New deals for Herrera and Mata?

[Melville Red]

They're both 30 and very upgradable. No big loss if we get the right man in.

Do you trust Woody to get that right?

 

[afrocentricity]

So I see Anders has an interview on the mufc website. Has there been any news on his contact situ?

 

[Bestietom]

Last I heard, he had an agreement with PSG..

 

[clarkydaz]

Blames the players before leaving, I like his style

 

[wolvored]

We need to let both go to show that we wont just sign another mega money contract to any player who demands it, especially average ones. Sanchez was a ridiculous deal the club was panicked into making and keeps coming back to haunt them. Buy a proper RW and a DM instead. Make a statement that mega contracts like Sanchez will no longer be made. What are City and Liverpols top players on? Bet £200-£250 grand a week tops, and £150-£200 grand the lesser lights. We need to bring it back to that level.

 

[Samid]

So much for Ole's so called ruthlessness and 'survival of the fittest' when he wants Mata to stay.

 

[badkins]

So much for Ole's so called ruthlessness and 'survival of the fittest' when he wants Mata to stay.

Plenty of Europa League games next season, we can't change the whole squad overnight.

 

[Von Mistelroum]

If it's possible and reasonable, I think we should try to keep both for depth. Letting class players leave while keeping Lingard, Jones and Young is crazy.

 

[Samid]

Plenty of Europa League games next season, we can't change the whole squad overnight.

Play Garner/Chong/Gomes/Greenwood. We can't change the squad overnight but we can damn make sure that we don't keep rewarding every dud on expiring contract with a new deal.

 

[Kostov]

Plenty of Europa League games next season, we can't change the whole squad overnight.

The free fall that we are in, requires some drastic changes in order to stop. Giving new contracts to Jones, Young and Mata does look the opposite.

 

[Volumiza]

If it's possible and reasonable, I think we should try to keep both for depth. Letting class players leave while keeping Lingard, Jones and Young is crazy.

Absolutely! If you take a step back and look at it objectively then Mata and Ander are both good squad players. Mata should only be used as cover for the no10 role (if we play one) and Herrera is still a good midfielder. Real ambition would be to keep both as squad members and build our first 11 with more quality.

Lingard and Pereira are not good enough. Sell them instead. Get rid of Sanchez and his cancerous wages, Martial and his undeserving attitude and Lukaku. Mata and Herrera still have uses and a good attitude.

 

[badkins]

The free fall that we are in, requires some drastic changes in order to stop. Giving new contracts to Jones, Young and Mata does look the opposite.

Aging Mata still outscored Lingard or Pereira and has much better attitude than Martial.

Garner is a centre mid, so not really Mata's position.

Not saying we should offer him 4yr contract, but there are simply players with worse quality/attitude and we should deal with them first.
We might also sell Sanchez and Lukaku, so would be nice having at least one experienced attacking player for the next season.

 

[Keefy18]

If it's possible and reasonable, I think we should try to keep both for depth. Letting class players leave while keeping Lingard, Jones and Young is crazy.

Absolutely! If you take a step back and look at it objectively then Mata and Ander are both good squad players. Mata should only be used as cover for the no10 role (if we play one) and Herrera is still a good midfielder. Real ambition would be to keep both as squad members and build our first 11 with more quality.

Lingard and Pereira are not good enough. Sell them instead. Get rid of Sanchez and his cancerous wages, Martial and his undeserving attitude and Lukaku. Mata and Herrera still have uses and a good attitude.

All depends on the wages they are requesting, the rumor pretty much with all journalists is that Herrera is holding out for 200k per week which is scandalous! That's said to be 20k per week more than Fernandinho and 80k per week more than Bernardo Silva!

Our wage structure is a complete and utter joke!!

I keep seeing this narrative then from our supporter base that "Well he (Woody) gave a contract renewal to Jones" - Two wrongs don't make a right an all that you know! We don't need to confound the issues further.

 

[AaronRedDevil]

Play Garner/Chong/Gomes/Greenwood. We can't change the squad overnight but we can damn make sure that we don't keep rewarding every dud on expiring contract with a new deal.

It seems funny when people think youth players will just play games. If there's no youth player in the last 2 games this season. There's no chance there's barely gonna be more next season. Ole needs the wins, so he's not risking it.

 

[Kostov]

Aging Mata still outscored Lingard or Pereira and has much better attitude than Martial.

Garner is a centre mid, so not really Mata's position.

Not saying we should offer him 4yr contract, but there are simply players with worse quality/attitude and we should deal with them first.
We might also sell Sanchez and Lukaku, so would be nice having at least one experienced attacking player for the next season.

Aging Mata is a better player than Lingard, but that's not much of a feet is it? They are both not good enough and should leave at first opportunity. Mata coming to an end of his contract is a perfect opportunity to let him leave. I'm not sure why you involved Pereira in all this. He's barely getting to grips with the club and this is his first proper season. I'm not sure what's the plan for him but he's in the same category as McTominay for me, I'd keep him for another season.

I'm not sure why you brought up Garner also.

Yes there are players with worse quality but that does not make this right either. Writing a blog and coming every other week with nice comments and "how we ought to make things right" from the likes of Mata we've been hearing in the last 4 years to be fair, but ultimately he's never been good enough and we should look to move him on. Along with the other even shittier players.

 

[sweetmgd]

Man Utd played 23 games under Ole, Mata only provided 2 goals and 0 assists (1 vs Reading at January and 1 vs Chelsea at April), 10 games even not start for any mins, 8 games for starting line, but 4 games being substituted before 65 mins. The only good games that i remember is vs Reading, vs Fulham, and vs Chelsea first half, so basically he produced nothing for 20.5 games out of 23. So how come he is a good squad player? Just because he scored a goal vs Chelsea last week?

We already have half of the squad waiting to clear, and now we still keep rewarding them contracts, no wonder why people always say we can't change the whole squad at once (i already heard this excuse last season), because we never try get rid of them, extend Young, Jones, Smalling' contract, and now Mata. Rebuild the team?

 

[Red00012]

So much for Ole's so called ruthlessness and 'survival of the fittest' when he wants Mata to stay.

We have far worse players than Herrera and Mata that we need to clear out in our squad.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

It seems funny when people think youth players will just play games. If there's no youth player in the last 2 games this season. There's no chance there's barely gonna be more next season. Ole needs the wins, so he's not risking it.

Next season, I would rather see us buy players with players capable of getting top 4 comfortably, sacrifice Europa league by playing lot of youth/young players to give them a top level of experience & let our main squad focus on getting top 4.

 

[buckooo1978]

the desire to extend Mata and Herrera is a sensible on from a footballing, financial and practical point of view

from a footballing point of view youd love to extend Herrera and move on Matic who looks done. Herrera has arguably been our best player under Ole and his absence coincided with our awful form. As limited as Mata is he's our most accurate passer and we've a lack of options.

financially the Glazers aren't going to spend 300m - 200m max and given we need 4/5 in we will struggle to buy replacements given if Mata and Herrera leave we are looking at 6/7 out

practically I've no confidence in our ability to negotiate deals for players at a decent price given our current structure. I'd be delighted to see us bring in some young up and coming talent but if you are meeting Woody or more experienced, convincing representatives from Juve, Barca, Madrid, Munich, City and Liverpool I'm not sure you pick United.

Those clubs all are fairly settled and well organised whilst from the outside looking in United looks chaotic with players reportedly looking out

 

[m1tch]

Ideally we would extend both of these guys contacts given how many players we should/could see leaving this summer. It would take say 9 players leaving to a more reasonable 7. If we got 4-5 in and then promoted 2-3 from the u23s then that's a more realistic task.
Herrera would be starting 11, I don't think anyone expects Mata to be but he's a quality player to have in terms of the squad.

 

[K13]

the desire to extend Mata and Herrera is a sensible on from a footballing, financial and practical point of view

from a footballing point of view youd love to extend Herrera and move on Matic who looks done. Herrera has arguably been our best player under Ole and his absence coincided with our awful form. As limited as Mata is he's our most accurate passer and we've a lack of options.

financially the Glazers aren't going to spend 300m - 200m max and given we need 4/5 in we will struggle to buy replacements given if Mata and Herrera leave we are looking at 6/7 out

practically I've no confidence in our ability to negotiate deals for players at a decent price given our current structure. I'd be delighted to see us bring in some young up and coming talent but if you are meeting Woody or more experienced, convincing representatives from Juve, Barca, Madrid, Munich, City and Liverpool I'm not sure you pick United.

Those clubs all are fairly settled and well organised whilst from the outside looking in United looks chaotic with players reportedly looking out

Agree with all of this. Really well put.

We would not get a fee for either to finance their replacements. Given that Herrera has been immense for Ole - apart from that one game after his first injury when he seemed to come back too soon - it makes sense to keep him for at least another season.

Mata's role seems to extend beyond playing, not to dissimilar with Bryan Robson's in his last couple of seasons. Positive characters who put the team first.

 

[AaronRedDevil]

Next season, I would rather see us buy players with players capable of getting top 4 comfortably, sacrifice Europa league by playing lot of youth/young players to give them a top level of experience & let our main squad focus on getting top 4.

That's you're thinking. Ole is gonna be challenging on all fronts and spread him too thin which will result in him getting knocked out of all comps. But he'll still use his strongest squad for EL and PL games. Doubt United can win it again. It was lucky last time.

 

[afrocentricity]

So no new news then...

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

That's you're thinking. Ole is gonna be challenging on all fronts and spread him too thin which will result in him getting knocked out of all comps. But he'll still use his strongest squad for EL and PL games. Doubt United can win it again. It was lucky last time.

My thinking is what the fans are thinking. If Ole is the right man, then he should realise the fans want a major trophy not another Europa league trophy again. Sacrificing Europa league & giving youth chance in that tournament is one of the initial step for our long term success.

 

[badkins]

Aging Mata is a better player than Lingard, but that's not much of a feet is it? They are both not good enough and should leave at first opportunity. Mata coming to an end of his contract is a perfect opportunity to let him leave. I'm not sure why you involved Pereira in all this. He's barely getting to grips with the club and this is his first proper season. I'm not sure what's the plan for him but he's in the same category as McTominay for me, I'd keep him for another season.

I'm not sure why you brought up Garner also.

Yes there are players with worse quality but that does not make this right either. Writing a blog and coming every other week with nice comments and "how we ought to make things right" from the likes of Mata we've been hearing in the last 4 years to be fair, but ultimately he's never been good enough and we should look to move him on. Along with the other even shittier players.

I was refering to the post above saying that Garner, Greenwood, Chong and Gomes should play in EL instead of Mata.
Greenwood is a striker, Garner a centre mid, so if we're bringing youngsters to this discussion - Mata's competition would be Chong/Gomes and both of them aren't ready to start games regularly. Gomes hasn't played in ages and Chong was very raw every time he's played.

So what's the plan? Let Mata go, sell everyone - and who's going to play? We've got EL games next season, so we must have options on the bench.
I'll repeat this as well - we might sell Sanchez/Lukaku and Mata could be our only experienced player up front, which all the younger players will need. Keeping him for another season of transition makes sense to me.

If Gomes or Chong are good enough, they'll get their minutes anyway.

 

[Ranchero]

I would have Mata every day of the week. He is still the most cunning in terms of a football brain in our squad. Sees a pass quickly, quick of thought, if not the quickest on the floor. Plus, he gives 100 per cent every game. I would be starting him today in a midfield role behind the striker where he showed he was at his best against Chelsea despite not being match fit. And to be honest his age doesn't matter because he does not rely on pace to be effective. I'd give him a year and another year option, because we will be lucky to get anyone in that is as sharp in terms of seeing a pass, and passing and moving as him.

Plus he loves the club, you can see that.

I hope we give him a decent incentive to stay with us and not return to Spain. If he goes at as we go through this transitional period, it would in my view me catastrophic. We need more players of with his kind of football vision, rather than less.

Love him.

 

[Castia]

It's the 4th of May...surely if they were to sign new deals it would have been done long before now.

 

[Buster15]

Absolutely! If you take a step back and look at it objectively then Mata and Ander are both good squad players. Mata should only be used as cover for the no10 role (if we play one) and Herrera is still a good midfielder. Real ambition would be to keep both as squad members and build our first 11 with more quality.

Lingard and Pereira are not good enough. Sell them instead. Get rid of Sanchez and his cancerous wages, Martial and his undeserving attitude and Lukaku. Mata and Herrera still have uses and a good attitude.

Good thoughts but I would be surprised if he sells Lingard.
Your point about attitude is spot on.

 

[Ranchero]

My thinking is what the fans are thinking. If Ole is the right man, then he should realise the fans want a major trophy not another Europa league trophy again. Sacrificing Europa league & giving youth chance in that tournament is one of the initial step for our long term success.

Winning the Europa League is a path to Champions League. You cannot give that competition up. That would be insanity.

 

[Ranchero]

Good thoughts but I would be surprised if he sells Lingard.
Your point about attitude is spot on.

I think with his form against Chelsea, Mata starts. He provides you with clever movement, and spots a pass. He in short gives us the football cunning that we desperately need. Pogba doesn't give you as much of that. I would let Lukaku go but only if there was a replacement and that replacement is not Moussa Dembele. Lingard. Well Lingard could be super, but I would put him alongside Martial... very inconsistent. Final ball, final anything often lets him down. I don't like the fact he has this fashion brand already and he is not even an established first teamer. Good squad player, granted, but still too inconsistent.

Matic can go, McTominay too. We need players with a football brain. We need midfielders who have a creative vision, that can spot a defence splitting forward pass quickly. What we don't need are more players adept at passing the responsibility to someone else, who are adept at passing sideways and backwards and slowing our play right down. United are at their best playing fast incisive football, not slow slow boring slow.

 

[Kostov]

I was refering to the post above saying that Garner, Greenwood, Chong and Gomes should play in EL instead of Mata.
Greenwood is a striker, Garner a centre mid, so if we're bringing youngsters to this discussion - Mata's competition would be Chong/Gomes and both of them aren't ready to start games regularly. Gomes hasn't played in ages and Chong was very raw every time he's played.

So what's the plan? Let Mata go, sell everyone - and who's going to play? We've got EL games next season, so we must have options on the bench.
I'll repeat this as well - we might sell Sanchez/Lukaku and Mata could be our only experienced player up front, which all the younger players will need. Keeping him for another season of transition makes sense to me.

If Gomes or Chong are good enough, they'll get their minutes anyway.

Ok you quoted me but referred to another post. Chong and Gomes should get chances instead of Mata yes, why not? They are the future of this club, while Mata has no long term potential and let's be frank he's not good enough as of present quality. Chong will be 20 next season and Gomes 19, both are very talented and should get chances. I agree Mata brings valuable experience and would rather see Lingard go, but the contract situation brings other factors into play.

You also took time to explain yourself about Garner and how they are not the same players with Mata, but then you think selling Lukaku (maybe our best striker) and having Mata for experience up front makes sense.

On the other side, this group of players is such an overpaid over hyped set of average players that does need drastic changes. The same thinking like yours we see all the time on this forum. Who's going to play or how are we going to do it without experienced pros. Well I'd rather take a step back and plan long term than waste time on average players.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

Winning the Europa League is a path to Champions League. You cannot give that competition up. That would be insanity.

Winning EL is an easier way to get CL. Getting top 4 comfortably is also path of champions league in harder way, if we want to improve as a team, we can’t just thinking about getting champions league spot, we need to see the bigger picture.

 

[PlayerOne]

It's the 4th of May...surely if they were to sign new deals it would have been done long before now.

Did you forget what happened with Fellaini? This club operates in differently.

 

[Keefy18]

the desire to extend Mata and Herrera is a sensible on from a footballing, financial and practical point of view

from a footballing point of view youd love to extend Herrera and move on Matic who looks done. Herrera has arguably been our best player under Ole and his absence coincided with our awful form. As limited as Mata is he's our most accurate passer and we've a lack of options.

financially the Glazers aren't going to spend 300m - 200m max and given we need 4/5 in we will struggle to buy replacements given if Mata and Herrera leave we are looking at 6/7 out

practically I've no confidence in our ability to negotiate deals for players at a decent price given our current structure. I'd be delighted to see us bring in some young up and coming talent but if you are meeting Woody or more experienced, convincing representatives from Juve, Barca, Madrid, Munich, City and Liverpool I'm not sure you pick United.

Those clubs all are fairly settled and well organised whilst from the outside looking in United looks chaotic with players reportedly looking out

The footballing point - Being our best player isn't exactly a great standard currently by any means. Ander will be 30 when we start next season and if he is to be paid 200k per week or approx €10.5m annually I would prefer to see that money used else where on a younger but better version of him. Why not Ruben Neves of Wolves? He won't demand the same wages and is far more mobile and offers a better passing range than Ander.

The key point here is there is far greater upside to Neves than there is with Ander. He is at his level and if anything at 30-say 33/34 (no doubt a 3/4 year deal will be offered) there is only decline to be had.

This is exactly why we aren't moving forward as a club.

So that also addressed the finance side, rewarding a player nearing the downturn of their careers, it makes far more sense to invest in the younger player with more to offer and in turn improve the side and lead us to success increasing profits?

Finally you've rounded out your comment by supporting what I've said but it seems you just haven't the confidence in us doing it right as a club which I can't blame you for but we have to if we want to move forward as a club.

 

[GM K]

Absolutely! If you take a step back and look at it objectively then Mata and Ander are both good squad players. Mata should only be used as cover for the no10 role (if we play one) and Herrera is still a good midfielder. Real ambition would be to keep both as squad members and build our first 11 with more quality.

Lingard and Pereira are not good enough. Sell them instead. Get rid of Sanchez and his cancerous wages, Martial and his undeserving attitude and Lukaku. Mata and Herrera still have uses and a good attitude.

Bang on point!

 

[Bestietom]

We need to bring in 5 players this coming window if we really mean to catch others up. We must also get rid of the deadwood and those who do not want to be here.

 

[Buster15]

I think with his form against Chelsea, Mata starts. He provides you with clever movement, and spots a pass. He in short gives us the football cunning that we desperately need. Pogba doesn't give you as much of that. I would let Lukaku go but only if there was a replacement and that replacement is not Moussa Dembele. Lingard. Well Lingard could be super, but I would put him alongside Martial... very inconsistent. Final ball, final anything often lets him down. I don't like the fact he has this fashion brand already and he is not even an established first teamer. Good squad player, granted, but still too inconsistent.

Matic can go, McTominay too. We need players with a football brain. We need midfielders who have a creative vision, that can spot a defence splitting forward pass quickly. What we don't need are more players adept at passing the responsibility to someone else, who are adept at passing sideways and backwards and slowing our play right down. United are at their best playing fast incisive football, not slow slow boring slow.

Don't share your views on McTominay at all. He has a good attitude and will be a good strong player.

 

[Fosu-Mens]

We need to bring in 5 players this coming window if we really mean to catch others up. We must also get rid of the deadwood and those who do not want to be here.

Catch up to Tottenham you mean?

 

[Bestietom]

Catch up to Tottenham you mean?

That would be a start, Yes.

 

[PeteManic]

I would let them both go. Time to make a big statement and move the club on. That doesn't necessary mean its a guarantee that it will move the club forward, but it's time to start making fundamental changes.