Man Utd podcast: Ander Herrera

[#07]

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[phonics_tid]

Love this guy. People go on about Utd quality, time to move on etc. but this guy got it. If even half the players we signed had this kind of dedication to the club I’m convinced we’d have been in a much better place over the last 10 years.

 

[LARulz]

He was great. He left it all on the pitch, we needed more players like him

 

[Thepinhead]

Good servant of the club and always gave his best. I do however think it was the right decision to let him go. It is always difficult for players to accept that they have to take a step back and let the youth get a chance. I remember Schmeichel admitting it once. If he had just accepted to play 50-75% of the games instead of 100% he would have played for United a few more years.

 

[Swedish_Plumber]

Think he’d be a handy addition to this United under ten hag if he was still in his mid 20s!

 

[Pexbo]

He’s going to be a politician when he finishes football. One of the fakest blokes in the sport. He always says exactly what fans want to hear but his actions don’t always back it up.

Let’s be clear, what he is describing in that interview is a twisted version of events, he decided to sign for PSG when he still had two years left to run on his current contract and then proceeded to run his contract down and leave on a free.

 

[SilentWitness]

Type of player that deserved to be a part of the better years of United.

 

[Ish]

Gets harshly criticised by some on here IMO. Was one of our better signings post SAF (& before EtH). Was always professional and did a job on the pitch. Never the most talented technically but had the right attitude. Spent a ton more money on midfield after signing him but you can argue that none really improved on him for different reasons: Pogba lacked the desire, Matic was on his last legs & Fred….well, nuff said.

Anyway, I’m blinkered because I liked Ander

 

[Nick7]

He’s going to be a politician when he finishes football. One of the fakest blokes in the sport. He always says exactly what fans want to hear but his actions don’t always back it up.

Let’s be clear, what he is describing in that interview is a twisted version of events, he decided to sign for PSG when he still had two years left to run on his current contract and then proceeded to run his contract down and leave on a free.

I loved him but yeah definitely a guy who should be a politician.

 

[arthurka]

Yeah we gave everybody long contracts worth billions but left the player who probably was worth it till it was too late. Ed Woodward special . Herrera was the best CM we had and should have stayed longer.

 

[Rightnr]

He’s going to be a politician when he finishes football. One of the fakest blokes in the sport. He always says exactly what fans want to hear but his actions don’t always back it up.

Let’s be clear, what he is describing in that interview is a twisted version of events, he decided to sign for PSG when he still had two years left to run on his current contract and then proceeded to run his contract down and leave on a free.

Absolute nonsense. We prioritised Phil 'the sick note' Jones over Herrera who was an essential part of our midfield and then it became too late after PSG turned his head with an over 100% pay rise. I am sure you've turned down many of those in your career but many would not.

As for letting the youth play, average players like McTominay replaced him and we suffered for years because of it.

 

[Pexbo]

Absolute nonsense. We prioritised Phil 'the sick note' Jones over Herrera who was an essential part of our midfield and then it became too late after PSG turned his head with an over 100% pay rise. I am sure you've turned down many of those in your career but many would not.

As for letting the youth play, average players like McTominay replaced him and we suffered for years because of it.

This sentence is doing a lot of heavy lifting but you do you.

 

[Judas]

I’ll never get the over the top video when he left when you think of other players who basically got shoved out the back door.

 

[Adnan]

Is this a sign of things to come because I don't see how the Glazers would've allowed Herrera the platform to say what he's saying in the podcast.

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[pascell]

The biggest point to take away from that interview is just how poorly the club has been run the last 5-10 years.

Does it get worse than an ex player reduced to tears so much he has to stop an interview in which the subject is his exit and how poorly they were treated?

Whoever our next owners are, they need to look at those making the decisions on the footballing side.

 

[lex talionis]

Ander was one of our bright spots during an era when we were poorly managed and became a laughingstock.

 

[Adnan]

The biggest point to take away from that interview is just how poorly the club has been run the last 5-10 years.

Does it get worse than an ex player reduced to tears so much he has to stop an interview in which the subject is his exit and how poorly they were treated?

Whoever our next owners are, they need to look at those making the decisions on the footballing side.

That person was Ed Woodward and Herrera himself is kind of alluding to that in the tweet below. Richard Arnold is in charge now as the CEO and he's the one who has allowed this pod to take place imo.

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[Shai-Hulud]

We could easily have kept him by showing more respect. We would have had a pretty damn good midfielder for another 2-3 years. I consider him one of the best post-SAF players, and one of the most intelligent men we've had in the squad in all my time following the club. Losing him on a free was a dumb and careless thing.

 

[El Jefe]

He’s going to be a politician when he finishes football. One of the fakest blokes in the sport. He always says exactly what fans want to hear but his actions don’t always back it up.

Let’s be clear, what he is describing in that interview is a twisted version of events, he decided to sign for PSG when he still had two years left to run on his current contract and then proceeded to run his contract down and leave on a free.

I've said this from the very beginning and its funny because "Dreams can't be buy" Bruno is cut from the same cloth. We were a few months away from having both in the same team, imagine that.

He always knew what to say to get fans excited but I was happy he left because his contract demands were ridiculous. It's just a shame we didn't upgrade and were stuck with Mcfred.

 

[Rightnr]

This sentence is doing a lot of heavy lifting but you do you.

What heavy lifting? He was on 100 to 150k at the most and PSG paid him 300k.

Yet, we gave new contracts to all the Ole boys before they'd even earned it

 

[crossy1686]

He’s irritated me over the years with his pitch perfect “this is what the fans want to hear” sound bites instead of just telling it how it is, but in this interview he’s way more genuine and says exactly what we thought was going on, and the waterworks were genuine as well.

Basically, he wanted a new contract and a big pay rise, he didn’t get that so he got the hump, refused to extend unless it was silly money (Mitten says his agent was asking for north of £200k a week and he genuinely thinks Herrera had no idea what numbers were being thrown around) ran his contract down to the last year and he already had the hump at that point.

The point still stands though, if he really wanted to stay he could have, the offer was there but because it came a few months later than he wanted it he’d already thrown the baby out with the bath water. Ego make you make bad decisions in life.

 

[harms]

He’s going to be a politician when he finishes football. One of the fakest blokes in the sport. He always says exactly what fans want to hear but his actions don’t always back it up.

Let’s be clear, what he is describing in that interview is a twisted version of events, he decided to sign for PSG when he still had two years left to run on his current contract and then proceeded to run his contract down and leave on a free.

He decided to sign for PSG in 2017? That’s the first that I’ve heard of it.

 

[AbusementPark]

We could easily have kept him by showing more respect. We would have had a pretty damn good midfielder for another 2-3 years. I consider him one of the best post-SAF players, and one of the most intelligent men we've had in the squad in all my time following the club. Losing him on a free was a dumb and careless thing.

Why would the timing of the contract matter if you want to stay at the club? They offered him a deal with a year left, which is a lifetime in real terms.
He was upset he didnt get offered it when his stock was higher off the back of a great season, thus a larger wage wouldve been commanded.
The following season wasn't as good for him as the previous season, yet we still offered a new deal. Too late by then as his head was turned by PSG, around the same time he "wanted" the contract renewal talks to start, 12 months previously. He then seen out his contract and left for free, kinda like the way Pogba done it as well.
Im not knocking this guy when he was at the club, he was good in midfield and we defo could have used him for the last few years over McT.

Felliani would be the only interview I would believe that he had a hard time leaving the club, whilst not a fan favorite, he gave everything on the pitch and loved playing for the club.

 

[AbusementPark]

He decided to sign for PSG in 2017? That’s the first that I’ve heard of it.

Going by press comments, he wanted talks with United to start after winning player of the year 2017, due to a lack of communication he formulated a plan to leave.

 

[Vidyoyo]

He’s going to be a politician when he finishes football. One of the fakest blokes in the sport. He always says exactly what fans want to hear but his actions don’t always back it up.

Let’s be clear, what he is describing in that interview is a twisted version of events, he decided to sign for PSG when he still had two years left to run on his current contract and then proceeded to run his contract down and leave on a free.

I'm with you. He always says what fans want to hear but something about him seems off - very different to somebody like Javier Hernandez who comes across like a genuine person. I reckon he's eyeing an ambassadorial role or something.

Lest we forget, we weren't actually that good when he left as we finished 6th that season and moving to PSG was clearly a step up for his career. He also only had like 2/5 seasons where he was a guaranteed starter.

Or maybe he just loves Manchester. I don't know.

 

[DevilRed]

feck the way our club was run.

fecking leeches and maggots the lot of them.

 

[2 man midfield]

He wasn’t really all that. I liked his dedication but he’s easily replaced by another technical headless chicken.

 

[fergiewherearethou]

From all the CM's and DM's that we have bought post SAF him and Matic were the only ones who made sense and had a positive impact on the side.
It's so difficult for a central mid to be great in a side that was far from great which we were and still are.

 

[Shai-Hulud]

he decided to sign for PSG when he still had two years left to run on his current contract

Did he really? In 2017, having just won player of the year here?

 

[sullydnl]

Whether it's true or not, the logic he puts forward seems entirely reasonable to me.

If I was in the situation he describes I could very easily see myself deciding that the people offering me the contract would either have to pay a ludicrous amount or I'd get take the bigger payday elsewhere. It wouldn't mean I didn't want to stay at the club, it would just mean I thought the people I was negotiating with were pricks, hadn't treated me well enough and didn't actually value me as much as they should.

 

[harms]

Going by press comments, he wanted talks with United to start after winning player of the year 2017, due to a lack of communication he formulated a plan to leave.

This is absolutely not what @Pexbo has said though. He won player of the year when he got exactly 2 years on his contract, got nothing and only near the end of the next season had PSG (allegedly) made contact with him. And when United made an offer, with 1 year left on his contract, he already knew what he was getting from PSG and asked for a ridiculous (he didn’t deserve it) salary that would match or at least be close to PSG’s offer of ~300k which United (rightly at that point) didn’t give him, so he agreed the deal with PSG already in the spring of 2019.

I loved the guy but we shouldn’t have offered him the salary that he asked for at the end but we shouldn’t have led to that situation in the first place — and if anyone in this thread is going to seriously try and argue that Woodward’s contract renewal policies were rational/right/etc., I’m out.

 

[harms]

He wasn’t really all that. I liked his dedication but he’s easily replaced by another technical headless chicken.

For an easily replaced guy he’s been surprisingly hard to replace — only with the combined signing of Casemiro and Eriksen 3 years later we finally have a midfield that he (the peak version) wouldn’t have walked into. Fred was supposed to be an upgrade but in reality we’ve got the same energy without any technique.

 

[FrantikChicken]

I never warmed to this guy. Mostly average on the pitch and as someone alluded, he should be a politician. If he didn’t play for us I’d absolutely loathe him. His on the pitch behaviour was embarrassing at times. Would whine and pretend to cry when he very well knew nothing had been done to him or it was actually his own fault.

 

[2 man midfield]

For an easily replaced guy he’s been surprisingly hard to replace — only with the combined signing of Casemiro and Eriksen 3 years later we finally have a midfield that he (the peak version) wouldn’t have walked into. Fred was supposed to be an upgrade but in reality we’ve got the same energy without any technique.

Fred was his replacement but he’s missing the technical ability. I’m not saying we’ve managed to do it yet, but he’s easily replaced if the club had its head screwed on at any point since he left.

 

[harms]

Fred was his replacement but he’s missing the technical ability. I’m not saying we’ve managed to do it yet, but he’s easily replaced if the club had its head screwed on at any point since he left.

I think easily replaced players should be easily replaced (the accent on easily) otherwise they’re not, well, easily replaced?

It’s one thing to say that he was not world class (probably too high of a bar to even mention in regards to Herrera) or, well, simply special — he wasn’t. But he was a reliable, consistent workhorse with an above-average technical ability — it may sound generic but it really isn’t, which is evident by us failing to replace him properly. You can find such players but they cost a lot (look at Fred’s price) and can easily flop.

 

[AbusementPark]

This is absolutely not what @Pexbo has said though. He won player of the year when he got exactly 2 years on his contract, got nothing and only near the end of the next season had PSG (allegedly) made contact with him. And when United made an offer, with 1 year left on his contract, he already knew what he was getting from PSG and asked for a ridiculous (he didn’t deserve it) salary that would match or at least be close to PSG’s offer of ~300k which United (rightly at that point) didn’t give him, so he agreed the deal with PSG already in the spring of 2019.

I loved the guy but we shouldn’t have offered him the salary that he asked for at the end but we shouldn’t have led to that situation in the first place — and if anyone in this thread is going to seriously try and argue that Woodward’s contract renewal policies were rational/right/etc., I’m out.

Ander Herrera has revealed he did not want to leave Manchester United but felt he was not shown the love in the summer after his third season at the club, 2017 season.
Herrera from the sounds of it had his mind made up then, his agent had possibly been offering him around after this and with the intentions of running his contract down to get a larger deal on the open market.
Not a chance this guy was worth 300k a week, would struggle to command a fee of 200k a week in his peak if he had stayed.

 

[AneRu]

For an easily replaced guy he’s been surprisingly hard to replace — only with the combined signing of Casemiro and Eriksen 3 years later we finally have a midfield that he (the peak version) wouldn’t have walked into. Fred was supposed to be an upgrade but in reality we’ve got the same energy without any technique.

He didn't have any outstanding qualities from a technical and physical pov but he had a nice balance in skills that made him a tactical weapon. To this day he is the only midfielder we have had who allowed us to get the best out of Pogba because he had the energy, tenacity to cover defensively but a bit of attacking game to create and score a few goals if Pogba was marked.

I wouldn't have given him 300k a week but then we wouldn't have had to if we had offered him a new contract much earlier. I believe that his leaving is a direct result of that ridiculous Sanchez deal that we are still paying for if you look at what we are paying Rashford/Martial vs their achievements at the club and now renewing Rashford he will rightly expect something north of 300k as a key player but he is not at that level. Woodward really fecked us over.

 

[tenpoless]

You can call it fake tears but it gives you an idea just how bad the club was at handling contracts. He said everyone else was given contracts but not him so there was jealousy running in the team. Whats worse is that most of those contracts or raise were underserved.

 

[Adnan]

He really shouldn't have been difficult to replace and it shouldn't have been a big deal that he was released. But when you replace above average midfielders like Herrera with players who are either technically or physically not upto the mark, then the likes of Klopp and Guardiola will take advantage with their approach, which requires a high technical level without sacrificing agility and mobility in a proactive high intensity method.

Woodward's biggest mistakes were the managers he hired were out dated compared to the competition and we got left behind, and he (Woodward) then had to pick up the can after each managerial casualty, which was another problem.

 

[crossy1686]

You can call it fake tears but it gives you an idea just how bad the club was at handling contracts. He said everyone else was given contracts but not him so there was jealousy running in the team. Whats worse is that most of those contracts or raise were underserved.

It shows that the players with more media value were given contracts but our best performers weren’t, which says everything about how our club has been run and the priorities from the board. But as you suggested, definitely dressing room issues along with that.