It's part of his personality on the field, which comes from the passion and aggression he plays with. You take that away and you take away a big part of what makes Ander Herrera. It's like the calls for prime Rooney to cut out his bitchiness to refs and the way he generally played on the edge, but which was part of what made him great.
21
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 50
- Goals
- 3
- Assists
- 11
- Yellow cards
- 15
- Red cards
- 2
- Status
Wayne seems very placid now, which I think has taken a lot away from his game.
Man Utd 1:0 Rostov
He seem to only be passing backwards tonight.
Does Herrera know that it's not a crime to pass the ball forward.
I know there's not much space but he's ignored the most obvious forward passes in this first half. Cleverley and Schneiderlin would be so proud.
I know there's not much space but he's ignored the most obvious forward passes in this first half. Cleverley and Schneiderlin would be so proud.
Looks to me like he has been told to cut out the niggles-that makes him half the player-come on Jose unleash Ander 
Excels at breaking up our play and the opponent's
Played some good passes this half.
He took matters in his hands and bossed it once Pogba went off, my MOM with Romero a very close second.
Thought he was a bit off the pace tonight.
Has been for a while.
I didn't think he was wonderful tonight but he was certainly amongst our best performers. Romero might have snatched MOM with the last second save but before that it was Herrera fending off a late charge from Fellaini. All three were comfortably better than the rest.
Quiet first half,much better second half.
Fantastic ball winner, fantastic at keeping the ball moving but he is infuriating with his lack of passes forward.
A lot of useful running today as per usual. Not everything really came off for him but he never gives up and played like he'd been told to temper his reckless behaviour today.
Great lad to have on the pitch, lot's of heart & belief!
Great lad to have on the pitch, lot's of heart & belief!
I get that he's in the team to do a lot of the running and dirty work, but I wish he would attempt a few more positive, penetrative passes.
He seems to always take the easy option, even if there's a few passing opportunities ahead of him.
He seems to always take the easy option, even if there's a few passing opportunities ahead of him.
I had a few argument with people about this before. I'm glad there are some people in here actually watched the same game as what I have watched.
Good player. Didn't do anything wrong today as usual, but I wish he attempted more forward passes.
This game was about keeping possession and controlling the game and he did 111 complete passes.. After Pogba went off he took control.. Good game.
PS any problems with his defensive style tonight has to be taken up with Jose..
PS any problems with his defensive style tonight has to be taken up with Jose..
Exactly that last part, and almost exclusively with first touch pass.
Yeah agreed with the safe passing criticisms. It's not like he isn't incapable of a nice forward pass either.
Has he been called up for Spain or will he be getting a rest?
He received the ball a few times today in space and passed it straight back to whoever gave it him. Really frustrating.
His passing was better than usual tonight. He showed a range of passing that he rarely ever shows, hit 3-4 decent long passes, the sort that he usually messes up.
Still not the same energy to his game than earlier in the season i think though. Understandable tonight given the week they have had and the travelling but he's not quite been at the top of his game recently like a few others.
Still not the same energy to his game than earlier in the season i think though. Understandable tonight given the week they have had and the travelling but he's not quite been at the top of his game recently like a few others.
That first time backwards pass has always been part of his game. A glitch he can't get rid of it seems.
Overall he did alright though.
Overall he did alright though.
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Interceptions and tackles is his bread and butter though.
Think he's clearly under instruction to win the ball back and release it to Pogba, rather than do anything creative with it. Had more passes between each other in the first half than the whole Rostov team combined.
Right now, him, mkhi and mata are United's most important players. They are great to have to play the slick passes. He keeps United ticking. He has been more important to us than Pogba. Glad he plays for us. Great player.
Silly idiot had to get himself sent off at Stamford Bridge . We so badly need him.
. We so badly need him.Think Michael Oliver had as much to do with as Ander did to be fair.Silly idiot had to get himself sent off at Stamford Bridge
It frustrates me too, although I can see a argument there that it's a super safe way to raise tempo, depending on how fast and how far back it goes of course. However he cut it down massively once Pogba went and was actually turning forwards with the ball and attacking the space
constantly, it was great to see especially since we know he's more than capable of doing it. His recent conservatism on the ball must be instruction from Mou when he's partnering Pogba. It strengthens my belief than Jose will look to get a mobile cdm and let Pogba and Herrera loose next season He gets the ball and gets it to Pogba when partnering him. It makes sense. When hes higher up the pitch he gets more involved with Mata which makes sense.
Hes gonna get some rest now (forced) but we will need him badly for the month of April which will be a gruel.
Hes gonna get some rest now (forced) but we will need him badly for the month of April which will be a gruel.
His backward passes were frustrating, but it was probably part of his instructions to play safe and keep the ball moving.
Had a good game though.
Had a good game though.
That's why never rely on stats only. Like what people have mentioned in here, when you watch the game you can see that there's a few passing opportunities ahead of him but he always pick the easy option. And stats can't see this fact.
Even if we use stats of Carrick. Carrick seems to play more forward passes for per game or 90 mins and less backward passes than Herrera this season. If it's due to instruction from the manager, why Carrick has different instruction?
Is it because the manager acknowledges Carrick's passing ability and vision but not Herrera??
or
The manager never give such an instruction to begin with?
My sentiments exactly. I love Ander, but he's gotta take charge a little bit more.
Glad atleast some people have this view. I posted in another forum saying Pereira could easily replace Ander in a mid three and people said I was joking.
The way Pereira is playing I wont be surprised if he get ahead of Ander by the end of next season. That kid have almost everything you need from mid !
Yeah this. I know Rostov played extremely compact, but there were several instances last night where he broke up play, had a chance to start a dangerous counter and then opted for the backpass instead.
Don't know if it's fatigue or confidence, but hes more than capable of playing some lovely forward passes
After Pogba got injured, I think he took Pogba's role and Fellaini took his role and he was very good going forward. Suddenly, we started seeing the old Herrera which we get to see only few times in a match. He was driving with the ball, pressing up the pitch, combining with Mata.
I think this defensive role shackles him. Think the back passes and safe play are because of a specific instruction and he has been asked to pass the ball to Pogba whenever possible. I don't know if I am right, because if so, then that is a waste of his talent and something LVG tried to do too got criticized a lot for. He is a more complete CM than Pogba and is far better at moving the ball forward from deep.
Good performance overall. He is the one who will be missed the most in to coming matches.
I think this defensive role shackles him. Think the back passes and safe play are because of a specific instruction and he has been asked to pass the ball to Pogba whenever possible. I don't know if I am right, because if so, then that is a waste of his talent and something LVG tried to do too got criticized a lot for. He is a more complete CM than Pogba and is far better at moving the ball forward from deep.
Good performance overall. He is the one who will be missed the most in to coming matches.
He has made the Spain squad as has De Gea naturally. Mata misses out unfortunately.
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Exactly this. I imagine he will start rotating with Herrera, coming on for the last 10-30mins of games, but I hope by the end of next season when he is familiar with the style and tempo of the PL, he will lock down a permanent midfield position.
I like Herrera and I think he's a good player, but it's frustrating that he is being so reserved with his passing. When he first come to United he was more adventurous but for the last few months he is always taking the easy, safe option. We need players willing to take more risks to take us up a level.
Herrera has the capability, he just isn't showing it recently. Maybe it's an instruction from Jose to keep things safe, but we can't expect all of he creative play to come from Pogba.
Mourinho doesn't do rotation.
He's only missing one match isn't he?
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