He does offer more defensively but as a number 10 i want creativity.
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
The biggest compliment I can pay Herrera is that I don't think he was anywhere near his best tonight but he still managed to give a decent display and contribute a goal. We've settled for far less from our midfielders at times in the last 6-7 years.
Swansea have been a good passing side for years.
I'm sorry but in no way should Manchester United adapt their style to play Swansea. No other top side (Bayern, Madrid, Barca, Juve, PSG etc) would change how they play and go in cautiously against them, and neither should we.
Perhaps it's a bit of pent up frustration on my part, but I'm fed up of this slow negative style of play we have adopted. I miss the old days where Ferguson would send a side out to batter teams 3 or 4 nil.
Thought he was average at best tonight. Can't say I'm surprised so many people here picked him as MOTM, tho...
Really wish we'd parked Herrera in central midfield from the start of the season and just let him learn how to play the role, adjust to the physicality. Such a waste to have him on the bench so much of the time.
Always seems to contribute in some way to a game whether it's a key pass or goal. Just play him in a midfield two and let him have a run of games. I think he can be a very good player for us.
To be fair we did do that initially and it coincided with some very poor results against weak opposition, largely due to a lack of cover provided by the Blind, Herrera, Di Maria midfield. I get that people are frustrated at seeing a new £30m signing on the bench but if we'd kept lining up with Herrera in central midfield through November and December he might have slowly gotten used to the position but we'd have dropped a fair few points in the process, and probably taken a couple of heavy beatings off of Chelsea and City to boot.
I thought he was nothing spectacular, agreed, and I don't think he could have too many complaints if he was dropped to the bench again on Saturday but the uproar in here would be something else...
He's a good player anyway, and still believe we'll see the best of him next season, when our midfield is sorted.
This is exactly what I was saying when we were initially linked to him. Carrick-Herrera would be a better midfield two than any we attempted since Scholes had any legs left.
Only one in the first half who managed better than a 6/10 and faded in the second half but still contributed.
Overall 6.5/10... still enough for MoM though, which says a lot about how shite we were.
Overall 6.5/10... still enough for MoM though, which says a lot about how shite we were.
He is the most discussed player here and that's IMO doing him wrong as there are some people obsessed with discrediting him to balance out the ratings and perception of him here.
Was he outstanding today? Not at all. Were we pleased to see him play? I guess so. Did he had a good game? Surely. I gave him my MOTM vote as he was our most consistent performer through the game and scored the vital goal which helped us to dominate the game.
His passing and movement was getting better with every pass. Surely you can't blame the player that he was that cautious in the first half he didn't want to do a mistake but he picked two nice through balls in contrary we have dimaria who plays every game and his confidence is on a different level, plays big amount of passes and is often really not successful anyway however once Herrera gets in this playing rhytm he will be our vital player. Just give him run of games and it will boost his confidence and he will show us how creative he is and how good he links up things.
The pitch was awful btw
Was he outstanding today? Not at all. Were we pleased to see him play? I guess so. Did he had a good game? Surely. I gave him my MOTM vote as he was our most consistent performer through the game and scored the vital goal which helped us to dominate the game.
His passing and movement was getting better with every pass. Surely you can't blame the player that he was that cautious in the first half he didn't want to do a mistake but he picked two nice through balls in contrary we have dimaria who plays every game and his confidence is on a different level, plays big amount of passes and is often really not successful anyway however once Herrera gets in this playing rhytm he will be our vital player. Just give him run of games and it will boost his confidence and he will show us how creative he is and how good he links up things.
The pitch was awful btw
Different opinions. I thought both he and Daley Blind were very good. Apparently Blind is off form. Perhaps I just haven't noticed.
He was ok, but that goal will certainly do him good.
I thought he was anonymous in the first half, as was everyone. Still nice to see him get game time.
I thought he was anonymous in the first half, as was everyone. Still nice to see him get game time.
I think that's because other players, like RvP and Falcao, have been given the luxury of 'playing themselves into form', whereas Herrera seems to be being asked to come into the team and give a flawless performance or face being dropped again.
It's the inconsistency that will annoy people (if that's what happens).
Tonight he quickened up our passing and scored a goal. He can't get used to the PL if he isn't given time to settle into his role, it isn't a fair demand to make.
Average rating: 6.3
Your rating: 6.4
I guess I hate him. I have de Gea as 6.2, it's definitely like I hate Herrera.
Your rating: 6.4
I guess I hate him. I have de Gea as 6.2, it's definitely like I hate Herrera.
Honestly don't remember what you said, think you were just overly critical about him in his first couple of games or something.
I have him on 7.4 though so I'm obviously a bit of a Herrera fanboy
Genuine question. If Rooney had put in that performance tonight would he be getting praise or criticism on here?
I
I
Why not? Cheap comment. Maybe it's because he stands out as a player who can make things happen and did so. Technically, he has the skills and his movement is excellent. Our midfield without him is pedestrian and devoid of ideas (mostly).
Criticized, but Rooney seems to get criticized for everything by some. There was that one pass today by Ander where he just spun and kicked it out the left despite there being no one out the left and it going straight to a Preston player. I've seen no mention of it on here but if that was Rooney you can bet people would be going on about that and saying he is shit because of it.
Average today for me, was surprised to hear he made something like 35 passes in the first half as I hardly noticed him. Very important goal though and looked a bit better in the second half. I don't know about this diamond, he is basically being asked to play as a CM and a RM and I don't think he (or anyone really) can do that effectively. There is simply to much space for him to try and cover. Play with wingers and let him just stay inside as a proper CM and I think he'll look better. Good player, wasn't his best day today but I hope to see more of him.
Which midfielder deserves to play over him? He's better than Rooney has been there, he's better than Fellaini when he's played as a midfielder. Only Blind has been consistently better than him this season, possibly Carrick as well but he's been injured a lot.
He does appear to be playing it safe now, or at least today, which is a shame.
That's the role he is assigned though, it's pretty obvious di Maria is the only player with creative freedom in the system. Fellaini, Blind, di Maria and Mata have all been better than Herrera this season, in my opinion. We've seen flashes of brilliance from Herrera, but he's had his ups and downs this season. He'll be fine though, once the midfield is sorted.
What games are you talking about? Leicester and West Brom? What else? There have only been three games that Herrera has started that we didn't win.
Was pretty pedestrian with him aswell, to be honest. Think it's the system and tactics, though, more than anything.
You really think Fellaini has been better in midfield? I think he's been a bit shit. All his good performances from my memory haven't come from midfield.
Fellaini has had some good games in midfield this season, without doubt.
West Brom, Palace, Chelsea, City, Arsenal, Liverpool (second half)
I only remember him being good in the West Brom game, where he came on as a sub. The other game was meh. Liverpool performance wasn't good at all. I don't think he's good enough of a passer or good at positioning himself to play in midfield but at the moment he's a better option that what's been played recently. That's for sure.
To be fair to him, he's been played all over the place. Against Palace he was on the right and he basically played there as well in all the games you mentioned bar Chelsea.
I can assure you he wasn't only good in just the West Brom game.
Liverpool he was good in the second half
Against Palace he wasn't on the right, neither was he against Arsenal and City. He played in a midfield three with Januzaj and Di Maria on the wings.
Are you sure you're not thinking about the diamond where he was on the right? I remember him being a lot on the right and his heat map backs that up (heat map only shows each time he was involved in the game). He's frequently been on the right or in front of the midfield. Played deep against Liverpool. Only rarely has he been properly in midfield like Carrick, Blind or Rooney have.
nice performance from ander, especially in the second half.
I'm positive. Against West Brom, Palace, Chelsea and City, we played with wingers, so they'd be no reason for Fellaini to go out wide.
Right, so we played Rooney upfront and we played Herrera in midfield. Can we now stop pretending that he possesses this magical ability that will enhance our style of play? Generally, we looked as frustrating as ever and were losing with the personnel in that system until van Gaal changed it.
Now don't get me wrong, Rooney had a good game. Herrera was alright, grabbed himself a goal and grew into the game as it went on. But there's this word we keep using regarding the two changes I mentioned; "need". We don't need To play Herrera in midfield and we don't need to play Rooney upfront. They system isn't designed to play attractive football, so it won't make a blind bit of difference in that regard. Did Herrera contribute more than Rooney has been doing in midfield? Not for me. Rooney did well upfront don't get me wrong and made good runs in behind, but apart from that there was no vast improvement.
The change came when we started playing 4411 and playing with actual wingers and width, then we started to look threatening on a regular basis. It bodes well for the future, but do I want to see us start off with wingers every game from now on? Not necessarily, because I personally don't think it'll improve the results we get using the diamond, and this season that's all I'm bothered about, even though on the contrary, I despise the diamond.
Now don't get me wrong, Rooney had a good game. Herrera was alright, grabbed himself a goal and grew into the game as it went on. But there's this word we keep using regarding the two changes I mentioned; "need". We don't need To play Herrera in midfield and we don't need to play Rooney upfront. They system isn't designed to play attractive football, so it won't make a blind bit of difference in that regard. Did Herrera contribute more than Rooney has been doing in midfield? Not for me. Rooney did well upfront don't get me wrong and made good runs in behind, but apart from that there was no vast improvement.
The change came when we started playing 4411 and playing with actual wingers and width, then we started to look threatening on a regular basis. It bodes well for the future, but do I want to see us start off with wingers every game from now on? Not necessarily, because I personally don't think it'll improve the results we get using the diamond, and this season that's all I'm bothered about, even though on the contrary, I despise the diamond.
Well I do recall you saying he's been complete shit in a match day thread 3 minutes after he came on....
Not his best performance, still better than Rooney in the midfield. Needs to play there regularly.
Rooney and him can interchange positions depending on the situation like Fab and Oscar do for Chelsea. We'll need to play the right formation for it to become a feature though.
Rooney and him can interchange positions depending on the situation like Fab and Oscar do for Chelsea. We'll need to play the right formation for it to become a feature though.
For the diamond to be effective you need men that can run or take men on in the front 3 we severly lack this on both accounts!
I've only read a few comments on this thread since I last visited a few weeks ago.
My take? Herrera looked he really belonged in the starting XI. Not brilliant, but he played a key role v Preston and I'd have him start again v Swansea.
Roo was a bit rusty up top in the first half but came alive in the second. Herrera is a man with whom Roo can do business.
My take? Herrera looked he really belonged in the starting XI. Not brilliant, but he played a key role v Preston and I'd have him start again v Swansea.
Roo was a bit rusty up top in the first half but came alive in the second. Herrera is a man with whom Roo can do business.
He is such a lovely little player. <3
We've lost once in 19 games, how more effective do you want it to be?! The diamond isn't a great formation, it lacks width, it lacks penetration and it'll never be the one of a title challenging side. That isn't what we are currently though, we are a side challenging for top 4 with a defence that needs improving. This formation allows us to keep possession which not only limits the opposition attacks, it means that with the quality on the field, we are likely to score at least one goal and that's why we are difficult to beat.
You're right, that we do need players with pace and dynamism going forward, but I think that's a need of a team rather than the need of the system. I honestly believe that no matter what order we play our attacking players, within reason, it won't make a massive amount of difference.
That's just wrong though, isn't it? Fact is, the ENTIRE team was borderline average/shit last night, right up until the point we went behind/the introduction of Young.
Then Herrera and Fellaini were arguably the 2 most impressive performers (add in AdM and Young - but he wasn't on for long enough) - both scoring as well. So I can actually see why the 2 of them are getting the highest votes.
He got taken off against Swansea for Fellaini, just as we were taking control of the game, LvG admitted he made a mistake. He then got injured and didn't play against Burnley or Sunderland. Came back for QPR and had a really good game. Then the Leicester debacle. Played against West Ham helped laid on the 2nd goal with a good tackle. Rooney was sent off in that game and then Ander broke his rib. So he actually wasn't to blame apart from the Leicester game to blame for our early season woes.
- Status