Yeah but you could spin it the other way. The fact that LVG is starting Fellaini over Pereira suggests Pereira isn't that big a talent, certainly not in Pogba's class.
This is LVG we are talking about - a man who has given first-team spots to Blackett, McNair and Lingard over the past couple of years. None of those players is ever going to be a world-beater. So if Pereira can't break into the team, maybe he's just not that good - or at least not that good yet.
Does anyone think LVG would have passed up the chance to play Pogba had their spells at Old Trafford coincided?
Because of course, Pogba was getting chances over the likes of Park and Rafael in midfield? It's clear that Pereira deserves a run of games - but LvG is so intent on stamping out creativity that he'd rather play Fellaini instead. Why just Pereira? Even Herrera hasn't really got chances even when fit because he is creative and therefore tends to lose the ball a bit more often. Also, frankly, LvG has only brought in youth team players when there's absolutely nobody else left to play those positions. I would have agreed with your assessment if Fergie was the manager. Not so much with LvG given his stint thus far...
Harrop's injured as well, that's the problem the past few games, not only are the strikers unavailable but a lot of the creative players are as well. Yeah Pereira had outgrown under 21s football last season, he was only put back into the under 21s in January to get match fitness and for the first few games he was very impressive but for the past few games he's been very poor and hasn't looked interested. Hopefully he'll get a decent loan next season
Why loan? He's played a WC in the summer and maybe was jaded (someone else pointed this out too). More importantly, with young kids you need to handle them right to keep motivation levels up. Even in the corporate world, I've seen people go into periods of under-par performance when they're ignored / sidelined for something they perceive as not being their fault. In Pereira, you have a kid who is likely to be extremely confident and aware of his own skills and yet is being forced to see the likes of Fellaini, Mata and even Lingard playing in positions where he's a natural (and they're not). He's seeing the team struggle and yet he continues to not get a chance. It can't be helping his confidence or his motivation and let's not lose sight of his age before castigating him for this.
Personally, I really rate the kid and wish he'd get a run of games in the first team. Given how p*ss-poor our midfield has been almost all season, he can't harm performance and we'd at least have the chance to actually assess how good he really is!