Ander Herrera Revisited

el3mel

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I also find the comparison with Fred pretty weird to be honest.

While Fred improved a lot in the first half of this season, he definitely hasn't done anything more than what Herrera did here so far. He's currently a 50m squad option.
 

Champagne Football

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Overrated and not missed an iota

PSG will be determined to get rid of him in the next transfer window after realising they made a mistake giving £300,000 a week to a player worth no more than £100,000 a week
 

ChaddyP

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Genuinely miss the bloke personally. I dont think his playing ability is missed though. I know how to diffrenciate the two
 

Zen86

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I think we could have done with him this season. If we’re chasing a game, he’s a better option to bring on than Fred or McT, who aren’t as good offensively as Herrera. That said, he’s not worth anywhere near the wages mentioned and it was the right decision to let him leave.
 

Rightnr

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What sort of work would that have been?

There were multiple reports that he turned down £200k per week and wanted £300k plus. No idea of the veracity of all those report but i think it's safe to assume he wasn't staying for around £100k per week.
The sort of work where you don't wait until the last 6 fecking months to extend the contract of player who (at the time) was a key first-team player.

We got away with it with De Gea, Martial and Mata (unfortunately) but most big clubs who have their business in order do not wait until the last moment, they extend a year in advance at least.

Herrera mentioned this lax attitude with the extension of foreign players' contracts when he talked about his decision. While all this was going on, Phil fecking Jones got his 5-year deal for sitting on the bench.

So, yeah, plenty of things about our incompetent set-up could have been done better to keep him at ~100k which for us is peanuts.
 

el3mel

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An award that Luke Shaw won last season.
And Shaw deserved it this season, beside we had many very good performers in 2016/2017, Zlatan, Pogba, Valencia..etc. Not like the squad was poor.

Anyway the point is he was capable of playing as a very good and consistent 6 for us as he did in this season.

Ultimately Herrera wasn't actually replaced by the likes of Fred and Scott because, guess what, he was actually starting ahead of them and a main player for us during Ole's honeymoon period when we were playing with Matic-Herrera-Pogba midfield. If anything the one who actually took his place in our main lineup without injuries is Bruno.

I'm not fussed that he left as we did a very good job in building a good midfield now but things like Fred did better this season for United than Herrera just doesn't make any kind of sense whatever way you look into it. Fred has done nothing in his 2 seasons at the club better than what Herrera offered for United, and he's a currently a very expensive bench option. That's about it.
 
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I also find the comparison with Fred pretty weird to be honest.

While Fred improved a lot in the first half of this season, he definitely hasn't done anything more than what Herrera did here so far. He's currently a 50m squad option.
I’d take Herrera every day of the week over Fred. I’ve never rated Fred, and whilst he was ok at the start of this season, he’s nothing more than a reserve.

Herrera, was a much better player, having said that, we haven’t missed him as he wasn’t good enough to take us to a top level.

Neither are good enough to be Man Utd midfielders.
 

gza the genius

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I think we made the right decision given his contract demands (although the wrong decision in letting his contract run out) but we definitely missed him this season. He certainly could've played quite a bit early on although and Fred and Mctominay did a great job, but even then it could've meant that we saw less of Lingard and Periera.

As others have said he also would've been the best Matic replacement at the club too which would've came in very handy to have during the post covid stretch of games.
 

Sylar

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And Shaw deserved it this season, beside we had many very good performers in 2016/2017, Zlatan, Pogba, Valencia..etc. Not like the squad was poor.

Anyway the point is he was capable of playing as a very good and consistent 6 for us as he did in this season.

Ultimately Herrera wasn't actually replaced by the likes of Fred and Scott because, guess what, he was actually starting ahead of them and a main player for us during Ole's honeymoon period when we were playing with Matic-Herrera-Pogba midfield. If anything the one who actually took his place in our main lineup without injuries is Bruno.

I'm not fussed that he left as we did a very good job in building a good midfield now but things like Fred did better this season for United than Herrera just doesn't make any kind of sense whatever way you look into it. Fred has done nothing in his 2 seasons at the club better than what Herrera offered for United, and he's a currently a very expensive bench option. That's about it.
I think this is fair. Im so surprised we haven't seen a midfield three more often after Moyes left given our managers and our options available

I would have liked Herrera to stay and agree he would have been nice to have during our final run of games (might have helped vs Chelsea). But I also think in terms of the three we upgraded from him to Bruno
 

Sandikan

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He'd be a squad player at best today, competing with Fred and Mctominay as the next in line to replace Matic.

We're not missing him one bit.
This is much more what i was thinking.
Matic came in and showed what that role requires. Herrera wasn't that special at the Pogba role and certainly couldn't provide close to what Bruno does.
 

JohnnyLaw

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And Shaw deserved it this season, beside we had many very good performers in 2016/2017, Zlatan, Pogba, Valencia..etc. Not like the squad was poor.

Anyway the point is he was capable of playing as a very good and consistent 6 for us as he did in this season.

Ultimately Herrera wasn't actually replaced by the likes of Fred and Scott because, guess what, he was actually starting ahead of them and a main player for us during Ole's honeymoon period when we were playing with Matic-Herrera-Pogba midfield. If anything the one who actually took his place in our main lineup without injuries is Bruno.

I'm not fussed that he left as we did a very good job in building a good midfield now but things like Fred did better this season for United than Herrera just doesn't make any kind of sense whatever way you look into it. Fred has done nothing in his 2 seasons at the club better than what Herrera offered for United, and he's a currently a very expensive bench option. That's about it.
Even if he deserved it it’s a poor award. A fickle award.

Herrera was not a solid ’6’ definitely not in the sense that Matic is which is why he was replaced the very next season.

Ander was the established option, Fred had a poor start and McT was the understudy. They’ve well and truly replaced him to the point where even discussing Herrera seems completely redundant.
 

mu4c_20le

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I’d take Herrera every day of the week over Fred. I’ve never rated Fred, and whilst he was ok at the start of this season, he’s nothing more than a reserve.

Herrera, was a much better player, having said that, we haven’t missed him as he wasn’t good enough to take us to a top level.

Neither are good enough to be Man Utd midfielders.
He has Bruno and Pogba ahead of him, what's Ander's excuse for being a 300k/pw squad option?

Seems to me that we got the best years out of him, and let him go at exactly the right time.
 

WR10

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Hopefully, Bruno has shown folks what a proper creative midfielder looks like. I also hope Fred has shown folks what a proper 'busy' midfielder looks like. This was a brilliant move by United and Ole.
 

el3mel

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Even if he deserved it it’s a poor award. A fickle award.

Herrera was not a solid ’6’ definitely not in the sense that Matic is which is why he was replaced the very next season.

Ander was the established option, Fred had a poor start and McT was the understudy. They’ve well and truly replaced him to the point where even discussing Herrera seems completely redundant.
Sure Matis is a better 6 than Herrera, but the poster we saying he could have played as 6 behind Bruno and Pogba and I agree, he would have done a good job there for several matches, even if not as a permanent starter.

Even when Fred improved in the first half of the season, he definitely didn't do anything much better than Herrera did for United. Herrera's peak form is still much better than Fred's peak at United so far, and as for the poor start, I won't go on to compare Herrera's first season to Fred's start with United because we all know about it.

Point is Fred didn't replace Herrera. Herrera was a main player for us since last season and under Ole as well, while Fred stance hasn't changed much at United since he joined, was a squad option when we had Herrera and he's still just a squad option now, and the only reason he played a lot in the first half and had time to gain some good form was because we had Pogba injured. Once we had all our main players back and signed Bruno, he returned to the bench. That's about it. The one who replaced Herrera in our main lineup was actually Bruno, as this is the only difference between the current midfield and the one during Ole's start as a United manager that landed him the job.

And as I said, we did a pretty good job building a great midfield 3 now, so it's not a problem that we let him go at the end. I have no problem with this. It's saying Fred is doing better than him or replaced him well is what boggled me that's all.
 

Rightnr

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Hopefully, Bruno has shown folks what a proper creative midfielder looks like. I also hope Fred has shown folks what a proper 'busy' midfielder looks like. This was a brilliant move by United and Ole.
Once again, OGS wanted him to stay. People seriously just spout bullshit 90% of the time, don't they?
 

LoneStar

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He would be a a very valuable squad player for us, nothing more. I really liked him when he played for us, but his passing and creativity left much to be desired. He couldn’t replace any of our starting 3 midfielders

He’s a very good water carrier and not afraid to get into a midfield battle, which made him really useful against the big teams. But I feel like with Fred and McTominay, we have that anyway. Both are younger, and McT has the ability to improve with experience as well.

Maybe he would have played better and more direct in our current system and team, but we can never know for sure. If he wanted a big long term contract, the decision by the club was spot on.
 

Gopher Brown

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I thought we’d miss him. We haven’t. Surprised he went to PSG as he is inferior to their other midfield options. He could have been a star at a less ambitious club.
 

edcunited1878

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As a squad player and person, totally miss him. 100%. But he's always been an easy upgrade in the starting XI and even if he didn't play with a central midfielder ahead of him like Bruno, he would rotate at best with Matic, but then he's doesn't provide the same strengths as Matic who is the better 6 and in a different way.

Ander would be the 6 and clean up, intercept, tackle, or mark one player infamously being Hazard. But he really wouldn't contribute anything going forward. Matic isn't as fast or agile, but communicates and organizes more, is the superior passer, and provides composure on the ball. It's more difficult to find a player and upgrade on Matic than it is to Ander, because Ander as a 6 did a good job for one year, but then defending isn't United's issue, it's been attacking. In that sense, Matic is the superior player in his natural position where Ander's natural position is as an 8, but then his goal contribution was never that good to begin with.

It would have been interesting to see how Ander functioned within this team setup throughout this season. Alas, he would have been a good and versatile squad player like he was during his United career, but he wasn't good enough to start most weeks and that proved to be correct.
 

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I liked him while he was here for his personality but I'd be lying if I didn't say he underwhelmed me. You couldn't question his commitment and he'd give his all, but going forward he was very safe. It reminded me of Cleverley at times playing simple short passes and a lot of movement to get the ball back to retain possession but no penetrating passes or attempts to switch play quickly. I blamed LvG and Mourinho for this, but the truth is I watched him a bit with PSG and it was the same thing.
 

izec

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Once again, OGS wanted him to stay. People seriously just spout bullshit 90% of the time, don't they?
Yep, post is a car crash. Herrera wasn't a CAM here, but CM/DM. Was never meant to be creative like Bruno. Then Fred, who has done nothing so far in his United career and had a good half season. A squad player now and needs 20 games in a row to have decent form and be useable. If we sold him tomorrow, he would be labelled a flop. Lastly your point of Ole wanting to keep him.

He has an anti-Herrera agenda and can't keep it objective is my guess.
 

AshRK

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Meh player for me. I would have loved him as a squad option but he decided to move on. Do not miss him.
 

James Peril

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Hopefully, Bruno has shown folks what a proper creative midfielder looks like. I also hope Fred has shown folks what a proper 'busy' midfielder looks like. This was a brilliant move by United and Ole.
Fred is on the bench and doesn’t play much, a 50M flop (based on what we thought we got) - so no, absolutely not. I’d rather have Herrera and the Fred-money in the pocket. Not that I hate on Fred, but he’s a 5M player and not a 55 one. Would he start for any other Premier League-club, sure a few, not many unfortunately.
 

buckooo1978

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had we moved early and gave him a contract at a suitable level he'd still be a valuable squad member

People round on Herrera but he was very good in that double pivot in Ole's early days - technically a good player

people also get on like Matic/Fred/McTominay are top quality reliable midfielders which they are not

I know I'd rather have him in the squad right now than Pereira or Lingard
 

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He has Bruno and Pogba ahead of him, what's Ander's excuse for being a 300k/pw squad option?

Seems to me that we got the best years out of him, and let him go at exactly the right time.
Gueye, Veratti and Marquinos who are all better than Fred and PSG only playing 27 league games before their league finished. If we had all our midfielders fit and only played 27 league games Fred wouldnt have got much of a look in either.
 

AshRK

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Fred is on the bench and doesn’t play much, a 50M flop (based on what we thought we got) - so no, absolutely not. I’d rather have Herrera and the Fred-money in the pocket. Not that I hate on Fred, but he’s a 5M player and not a 55 one. Would he start for any other Premier League-club, sure a few, not many unfortunately.
Fred before the lockdown was pretty good in fact our best midfielder. He is very unfortunate to miss out on starting spot. Herrera's performance here is massively overrated. Is fred a 55m player? Probably not but he is definitely not a 5m player.
 

edcunited1878

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Fred is on the bench and doesn’t play much, a 50M flop (based on what we thought we got) - so no, absolutely not. I’d rather have Herrera and the Fred-money in the pocket. Not that I hate on Fred, but he’s a 5M player and not a 55 one. Would he start for any other Premier League-club, sure a few, not many unfortunately.
But that price paid for Fred isn't his fault, it's the club's (Woodward/Judge). They overpaid for him when I've read that they were the only club in for him, which is fine, but that they just jacked up the price for whatever reason!

The Fred we saw before lockdown was arguably the most consistent and reliable player giving minimum 6.5/7 performances. But now, he's not first choice and rightfully so (for the most part), but he needs to kick on and really embrace his role within the team and be a trusted, quality squad player capable of starting league games and being effective. He's shown that for sure.
 

Rightnr

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What people also forget is that Ole's first slump actually started with Herrera getting injured. He was key in releasing Pogba to play further upfront.

He might not have been a superstar in any one dimension but he was solid in all departments.

Others praising Matic. He's gassed after 7-10 games. How is he any better when he struggles for consistency?
 

crossy1686

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Would love to hear what the "just pay him the money" people have to say now. Imagine we'd have renewed his contract at what his agent wanted? We'd be properly fecked now.
 

mu4c_20le

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Gueye, Veratti and Marquinos who are all better than Fred and PSG only playing 27 league games before their league finished. If we had all our midfielders fit and only played 27 league games Fred wouldnt have got much of a look in either.
The last two are starters but his main competition was Paredes and Sarabia, the latter was often preferred to him off the bench. I also remember there was a period when he was fit before the lockdown they played a 17 year old ahead of him for the 6 role, the kid later went to Bayern. Fred takes a few games to get back to the PL tempo but once he does he's more influential than Herrera ever was. He's going to have a big part to play in the rotation next season.
 

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The last two are starters but his main competition was Paredes and Sarabia, the latter was often preferred to him off the bench. I also remember there was a period when he was fit before the lockdown they played a 17 year old ahead of him for the 6 role, the kid later went to Bayern. Fred takes a few games to get back to the PL tempo but once he does he's more influential than Herrera ever was. He's going to have a big part to play in the rotation next season.
Sarabia is an AM who played LAM at Sevilla and got loads of assists for them last season. No he wasnt competition for Ander Herrera :lol:

Sarabia played 9 times on the right, 4 times as the AMC and 3 times in a forward position. None of these were instead of Ander Herrera, a deep combative midfielder. Paredes played 300 more minutes than Ander
 

Valencia Shin Crosses

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Christ people are really forgetting what Fred did to basically carry the midfield for much of this year with Pogba hurt. That’s sad. He was immense as the year went on, and was a “squad option” more because his style isn’t as needed with Pogba and Bruno as the other two midfielders.
 

Ekeke

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Christ people are really forgetting what Fred did to basically carry the midfield for much of this year with Pogba hurt. That’s sad. He was immense as the year went on, and was a “squad option” more because his style isn’t as needed with Pogba and Bruno as the other two midfielders.
Carry? McTominay was no worse
 

mu4c_20le

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Sarabia is an AM who played LAM at Sevilla and got loads of assists for them last season. No he wasnt competition for Ander Herrera :lol:

Sarabia played 9 times on the right, 4 times as the AMC and 3 times in a forward position. None of these were instead of Ander Herrera, a deep combative midfielder. Paredes played 300 more minutes than Ander
Ok fair enough, the times I watched them I thought he played a bit deeper. Then thats one less competition for him.