[Rish Sawhney]

You were the one who made a point if Cleverley is not coward with his passing, he would be still be here. Which clearly not the case as making lot of risky passes like Pereira is not what determine how the player will still be here being good enough. It's about quality and being effective in what they offer and that's Bruno was signed.

WTF? You have no right to tell me to get over it. I have my own opinion and I see them as players with full of weakness and no strength with relying on pure work rate. If you can't accept it then move on mate, not sure why are you getting so over passionate about it.

Just an observer here but that was so not what was said. The point was that if Cleverly's conservative (cowardly?) passing was due to manager's instruction (as you claimed), then he'd still be here.

You can be cowardly and not be good enough (like Cleverly) and you can be too risk taking and still not be good enough (like Pereira). So they are alike in that they're not good enough, but they also have different weaknesses and reasons that they're not good enough.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

Just an observer here but that was so not what was said. The point was that if Cleverly's conservative (cowardly?) passing was due to manager's instruction (as you claimed), then he'd still be here.

You can be cowardly and not be good enough (like Cleverly) and you can be too risk taking and still not be good enough (like Pereira). So they are alike in that they're not good enough, but they also have different weaknesses and reasons that they're not good enough.

Mate, you do realised if Cleverley's passing wasn't due to manager's instruction then he wouldn't make those type of passing, thus he wouldn't called as being coward with his passing. If the manager instructed him to play more risky passes, Cleverley would have done the same thing with Pereira, playing risky ball without it coming off often enough. You get it now?

No quality or any physical attribute to offer but just pure work rate for the reason why both players are still in the squad.

 

[Rish Sawhney]

Mate, you do realised if Cleverley's passing wasn't due to manager's instruction then he wouldn't make those type of passing, thus he wouldn't called as being coward with his passing. If the manager instructed him to play more risky passes, Cleverley would have done the same thing with Pereira, playing risky ball without it coming off often enough. You get it now?

No quality or any physical attribute to offer but just pure work rate for the reason why both players are still in the squad.

I think thats the disagreement right there. I don't think everything a player does on the pitch is exactly the way his manager wants him to act at the time. Cleverly got very conservative after his initial few games and got obsessed with keeping the ball. I bet SAF wanted him as a possession player sure, but his absolute unwillingness to turn with it even when completely open was not on the manager's instruction, I assure you.

Anyway the larger point sure. Both are a bit like workhorses who're not good enough sure. But the issues in their games are completely different. I'm not buying that Cleverly in an attacking midfielder role would become that much riskier passer. He's be more like Lingard - sideways and backwards mostly rather than Periera (bad decision making and just plays bad passes, dribbles or shots).

 

[BAMSOLA]

We've done a good service by him by showing other clubs there is a reasonable player there even though he is out of his depth at this level. Time to move him on to a mid table Spanish club this summer.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

I think thats the disagreement right there. I don't think everything a player does on the pitch is exactly the way his manager wants him to act at the time. Cleverly got very conservative after his initial few games and got obsessed with keeping the ball. I bet SAF wanted him as a possession player sure, but his absolute unwillingness to turn with it even when completely open was not on the manager's instruction, I assure you.

Anyway the larger point sure. Both are a bit like workhorses who're not good enough sure. But the issues in their games are completely different. I'm not buying that Cleverly in an attacking midfielder role would become that much riskier passer. He's be more like Lingard - sideways and backwards mostly rather than Periera (bad decision making and just plays bad passes, dribbles or shots).

You just mentioned that "SAF wanted him as a possession player". Surely that's where you missed it that SAF gave him instruction to play more simple, play more possession & pass the ball to Carrick. People are forgetting that lot of us rated Cleverley highly in 2011/2012 season before his injury against Everton, and next following season he became coward all of sudden as we have Carrick who is much more capable.

Why can't you think that the main reason why he played Cleverley and why Ole played Pereira is because of their work rate & they didn't have much other option. Lingard on the other hand offers off ball movement & pace in his asset which is the reason why manager played him. The comparison is even way different with Lingard.

 

[Ekeke]

In pretty good company here. The most key passes in the league from the AM position per 90 mins that dont fit into the rest of the categories. So not passes through on goal, but passes to players who were in an advanced area and able to get a shot at goal - most likely feeding the ball into Rashford who has had 74 shots this season, 6th most in the league and at least 4 games less than each of the 5 players above him

 

[Nickelodeon]

In pretty good company here. The most key passes in the league from the AM position per 90 mins that dont fit into the rest of the categories. So not passes through on goal, but passes to players who were in an advanced area and able to get a shot at goal - most likely feeding the ball into Rashford who has had 74 shots this season, 6th most in the league and at least 4 games less than each of the 5 players above him

What are key passes exactly? (Some example from a goal which we can recall)

If there is a stat which features all of Pereira, Lingard and Mata all in the top 10 AMs in the country, then I'd question the stat rather than pat these 3 on the back.

 

[11101]

In pretty good company here. The most key passes in the league from the AM position per 90 mins that dont fit into the rest of the categories. So not passes through on goal, but passes to players who were in an advanced area and able to get a shot at goal - most likely feeding the ball into Rashford who has had 74 shots this season, 6th most in the league and at least 4 games less than each of the 5 players above him

Other than KDB, who significantly outperforms him, that's not exactly a who's who of the top talent in European football is it.

 

[DWelbz19]

In pretty good company here. The most key passes in the league from the AM position per 90 mins that dont fit into the rest of the categories. So not passes through on goal, but passes to players who were in an advanced area and able to get a shot at goal - most likely feeding the ball into Rashford who has had 74 shots this season, 6th most in the league and at least 4 games less than each of the 5 players above him

Pretty good company indeed. Kevin De Bruyne, and err... Aaron Moy?

 

[Adam-Utd]

In pretty good company here. The most key passes in the league from the AM position per 90 mins that dont fit into the rest of the categories. So not passes through on goal, but passes to players who were in an advanced area and able to get a shot at goal - most likely feeding the ball into Rashford who has had 74 shots this season, 6th most in the league and at least 4 games less than each of the 5 players above him

Your hard on for Pereira borders on the weird. He's quite frankly average and you don't need a fancy whoscored table to tell you that.

 

[Ekeke]

Your hard on for Pereira borders on the weird. He's quite frankly average and you don't need a fancy whoscored table to tell you that.

He's decent at the job he was doing as an AM, until a much better player was bought for the position. Average as a RM and mostly poor as a CM

 

[Ekeke]

What are key passes exactly? (Some example from a goal which we can recall)

If there is a stat which features all of Pereira, Lingard and Mata all in the top 10 AMs in the country, then I'd question the stat rather than pat these 3 on the back.

A pass that leads to a shot. In the case of Pereira and the "other" categoty most likely a pass to the feet of Rashford who comes inside and fashions a shot, or another teammate who does the same.

Not as exciting or impressive as a defense splitting pass but not too bad when your top scorer is a left winger who likes to come inside and shoot from range. The more you get the ball to Rashford in the premier league, or Greenwood on the other side in the europa league the more likely we are to score. Since those are our top scorers and thats how they've done it.

I'm sure that Bruno will be higher with key passes (0.1 per 90 mins behind atm) when he plays more often with our first choice selection of players. He came in when some were out.

 

[Adam-Utd]

He's decent at the job he was doing as an AM, until a much better player was bought for the position. Average as a RM and mostly poor as a CM

As you said, he did a steady squad mans job - but the minute we bought a proper AM it was night and day difference. I like his passion and he always tries hard but he just doesn't have a very good brain and lacks physicality to make up for it.

 

[-Supreme-]

What are key passes exactly? (Some example from a goal which we can recall)

If there is a stat which features all of Pereira, Lingard and Mata all in the top 10 AMs in the country, then I'd question the stat rather than pat these 3 on the back.

So true

 

[Ekeke]

As you said, he did a steady squad mans job - but the minute we bought a proper AM it was night and day difference. I like his passion and he always tries hard but he just doesn't have a very good brain and lacks physicality to make up for it.

He's just a squad player if hes here next season. Doesn't mean we can't appreciate when he's up there with De Bruyne on one specific thing.

 

[hmchan]

It's really interesting to see Cleverley being mentioned. I have always thought he (and Evans and Welbeck) would have a better career if Fergie didn't retire. It's true that he made plenty of sideway passes, but I'm inclined to believe it's part of the tactical setup as we focused heavily on the wing in attacking. Many watched him with preconceived notions that he only made backward passes cowardly - in fact statistically he had a much higher foward pass percentage than Herrera, but no one accused Herrera for being a coward as he didn't have that prejudiced label.

Whenever I see someone praising Herrera or Fred for their work rate, I have always thought Cleverley could do the same.

 

[phonics_tid]

Just watching the stream of the PSG game and I absolutely love the way he doesn‘t take any of Dani Alves’ shit at the start of the game. Would’ve been easy for Andreas to be fazed by the occasion and his fellow countryman but he treats Alves like any old player, clearly got Alves riled up a bit.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

If we have standards, he's not even good enough for the bench. Lingard at least has had moments with us. Asides from crossing the ball when given space he's shit

 

[Ekeke]

It's really interesting to see Cleverley being mentioned. I have always thought he (and Evans and Welbeck) would have a better career if Fergie didn't retire. It's true that he made plenty of sideway passes, but I'm inclined to believe it's part of the tactical setup as we focused heavily on the wing in attacking. Many watched him with preconceived notions that he only made backward passes cowardly - in fact statistically he had a much higher foward pass percentage than Herrera, but no one accused Herrera for being a coward as he didn't have that prejudiced label.

Whenever I see someone praising Herrera or Fred for their work rate, I have always thought Cleverley could do the same.

Can you post those stats? Since Ander had our 2nd most passes forward of our CMs last season behind Pogba and more than all PSG midfielders other than Veratti. He made a good amount of forward passes

 

[hmchan]

Can you post those stats? Since Ander had our 2nd most passes forward of our CMs last season behind Pogba and more than all PSG midfielders other than Veratti. He made a good amount of forward passes

Those stats were on Squawka but it's become unavailable after maintenance. If memory serves, Cleverley had ~65% passes going forward while Herrera only had ~55%.

The total number of forward passes doesn't mean anything as it doesn't reflect the number of back passes made. Moreover, teams usually play with 2-3 CMs and being 2nd isn't really an achievement to be proud of. I also wonder the stats at PSG as Herrera has barely played, especially in the midfield.

Here's the closest stats I can get. Matic has about 67.4% passes going forward while Herrera only has 60.9%. That's a pretty significant difference.

 

[Ekeke]

Those stats were on Squawka but it's become unavailable after maintenance. If memory serves, Cleverley had ~65% passes going forward while Herrera only had ~55%.

The total number of forward passes doesn't mean anything as it doesn't reflect the number of back passes made. Moreover, teams usually play with 2-3 CMs and being 2nd isn't really an achievement to be proud of. I also wonder the stats at PSG as Herrera has barely played, especially in the midfield.

Here's the closest stats I can get. Matic has about 67.4% passes going forward while Herrera only has 60.9%. That's a pretty significant difference.

So yeah that was 2 seasons ago. Last season I looked at sqwaka myself and posted Ander's stats vs our CMs and vs PSG's CMs in the Ander thread. Thats where he had more forward passes than any of our midfielders and more than any of PSG's other than Veratti.

Of course it means something, which is why people like the suggest he didnt make forward passes. The comparison is against all the other CMs that played, not just the 2nd most after the playmaker out of the 2. It was out of the squad of midfielders.

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/ander-herrera-to-psg-gone.445997/page-51#post-23953817

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/ander-herrera-to-psg-gone.445997/page-61#post-24055578

Theres the posts. And no he doesnt make more backward passes, again he was 2nd least behind Pogba by 2 backward passes a game and was the least sideways passes of our CMs

 

[Web of Bissaka]

If we have standards, he's not even good enough for the bench. Lingard at least has had moments with us. Asides from crossing the ball when given space he's shit

Moments of exquisite plays which he can pull off only vs weak teams you mean.. (2 Goals 2 Assists -- all in EL and FAC).

Yet Pereira is worst?

• Scored 2 in PL and EL
• Assisted 4 --> 3 in PL and 1 in FAC
• More visible when playing -- Lingard have invisibility superpower.
• Can cover the whole of midfield positions -- Lingard can only play CAM now.
• Set-piece delivery and FK/PK shooting.
• Good Crossing threats from the right -- our most problematic position, Lingard can only do nothing there.
• Shooting from distance threat, and just outside box.
• Consistent pressing/hassling
• Wider range of passing
• Made more key passes to our forwards eg. Martial (there were those stats..)
• Ball carry abilities

*Putting aside the quality and his inconsistency..

Lingard has one single edge -- he's more like to perform better vs weak teams than Pereira who may remain inconsistent even vs weak teams. Yet, Pereira is more likely to perform way "better" vs mid-table/top teams than Lingard, especially in PL. And tbf, Lingard has slightly more presence in the box.

Considering standards..
I do agree if we can get a better player than him, then by all means get that player.
Otherwise, I would prefer having Pereira on bench rather than Lingod, Chong and Garner.

 

[Based Adnan]

Moments of exquisite plays which he can pull off only vs weak teams you mean.. (2 Goals 2 Assists -- all in EL and FAC).

Yet Pereira is worst?

• Scored 2 in PL and EL
• Assisted 4 --> 3 in PL and 1 in FAC
• More visible when playing -- Lingard have invisibility superpower.
• Can cover the whole of midfield positions -- Lingard can only play CAM now.
• Set-piece delivery and FK/PK shooting.
• Good Crossing threats from the right -- our most problematic position, Lingard can only do nothing there.
• Shooting from distance threat, and just outside box.
• Consistent pressing/hassling
• Wider range of passing
• Made more key passes to our forwards eg. Martial (there were those stats..)
• Ball carry abilities

*Putting aside the quality and his inconsistency..

Lingard has one single edge -- he's more like to perform better vs weak teams than Pereira who may remain inconsistent even vs weak teams. Yet, Pereira is more likely to perform way "better" vs mid-table/top teams than Lingard, especially in PL. And tbf, Lingard has slightly more presence in the box.

Considering standards..
I do agree if we can get a better player than him, then by all means get that player.
Otherwise, I would prefer having Pereira on bench rather than Lingod, Chong and Garner.

You touched on it but I think the fact that Lingard has played exclusively in his main position at 10 and still looked poor whereas Pereira has played anywhere from right wing to deep in central midfield with a few games at 10 says it all. One is quite clearly out of position and playing poor whereas the other is in his main position and not providing.

He does still need to improve - he shouldn't be a starter and his place in the team has been replaced with the purchase of Fernandes but I have nothing against him being a squad player. He's putting up better stats than Lingard, covering more positions and is also younger. I also think his mentality is much more suited to United than Lingard's is.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

Moments of exquisite plays which he can pull off only vs weak teams you mean.. (2 Goals 2 Assists -- all in EL and FAC).

Yet Pereira is worst?

• Scored 2 in PL and EL
• Assisted 4 --> 3 in PL and 1 in FAC
• More visible when playing -- Lingard have invisibility superpower.
• Can cover the whole of midfield positions -- Lingard can only play CAM now.
• Set-piece delivery and FK/PK shooting.
• Good Crossing threats from the right -- our most problematic position, Lingard can only do nothing there.
• Shooting from distance threat, and just outside box.
• Consistent pressing/hassling
• Wider range of passing
• Made more key passes to our forwards eg. Martial (there were those stats..)
• Ball carry abilities

*Putting aside the quality and his inconsistency..

Lingard has one single edge -- he's more like to perform better vs weak teams than Pereira who may remain inconsistent even vs weak teams. Yet, Pereira is more likely to perform way "better" vs mid-table/top teams than Lingard, especially in PL. And tbf, Lingard has slightly more presence in the box.

Considering standards..
I do agree if we can get a better player than him, then by all means get that player.
Otherwise, I would prefer having Pereira on bench rather than Lingod, Chong and Garner.

I'm not even comparing the two. I'm saying both players are shit and have given us every reason to sell them but at least Lingard has had moments where he was useful at some point in his career.

I don't see any point in keeping both players on the bench. Both are not good enough to even sit there. We can definitely afford to spend money on a Daniel James type of signing for the AM role and maybe even get the money back by offloading Lingard and Pereira

 

[MadDogg]

I'm not even comparing the two. I'm saying both players are shit and have given us every reason to sell them but at least Lingard has had moments where he was useful at some point in his career.

I don't see any point in keeping both players on the bench. Both are not good enough to even sit there. We can definitely afford to spend money on a Daniel James type of signing for the AM role and maybe even get the money back by offloading Lingard and Pereira

Pereira has been decent this season when used at #10 or on the right. I think people take too much note of his performances in central midfield (where he has been dreadful) and let those performances tarnish their opinion of how he has been all season. He was comfortably outperforming both Lingard and Mata in those roles during the first half of the season (Mata kicked into form for the last month or two before the break, but was terrible before that). Obviously Pereira isn't good enough to be a starter and if the right player does come along I'd happily sell him to make way, but I've also got no problem keeping him as a squad player as long as we keep him away from central midfield.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

I get the feeling he would shine in an empty stadium

 

[Riz]

I get the feeling he would shine in an empty stadium

Yeh, if it was fully empty.

 

[Red Devil's Advocate]

He can't get brains, unfortunately. I hope he gets a nice run and forces one of the European teams to splurge.

 

[vanderpants]

after following this kid for years I'm still wondering what he has to offer to our starting 11, Ole seems to rate him but to be honest he would struggle to get into a mid-table premiership team at best. Another mediocre player that sails through life earning a living at utd like Jones, Lingard etc

 

[arthurka]

after following this kid for years I'm still wondering what he has to offer to our starting 11, Ole seems to rate him but to be honest he would struggle to get into a mid-table premiership team at best. Another mediocre player that sails through life earning a living at utd like Jones, Lingard etc

He seems to have a great work ethic and a good attitude. But he really hasn't shown us anything to smile about.

 

[Smores]

after following this kid for years I'm still wondering what he has to offer to our starting 11, Ole seems to rate him but to be honest he would struggle to get into a mid-table premiership team at best. Another mediocre player that sails through life earning a living at utd like Jones, Lingard etc

It's always worth persisting with our own players for that little bit longer than an external signing. He's probably used up his chances now though and there's others lined up to take his place.

 

[vanderpants]

It's always worth persisting with our own players for that little bit longer than an external signing. He's probably used up his chances now though and there's others lined up to take his place.

Definitely, but you know that player just isn't good enough its time to move on, I don't think he had a good loan spell in Spain either did he?

 

[MikeKing]

Feels weird to me but he is the same age as Adama Traore. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that one player has really kicked on this season, while the other hasn't. We could easily replace Pereira, imo but at the same time he is quite useful in that he can play pretty much every position such as a deep-lying midfielder, winger, box-box or a 10. It's a huge plus for a utility type player and he might not ever be quite good enough as a starter but he has finesse, technique and some grit and determination to him that I like. It's not yet inconceivable to think he might become a late developer since it's clear the boy has talent he just lacks a few mental aspects with tempo and understanding of the game. Some midfielders needs a bit of experience before they peak, like Schweinsteiger etc.

I don't have my hopes up honestly but either way we have to replace Lingard and Mata first, before we even think about getting rid of this boy.

 

[DoomSlayer]

Feels weird to me but he is the same age as Adama Traore. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that one player has really kicked on this season, while the other hasn't. We could easily replace Pereira, imo but at the same time he is quite useful in that he can play pretty much every position such as a deep-lying midfielder, winger, box-box or a 10. It's a huge plus for a utility type player and he might not ever be quite good enough as a starter but he has finesse, technique and some grit and determination to him that I like. It's not yet inconceivable to think he might become a late developer since it's clear the boy has talent he just lacks a few mental aspects with tempo and understanding of the game. Some midfielders needs a bit of experience before they peak, like Schweinsteiger etc.

I don't have my hopes up honestly but either way we have to replace Lingard and Mata first, before we even think about getting rid of this boy.

The biggest problem of Pereira's game is that he has 0 spatial awareness and seems to struggle massively after making a mistake in a game.

If he can actually improve on those aspects, he could be a very useful squad player.

 

[MikeKing]

The biggest problem of Pereira's game is that he has 0 spatial awareness and seems to struggle massively after making a mistake in a game.

If he can actually improve on those aspects, he could be a very useful squad player.

Yeah, that's true. I thought he had the same problems at U21 level too, and while he has improved on it to some degree, the PL is very tough if you can't keep up with the tempo naturally. Especially with the added pressure of playing for a top club, everything crumbles for him. If he can improve on it with more experience he'll grow in confidence and become consistent. I don't think he needs to be consistent to stay as a utility player, but it sure helps. He might not have it in him though, despite his talent, is what I'm wondering.

 

[Mickson]

Feels weird to me but he is the same age as Adama Traore. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that one player has really kicked on this season, while the other hasn't. We could easily replace Pereira, imo but at the same time he is quite useful in that he can play pretty much every position such as a deep-lying midfielder, winger, box-box or a 10. It's a huge plus for a utility type player and he might not ever be quite good enough as a starter but he has finesse, technique and some grit and determination to him that I like. It's not yet inconceivable to think he might become a late developer since it's clear the boy has talent he just lacks a few mental aspects with tempo and understanding of the game. Some midfielders needs a bit of experience before they peak, like Schweinsteiger etc.

I don't have my hopes up honestly but either way we have to replace Lingard and Mata first, before we even think about getting rid of this boy.

Just because he can physically play a lot of positions doesn't mean that he actually can do it good enough, even as a squad player. We have seen how he has managed games as a DLM, catastrophic when he and Fred played together for example. Garner is much better in that position. And honestly, Pereira shouldn't be a Manchester United player. Ole does seem to like him, but I can't for my life understand why.

 

[MadDogg]

Feels weird to me but he is the same age as Adama Traore. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that one player has really kicked on this season, while the other hasn't. We could easily replace Pereira, imo but at the same time he is quite useful in that he can play pretty much every position such as a deep-lying midfielder, winger, box-box or a 10. It's a huge plus for a utility type player and he might not ever be quite good enough as a starter but he has finesse, technique and some grit and determination to him that I like. It's not yet inconceivable to think he might become a late developer since it's clear the boy has talent he just lacks a few mental aspects with tempo and understanding of the game. Some midfielders needs a bit of experience before they peak, like Schweinsteiger etc.

I don't have my hopes up honestly but either way we have to replace Lingard and Mata first, before we even think about getting rid of this boy.

Pereira shouldn't be looked at as an option in central midfield unless it's an extreme emergency. He's been absolutely terrible there all season. I do agree with your last line though as he has comfortably outperformed Lingard and Mata this season when he's played on the right wing or #10.

Just because he can physically play a lot of positions doesn't mean that he actually can do it good enough, even as a squad player. We have seen how he has managed games as a DLM, catastrophic when he and Fred played together for example. Garner is much better in that position. And honestly, Pereira shouldn't be a Manchester United player. Ole does seem to like him, but I can't for my life understand why.

I'd somewhat disagree with this. Ole has been somewhat unfair to him as this season has wore on. Everything was fine at first - he started the season competing with Lingard and Mata for games, but both of them were terrible so Pereira quickly became first choice and proceeded to do quite well. Not good enough that he 'should' be a starter, but easily the best of the options we had. That lasted for three months, then we were forced to drop him deeper into central midfield for a couple of games as all our other midfielders were injured. He was terrible there, and for some reason Ole seemed to use that as an excuse to move Lingard and Mata ahead of him in the pecking order.

Pereira was dropped for a bunch of games, came back and did well again for four matches (even one of them he had to come off the bench against Arsenal where he proved he should have started ahead of Lingard), then followed it with two bad matches against Liverpool and Burnley. Two matches in which everybody was bad, although admittedly he was one of the worst. From that point he literally hasn't started another game at right wing or #10 since. He has started three matches, but all were in midfield where he's shit. Meanwhile Mata has started 6 of the 14 matches, and Lingard 3 (plus another 2 on the left wing). Pereira really should be getting at least some of those matches, as Lingard in particular has done nothing to move back ahead of him in the pecking order. Mata at least did have a couple of decent games after we signed Bruno (his first decent little run in two years).

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Feels weird to me but he is the same age as Adama Traore. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that one player has really kicked on this season, while the other hasn't. We could easily replace Pereira, imo but at the same time he is quite useful in that he can play pretty much every position such as a deep-lying midfielder, winger, box-box or a 10. It's a huge plus for a utility type player and he might not ever be quite good enough as a starter but he has finesse, technique and some grit and determination to him that I like. It's not yet inconceivable to think he might become a late developer since it's clear the boy has talent he just lacks a few mental aspects with tempo and understanding of the game. Some midfielders needs a bit of experience before they peak, like Schweinsteiger etc.

I don't have my hopes up honestly but either way we have to replace Lingard and Mata first, before we even think about getting rid of this boy.

He's hardly useful. He is pretty good off the ball but on it other than pulling the odd good cross/shot every 45 minutes, he offers very little. Mostly because this level is actually too much for him, his awareness and speed of thought is not fit for the level were currently at, let alone the one we want to be at. If we merely want bodies and effort we may as well promote a kid who at least has potential and progress to make.

 

[MikeKing]

Pereira shouldn't be looked at as an option in central midfield unless it's an extreme emergency. He's been absolutely terrible there all season. I do agree with your last line though as he has comfortably outperformed Lingard and Mata this season when he's played on the right wing or #10.

No he shouldn't, but if he is supposed to stay for at least another year despite not improving a lot this season who knows where he'll end up. He doesn't really have a fixed position yet thanks to his issues, but I think he can play a bit deeper in midfield if that gets sorted once he gets older. We'll just have to wait and see. I think it's clear he is not going to be an attacker at this point.

He's hardly useful. He is pretty good off the ball but on it other than pulling the odd good cross/shot every 45 minutes, he offers very little. Mostly because this level is actually too much for him, his awareness and speed of thought is not fit for the level were currently at, let alone the one we want to be at. If we merely want bodies and effort we may as well promote a kid who at least has potential and progress to make.

I think he is a lot more talented than he has managed to prove, and he might be more useful later on in his career. But I agree he isn't fit for the level and PL football. He might never be but he will probably get another season at the club regardless before he moves so we'll just have to wait and see. He shouldn't play ahead of other youngsters like Lingard has been doing this season though, he needs to step up next season to prove himself or he is gone. This should probably be it for him really, but we can't sell everyone this summer and I'm content with keeping him over Lingard and Mata.

 

[arthurka]

Would always use him before using Lingard.