What disappoints me about the fan reaction to this is those who seemingly have no understanding of what love for your football club is. Just because Herrera had good workrate, was a master of shithousery, and has now made a sycophantic farewell video, but that doesn’t mean he loves United.
Love is being on a zero hours, minimum wage job and prioritising renewing your season ticket some how, some way each spring.
Love is travelling around the country on evenings and weekends to support the team, neglecting your friends and family.
Love is watching each and every game, even if that means waking up in the middle of the night, because you consider it to not be a choice.
Love is spending ridiculous amounts of money to travel around Europe because you cannot put a value on the feeling of winning a big trophy or moments like in Paris.
Love is having one of the greatest club sides ever seen currently, playing in your city and choosing to pay to watch another disappointment at Old Trafford.
Love for your football club is making objectively bad decisions, irrational choices, all because you value something so highly that outsiders will never see.
Love would be wanting to stay and dismissing any notion of being undervalued, because wearing the red shit is the greatest honour of all.
Love would be overlooking the even greater wages on offer elsewhere, because if you weren’t currently being paid to wear the shirt, you’d be paying to watch it.
Love would be accepting lesser job security because one more game for United would be worth 20 years elsewhere.
Herrera doesn’t love United. Virtually nobody loves their employers: there’s no shame in that. Like essentially everyone else, Herrera’s electing to move to a job where he’s offered better pay, greater security and feels more valued. Most of us would make the rational decision with our head that he has. I doubt most of us would claim to love our employers though.
He might have grown fond for United. He may have anxiety at leaving. But don’t insult those of us who love United by claiming that Herrera does.