playing Rooney and Mata through into dangerous areas. By his standards, I wouldn't say he was that good. He was average, a 6/10. He was rarely involved on the ball due to seemingly playing a higher role (#10 by the looks of it) with Mata dropping deeper more frequently. To be honest, I'd wish it was the other way as Herrera is less of a #10 than Mata is and more of a #8 than Mata is.
Herrera took several good positions on the pitch, but we played so slowly and safely against Southampton that he was never getting involved. I think @Speak and @Bob Loblaw both mentioned it well when they said that Herrera seems rushed in his game. Of course, this style of play is very fun to watch, but in a match like against Southampton, when the whole team was playing slowly and safely, he would have been more involved if he played more safely and slowly. However, I doubt him playing like everyone else was would have led us to our second goal. He was good at attracting Wanyama and giving Mata the space to become more influential, whilst when Mata attracted Wanyama, Herrera would drop deep and either carry the ball forward, causing havoc, or play the ball to Mata/Rooney in dangerous spaces. If he were to play more safely and slowly, we might have struggled to build up our attacks during our good period.
i am pretty sure van Gaal went to every player and shook their hands, i dont know what you want to express with the picture. As soon as Strootman arrives, his place will be the bench for most of the time. Just isnt good enough as an 8 or 10 or to be more exact, not what van Gaal wants.
Not yet. We'd need a Mad Winger equivalent to obsess over him, and know his exact average short passes per minute ratio or something insane like that. But I think it's more that people just have a lot of hope for him, and he has impressive technical ability.
- Status