Ander Herrera is a Manchester United Player!

[Borys]

He has played as an attacking midfielder all season long, I am not sure it is the best signing but if it becomes reality I hope he proofs me wrong.
His passing accuracy is really poor, even as a CM he always averaged 80% passing accuracy without too many touches and passes per game. The only trait he has of absolute world-class quality for a DM is his tackling, he is brilliant in that regard but I think he is better as an AM than as a CM/DM.
Bit of a scary transfer if true, he is far from the absolute world-class CM's we should be after but he has all the potential to be a world-class CM if he hits another gear as well.

Maybe he plays a lot of risky passes? I mean that Cleverley had passing accuracy over 90% many times, but mainly because all he did was chose the safe option time and time again. In fact even Xavi was accused of the same thing when he stopped playing as many through balls as he did in his prime years.

Mind that i'm only guessing.

 

[Annahnomoss]

His passing has been 81% accurate on the last 2 seasons but I am not sure that this is because he isn't good at it, or because of the system how Bilbao plays. If you look at their players (I am not counting defenders), Muniain has the best passing stats with 83% while most of their midfielders/attacking midfielders passing stats vary from 78% to 83% (with some as low as 72% or so). I guess it is more because of their system rather than because of their individual qualty.

It is a mix of both cases, Herrera's passing is not bad but it is a more risky version of Kagawa/Mata's type of passing which is pass someone then move to space to receive it and pass again. It is creative passing though, that breaks down opponents and creates chances for the team - instead of lateral passes which racks up high passing accuracy stats but in reality is a less efficient pass.

 

[Glanville95]

Only a matter of time before Jamie Jackson tweets saying this deal has fallen through, followed by an ellipses. The twat.

 

[Revan]

Indeed, so why are they being so friendly all of a sudden? I thought they generally made a principle out of refusing to sell?

Hard to know. They have some debt which they need to pay might be a possibility. Anyway the tax thing isn't actually a very big problem, it is just that it needs time (which this year we have). If they wouldn't accept the bid then we can easily do a Bayern (Martinez) and get him at the same amount. On this way they don't look like cnuts and get as much money as they value him.

Anyway, there were strong reports from a few people last season that Bilbao was ready to accept 35m EUR (at that time it was 30.5m pounds so yay we saved 2m) but United/Woody/Moyes valued Herrera lower than that and made a lower offer (22m pounds or so IIRC) which was refused from them despite that Woody wanted to include some other things like a friendly match between the clubs.

 

[sullydnl]

Well, at least it means LVG is going for a really offensive tactic if he want someone like Herrera to be the CM. That is very positive at least!

Nice, sounds like it'll be fun. Some sort of DM might be in order next though...

 

[Speak]

His passing has been 81% accurate on the last 2 seasons but I am not sure that this is because he isn't good at it, or because of the system how Bilbao plays. If you look at their players (I am not counting defenders), Muniain has the best passing stats with 83% while most of their midfielders/attacking midfielders passing stats vary from 78% to 83% (with some as low as 72% or so). I guess it is more because of their system rather than because of their individual qualty.

It's similar to how Kagawa gave the ball away more at Dortmund than he does here. Yet he was still more effective despite doing so.
When you play with players who think like you, you tend to play with less accuracy, because you don't need to.

Both Dortmund and Bilbao's systems are built on trust and freedom. Dortmund play(ed) tons of flick-ons round the corner and dinks onto each others chests. These were part of the reason they were able to carve teams open by creating ridiculous angles, but they're also risky balls that don't always come off - thus lower passing accuracy rates.

In contrast a team like us sees Carrick complete high percentages, but a lot of those passes aren't threatening enough or quick enough to cut open the opposition. A blend is good, and because Herrera wont be playing with a team full of Spanish youngsters of the exact same mentality, he'll adapt his game I think.

Very few players can match accuracy with amazing creativity consistently. Someone with a bit more security in their passing will go well alongside him.

 

[Annahnomoss]

Maybe he plays a lot of risky passes? I mean that Cleverley had passing accuracy over 90% many times, but mainly because all he did was chose the safe option time and time again. In fact even Xavi was accused of the same thing when he stopped playing as many through balls as he did in his prime years.

Mind that i'm only guessing.

Just answered it above and yeah, he does. Not through-balls, long balls or crosses but rather he has the typical modern Spaniard style of "pass and move". A pass is basically not completed until you have also moved in to space afterwards.

Similar to Cleverley's passing when he was doing well, but of course Herrera is a better player.

 

[gaz1185]

We should buy de Jong and play him next to Ander.

Agree, if we're signing Herrera then we definitely need some beef in midfield - not saying it should be him, but a player like De Jong is what we need.

 

[PlayerOne]

Can't believe this is happening after the whole mess summer. If he's the first signing then it's a great start to the summer! Hopefully many more to come.

 

[Brophs]

Indeed, so why are they being so friendly all of a sudden? I thought they generally made a principle out of refusing to sell?

Some of the reports say he has a year left on his deal. I presume it's a compromise to avoid us paying the premium of taxes etc. and still allowing them to get his release clause.

 

[GBBQ]

It is a mix of both cases, Herrera's passing is not bad but it is a more risky version of Kagawa/Mata's type of passing which is pass someone then move to space to receive it and pass again. It is creative passing though, that breaks down opponents and creates chances for the team - instead of lateral passes which racks up high passing accuracy stats but in reality is a less efficient pass.

LVG obviously sees enough in him (assuming the reports are true). At 30 million he's not exactly a bargain basement signing and this early on in the window its not a desparation signing. At 24 he can be coached on the weaker areas of his game.

 

[Carlsen19]

What's the bets Van Gaal was expected Hector and Woodward has screwed up?

 

[Jev]

Really? They've never been slow to repeat random rumours from other news sites in the past. Don't thnk their sources are any more reliable tbh.

I would be more convinced if some of the broadsheets went with his. Their journos do have good contacts within the club. The fact they haven't means this should be taken with a large pinch of salt IMO.

They try to get confirmation of rumours from other media and don't print anything until they are absolutely convinced it's happening. BBC are undoubtedly the most reliable in England.

 

[SolidState]

Just seen the Barca and Madrid compilations.

He had a much better game vs Madrid despite them losing. He was bossing the middle of the park and at one point the Madrid players were obviously told to play him out of the game as all link up between defence and attack was going through him and I have to say he was doing an excellent job.

Barca took to the task by marking him closely and playing their usual high pressure style, his final delivery in this game was a little lacking but his tenacity and skill actually provided the pass for the goal.

What strikes me is his adaptability and speed, the guy is rapid in the middle, perfect for counter attacking, he seems to nick the ball in the middle and turn over the possession into attack in the blink of an eye and has the technical ability to pass a few players along the way. What he will have to develop at United is a killer pass and learn to cushion the ball a little more.

Im about to watch this third video of all his touches vs a more dogged team playing to their strengths. Real Sociadad

 

[JohnDoe]

I don't rate him, but admittedly I haven't seen him play a single minute of football.

 

[Annahnomoss]

Alll Bilbao's midfielders have relatively poor pass completion stats, though. Most likely because they press so high up the pitch so immediately have to complete passes deep in the opposition half, as opposed to working it patiently from very deep.

One of the many reasons focussing exclusively on stats can give a very misleading impression.

Mind you, if his defensive stats are as good as you imply that's great news. Will make such a change to our game having a CM who is really sharp in the tackle.

Yup, Bilbao have a great press which means we now have three players accustomed to the active and pressing defense(Which LVG usually utilizes for his teams). Kagawa, Herrera and Mata so maybe it insinuates we are heading that way ourselves as well, which would be expected.

 

[Revan]

It's similar to how Kagawa gave the ball away more at Dortmund than he does here. Yet he was still more effective despite doing so.
When you play with players who think like you, you tend to play with less accuracy.

Both Dortmund and Bilbao's systems are built on trust and freedom. Dortmund play(ed) tons of flick-ons and dinks onto each others chests. These were part of the reason they were able to carve teams open by creating ridiculous angles, but they're risky balls that don't always come off - thus lower passing accuracy rates.

In contrast a team like us sees Carrick complete high percentages, but a lot of those passes aren't threatening enough or quick enough to cut open the opposition. A blend is good, and because Herrera wont be playing with a team full of Spanish youngsters of the exact same mentality, he'll adapt his game I think.

Very few players can match accuracy with amazing creativity consitently.

Completely agree. Bilbao (at-least under Bielsa) did crazy pressure (similar to Klopp's BVB) on the opposition pitch which means that when they got the ball from them, they had to make quick passes (contrary to Barca/Spain who make a lot of passes on their own part of the pitch) and obviously some of them weren't accurate which gives the poor pass stats. Similar to BVB, Athletic isn't a team that has a lot of the ball so obviously their passing stats aren't that great. I remember on BVB, even Gundogan who was a dream for most of us, had passing stats something like 85% or so (despite that he looks excellent at passing).

Now Athletic/Bielsa had an even more extreme way of playing than Dortmund so passing stats being worse doesn't come as a surprise.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Interesting that we seem to be consistently shopping at the high end of the market since Fergie left. The powers that be are obviously willing to throw cash at the problem but it would be nice to see us trying to pick up some really good youngsters, before they become 30m+ players. Been a while since we signed anyone of that ilk.

 

[iBoss]

Van Gaal appointed, leaks stop happening. Very good.

 

[SiRed]

I think you guys are right. But couldn't Kagawa and Mata play as a front 3 of a 433 along with RvP? They are goalscoring no. 10s. We have seen similar systems at many clubs and NTs like Dortmund, Spain, even Chelsea iirc.


I think it is important for midfielders to score goals because the forwards can a lot of times become committed to the inside of the box and if we don't have anybody decent to take shots in the space behind them and the midfield, then that's a lot of opportunities wasted. All those Scholes goals come to mind.

Even Scholes didnt score quite so often in the last 4 /5 years of his career

 

[sullydnl]

Hard to know. They have some debt which they need to pay might be a possibility. Anyway the tax thing isn't actually a very big problem, it is just that it needs time (which this year we have). If they wouldn't accept the bid then we can easily do a Bayern (Martinez) and get him at the same amount. On this way they don't look like cnuts and get as much money as they value him.

Anyway, there were strong reports from a few people last season that Bilbao was ready to accept 35m EUR (at that time it was 30.5m pounds so yay we saved 2m) but United/Woody/Moyes valued Herrera lower than that and made a lower offer (22m pounds or so IIRC) which was refused from them despite that Woody wanted to include some other things like a friendly match between the clubs.

Hmmm. I'd love to know when we decided we were going to go for Herrera again this summer. Was he back up to other targets or have we been lining this deal up since last September? Intriguing stuff, especially as we managed to keep it under wraps from even the more reliable journalists.

 

[Telcontar]

I very much wish to be proved wrong, but I don't think he is the quality CM we need. He is good for rotation.. I wonder is this the sign that Vidal, Pogba and Kroos don't want to play for United / their clubs are not willing to sell... Still would take Strootman over him anytime.

 

[sullydnl]

Interesting that we seem to be consistently shopping at the high end of the market since Fergie left. The powers that be are obviously willing to throw cash at the problem but it would be nice to see us trying to pick up some really good youngsters, before they become 30m+ players. Been a while since we signed anyone of that ilk.

It would've been even nicer if they'd given SAF the damn cash. Imagine what more he could have achieved if he got to shop at the high end a bit more...

 

[JON.B]

Don't forget that apparently LvG ruled out going for Fabregas because he didn't think he was the right player for us.

If he decides that Herrera is, then am happy to trust his opinion.

Yeah could end up being one of those signings that doesn't really excite but goes on to prove a very good player for the club. I remember watching Kagawa on a regular basis thinking he would be a fantastic signing, two years later and the jury's still very much out it's fair to say. Just goes to prove that no signing is guaranteed to be a success so if he does sign I hope my initial doubts prove to be wrong.

 

[Shark]

It would've been even nicer if they'd given SAF the damn cash. Imagine what more he could have achieved if he got to shop at the high end a bit more...

I honestly think that SAF had the cash to spend, he just liked his bargain signings and was a stubborn man at times. I remember when Modric was available and SAF refused to pay the 30 odd million, which now looks pretty dam insane. When we lost Ronaldo, he brought in Valencia, Oberton and Owen, when he could have at least signed one player worthy of trying to fill his boots.

 

[Revan]

I very much wish to be proved wrong, but I don't think he is the quality CM we need. He is good for rotation.. I wonder is this the sign that Vidal, Pogba and Kroos don't want to play for United / their clubs are not willing to sell... Still would take Strootman over him anytime.

Assuming that we'll go for both of them, I don't know how it'll work. I would expect both of them to play as box to box midfielders (despite that Herrera played last season as AMC) and I don't know if it'll work cause I think a more balanced formation would be having a box to box and a defensive midfielder on our midfield. Maybe United isn't going to risk going for Strootman after his bad injury.

Anyway, if we sign both of them wewill have Carrick, Fletcher, Herrera, Cleverley, Strootman and Fellaini. I think that two from Fletcher, Cleverley and Fellaini will leave either on this summer or in the next one.

 

[PlayerOne]

Interesting that we seem to be consistently shopping at the high end of the market since Fergie left. The powers that be are obviously willing to throw cash at the problem but it would be nice to see us trying to pick up some really good youngsters, before they become 30m+ players. Been a while since we signed anyone of that ilk.

It good to see us aiming for top players since it's what the team needs right now but I must admit it's it when we sign young players, it's a different kind of excitement.

 

[Maajid]

feckit! it is 0330 here and I am waiting for the news... Got to sleep now.

Been there. Happy days!

 

[Speak]

The second part is very true, he has the Iniesta trait which can't be measured of not dribbling past players but receiving the ball in a way which "beats" players. His offense is very interesting, his passing accuracy isn't amazing, his through-balls aren't, he reminds me quite a lot about Kagawa but a more direct version. But he won't be the one to take the game by the scruff, instead he relies heavily on linking up with other players.

He will be doing the job Giggs did, which made Kagawa have some brilliant performances of passing - then moving in to space. Instead of passing and just standing still and go "Ohh what do you do with the ball now Mata/Shinji/Rooney".

The thing I am not too convinced about is his defending though, he will have so much responsibility and his best role is as an attacking midfielder. But then again I was the one who thought LVG could turn Kagawa in to a player who could fill the Herrera role, so why wouldn't I believe LVG can work his magic with Herrera.

I don't think his best role is as an attacking midfielder. And I'd say his doggedness and athleticism make him a more sensible player for the role than Kagawa, who can try to slow things down to much when given time a space (whereas Herrera will run into that space). They should bounce well off each other.

I agree that his technique isn't up to the very high standard of the Spanish internationals or young internationals, but he still thinks like a Spanish player off the ball and with the ball, which can only be good news, as we lack midfielders who know where to move to on instinct.

But he's still capable of superb bits of technique as he showed at Old Trafford.

 

[KiD MoYeS]

This move proves English journalists have absolutely no idea who we're after. Other than Shaw anyway.

 

[buckooo1978]

from the youtube videos (I know) I've seen he looks a genuine playmaker and has a great range of passing

I thought he was quite small but he's 6 foot so I cant see him being bullied

for those who watch La Liga/Serie A regularly how does a Herrera/Strootman combination sound behind Mata/Rooney/RVP etc

 

[PlayerOne]

This move proves English journalists have absolutely no idea who we're after. Other than Shaw anyway.

It seems as though the club has stopped briefing since LVG came in. We'll see if things change when the World Cup is finished and most of the journalists are back.

 

[iBoss]

I very much wish to be proved wrong, but I don't think he is the quality CM we need. He is good for rotation.. I wonder is this the sign that Vidal, Pogba and Kroos don't want to play for United / their clubs are not willing to sell... Still would take Strootman over him anytime.

We were never going to sign Pogba and Vidal. Van Gaal didn't want Kroos.

If anything, a Strootman - Herrera combination makes more sense that one or the other.

 

[Glanville95]

Price is irrelevant for a player who will make a massive difference to our midfield. I'm very excited by this signing even if he isn't top tier, add Blind this summer and possibly Strootman in January and all of a sudden our midfield options look very strong.

 

[Shark]

from the youtube videos (I know) I've seen he looks a genuine playmaker and has a great range of passing

I thought he was quite small but he's 6 foot so I cant see him being bullied

for those who watch La Liga/Serie A regularly how does a Herrera/Strootman combination sound behind Mata/Rooney/RVP etc

He definitely won't be bullied, he's a tough customer when it comes to it.

 

[sullydnl]

This move proves English journalists have absolutely no idea who we're after. Other than Shaw anyway.

Interesting change, isn't it? They've gone from being clearly briefed to not knowing anything. LVG preferring a tight ship is the obvious explanation, though the thinking up to that point was that the briefings were Woodward's strategy rather than anything to do with the manager.

 

[Revan]

from the youtube videos (I know) I've seen he looks a genuine playmaker and has a great range of passing

I thought he was quite small but he's 6 foot so I cant see him being bullied

for those who watch La Liga/Serie A regularly how does a Herrera/Strootman combination sound behind Mata/Rooney/RVP etc

I just talked a bit for it, and I am not sure that it will work. Both will play as box to box and while both of them are good defensively, still I think that for a better balance we would need a defensive midfielder. Probably Strootman can be teached to play a bit deeper as a DM and Strootman as a box to box, but still I don't know if that will be possible.

Making a total guess, I think that after all we won't go for Strootman. It might be possible that Herrera was the backup plan and we aren't convinced that Strootman will make a fine return from injury so we're going for Herrera instead.

 

[shaggy]

This move proves English journalists have absolutely no idea who we're after. Other than Shaw anyway.

Agreed. Had a suspicion that was the case with journalists linking us to every player going.

 

[ManUtd43vr]

Been there. Happy days!

Almost tree fiddy and still cannot sleep!

 

[JPRouve]

Indeed, so why are they being so friendly all of a sudden? I thought they generally made a principle out of refusing to sell?

Like a lot of clubs, i f you respect them, they tend to be nicer, in that case if you want a Bilbao player you have to come soon, because they need time to find a replacement, and you have to pay the equivalent of the release clause without negociation.