[arnie_ni]

He's painfully overrated here. But I know why. He looks good when he runs around; tackling, shouting. A classic Stevie Gerrard light in that aspect (and yes, I rated Stevie). He can't defend to save his life (which has been noted in this thread), his positional sense is one of the worst I've ever seen from a United midfielder. But hey, he's screaming at opponents so he must be God. With that said, he's not better or worse than anyone else. It's just not important that we give him a new contract, because we can and should aspire to be better. The hype around average players like Shaw and Herrera here just shows how far we have fallen.

Can't defend and poor positioning yet he wins more tackles and has more interceptions than most other players in the league

 

[Mickson]

So, you rated Gerrard but your argument is that Ander is like Gerrard and therefore not good enough.

And he's not like Gerrard anyway...

Where to start.

He's easily our most defensively responsible midfielder. He's the one who will track runners and get back to make a vital interception in the box. He's not perfect, he will make a mistake now and again like any other human footballer. But 9 times out of 10 the effort and commitment to do the right thing will be there because he senses danger and actually enjoys working hard to win the ball back when we dont have it. He doesnt just "do his bit" or try to look like hes doing his bit but with minimal effort. He works as hard or harder when we dont have the ball and thats why he averages the 2nd most tackles of any central midfielder in the league this season thats played at least 5 matches. He was 1st but is now just behind Idrissa Gueye at Everton. That may change over the coming weeks, but the point is he's right up there.

So thats also joint 8th most tackles out of CMs in europe and joint 6th most tackle attempts. He would also be 2nd in attempts in the premier league, behind Moutinho at Wolves.

Its all well and good suggesting we might be able to find someone better, but who would we sign that does what he does better? And how much are they going to cost compared to keeping him which is free?

No, he's getting overrated on the same basis as Gerrard. For being a highlight player. One tackle there. One pass there. Often enough, they are being seen because of their lack of position. With that said, Stevie was great. And Herreras is obviously a good player. But it's not vital for us if he stays or if he goes. Because we can find better players any day. He's a classic La Liga-midfielder. There's plenty of them in there. Great energy, functional technique, pretty allround but not great in any way. So weird to call Ander a defensive midfielder. Neither of Mourinho or LvG rated him there. I can you just have to look at the matches for all to see he's not a defensive midfielder. He's more of a box to box. Anyway, you canät prove with tackling stats that he's a defensive midfielder. As someone said before, Fergie said that the one who needs to tackle is way off position. Not that it's the whole story. Someone like Matic has defensive instincts that Herrera lacks, and he is a far better defensive midfielder than Herrera. Although Herrera obviously is more allround and better going forward.

 

[shamans]

Shaw isn't average. He seems mentally shot.

What is Shaw brilliant at? I'd like to know.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

What is Shaw brilliant at? I'd like to know.

Well we all know how good he was before the injury. That talent didnt just disappear. He looks to have mental issues which seemingly developed from the leg break incident.

 

[Cassidy]

Well we all know how good he was before the injury. That talent didnt just disappear. He looks to have mental issues which seemingly developed from the leg break incident.

Hmmm small subset of games thats the issue, he also had quite poor spells before that too

 

[United22]

I’ve just never understood the harsh criticism of Herrera. For a team that has been very slow/lethargic for years he’s always been the player that seems to get the most tackles/interceptions in and gets around the pitch the most. You can never accuse him of lacking passion.

Yes he, like everyone else, has had a few bad games every now and then but he’s by far and away the best pressing midfielder we've had since peak Fletcher. No he’s not world class but I bet Pep or Klopp would definitely use him if he were in their squads. I bet he’d be very useful to Chelsea and their new system too.

I think part of the problem is that he is a jack of all trades and has had all sorts of midfield roles here at United. He had spells as an attacking midfielder/number 10 in his first season and as a number 6 to varying success. His best season by far was In Jose’s first year in charge and he seems to be recovering some of that form this season. Hope he stays.

This, I can't understand how this isn't the general view on here

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Hmmm small subset of games thats the issue, he also had quite poor spells before that too

Was including his term at Soton, too.

 

[ivaldo]

What is Shaw brilliant at? I'd like to know.

Quick,
Strong,
Defending lne on ones
Aerial ability for a FB,
First touch,
Short passing,

I'd say are some of his stengths.

 

[AJ10]

I’ve just never understood the harsh criticism of Herrera. For a team that has been very slow/lethargic for years he’s always been the player that seems to get the most tackles/interceptions in and gets around the pitch the most. You can never accuse him of lacking passion.

Yes he, like everyone else, has had a few bad games every now and then but he’s by far and away the best pressing midfielder we've had since peak Fletcher. No he’s not world class but I bet Pep or Klopp would definitely use him if he were in their squads. I bet he’d be very useful to Chelsea and their new system too.

I think part of the problem is that he is a jack of all trades and has had all sorts of midfield roles here at United. He had spells as an attacking midfielder/number 10 in his first season and as a number 6 to varying success. His best season by far was In Jose’s first year in charge and he seems to be recovering some of that form this season. Hope he stays.

My guess is, he's not a shiny new toy so he's not good enough some on here even suggested his tackling and interception rate is high because he's out of position. Kante/Fernandinho must be crap players

 

[shamans]

Well we all know how good he was before the injury. That talent didnt just disappear. He looks to have mental issues which seemingly developed from the leg break incident.

A leg break can limit a player physically you know.

 

[ForestRGoinUp]

My guess is, he's not a shiny new toy so he's not good enough some on here even suggested his tackling and interception rate is high because he's out of position. Kante/Fernandinho must be crap players

Why not compare him to Casemiro or prime Busquets/Vidal/Keane/Schweinsteiger while you’re at it? Who knew we had a legend on our hands that only Bilbao ever wanted to take off us?

 

[Ekeke]

What is Shaw brilliant at? I'd like to know.

He's more of an all rounder but with better defensive skills and pace.

That said there is one thing I can find that he has done better than any other leftback in the league this season. And thats blocking passes

Theres plenty of things where he appears in the list in the top 10, like least dribbled past (10th), most shots blocked (joint 4th), most shots (7th), most goals (7th), total aerial duels (joint 8th), most aerials won (joint 7th), total passes (4th), accurate short passes (5th)


There is also something thats bad about him from what I saw.

So he's given away the most freekicks from a leftback this season and joint 2nd on the amount of bookings


So most things he's in the mix rather than being the best around at. And he needs to be more careful about not giving freekicks away. Granted we dont know where the freekicks are they might not be in dangerous areas most of the time.

 

[Canagel]

He's not part of our quick passing to forward players. He quickly passes it right back where it came from and frequently refuses to turn into open forward space when unmarked. The problem with that is it's typically going right back to someone in our defense who is equally or even more limited with the ball at their feet. Just doesn't want the ball at his feet.

Yes. Passing forward and creativity isn't his strength at all. The bit about passing back to where the ball came from especially is 100% accurate.
His job is the dirty work and selfless running plus pressing off the ball. Can time the tackles very well (very rarely mistimes his challenges). And I think he accepts this role totally and does it very diligently. He realises his presence is allowing our more talented players to focus on their jobs and therefore doesn't take much risk at all.

 

[ForestRGoinUp]

Yes. Passing forward and creativity isn't his strength at all. The bit about passing back to where the ball came from especially is 100% accurate.
His job is the dirty work and selfless running plus pressing off the ball. Can time the tackles very well (very rarely mistimes his challenges). And I think he accepts this role totally and does it very diligently. He realises his presence is allowing our more talented players to focus on their jobs and therefore doesn't take much risk at all.

That’s accurate. The problem with him not wanting the ball (edit: other than being a first choice midfielder at United) is that he’s surrounded by several others who are the same: Smalling, Young, Valencia, Lingard. And those lot along with Herrera aren’t exactly playing tiki taka down the right.

 

[Red00012]

Is this a Luke Shaw thread or Herrera thread ?

 

[AJ10]

Why not compare him to Casemiro or prime Busquets/Vidal/Keane/Schweinsteiger while you’re at it? Who knew we had a legend on our hands that only Bilbao ever wanted to take off us?

Bloody hell, Pointing out how silly others people's reasoning is regards to his high interception/tackles is all of a sudden means he's being compared to great players (mentioned those 2 players because they have high interception/tackling but their high stats are considered good while Herrera's stats are due to him being out of position as a player wouldn't need to make a tackle if he's in good position, that reasoning doesn't seem to apply to others just our player). How dare I not say our players are crap and dismiss their good qualities by making rubbish up.

 

[Patrick08]

If we are to attack spurs, he'd be crucial in doing a pressing job on Erikson and stop him dictating their play as well as recover the ball upfront in their half.

 

[Red-Man-Walking]

His best game for us?

 

[arthurka]

One of better .. Full of energy and fight.

 

[RedTiger]

This is the player I thought we bought from Spain. Absolutely solid performance.

 

[Darkhorsez]

He was amazing today. Joy to watch. Best Man Utd performance so far imo.

 

[charlenefan]

Big game player. If not for De Gea would have been MOTM

5 year contract

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Brilliant game from him. He was everywhere, and he was classy on the ball too.

 

[finneh]

Another great game.

 

[acnumber9]

He was brilliant. These are always the games he excels in. But for De Gea he’s man of the match.

 

[Cassidy]

What a fecking player!

 

[EasyE]

Jesus christ. How can anyone not like this guy and see what he adds. Absolutely great.

 

[prateik]

He can talk to other clubs at the fecking moment. What are we doing? Sort it out

 

[Ekeke]

Big match Ander with the complete performance

2 key passes, 4 out of 5 longballs found a teammate, 45 passes the most of our midfielders (Shaw had most in the team) and 88% accuracy. Even had 2 dribbles.

Defensively? Same as usual. Massive. 2 tackles, 3 interceptions. Today he had a good defensive midfield performance next to him from Matic which wasnt always the case. They both won the ball 5 times

 

[Hector_the_honourable]

Roy Keane Lite

 

[automaticflare]

Sign this lad up FFs quality

Think we need to replace Matic

 

[#07]

Not sure why we are dragging our feet over the contract renewal...

 

[JakeC]

Should be announced tomorrow after such a performance. He's been my favorite United player post Fergie. Never gives less than 100%

 

[Bobcat]

His engine and work rate is just phenomenal. The last 10 when everyone was gasping for air he was everywhere

 

[Majima]

Ander had a phenomenal performance today. As good as we played today... We couldn't have hoped to play as well without Herrera's work in the middle. He was the catalyst for everything from us. Pogba must love him.

 

[Seanus]

5 year contract and captain's armband please!

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Our best outfield player. Phonomenal!

 

[NinjaFletch]

He's really rather good at all the things Fred was supposed to be.

 

[Maagge]

Contract and knighthood for him, please.

 

[TsuWave]

get him that contract