Ander Herrera: Football not always most important thing at United (Read translation for context)

Mainoldo

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I'll state it one last time, Manchester United have the biggest load of mercenaries in the League and by far the biggest group of players with no ambition but money.
We just have crap management. Nothing to do with the players.
 

ravi2

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Indeed.
But the problem is that many of our fans are deluded and still believe that we are better than other top clubs (such as PSG). They have not yet understood that we are mid-table team, who can't compete for trophies and have not hired a yes man, in Ole, because he will be grateful for the opportunity and won't make demands of Woodward, in terms of spending on top players to win trophies.

I've said it all along, while Woodward is here, we will continue to decline.
A new CEO will hire a DoF, who in turn will hire a manager and buy players which help us improve on the pitch.
Woodward is all about saving money and balancing the books. That's it.
Last Summer, we could've given what Jose wanted, bought players and made a title charge. Instead, he overruled the players Jose asked for (apparently Woodward knows more about football than Jose), offered no alternatives, demotived the manager, then sacked him, writing off the season in the process, then hired Ole whose only experience in the EPL is relegating Cardiff, then in the following Summer sold a lot of players, bought only a few to reduce the wage bill, while leaving the squad ill-equipped for the season. You couldn't make this stuff up!

Only when Woodward leaves, will we have any chance of getting near the top.

Well said, my sentiments exactly .
 

DomesticTadpole

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Seems to me he’s saying too many people were there to just pick up a pay check.
Think it is one of those articles that you can pick a lot of things out of. The headline in the M.E.N is that he has had a go at the board. You say some of the players and others it is the staff. Think we can deduce that the club is badly run from top to bottom.
 

JPRouve

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Hahahaha, it actually seemed like you meant what you said about the projects then.
I don't understand what you mean, are you talking about the idea that the club is drifting aimlessly?
 

TheRedHearted

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He’s a smart guy, on and off the pitch. We could definitely have done with him this season.
Yep. Him and Mctominay would have given much freedom to our front three and to whichever midfielder would have played on top of them for creating chances.
 

red thru&thru

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I don't understand what you mean, are you talking about the idea that the club is drifting aimlessly?
That the projects were different as if PSG aren't about winning and Manchester United are about winning
 

fergosaurus

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You're telling me that PSG team isn't stacked? Neymar, Cavani, Di Maria, Verratti and Mbappe to name a few. If you don't consider that a dangerous set of players, then we are non-league chumps.
You're not a European powerhouse until you do something of note in Europe. 2016 was the last time they made it past the last 16.

Their numerous humiliations in the CL don't help their case either.
 

JPRouve

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That the projects were different as if PSG aren't about winning and Manchester United are about winning
I don't think that I have suggested something like that, where did I say that PSG weren't about winning? The project at PSG is around QTA and the goal is to make Qatar a premium touristic destination and sport is their way to elevate their profile. They don't care about football, they care about Qatar that's why PSG is now a multisport club, with a big emphasis on marketing and business. The owners obviously want to win because it provides a positive light on their overall projects and hopefully will help them gain all the contacts and goodwill that they need. Al Khelaifi and Al Thani are themselves more interested in motorsports and Tennis.
 

ottosec

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Well, obviously. PSG don't have a commercial side, they have a sugar daddy.
 

Zen86

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I’m guessing football came second to Instagram followers and second rate clothing ranges.
 

el3mel

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You're not a European powerhouse until you do something of note in Europe. 2016 was the last time they made it past the last 16.

Their numerous humiliations in the CL don't help their case either.
In comparison to our current state, they are.
 

CM10

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I like Herrera but why say anything at all if he isn't going to say what he means?
 

DoomSlayer

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These comments from Herrera have actually hit me real bad, I'm not going to lie. Whatever the truth is, it just shows the people in charge are totally incompetent since a former player of our club, who was loved by the fans, goes so far as to humiliate United publicly with this statement.

This should be addressed properly, by the board, directors, owners, journalists should ask Ole to talk about this issue in the next press conference. It should not be acceptable, we cannot allow things to continue this way. When will the fecking local fans wake up and actually riot against this criminally incompetent and arrogant regime of the Glazers and Woodward???
 

Jim Beam

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Am not the biggest fan of how this club has been run, but this is Ander just throwing kind words at his new club and fans. Which is not unusal, almost every player does it.

He would still be in United if he was offered a big contract or one before it was too late (giving nice words too), so he didn't have much problems with it while he was here.
 

Leftback99

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He left for the money and knows what to say to take the focus away from that fact.
 

ReddBalls

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I'm pretty baffled that even in the light of the discussion in this thread, people still don't understand the magnitude of the task Ole is set out to do.

Both him and Woodward has explicitly stated that United is in need of a cultural reboot, and these quotes by Herrerra (and LVG in the summer) is a clear indication that this is not just something they av made up for convenience. A cultural reboot in these circumstances means bringing the focus of the players and the staff at Carrington back to football, building relationships and getting fit. Not partying, selling clothes, bitch about your missus or what your teammate earns.

Why do you think players like Mata and Young got new contracts? It's not because they were the best footballers in the squad (they're obviously not), but because they have great work ethic, great mentality (What makes Young even bother to show up for work with all the abuse he gets from so-called fans?) and they focus on football. That's the kind of role models the club need for the younger players.

Not a has-been Rooney binge drinking and doing what ever the feck he wants outside the training ground, not a washed up, injured Schweinsteiger watching his girlfriend play tennis instead of getting fit and certainly not a Sanchez or a Lukaku collecting respectively the highest and fifth highest salary in the PL while doing feck all on the pitch.

When your supposedly best players are poisoning the culture of the club, you have to tear everything down and start all over again. One consequence of that is a thin squad of lesser players, and that leads to worse results until those players are properly replaced. .

Hopefully the rot has been arrested, but it still won't pay off before great players with the right attitude and mentality has replaced the ones who left and the ones who stayed but are not good enough. There are vast opportunities for failure in that process, and it might take "forever", but it's still the only path forward.
 

el3mel

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In other news water is wet.
That's the point we have been talking about. It's ridiculous to assume he left us for PSG for money only, on comparing both clubs state. Whatever PSG is a European powehouse currently or not, him moving from United to PSG "currenty" is an upward move and an upgrade from Herrera's career's perspective.
 

Kemizee

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Herrera played in the first leg when PSG beat us comfortably at Old Trafford 0-2.
Herrera only ever upped his game and became miraculously injury free when it was contract renewal time. Anderson, Shaw and Nani are all guilty of pulling similar stunts in the past.

Herrera earns more now than Sadio Mane and Mo Salah combined. The usual going rate for a player of Herrera ability is £100,000 a week. That's more or less what central midfielders like Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Moussa Dembele of Spurs get.

He's just not thst good. Deal with it. We don't miss him as he is not better than Scott McTominay or Fred.
Oh dear! Redcafe!
 

red thru&thru

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I don't think that I have suggested something like that, where did I say that PSG weren't about winning? The project at PSG is around QTA and the goal is to make Qatar a premium touristic destination and sport is their way to elevate their profile. They don't care about football, they care about Qatar that's why PSG is now a multisport club, with a big emphasis on marketing and business. The owners obviously want to win because it provides a positive light on their overall projects and hopefully will help them gain all the contacts and goodwill that they need. Al Khelaifi and Al Thani are themselves more interested in motorsports and Tennis.
You said they're not about winning but then said obviously they want to win? Whatever their motives are, they want to win and invest in every single department of their club to do so. Could you say the same about us? No. We have a ceo who said our on the field performances won't effe3the business side of things. clear to see where our priorities lie.
 

fergosaurus

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That's the point we have been talking about. It's ridiculous to assume he left us for PSG for money only, on comparing both clubs state. Whatever PSG is a European powehouse currently or not, him moving from United to PSG "currenty" is an upward move and an upgrade from Herrera's career's perspective.
We agree that moving from United to PSG is a step up in the current state we're in. Things can change quickly in football but currently that is the reality. The reason is because they are sure to qualify for CL every year whereas we look a Europa level team at best with no indication of that improving.

However, PSG are a nothing club as far as European stature is concerned. It doesn't impress me that they win things domestically given the ridiculous imbalance between them and their competitors. My personal opinion is the main reason Herrera joined was he was offered a huge contract which would be his last of significance in his career. Living in a great city, winning trophies in France and playing CL of course is nice too. But I doubt they took priority over the obscene amount of money he was offered. If football was his main motivation then I think he would have waited to see what other offers there were in competitive leagues.
 

JPRouve

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You said they're not about winning but then said obviously they want to win? Whatever their motives are, they want to win and invest in every single department of their club to do so. Could you say the same about us? No. We have a ceo who said our on the field performances won't effe3the business side of things. clear to see where our priorities lie.
When did I say that? I haven't mentioned winning as far as I can remember.
 

JPRouve

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Think when you have been as successful as us it is easy to just rest on your laurels and let things stagnate without realising it. In a way clubs like ours have led the way in promoting ourselves abroad now the likes of Juve, PSG and City are catching up, but have realised that first and foremost it is trophies that win you fans.
I missed that post, I totally agree. That's why I wanted us to bring a young upcoming manager, someone with something to prove because we need that hunger and we need a DOF, we need someone with authority that is continuously at the training center, outside of the manager. And all of these clubs puts a lot of effort on the commercial-business side of things, you can do both because it's not supposed to be done by the same people.
 

DomesticTadpole

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I missed that post, I totally agree. That's why I wanted us to bring a young upcoming manager, someone with something to prove because we need that hunger and we need a DOF, we need someone with authority that is continuously at the training center, outside of the manager. And all of these clubs puts a lot of effort on the commercial-business side of things, you can do both because it's not supposed to be done by the same people.
The only thing with Juve is I hate the new badge and loved their traditional shirt.
 

red thru&thru

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When did I say that? I haven't mentioned winning as far as I can remember.
Ok, my bad, you didn't say winning but you said the Qataris don't care about football and it's all about image. You then say it's obviously they want to win for their image. So it can't be both. It has to be either about football or not? If it's not, then they don't care about winning. If it is about winning, then they do care about football!

Whatever their motives are, to me, they want to win. PSG as a club want to win trophies. Their owners and the people who run their club is all set up to win. Can I say that about United? NOT A CHANCE. For out owners, it is not about football but all about profits. Where they can sign the next biggest noodle deal. So like Hererra said, football isn't always the most important thing at United.
 

JPRouve

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The only thing with Juve is I hate the new badge and loved their traditional shirt.
I agree with that too but their marketing team said that it was a lucrative idea. Now imagine what people would say today if United did something like that, Juventus are supposed to be a proper club that only thinks about football and winning. Juventus is what we were for many years, a well run football club that understands how to make money to finance itself. The difference is that we don't know how to work without SAF, the same way we didn't know how to work without Sir Matt Busby.
 

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I like Herrera but why say anything at all if he isn't going to say what he means?
Maybe he holds a grudge after allegedly being offered a pay cut and he might think the supporters deserve a better run club.

I don't mind him hinting at these things at all.
 

DomesticTadpole

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I agree with that too but their marketing team said that it was a lucrative idea. Now imagine what people would say today if United did something like that, Juventus are supposed to be a proper club that only thinks about football and winning. Juventus is what we were for many years, a well run football club that understands how to make money to finance itself. The difference is that we don't know how to work without SAF, the same way we didn't know how to work without Sir Matt Busby.
That is chillingly true.
 

JPRouve

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Ok, my bad, you didn't say winning but you said the Qataris don't care about football and it's all about image. You then say it's obviously they want to win for their image. So it can't be both. It has to be either about football or not? If it's not, then they don't care about winning. If it is about winning, then they do care about football!

Whatever their motives are, to me, they want to win. PSG as a club want to win trophies. Their owners and the people who run their club is all set up to win. Can I say that about United? NOT A CHANCE. For out owners, it is not about football but all about profits. Where they can sign the next biggest noodle deal. So like Hererra said, football isn't always the most important thing at United.
Of course it can be both, you don't have to care about the game of football to want to win and further other ambitions. They don't care about handball too, it doesn't mean that they don't want to win and get good press. And the rest of your post is inaccurate, if it was all about profit United wouldn't have that type of operative expenses, the club is throwing money out of the window, money that could easily be in the owners pocket with the same type of results. What we have is incompetency at the top, the qatari hired two competent people in JC Blanc and Leonardo to be respectively GM and DOF, outside of that tandem PSG have been a mess.
 

WR10

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For anyone wondering watch his reaction video to lingard. He was fed up with whatever garbage culture that was being fostered
 

red thru&thru

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Of course it can be both, you don't have to care about the game of football to want to win and further other ambitions. They don't care about handball too, it doesn't mean that they don't want to win and get good press. And the rest of your post is inaccurate, if it was all about profit United wouldn't have that type of operative expenses, the club is throwing money out of the window, money that could easily be in the owners pocket with the same type of results. What we have is incompetency at the top, the qatari hired two competent people in JC Blanc and Leonardo to be respectively GM and DOF, outside of that tandem PSG have been a mess.
If my quote was so inaccurate, why is Ed still in a job? The Glazer's know that he is the man the will make them the money they want. They have paid the top dollar for players like Pogba for his image and someone like DDG, because the club knows the fans would go crazy and the value of the club would plummet even further. We have too many people from within the club who have come out and say that United isn't about just the football and Ed has come out to try and even deny this. There is obviously truth to it and most fans can see that this is the truth too.