Decent performance given the unusual circumstances. He did give the ball away a couple of times but all in all, can't really complain. Classy player with a bright future.
21
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I think he outplayed Fabregas today which is saying something. If the Spain coaches watch this match they will be tempted to pick Herrera over Fabregas, or at least take him to the next camp.
He is a future captain. He is becoming more and more vocal on the pitch and instructing players where the ball should go. I'm very excited he is with us for many years to come.
He is a future captain. He is becoming more and more vocal on the pitch and instructing players where the ball should go. I'm very excited he is with us for many years to come.
Even though he did dive, I loved the way he squared up to the Chelsea boys. Reminded me of Raphael. He's got a great footballing brain, but also plays with his heart, which is beautiful to watch. Really looking forward to seeing a midfield of him, Carrick, Fellaini/new CM and Mata next year. The football will be pure sex 
Poor dive. Thought he had a decent game though, was way too far away from Mata though.
Once we buy that missing piece to complete our midfield puzzle, Ander will be the best midfielder in the league. Awesome awesome player.
I actually struggle to fit him in.
Don't get me wrong, I 100% want him to play but he causes a real selection dilemma.
If you assume the missing peice of the midfield puzzle is going to be the one who provides balance, then it's Fellaini who drops out. Now unless it's another "defensive 10" you're pushing Herrera forward into that 10 role. Is he the best 10 at the club? At some point we are going to have to start fitting Di Maria, Mata, Rooney, probably another wide forward and probably another striker into the team*
*Maybe not at the same time in every game but it makes it difficult all the same.
He'd solve everything if he put on a stone of muscle!
Good post there. By the missing piece in the puzzle, I mean a new version of Keano. Someone to anchor the midfield, provide a good cover for the defense, have a good passing and be mobile (can we get a younger version of Koke somewhere?). I'd play Di Maria in central midfield.
So, it would be something like:
DDG
Back4
Carrick/New Cm
Ander----Angel
Front3.
Last edited by a moderator:
Even though he did dive, I loved the way he squared up to the Chelsea boys. Reminded me of Raphael. He's got a great footballing brain, but also plays with his heart, which is beautiful to watch. Really looking forward to seeing a midfield of him, Carrick, Fellaini/new CM and Mata next year. The football will be pure sex
He has Raphaels heart but Raphaels brain?
Because it doesn't look as dodgy that I am obsessed with Herrera as he is a bit cute.Did you lose a bet or something? I think that's the third post I've seen tonight in which you point out your gender
As for Ander, bar one misplaced pass he was absolutely majestic for the first 30 minutes! Can't comment on the rest of the match unfortunately
Same here.
As much as I love him, once we get a proper 8, its only the no 10 slot that's open. It'l be a toss up between Mata and Herrera I feel and I see Mata as the better fit there.
Carrick, Herrera and genuine box to box midfielder ala essien. Understanding of the game, creative spark and legs. Herrera, for me, is an ideal creative central midfielder. I don't see why we should struggle to fit him in. Fabregas fits in fine at Chelsea. You need a creative midfielder like him. We can't line up with Carrick, fellaini and another new midfielder who is box to box and legs. We need that one clever midfielder who technically a cut above. Herrera is that player IMO.
I doubt it tbh, I think the player we sign will be one who can play both 6 and 8 who can also be very physical in the game (which is why Strootman would have been perfect probably) and also I reckon LVG will be making Ander also learn how to play at 6, (he trusted him to play there today)
The new midfielder will play with Ander I reckon long term with one of Di Maria / Mata / Rooney playing as the 10
Fellaini will likely be the one to miss out, and as much I think he has improved this season, I think that is rightly so.
Also Ander can also fit in at 10 with Carrick/Blind playing as 6 I think that would complete our midfield options very nicely
He's the player LVG needs to build round. At the moment LVG is coaxing amazing performances out of Fellaini, Mata and Young but this is the one player who isn't even playing to his full potential yet is oozing class for me.
We need a strong DM i.e. Verratti and a David Silva/Pogba type attacking mid/CM hybrid alongside him to get the best out of him for the years ahead. He is going to be the best midfielder in the premiership if he is given the right support and coaching.
We need a strong DM i.e. Verratti and a David Silva/Pogba type attacking mid/CM hybrid alongside him to get the best out of him for the years ahead. He is going to be the best midfielder in the premiership if he is given the right support and coaching.
Are we even playing a number 10 right now?
To me it looks like this:
Carrick
Herrera------
------------fellaini
Mata----------------Young
Rooney
Apologies for the awful formatting.
We don't need a number 10 per say. We need three good midfielders in those three slots.
To me it looks like this:
Carrick
Herrera------
------------fellaini
Mata----------------Young
Rooney
Apologies for the awful formatting.
We don't need a number 10 per say. We need three good midfielders in those three slots.
Fellaini will definitely be gone from the 1st team if Van Gaal gets the players he wants, agree with you there.
So you see the new signing play the holding role? Where does that leave Blind and Carrick? It'l be tough to get an upgrade for that position tbh. I dont see Herrera playing as the deepest mid either, it nullifies his best qualities.
Not really no, but I see the new midfielder being one who can play that role as well as being a solid 8, he'll also need to have a very good passing range. Ander will likely play a more attacking role when the new guys comes in ( I think it will suit him) but Ander and the new guy will likely run the midfield in the future.
As for Carrick he will be 34 and we'll be in the UCL he'll be used a bit more sparingly I reckon, also Blind is a good player but I think he won't be a guaranteed starter.
Carrick is 33? He's had injury problems this season. And like I said before, we most likely will have European football next year, so we'd need to be careful with him. So for me, we should sign Schneiderlin.
I think Fellaini has proved he can be a starter in the last month. Teams are concerned about him. Even Fergie did what Mourinho did to him yesterday. He put Jones on him to man mark just like Zouma. That's the ultimate compliment and it creates more space for his teammates. The problem with Fellaini is that I don't think his physical approach is suited to Europe.
As for Herrera, he should be a key starter for us next year.
I think Fellaini has proved he can be a starter in the last month. Teams are concerned about him. Even Fergie did what Mourinho did to him yesterday. He put Jones on him to man mark just like Zouma. That's the ultimate compliment and it creates more space for his teammates. The problem with Fellaini is that I don't think his physical approach is suited to Europe.
As for Herrera, he should be a key starter for us next year.
I hope you're right. Have really high hopes from this guy.
I hope so too, I hope LVG see it, and it seems like he does.
I think Ander has the potential to be the one of the best CMs next season
That's how I see it as well. Carrick holding with Herrera and another midfielder playmaking from midfield, who should ideally be a complete box to box sort.
That's how I'd like to see it work out at least.
If United make the Champions league there will be plenty of games and they don't have to play the same system every game. If he continues to play as well as he is currently he will play all of the big games. It's no coincidence that United failed to score when he played in a deeper role vs Chelsea. He is the key creative player in the team just now.
Oh yes, there will be plenty of rotation, I was referring more to our 1st choice line up for the big games.
Fair dues! But what should we make of the rest of the Ander and Juan love in here though, in which most of the participants are quite clearly both smitten and non-female?
Dodgy crowd! To be clear, I would probably have to include myself in that gang as well
Fantastic player, the one we needed in midfield last season also. At the start of the season, I thought he showed that he can become future United captain and I stand by that. If we get top 4, he'll be a big player in the CL games and the more games he plays for us, the better he'll become.
Nothing wrong with a bit of man love.Fair dues! But what should we make of the rest of the Ander and Juan love in here though, in which most of the participants are quite clearly both smitten and non-female?
To be clear, I would probably have to include myself in that gang as well
Been saying this for a while. Agree completely. Nice problem to have!
Thought he was excellent for the first 35 minutes and decent thereafter. Him dropping deep in between the centre backs caused a problem for Drogba as the lone striker at his age trying to chase the ball and it meant we saw plenty of Smalling and McNair getting forward.
You are complicating everything for nothing, and he doesn't need to put a grams of muscle.
We have 4 midfielders for 3 roles, 2 DMs in Blind and Carrick, 1 Defensive b2b in Herrera and 1 attacking b2b in Fellaini. In our system Di Maria is out of the midfield equation, he is an attacker, so if he wants to play he will have to take Young or Mata places. Rooney and Mata are also out of the equation since we play with two #8, 1 DM and no #10, we could tweak the formation, but why do that ?
If or when we sign a new midfielder, he will be in competition with Fellaini and Herrera, there is no need to sign a player who will be a direct replacement for Carrick since we lack cover for Herrera and Fellaini while we have the very potent Blind, when Carrick retires we will need someone to replace him numerically, though.
It's obvious the higher up the pitch the better Herrera looks and the more he contributes. He is quite able defensively which is a useful asset but he's more effective as a #8 or a #10 rather than a #6
after reviewing how did we concede the goal maybe this is the best reason why a player shall not play by instinct, like running for the ball.
this was when the possession lost because of a foul on falcao. the transition from attack to defense began. we had enough numbers in defense and mcNair, smalling & herrera formed a nice triangle in the center:
valencia prepared to intercept, mata tracking down, rooney shut down the space of fabregas, smalling watched out the dribbler & had an eye on oscar. herrera tended to run into the space too despite he didn't need to. he was better to watch out where would be the real danger:
herrera turned his direction up. it looked like he predicted a square pass from fabregas and tried to intercept:
instead fabregas passed the ball foward to oscar. herrera turned back again, and aimed at oscar also. hazard started to run in:
hazard run into the blind side of herrera when he was focus on oscar:
oscar passed on to hazard who cut in the space:
herrera followed the ball and changed his focus to hazard:
hazard run into the space between smalling & valencia. it looked like smalling once tried to point herrera to take oscar (but his can't be confirmed unless a close up in slow motion displayed). from this snapshot if smalling could cut in with full throttle right now he might be able to intercept hazard somewhere inside the box. can't tell if the without marked oscar distracted him:
herrera chased hazard from behind. the distance between smalling and hazard didn't close down:
herrera kept chasing hazard from behind. the distance between smalling & hazard didn't close down:
hazard cut in the space between smalling & valencia and started to out run them:
smalling now determined to cut in hazard but it's too late:
herrera gave up chasing and moved himself into the center to cover. it's already too late for smalling to intercept:
everything was too late. we let hazard to run through the space:
i don't blame herrera for the loss. it's more a collective defeat rather than just a single error committed by anyone. even though if we could take three points from this game to be honest the title chase was still very remote. so this is not a disaster to lose out this game. but if herrera can learn from this lesson of why running for the ball can be a very wrong way to play football, this can make him a better player by the next season
this was when the possession lost because of a foul on falcao. the transition from attack to defense began. we had enough numbers in defense and mcNair, smalling & herrera formed a nice triangle in the center:
valencia prepared to intercept, mata tracking down, rooney shut down the space of fabregas, smalling watched out the dribbler & had an eye on oscar. herrera tended to run into the space too despite he didn't need to. he was better to watch out where would be the real danger:
herrera turned his direction up. it looked like he predicted a square pass from fabregas and tried to intercept:
instead fabregas passed the ball foward to oscar. herrera turned back again, and aimed at oscar also. hazard started to run in:
hazard run into the blind side of herrera when he was focus on oscar:
oscar passed on to hazard who cut in the space:
herrera followed the ball and changed his focus to hazard:
hazard run into the space between smalling & valencia. it looked like smalling once tried to point herrera to take oscar (but his can't be confirmed unless a close up in slow motion displayed). from this snapshot if smalling could cut in with full throttle right now he might be able to intercept hazard somewhere inside the box. can't tell if the without marked oscar distracted him:
herrera chased hazard from behind. the distance between smalling and hazard didn't close down:
herrera kept chasing hazard from behind. the distance between smalling & hazard didn't close down:
hazard cut in the space between smalling & valencia and started to out run them:
smalling now determined to cut in hazard but it's too late:
herrera gave up chasing and moved himself into the center to cover. it's already too late for smalling to intercept:
everything was too late. we let hazard to run through the space:
i don't blame herrera for the loss. it's more a collective defeat rather than just a single error committed by anyone. even though if we could take three points from this game to be honest the title chase was still very remote. so this is not a disaster to lose out this game. but if herrera can learn from this lesson of why running for the ball can be a very wrong way to play football, this can make him a better player by the next season
He will learn...
my hope is we tie this lad down to a good long contract.
He is simply class....the first player who compares to Scholes.. get a player who compares in teh same way to Keane...we will win the lot.
my hope is we tie this lad down to a good long contract.
He is simply class....the first player who compares to Scholes.. get a player who compares in teh same way to Keane...we will win the lot.
Could've just posted the video on sky where they mention that Herrera tried to cut out where he thought the pass would go and so opened the space up... Having so many big pics is annoying when using a phone or tablet really.after reviewing how did we concede the goal maybe this is the best reason why a player shall not play by instinct, like running for the ball.
this was when the possession lost because of a foul on falcao. the transition from attack to defense began. we had enough numbers in defense and mcNair, smalling & herrera formed a nice triangle in the center:
valencia prepared to intercept, mata tracking down, rooney shut down the space of fabregas, smalling watched out the dribbler & had an eye on oscar. herrera tended to run into the space too despite he didn't need to. he was better to watch out where would be the real danger:
herrera turned his direction up. it looked like he predicted a square pass from fabregas and tried to intercept:
instead fabregas passed the ball foward to oscar. herrera turned back again, and aimed at oscar also. hazard started to run in:
hazard run into the blind side of herrera when he was focus on oscar:
oscar passed on to hazard who cut in the space:
herrera followed the ball and changed his focus to hazard:
hazard run into the space between smalling & valencia. it looked like smalling once tried to point herrera to take oscar (but his can't be confirmed unless a close up in slow motion displayed). from this snapshot if smalling could cut in with full throttle right now he might be able to intercept hazard somewhere inside the box. can't tell if the without marked oscar distracted him:
herrera chased hazard from behind. the distance between smalling and hazard didn't close down:
herrera kept chasing hazard from behind. the distance between smalling & hazard didn't close down:
hazard cut in the space between smalling & valencia and started to out run them:
smalling now determined to cut in hazard but it's too late:
herrera gave up chasing and moved himself into the center to cover. it's already too late for smalling to intercept:
everything was too late. we let hazard to run through the space:
i don't blame herrera for the loss. it's more a collective defeat rather than just a single error committed by anyone. even though if we could take three points from this game to be honest the title chase was still very remote. so this is not a disaster to lose out this game. but if herrera can learn from this lesson of why running for the ball can be a very wrong way to play football, this can make him a better player by the next season
But yeah, he tried to predict the pass, a lot of players do it every now and then, not entirely his fault that goal but every goal is a collective failing in the defensive unit pretty much. The main mistake was the ref not calling the initial foul which left us a bit out of position.
Even if he read the play he's not going to beat Hazard in a foot race, the only way he could stop him is fouling.
Without sounding like I'm 7 years old he's become my favourite player now. He seems to love the club and we should be looking to build our side around him. There arent many midfielders who is as complete as him.
Without sounding like I'm 7 years old he's become my favourite player now. He seems to love the club and we should be looking to build our side around him. There arent many midfielders who is as complete as him.
i don't know what the sky said. i just went to internet to get a video clip and took these snapshots.
indeed herrera made a series of mistakes in this run. his prediction to intercept high up is not really the matter. the most decisive one was his turn from chasing oscar to hazard. he should let smalling to encounter hazard and dropped himself into the space then left behind to prevent oscar or any other blue shirts to cut into the center of the box. by doing so there would be no way for hazard to run through without a single tackle before he could take a shot.
indeed herrera made a series of mistakes in this run. his prediction to intercept high up is not really the matter. the most decisive one was his turn from chasing oscar to hazard. he should let smalling to encounter hazard and dropped himself into the space then left behind to prevent oscar or any other blue shirts to cut into the center of the box. by doing so there would be no way for hazard to run through without a single tackle before he could take a shot.
Just seen penalty or no penalty incident, loved his argument with Cahill and how he slapped that cu.ts finger which he was pointing at him.
Was it a pen. That video was not very good to judge.
Was it a pen. That video was not very good to judge.
I don't think it was clearcut either way, and I think the ref was in his right to interpret the situation as a pen or not. I definitely don't think it was a dive from Ander though.
Its something you see players do almost every game - leaving (or sticking out) a trailing foot in order to make contact with the defender. He was looking for it was the one who deliberately made contact with the defender.
Its not a "dive" in the truest definition of the term (ie no contact), but if the attacking playing is deliberately making contact with the defender to give him an excuse to go to ground, that is basically the equivalent of a dive.
Its not a "dive" in the truest definition of the term (ie no contact), but if the attacking playing is deliberately making contact with the defender to give him an excuse to go to ground, that is basically the equivalent of a dive.
It wasn't a penalty imo. He went looking for it by leaving a trailing leg behind.
Reminded me of the Costa penalty against Holland which shouldn't have been one.
Reminded me of the Costa penalty against Holland which shouldn't have been one.
It clearly wasn't a pen. It was a desperate attempt to get something with the game winding up. I see why he did it, but c'mon, it was silly. If Young had done this last season he would have copped it.
I thought Herrera's performance was excellent. We must keep in mind that this is the first time he's playing as a 6 for us. So considering the circumstances he did really well. He did make a couple of mistakes, but he will learn from them. You can't have a perfect game all the time.
Now what we learned from this is that he can be played as an emergency 6 (and at a very high level) against most teams. This does bode well for the future, because I believe he is a far better option to play as 6 than say a Rooney. Of course this game also highlighted the need for an alternative for Carrick but that is a discussion for another thread.
Now what we learned from this is that he can be played as an emergency 6 (and at a very high level) against most teams. This does bode well for the future, because I believe he is a far better option to play as 6 than say a Rooney. Of course this game also highlighted the need for an alternative for Carrick but that is a discussion for another thread.
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