[Minimalist]

He's always done this. Doesn't have much 'awareness'. Always too attracted to the ball, and doesn't pick or choose his moments when to press or when to maintain position.

Honestly, he should have paid attention to what LVG was trying to get him to do, it was the right thing in my humble opinion when looking at his obvious faults.
He also needs to channel his passion in a more controlled manner. Controlled aggression is always the best way to go about things. Running around without any control is of no use whatsoever.

I really like him, but cannot ignore his obvious faults.

Absolutely, although I guess it demotivated players like Herrera to be told to discipline themselves.

 

[Jazz]

Absolutely, although I guess it demotivated players like Herrera to be told to discipline themselves.

Yeah, if LVG was better at communicating with the senior players it might have worked out better but that's the way it goes.

However, even with all the problems with LVG, I completely understood what he was trying to get Herrera to do. Unfortunately for Ander, that lack of discipline is his downfall.

Hope he picks up though, at least until others come back from injury because we need him.

 

[peanuthead]

This season he's regressed so much in an attacking sense. His strong suit used to be win the ball and try to play it forward now all he does is drop deep and pass back to a defender or De Gea.

 

[Godfather]

Did he find a single teammate with his passes in the second half?

 

[VeevaVee]

I'm glad we upgraded him. It's just that the better him and him don't work too well together.

 

[11101]

Not his best game, but he wasn't as bad as Matic today. The two just don't seem to work well together.

 

[Lawman]

I'm not going to go overboard on him after today but hopefully people on this forum will take of the blinkers and see how average Herrera is. He's a decent player at best but with Matic and Pogba the drop to Herrera is noticeable. How many times today did he have time to turn make a pass but he chose the easy way out and played the ball back to where it came from.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

I'm not going to go overboard on him after today but hopefully people on this forum will take of the blinkers and see how average Herrera is. He's a decent player at best but with Matic and Pogba the drop to Herrera is noticeable. How many times today did he have time to turn make a pass but he chose the easy way out and played the ball back to where it came from.

Good post. Totally agree.

 

[dogwithabone]

Herrera was poor but Micky was non existent. One of those games where we get out of there with a point and move on.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

He's not good enough on the ball for the level we need to get to.

 

[Rossa]

Don't think Matic and Herrera play well together....

Seems like they don't. Hopefully they will improve.

 

[Sultan]

Herrera was poor but Micky was non existent.

Yes.

Double-edged sword.

 

[Adam-Utd]

He hasn't played much recently so I will give him a pass, but he was awful today.

 

[yfoFC]

I just have this mental picture of people waiting for Herrera to have a poor game so they can come in here and rant about how goes not united level blah blah blah

I was prepared not to post anything when I saw the amount of vitriol being spewed here IF all players that messed up today were being served just the same

Alas I check out the matic thread and I could count the number of posts criticizing his display on one hand with most coming with a caveat.. "He was bad today but..."

I'm not even gonna bother defending Herrera not 'cause he had a poor game but 'cause I know when he has a good game the most that will happen is an absense of the negative posts and just perfunctory praise coming his way whilst most people just wait eagerly on the sidelines for his next poor performance.

 

[Borat Sagdiyev]

Not great, but not really well-suited to a midfield 2, especially when partnered with Matic.

 

[criticalanalysis]

Big fan but let his partner down today. It was a job they were always going to lose firstly because of numbers (3 vs 2) and secondly because of the way Mourinho sets up the team but he has to show a bit more composure.

I hope Mourinho sticks with him though because we know this is not his normal standard and we will need a firing Herrera if we want to finish the season strongly.

 

[ti vu]

Defensively he did well helping the plug all the pocket of space. Should definitely have done better with the out ball. Still sometimes he got fouled and couldn't get the call from the referee which broke his momentum.

I think Micki is where it all broken down for us this game. Coudldlddn't support Lukaku nor help out the midfield battle this thing worse than it is supposed to

 

[breakout67]

Defensively he did well helping the plug all the pocket of space. Should definitely have done better with the out ball. Still sometimes he got fouled and couldn't get the call from the referee which broke his momentum.

I think Micki is where it all broken down for us this game. Coudldlddn't support Lukaku nor help out the midfield battle this thing worse than it is supposed to

Hererra was not the right fit for this game. He struggles to contribute in a dynamic way; he was good last season because he was playing as a DM. He played well under Van Gaal as an AM. But if you ask him to play box to box then he cannot do it.

We needed an attacking box to box player in this game (Pogba) to give us creativity. Pogba can carry the ball and move into space. Hererra was very poor under pressure this game; almost as bad as Mkhi.

 

[ti vu]

Hererra was not the right fit for this game. He struggles to contribute in a dynamic way; he was good last season because he was playing as a DM. He played well under Van Gaal as an AM. But if you ask him to play box to box then he cannot do it.

We needed an attacking box to box player in this game (Pogba) to give us creativity. Pogba can carry the ball and move into space. Hererra was very poor under pressure this game; almost as bad as Mkhi.

I said in the other thread that under LVG, it was Fellaini who was the catalyst to our tactic to beat press. Not Herrera position in the formation. Fellaini is not forward so the high ball would drop in midfield with him to bring down. This prevent L'pool CBs to come to compete. Not many have midfield who can compete that well aerial, especially not L'pool.

Herrera ain't that good carrying the ball out with dribbling so there is no debate. This means we relies on other players to do so. One of the big out let in Mkhi failed miserably and became liability as losing ball in central area mean that it is easier for L'pool to transit given they outnumbered us in midfield with Mkhi being less midfielder but more attacker.

 

[Kostur]

That's why I argue that he's not fighting for a place with Fellaini but with Matić. Today I didn't even mind his erratic passing, it happens, but amount of times he did this rash tackle and missed everything letting players get past him, diabolical positioning.

 

[breakout67]

I said in the other thread that under LVG, it was Fellaini who was the catalyst to our tactic to beat press. Not Herrera position in the formation. Fellaini is not forward so the high ball would drop in midfield with him to bring down. This prevent L'pool CBs to come to compete. Not many have midfield who can compete that well aerial, especially not L'pool.

Herrera ain't that good carrying the ball out with dribbling so there is no debate. This means we relies on other players to do so. One of the big out let in Mkhi failed miserably and became liability as losing ball in central area mean that it is easier for L'pool to transit given they outnumbered us in midfield with Mkhi being less midfielder but more attacker.

Yes i agree, Fellaini was very much missed in this game. Ashley Young lost every 50/50 with Moreno in the air. And there were several times where there was no-one in midfield to contest the second ball in the air. There was a point where there were 4 headers one after the other and we didnt win any of them!

I felt that our midfield in this game was incomplete; it was missing a dimension. This was probable because every attack that went through Mkhi was stopped within a few seconds by Liverpool's pressing. Liverpool do not press intensely forever; they only press when 3 players are close to the ball and within a time frame; otherwise they go into a normal shape. So if you get past the 1st press then you can have time on the ball.

 

[yfoFC]

Hererra was not the right fit for this game. He struggles to contribute in a dynamic way; he was good last season because he was playing as a DM. He played well under Van Gaal as an AM. But if you ask him to play box to box then he cannot do it.

We needed an attacking box to box player in this game (Pogba) to give us creativity. Pogba can carry the ball and move into space. Hererra was very poor under pressure this game; almost as bad as Mkhi.

Same Pogba who was wank in this fixture last season tasked with exactly that job?

Herrera's stats today

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

I know stats aren't everything and you'd just have to watch the game to see that but the meltdown in here has been extremely OTT.

Herrera tried his best to stymie their attacks and the tackles reflect that but the 3 man midfield meant they could bypass his pressing making him look like a headless chicken at times and that is down to our set up yesterday. It doesn't help that the times he won the ball, he got bundled off it time and again with the ref turning a blind eye to it and making it seem worst than it was with the resultant pressure on our defence.

 

[el3mel]

Same Pogba who was wank in this fixture last season tasked with exactly that job?

Herrera's stats today

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

I know stats aren't everything and you'd just have to watch the game to see that but the meltdown in here has been extremely OTT.

Herrera tried his best to stymie their attacks and the tackles reflect that but the 3 man midfield meant they could bypass his pressing making him look like a headless chicken at times and that is down to our set up yesterday. It doesn't help that the times he won the ball, he got bundled off it time and again with the ref turning a blind eye to it and making it seem worst than it was with the resultant pressure on our defence.

Are these really a good stats ? It looked somewhat the opposite for me.

 

[11101]

That's why I argue that he's not fighting for a place with Fellaini but with Matić. Today I didn't even mind his erratic passing, it happens, but amount of times he did this rash tackle and missed everything letting players get past him, diabolical positioning.

I think he was doing his job largely, and Matic was the one not. Herrera was clearly told to close down and Matic was told to sit back and screen the defence and block passing angles. Herrera was closing down but Liverpool outnumbered us so played through him easily, then Matic for whatever reason was simply letting players run past him and at the defence.

Neither of them seemed to know what the other was doing, on or off the ball, and Liverpool made it harder by raising their game and pressing relentlessly as they always do against us.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Are these really a good stats ? It looked somewhat the opposite for me.

Depends. Need Matic's stats for comparison. Also needed that extra body in there. Had to be a three in there to match up. The Fellaini injury messed the plans up, not Pogba's. We knew Pogba was going to be missing for ages but Jose would have been planning his tactics with Fellaini involved as well. I dread to think what Mhki's stats were like. I would have had Mata involved.

 

[el3mel]

Depends. Need Matic's stats for comparison. Also needed that extra body in there. Had to be a three in there to match up. The Fellaini injury messed the plans up, not Pogba's. We knew Pogba was going to be missing for ages but Jose would have been planning his tactics with Fellaini involved as well. I dread to think what Mhki's stats were like. I would have had Mata involved.

Matic had a poor game as well, but Herrera was supposed to be the one who keeps possession and carries the ball forward to start the counter. It's shocking he got only 54 passes and 2 interceptions in this game.

I agree with the need of a midfield trio in this game, though.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Matic had a poor game as well, but Herrera was supposed to be the one who keeps possession and carries the ball forward to start the counter. It's shocking he got only 54 passes and 2 interceptions in this game.

I agree with the need of a midfield trio in this game, though.

Think Fellaini would have been a good link and make the distance and length of passing needed shorter. The movement up front was not good and somebody needed to come and get the ball by dropping slightly deeper. Also Fellaini is a good out ball as you can hit him and he will control the ball well. The lack of passes from Ander may have been that he was being pressed so much, it does make it difficult when you are getting overrun. I am still fuming over the Fellaini injury and the fact we gave Carrick another contract, when he is contributing naff all. He is either not being picked or is injured in training constantly. We would have been better getting another midfielder and give Michael his coaching job.

 

[el3mel]

Think Fellaini would have been a good link and make the distance and length of passing needed shorter. The movement up front was not good and somebody needed to come and get the ball by dropping slightly deeper. Also Fellaini is a good out ball as you can hit him and he will control the ball well. The lack of passes from Ander may have been that he was being pressed so much, it does make it difficult when you are getting overrun. I am still fuming over the Fellaini injury and the fact we gave Carrick another contract, when he is contributing naff all. He is either not being picked or is injured in training constantly. We would have been better getting another midfielder and give Michael his coaching job.

Agree on Fellaini part and said in another thread. Without Pogba's ability to keep possession and Fellaini's ability to chest long balls we have zero solution to their high pressing game. It's terrible we lost both at once before this certain game.

 

[Lawman]

Same Pogba who was wank in this fixture last season tasked with exactly that job?

Herrera's stats today

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

I know stats aren't everything and you'd just have to watch the game to see that but the meltdown in here has been extremely OTT.

Herrera tried his best to stymie their attacks and the tackles reflect that but the 3 man midfield meant they could bypass his pressing making him look like a headless chicken at times and that is down to our set up yesterday. It doesn't help that the times he won the ball, he got bundled off it time and again with the ref turning a blind eye to it and making it seem worst than it was with the resultant pressure on our defence.

How do stats equate for getting the ball in space and Herrera picking the easy option with poor choice of passing rather than turning and starting off our attacks?

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Agree on Fellaini part and said in another thread. Without Pogba's ability to keep possession and Fellaini's ability to chest long balls we have zero solution to their high pressing game. It's terrible we lost both at once before this certain game.

He might have played those three or I wouldn't have minded just giving Matic a rest, he looks absolutely exhausted and the injury situation is not helping. A tired Matic and a under used Herrera was always going to be a bit of a problem. Ander has look good when brought into games, last week was a good example, but having to play in a midfield two with a tired partner against a high pressing side was a unfortunate situation. Another midfielder in there would have taken some of the load off both of them. Think even Mata would have been some help, much more than Mhki.

 

[Sir Roi de Muppeterre]

Matic, Young, Darmian, Valencia, Lukaku, Mkhitaryan were all either worst or equally bad. But lets target this guy only, because agenda.

 

[Fahad Jawaid]

I was actually part of those people who thought he was world class last season. Although he has his faults, the biggest one is lack of awareness of space, i hate how he keeps giving the ball back to the original passer without turning and passing forward. But his through passes and ability to press and nick the ball is very good and his fight for somebody with his stature is very Utd like. Yesterday he was very average and could not keep the ball. It was same against Madrid in Super cup, I thought he would be the one who would look most comfortable from Pogba, Matic and him, but he was very average and Kross and Modric were soo much better than him which made me realize the gap between them and him was much more than it felt last season. Overall i have realized he can put in world class performances from time to time (e.g Liverpool away and Chelsea Home last season) and he is a very good player, but to move to a next level we need him to be midfield replacement not as a starter. However i still love him and want him to retire here, he is least of our problems.

 

[Kostur]

I think he was doing his job largely, and Matic was the one not. Herrera was clearly told to close down and Matic was told to sit back and screen the defence and block passing angles. Herrera was closing down but Liverpool outnumbered us so played through him easily, then Matic for whatever reason was simply letting players run past him and at the defence.

Neither of them seemed to know what the other was doing, on or off the ball, and Liverpool made it harder by raising their game and pressing relentlessly as they always do against us.

Even if that was true (which I don't believe given that you could see us doing medium pressing only in our half, he was doing this kind of shit everywhere around the pitch) then he needs to have some common sense and see that it's not working and he has to stop it. There's no use in one man pressing and he seemed to be the only guy doing it yesterday, later on with Lingard. To me it looked more like he tried to impress and failed badly.

 

[yfoFC]

Are these really a good stats ? It looked somewhat the opposite for me.

15 tackles look a good day at the office to me

If he had had more interceptions then it would have been a more solid defensive contribution but like I said in my post, the Liverpool players were able to beat his pressing and that's where I was dissapointed in his game

How do stats equate for getting the ball in space and Herrera picking the easy option with poor choice of passing rather than turning and starting off our attacks?

Tbf though, Herrera does this all the time and that is simply part of his playing style which looked way worse yesterday 'cause of the context of the game. It's just as I said, Herrera played his normal game yesterday but it was not a good fit 'cause of various reasons not excluding himself with his incessant pressing and safe passing.

Do I want him to do more? Yes and everyone knows he has the ability to pull off some good passes but that doesn't seem to be his first instinct.

A poster here explained it beautifully when he said Herrera first time pass back to a teammate and swirvel to create pass for himself to receive the ball is what he does and works a lot of the time even though it does kill off some more adventurous attacking opportunities sometimes. Yesterday, with 'pool's pressing it was quite shite but I have faith it will work against most other teams

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Matic, Young, Darmian, Valencia, Lukaku, Mkhitaryan were all either worst or equally bad. But lets target this guy only, because agenda.

Gotta love the “but what about” posts in player performance threads. There’s at least one in every thread.

 

[yfoFC]

Even if that was true (which I don't believe given that you could see us doing medium pressing only in our half, he was doing this kind of shit everywhere around the pitch) then he needs to have some common sense and see that it's not working and he has to stop it. There's no use in one man pressing and he seemed to be the only guy doing it yesterday, later on with Lingard. To me it looked more like he tried to impress and failed badly.

Come off it, that's just herrera's style of play which has nothing to do with impressing anybody and anyone who has watched the man play prior to yesterday would know that

This is just an example of what I've been harping on, that was a typical Herrera performance which unfortunately did not work out against 'pool with their style of play and our set up yesterday

No one was complaining when he rushed like a mad man against Chelsea to intercept a ball and then release rashford for our goal. Most times it works to our favour and sometimes it doesn't, that's life.

 

[villain]

Matic, Young, Darmian, Valencia, Lukaku, Mkhitaryan were all either worst or equally bad. But lets target this guy only, because agenda.

What's the point of this post?

 

[Sir Roi de Muppeterre]

Gotta love the “but what about” posts in player performance threads. There’s at least one in every thread.

That wasn't a "but what about" post. Clearly some people have agenda against Herrera, where they'd wait for a poor game and just slander him for it. Even though entire team was piss poor and he was least of the offenders. He isn't the only one though, this happens to guys like Fellaini and Smalling too but what makes this worst is that Herrera was one of our best players last season, arguably THE best.

People make up their mind then just look for signs to justify it. Its called confirmation bias. Just go to Jose Mourinho threads to see it. People are slandering him even though we have had a traffic start to the season. Some people here have agendas here that they probably don't even realize they have.

 

[Kostur]

Come off it, that's just herrera's style of play which has nothing to do with impressing anybody and anyone who has watched the man play prior to yesterday would know that

This is just an example of what I've been harping on, that was a typical Herrera performance which unfortunately did not work out against 'pool with their style of play and our set up yesterday

No one was complaining when he rushed like a mad man against Chelsea to intercept a ball and then release rashford for our goal. Most times it works to our favour and sometimes it doesn't, that's life.

Because when he was doing that against Chelsea it was the game plan and he actually executed it properly, not left open spaces like yesterday for three of their midfielders to exploit all the time, which was definitely not a part of the game plan. Usually he isn't looking as ill-disciplined as he did yesterday.

 

[Litch]

Stating the obvious but teams are the some of the parts. I like Herrera a lot but he and Matic games are the best when their good work goes unnoticed. When their game becomes the focal point, you see the limitations to their game offensively.