Everyone keeps going on about the tackles and interceptions (and rightly so) but his dribbling in tight spaces was also extremely impressive as well. He managed to get out of quite a few tricky situations that most of our other midfielders would've struggled with. I've always liked Herrera but he was on another level last night.
21
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 50
- Goals
- 3
- Assists
- 11
- Yellow cards
- 15
- Red cards
- 2
- Status
We could have found our main defense midfielder for years to come.
Yesterday he proved that he has the technique to get out of tight spaces even against nippy players. He left Coutinho for dead on a couple of occasions. He also has enough top speed to make those defensive runs, which he proved when he kept up with Lallana (no Walcott, but still) and won the ball ahead of him. He is also a very decisive tackler as well as an excellent short passer. Great display yesterday, and he brings so much energy to the team that a player like Pogba simply cannot match.
He is outworking Kante defensively. Now thats impressive!
Absolutely immense performance. As some other poster said, he must be a huge pain in the ass to play against.
100% serious when I say that he should be our future captain. His tenacity is incredible, I bet Mourinho loves him.
He is my favorite player, i have been moaning about his lack of chances during LVG's tenure. His performance was imperious, his ability to dribble his way out and always being 2 steps ahead of the game was amazing, i wish we had Mata or Miki there aswell, there are excellent under pressure and keep the ball fairly well, we might have had more joy yesterday.
That's absolutely ridiculous! the passing accuracy is understandable considering Liverpool's pressing and the fact that he didn't have much players to play with, Fellaini and Pogba are not the most dynamic players, hoofing to Zlatan will always be 50/50 and he didn't have much choice at times than clear the ball. I also think he made some neat passes under pressure, shame we couldn't get on the front foot so he could show some of his attacking abilities like shooting or picking a pass in the final third but he did extremely well under circumstances. I think his positioning and reading of the game was top class and we should consider him as a real option as a no6, he tracked back well too..
Hope he maintain this level andother palyers around him step up, so far he's played better than any other midfielder maybe any outfield player. Love him even more when you know he will give everything. That's what we need form other players too but he's maybe a surprising leader after Mourinho's arrival. Chuffed for him:-)
I know. I was highlighting the two separate examples to illustrate that, even when he did well under LvG, he never fully had the manager's backing.
I am not a Herrera fan. Never have been.
However, he is playing very well this season and is arguably, our best outfield player, this season.
However, he is playing very well this season and is arguably, our best outfield player, this season.
Anyone have a GIF of where he got away from a Liverpool player, then smashed a cross field pass to Rashford which he unfortunately mis-controlled.
What was he on yesterday? That was a ridiculous performance
He's been great under Mourinho in pretty much every game.
Possibly the greatest performance by a Utd player in post Fergie-era against a top side
Most annoying thing was that he wasn't on the winning side, he could not have done more possibly to give the others in front of him a chance to win a game, for instance Pogba could hang out 20 yards higher up than normal, he literally neutralised the Liverpool side.
He's easily one of the most intelligent 'foreign' players to ever come to these shores, judging by his post-match interview after such an intense battle.
Forget everything else, character is the key ingredient in his make-up because the bigger the battle, the more he relishes it.
He needs to be a nailed-on starter now so he can develop an understanding with Pogba and AN other.
Forget everything else, character is the key ingredient in his make-up because the bigger the battle, the more he relishes it.
He needs to be a nailed-on starter now so he can develop an understanding with Pogba and AN other.
I think that we missed Mata to control the game. Fellaini played very well, but I think Mata is very underated as a team player. His vision and positioning is amazing, he should've at least played the second half to gain control again. We didn't really need the height of Marouane. Especially with Ander bossing everything in front of the defense.
@GifLord
Any chance you can put one up where he won the ball from the ground , then played a scoop ball over the top that for some reason Ibrahimovic didn't run on to? I was furious with Zlatan for that , it was so obvious what was coming and there was space in behind the defence and he didn't even make an attempt.
Any chance you can put one up where he won the ball from the ground , then played a scoop ball over the top that for some reason Ibrahimovic didn't run on to? I was furious with Zlatan for that , it was so obvious what was coming and there was space in behind the defence and he didn't even make an attempt.
Which minute?
It's at about 7:28 of the highlights video on this page
I'd feck him.
Actually looking at it he might have been flagged for offside , but it was close.
Possibly getting a bit carried away, but it was superb. And it's interesting how many times Herrera would be in contention for that spot. He's a big game player. He was the reason for that run of six or so great wins in a row we had near the end of Van Gaal's first season.
His best moment for me, the tenacity to win both those balls , and in a split second have the vision to play what was the perfect pass in the situation, just brilliant.
Anyone who watched him for the Spain under 19 alongside Thiago will not be surprised at the type of player he is turning into for us.
I keep reading posts about his defensive qualities and that he's solved our defensive midfield issues, but he's not a holding midfielder at all. He has done a decent job at holding in the past, but that performance yesterday was of a disciplined #8, not a #6.
Long term, I think he and Pogba should play as the more advanced players in a midfield three. We need a holding midfielder that can dominate possession and dictate the pace of the game; a successor to Carrick. Then Herrera has the freedom and security to move forward more, and we might be able to press from the front and dominate matches. My only reservation is Pogba's ability to press, I don't think it comes as naturally to him.
All of this would generally be against the ethos of Mourinho, mind.
Long term, I think he and Pogba should play as the more advanced players in a midfield three. We need a holding midfielder that can dominate possession and dictate the pace of the game; a successor to Carrick. Then Herrera has the freedom and security to move forward more, and we might be able to press from the front and dominate matches. My only reservation is Pogba's ability to press, I don't think it comes as naturally to him.
All of this would generally be against the ethos of Mourinho, mind.
The pressing from the front starts with the CF and as long as ibra is there then we won't be doing it.
He can still find himself in advanced positions as demonstrated in the gif above and he can be effective but when you're putting up interception stats like he does ( the kind of thing you don't really notice until the stats say so after the game) then he needs to be considered as a DM. He has it in him to be everything Carrick was at his best, and more.
He lacks the passing range or positional sense to play as the sole holding player or even in a midfield two. But in a three he can be as good as anyone in Europe. If yesterday was a 10 out of 10 performance, he'd need to average 7 out of 10 for the season in order to be rated alongside the best midfield generals.
He played almost every type of pass possible yesterday. Long balls out to the wing , flick, scoop, under pressure. His range isn't the issue, more his willingness to use it as he's a safety first player. Give him time on the ball and he will pick people out all over the pitch.
That gif is so typical of what he does every time he's on the pitch, too. It reminded me of his assist for Martial against Everton last season, when he attempted a cute little back-heel one-two to assist Martial, it didn't come off, and he had the presence of mind even as the defender pushed him off his feet to shift the ball away from the tackle and make the assist at the second time of asking with a through-ball from the ground. He combines scrappiness and technical excellence.
Herrera is like Mata for me. He's not just a player I want to do well, he's a player I like to see do well. He's just a lovely man. Mourinho's getting the most out of him.
Sums him up perfectly.
How many times did you see Liverpool pass it out from the back yesterday? Another thing people missed about yesterdays game is how well Pogba and Ibra pressed from the front.
Love watching him play, he is blossoming into our own version of Luka Modric except with a bit more bite.
Goal kicks don't count
Why does his 'passing range' keep coming up in these discussions? Out of our current regulars, he's the best passer on the field bar maybe Blind.
He doesn't have the passing range of Pogba, Carrick or Blind. He has everything that Scholes had in close control and short passing, but his long range passing is no where near the required level of a top registra/deep lying playmaker.
He's maybe utilized better as a no8 but yesterday he played as a no6 and put in a world class performance away at Anfield, one of the best performances I have seen from a midfielder post Fergie, if not the best and you will say that he can't play there? disciplined no8 or no6 who the hell cares, he put in 9.5/10, that's for all I care... and yes he might be a bit too wasted to sit back and but last couple of games Mourinho told him to sit back and he was excellent, he can easily be mould into world class no no6 if manager believes him, yday was a proof of it.
And that he doesn't have the passing range is bullshit, he can make all sorts of passes, he's got good crossfield pass as a through ball and his short passing, flicks can't be in question, he also showed great vision but from Van Gaal era he's asked to play it safe and it will obviously take time until he impose himself more onto a game. It's like with Blind who showed not only me he can be a great center back and him like Herrera are work in progress in their respective roles but they are already great at it..
A lot of players in the past were searching for their best position over time, I think Herrera can be Mourinho's new Fabregas and he's already twice the player defensively which is very important for that role too, his passing may never reach the Scholes best but he can match Carrick easily there while already being much better defensively too..
All clubs could do with more players with his attitude and application.
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