I feel his omission from starting could be due to his fitness. In the few games he started, he tailed off after the 70 minutes mark which is why Fellaini is still starting ahead of him.
21
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 31
- Goals
- 8
- Assists
- 5
- Yellow cards
- 6
- Status
Which isnt the biggest problem. Fellaini, Carrick and Herrera as a midfield three and Mata in front of them (diamond if you say Carrick can drop into a back three) allows rooney even more freedom and has RVP has the focal point.
Based on their respective performances yesterday, that logic would be vindicated.
Fellaini had an absolute nightmare in the first half but still completed a higher % of passes over the 90 minutes than Herrera did in his cameo.
The latter only managed 75% pass completion which is just about acceptable for a really creative winger or support striker but downright poor for a CM. 84% vs 70% in the Southampton game. If Van Gaal really is linking his decision to omit Hererra with concerns about ball retention (although I've not heard him say that?) then his logic is absolutely sound.
Before the usual suspects wade in calling me a "hater" I accept that Hererra is a more creative passer so won't complete as high a % of passes. I also happen to think he has the potential to be a much better CM than Fellaini will ever be but I'm genuinely baffled at how many people can't see the flaws that I (and presumably Van Gaal?) have seen in his game this season. He's a young player, adapting to a new league so I'm sure the best is yet to come but it's really not hard to see why Van Gaal has reservations about starting him.
Herrera's defensive stats were excellent before the rib injury. Loads of tackles and interceptions being made and he seemed to relish the physical aspect of the games. With the exception of aerial prowess he seems to be better than Fellaini in every department and even in the 3-5-2 he's having a bigger impact on our play than Fellaini. By no means a Fellaini hater and i'm glad we've got him as a squad option but the boy herrera really needs to be playing more IMO.
He never came close to the kind of defensive stats Fellaini achieved against Liverpool. 10 out of 12 tackles, 2 interceptions and 4 blocks.
Looking at the season as a whole, Fellaini is ahead of him with all of his defensive stats, bar interceptions where he is fractionally behind.
Why is it always one or the other? Why not Fellaini for the physical side and Herrera for the tenacious, creative side? Sorted.
He's a lovely footballer to watch, and I love the way he links up with Mata. Its going to be tough for him to nail down a regular berth, but I hope LVG can find a way to get him plenty of pitch time
He will get plenty of time on the pitch and next season there will be even more games. I don't see the big problem.
Herrera's rib break seems to have taken him off his stride a bit. He still looks nowhere near as proactive or aggressive as he did in the hour before he was subbed against West Ham. With the ball at his feet, arguably Herrera offers more than any of our other centre midfielders. However, he seems to have developed a touch of shyness. Maybe getting injured has knocked him back a bit?
Given the state Liverpool were in when he came on I didn't think Ander did very much. I thought the effect he had on the Southampton game, where his introduction coincided with us trying to pass the ball through midfield, was a lot more noticeable. You could say Herrera isn't well served in the number 10 position and looks better filling one of the spots on the side of the diamond. However, he switched quite a bit with Mata yesterday and ended up on the left side of the diamond more than once. It was not a bad performance, he showed his eye for a through ball more than once (including a peach that cut through the middle of the Liverpool right back and right centre half to Young), it just wasn't that noteworthy.
Given the state Liverpool were in when he came on I didn't think Ander did very much. I thought the effect he had on the Southampton game, where his introduction coincided with us trying to pass the ball through midfield, was a lot more noticeable. You could say Herrera isn't well served in the number 10 position and looks better filling one of the spots on the side of the diamond. However, he switched quite a bit with Mata yesterday and ended up on the left side of the diamond more than once. It was not a bad performance, he showed his eye for a through ball more than once (including a peach that cut through the middle of the Liverpool right back and right centre half to Young), it just wasn't that noteworthy.
You can tell he won't be one of those players to rock the boat if he doesn't start a lot of games. It looks like he absolutely loves playing for us, whenever he's given the opportunity.
I'm sure minutes and better performances will follow.
I'm sure minutes and better performances will follow.
You're probably the definition of a contrary poster on this site, to be fair.
If Herrera's job was to win the ball and play an easy pass, he'd post those stats too. We'll agree to disagree.
Yes, but lot of these tackles come after Fellaini runs totally out of position, other players have to press and then he comes from behind and takes the ball... Carrick NEVER had such numbers and was still at least 2 classes above Fellaini in that department alone. If Fellaini would have a better overall game he wouldn't even need to make all these things.
Why is it always one or the other? Why not Fellaini for the physical side and Herrera for the tenacious, creative side? Sorted.
They might actually work well together. We have a problem of riches in midfield right now, Carrick and Blind also have a good case for playing there and then there's obviously Di Maria and Mata.
Do we really need Herrera to match those stats once Carrick is playing in midfield? Scholes did nothing bar foul with the odd good interception through not going through the player as intended as Keane was there to to the dirty work. IO think this physicality thing is in vogue like tika taka was 5-6 yrs back!
This is absolutely 100% spot on.
Pogue used to go out with Mary Mary Quite Contrary at school but she broke it off cause he was too argumentative.
It's amazing that we were all moaning that we had no midfielders, now we have a glut and we are still moaning. We should be thrilled.
Now all we need is defenders.I think you'll actually find it was he who broke it off, statistics included.
It's amazing that we were all moaning that we had no midfielders, now we have a glut and we are still moaning. We should be thrilled.
We've made one of the midfielders that!
True, and a forward a midfielder.
who mentioned there being "a big problem" ??
Not you personally, sorry, but some seem to think LvG doesn't like him, he will be sold. That's rubbish, we might strengthen the midfield further, but we will need them all. I am more worried about all this stuff coming out of Spain then if LvG likes the lad or not. I just hope everything goes well for him and there is nothing for him to answer to.
TBH I'm more worried about whether or not he will be happy being a squad player (I very much doubt he will) so if he doesn't nail down a first 11 spot I would be worried as I wouldn't think he would stick around for years in that position.
Wonder if him not playing much has to do with this.
I suppose it depends how much time you get playing. If you start a good number of games and come on in other, the playing time mounts up. He is never going to be in the Anderson situation and he will get used plenty of times. I think he loves it here. I would rather be at United and have a good chance of winning things, than play every game at a lesser club and win nothing.
Atleti captain Gabi & Manchester United man Ander Herrera implicated in La Liga match fixing case
The stats were almost identical a couple of weeks ago between them, I remember posting them, with herrera having the edge in most apart from interceptions I think, just yesterday fellaini had a great game in that regard.
Also as for his pass completion being lower recently, you can easily put that down to him playing as the attacking midfielder in recent weeks, rather then as a proper central midfielder. When he did play as a central midfielder, his pass accuracy was like 88 or 89% I think. He's obivously a bit more loose with his passing then he likes of Carrick, but he takes a lot of risks on the ball and always tries to up the tempo and move it on quickly, which sometimes results in misplaces passes. What everyone likes about him is that he does take risks and ups the tempo, but that comes hand in hand with sometimes losing possession imo.
Really it's not telling us anything we didn't already know. It will now come down to what they players say in their defence. Also if all of them will now have to go to court to testify. You wonder why clubs don't just take relegation on the chin.
Eaxctly, it is easy to pass the ball backwards and sideways, we have been doing that for a few years and have all been moaning about it. Sometimes you have to be a bit brave.
I wonder against the weaker teams in the league at home whether we can play Carrick CB more often, and then have Fellaini and Herrera in the same team.
Carrick can be the passer from defense like he does already, and that allows us to have both in midfield.
Carrick can be the passer from defense like he does already, and that allows us to have both in midfield.
There you go, showing your true color. Saying a pro footballer can do well is somehow translated as hate or dislike, I don't understand people like you. He turned back, turned around or whatever, pass was on but he did not pass forward and that's the point. Rot in your stupidity.
Ok, now someone agrees that he actually turned back, and that idiot has somehow concluded i hate him because I said he should have passed it forward rather than turning back. I thought Falcao made a good run [might be wrong] and he should have passed, but he did turn back as you noticed. This other guy thinks I hate Herrera for stating something so obvious.
I think Carrick will only play in defense when we play the 3-5-2 system. LvG said he can play as a 6 or 3, the latter being a sweeper, I don't see him playing Carrick as a CB in a back 4 that we'll hopefully be reverting to once Shaw is fit.
I think it's clear he turned back, but you are stating it as a negative thing. In his eyes the pass to Falcao was not on, I need to see a replay to be 100% but I am quite sure he was being marked out, so the pass was most likely going to fail. Instead he turned back and wanted to see another pass instead, and concequently won a foul in a dangerous position. That isn't bad play, it's clever.
Sure the pass may have crept through, but it's just 1 of those things.
I have watched the game, that is exactly what happened. He won a good free kick in a good position and we didn't take advantage. Nobody moaned when he won that free kick against QPR and Di Maria scored.
I really didn't state it as a negative thing, just a passage of play that frustrated me, that's all. I thought the pass was on and i was very angry [at the time] as to why he turned back. I think it's a very simple point, so, I don't understand why I'm being accused of "hating" haha. It's funny because last season in the newbies I was banging on about this player before we signed him.
It's not moaning, saying your player could have done better in certain situations isn't moaning, it's just an opinion [which could be right or wrong]. Herrera can't be criticized it seems.
- Status