True. I thought Cleverly would be exactly like this. Making us tick with the occasional run in the box and all.
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Season Average Rating
- Appearances
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- Goals
- 8
- Assists
- 5
- Yellow cards
- 6
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True. I thought Cleverly would be exactly like this. Making us tick with the occasional run in the box and all.
Last season is a write off.
Carrick has played the Blind role to perfection many times for us. The only difference is he's never had someone as good and mobile as Herrera next to him. Personally, given that we still looked vulnerable on the counter I'd drop one of the strikers or Mata to play both Carrick and Blind in the tougher games.
I'm very optimistic because this was his second match in the PL, he will settle and his performances will reflect that and it's the same with Di Maria, Blind and Rojo. If we had him last season instead of ''you know who''.....
I like the fact he can pass the ball but he can tackle too, and it seems he likes to tackle as well. 
Apparently he is a real big match player and was often one of the best players whenever Bilbao played Barca and Real
To be honest, I keep hearing how it's QPR and stuff. But, Ander is 25 and he's regularly come up against the best in Spain and bossed it at times. It's not like he's an unknown, inexperienced player. If there's anybody we can say this about, that would be Blind [who's coming from the Eredivise], not Ander.
Yep, there's a bit of a concensus that outside of the big 2 in La Liga (possibly big 3 atm
) - he was probably in the top 3 midfielders in the league. Though he played a bit more attacking (with Rico and Iturraspe holding).Hence the diamond might suit him as much as it suits AdM.
Love the way he is always on the move. Passes and moves straight away. That has been our major problem. We would pass the ball and then just stand there giving no option for a pass.
My MOTM. Just awesome and linked up with Rooney for some reason. They were telepathic!
When Cleverley first broke into the scene and shamelessly compared his "pass and move" game with Iniesta and Xavi, we were told that he could reach such promise one day at similar level as Herrera is now.
Turns out all he managed is passing sideways and moving like headless chicken.
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He and blind will be vital this season. Di Maria and Falcao will get the attention but is the other 2 who will make us tick.
Absolutely. It is a delight to see so many players in our team want the ball. It is a complete transformation.
MOTM for me, just watched the match. Goal, assist, he was everywhere, pressing, a lot of tackling and fantastic flicks, he's a joy to watch.
I voted him MOTM and then immediately realised I had forgotten Di Maria. Both were good though. Was nice to see midfielders passing and moving. We didn't look static for the first time in a long time.
Aye. These guys will be responsible for creating the foundations that allow Di Maria and co. to express themselves. Really impressed with Blind's reading of the game and Herrera's tenacity to win the ball back, not to mention both appear to have a solid passing range.
It will be interesting to see how they both perform when pressed (let's face it, Blind had a really easy ride of things yesterday). But I have faith in what I've seen.
MOTM for me. Covered loads of ground, always looking to receive the ball, was on the move constantly, took his goal well and set up Rooney's. Di Maria and Blind both had great games but it just seemed so long since I've seen a midfielder put in an all-round performance like that for us.
Yep. What's nice is that no one can agree who was MOTM – because there were so many good performances. The exact opposite of last season.
Blind is used to coming up against the press. It's pretty standard fare in Holland. While Herrera has more than held his own against the likes of Barca and Real. Hopefully, they continue that in a red shirt. The diamond is definitely the best formation for the players we have. Suits Di Maria down to the ground. Allows Herrera to bomb on, while Mata is allowed to mop up in the 10, rather than dictate the play. Once RVP gets his form back, I think it will be himself and Falcao who will be first choice. But as of now, Rooney looks to be the second striker after Falcao...
The anticipation of blind is what I expected to be honest. What I didn't expect was how quickly he could turn over the ball - his head was up the whole time enabling him to move the ball quickly and efficiently. Really impressed.
Herrera is a player. That simple. Just looks quality.
I don't think it's a given to be great at reading the game. Can't really write it off as expected. But I do agree his passing and awareness on the ball was something I didn't expect at all.
A great performance, but in each game he has played one or two woeful passes that go straight to the opposition. At least he has his head up, but hopefully he can get those errors out of his play entirely.
His long passing isn't perfect, but nothing that he can't sort out.
Yep. I'll take the first time finish, the one-two with Di Maria and Mata to set up Rooney, and his sincere desire to work hard as evidence of his quality. But against the best, those kinds of passes can be brutally pounced upon. Something to work on in training.
I think you're being harsh. As far as I remember he made one long ball and that was awry because he slipped. He's showed plenty in pre-season that he's quite adept at passing long.
I absolutely love this guy, always wanted him and Martinez from that Bilbao side ahead of Munian.
Same. Thought he was outstanding against us that time when Muniain got the plaudits. As I said in my original post from his last thread, I saw him for the first time in the Spain u21 team and thought 'this guy is class but surely he belongs to Barca or Real'. Kept an eye on him ever since when I realised he wasn't.
Yes, the pass around 12 minutes was due to a slip (I recall a misplaced pass in the transition to attack, but I can't remember where). And di Maria was guilty of a give-away too. When the performance was great nit-picking tends to happen-my apologies. Believe me, I'm happy for him and the result.
When he's on the ball he's expected to create. He'll make a few iffy passes each game. Same as Giggs used to.
ICYMI
Lack of midweek games might actually be quite advantageous for us with a completely new midfield. There's not much need for rotation so we can stick with this Blind, Herrera and Di Maria trio which will only get better as they get more familiar with each other. Plus they'll have plenty of training time to build chemistry and learn each others movements.
They'll only get better as a unit, exciting times for us.
They'll only get better as a unit, exciting times for us.
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Look how he drags away Kranjcar and tells Rafael to pass to RvP, who stands alone there with a lot of space. The guy is a real team player on top of his other qualities. Didnt want the ball, but going the extra meters to free up RvP. Fantastic stuff
Look how he drags away Kranjcar and tells Rafael to pass to RvP, who stands alone there with a lot of space. The guy is a real team player on top of his other qualities. Didnt want the ball, but going the extra meters to free up RvP. Fantastic stuff
Its the little things...
Nice. Took out 2 opposition players completely from that bit of play.
Yup, Rojo was doing same kind of commanding in the back-line, it's nice to have somebody on the pitch at last who's not scared of trying to dictate both on and off-ball play.
He needs a song to this tune. Fact.
I said it in the match day yesterday, his passing and work rate reminds me of a young Roy Keane and feck me, how we've missed a player like that, must be going on 10 years. Seems an absolute character too.
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