Current opinions on Herrera

Going by fan opinion the formation has to be altered to suit each player.. What about them being proper footballers and be tactically capable? Its getting tiresome now.
He is one of my favourite in this team but he brings a lot less than others(Fellaini and Morgan) I don't particularly like, they at least show a bit of tactical discipline.
LVG obviously likes him or else he won't be played considering is still not playing with the disciple he demands from his central players.
 
KikiDaKats said:
Going by fan opinion the formation has to be altered to suit each player.. What about them being proper footballers and be tactically capable? Its getting tiresome now.
He is one of my favourite in this team but he brings a lot less than others(Fellaini and Morgan) I don't particularly like, they at least show a bit of tactical discipline.
LVG obviously likes him or else he won't be played considering is still not playing with the disciple he demands from his central players.
Click to expand...
Morgan has not shown complete lack of awareness and concentration. If fact he has been a bloody risk. Fellaini has been Ok recently, but it was against Derby and an absolutely abject Stoke. Chelsea and Arsenal should give a better picture regarding any improvement. If we cannot beat Sunderland, then we are still in trouble. I agree with you about LvG actually liking him. I think he deserves to be on the bench atm, but he always opts to bring him on. So I think he actually trusts him more than Morgan in some situations.
 
I've never though of him as a number 10 player, more of CM in either midfield two with one more defensive oriented player, or even better as a part of midfield 3 with license to roam around.

At the moment he's out of form, nothing to worry about.
 
Freak said:
LVG's system broke him. When he has freedom to play the way he wants, he's a lovely midfielder to watch.
Click to expand...

When he plays well its because he's our favourite, when he plays badly it's because of LVG.

His best football came after a period out of the team adjusting to LVG's demands. When it had clicked for him and LVG was happy with what he was doing.
 
Black Adder said:
I've never though of him as a number 10 player, more of CM in either midfield two with one more defensive oriented player, or even better as a part of midfield 3 with license to roam around.

At the moment he's out of form, nothing to worry about.
Click to expand...
I think people are worrying because he was one of the bright lights last season. Most of the team has been out of form. Things hopefully picking up the next few games should tell us more. We also have F.A. Cup and Europa League and hopefully have players coming back. The fact we are being more attacking might life the shackles off Ander. It almost looks at time, that he sees a pass, then in the middle of making it he thinks again, that he will get into trouble if he messes up, which then makes him mess it up. They should just tell him to enjoy himself and as long as he isn't on the edge of his box, not to worry about losing the ball now and again.
 
He isn't a play-maker. He's a hard working, box to box midfielder and is very good at that role.

When he's played alongside Carrick I believe we've played around 10 games and won every single one of them.
 
DomesticTadpole said:
I think people are worrying because he was one of the bright lights last season. Most of the team has been out of form. Things hopefully picking up the next few games should tell us more. We also have F.A. Cup and Europa League and hopefully have players coming back. The fact we are being more attacking might life the shackles off Ander. It almost looks at time, that he sees a pass, then in the middle of making it he thinks again, that he will get into trouble if he messes up, which then makes him mess it up. They should just tell him to enjoy himself and as long as he isn't on the edge of his box, not to worry about losing the ball now and again.
Click to expand...

Was about to write something similar but then decided against it. :)

Him being out of form could be, at least in some part, down to tactics. Too many players looked like they don't play even close to their potential with Herrera just being one of them. As you've said, with more attacking approach he could show what's he really capable of, and hope he does since there are more than enough matches till the end of a season and we need everyone playing much much better!
 
I would MUCH prefer we play a 4-3-3 with 2 b2b CMs, and Carrick in the deep-lying playmaker role (at least give it a go against Chelsea) Herrera flourishes in that formation, because, well, it is his natural position. He isnt a 10 and he isnt a CDM, so of course he wont look his best.

Mata has been much better after moving back to no 10 (along with our attack's newfound freedom to move and create) than he has as a RW. No reason to think Herrera wont look much better in his natural position, where he can partner with the RW and RB or ST to make the passing triangles that saw us dominate in our successful spell last season.

I just hope to God LVG (or Mou, fingers crossed) doesnt get rid of him in the summer.
 
DomesticTadpole said:
Morgan has not shown complete lack of awareness and concentration. If fact he has been a bloody risk. Fellaini has been Ok recently, but it was against Derby and an absolutely abject Stoke. Chelsea and Arsenal should give a better picture regarding any improvement. If we cannot beat Sunderland, then we are still in trouble. I agree with you about LvG actually liking him. I think he deserves to be on the bench atm, but he always opts to bring him on. So I think he actually trusts him more than Morgan in some situations.
Click to expand...

I also have my issues with them, Morgan I feel he is learning a new role and Fellaini for being Fellaini. For all their weaknesses there are parts of their game that can compensate for their shortcomings, whilst with him when his all action style doesn't pay off he has nothing else to compensate for it.
 
I never really seen him as a "cure all" to our attacking problems. What I like is the energy that he brings when he plays. He plays at a higher tempo that some of our other options. At least that's the impression I get. All in all I like him and I think he's definitely worth holding on to. I think there's a lot more for us to see from him too, he's about to go into the peak of his career (usually 26 - 30 for midfielders) and I think the signs are very promising.
 
SirBobbysCombover said:
Strange buy, always thought we should have gone for Javi Martinez from that stunning Bilbao team that schooled us in the Europas.
Click to expand...
I thought him going to Bayern showed we are beneath them in the pecking order too, which I was unhappy about.
 
There seems to be just as many people calling him "overrated on the Caf" as there are people defending him so maybe underwhelming or unconvincing are better adjectives to use.
Other than that, most of what has been said is true. I think he's a very good player that has been under performing. Whether that's due to how he's managed, the system, his actual ability or confidence is pretty hard to discern.

I know BFS is injured but it's bloody concerning that Carrick & Fellaini look set to be our first choice midfield heading into February considering all of our options at the beginning of the season.
 
I think he's a player who plays his best in a team where footballers don't have a super specific role. When you have a group of players who are good footballers and can play across the field and where pretty much everyone makes a contribution to the score sheet, then Herrera is a good catalyst with his all round game.

To give him a static role to play midfield will not be ideal for him. He will have good games and bad. To me he's at his best when there's a lot of movement on the ball. He's a typical counter attack midfielder with a lot of stamina. He probably prefers a fast attacking game over possession. As many people already pointed out, he should play in a 4-3-3 system. Tight space and high speed.
 
I think he's very good in a B2B role, but unfortunately for him we don't have that role in our current setup. I don't think he's particularly good as an AM or pivot.
 
He's out of form and out of place right now. If a new manager comes in and changes things up I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him bounce back and become a key player.
 
He is a good player to have. We all know what he can do. He has the ability to give a very top performance like in some games this season and lots of games last season. Plus he loves the club and loves being here.

The problem is that people here see him as iniesta level player and over the top comments like 'Barca and pep are probably targeting him' and all. Maybe it's because he was the first good CM we had in what felt like eons (probably not since Scholes before his first retirement and Fletcher before his illness).
 
More things happen when he plays. If too many things happen he usually gets taken off. Not playing very well at the moment though so more things are bad for us. I like him and think he will come good sooner than later and he's done well to reign his natural game in so much. He shouldn't have to do that but that's the LVG way
 
He hasnt got enough chances this season. LVG keeps putting him in and taking him out. He doesn't get a consistent run of games. His injuries didn't help him but still I would prefer either him or Perreira playing in the first XI to Fellaini.
 
He's a good, attacking-minded player who fans on here probably overrate a little bit due to the fact that LVG arguably doesn't use him as much as he should, or at least hasn't at times. I don't think the club is exactly sure of his best position yet, and as a result he hasn't completely fit in. I like him, though.
 
He's a very good central midfielder for a 3 man midfield, not suited at all to a 4-2-3-1 as he's not a #10 nor is he a holding midfielder. Way out of form now though and has gone too far the other way compared to how many risks he took when he first came. Now he almost exclusively plays it safe back or sideways, very rarely doing forward passes. I'm a huge fan of his, but he should and can be doing better, Van gaal or no Van Gaal.
 
Overall he hasn't been as good as he has been for Athletic. Some of it is down to van Gaal, but he has to take some blame as well.
 
bucky said:
Overall he hasn't been as good as he has been for Athletic. Some of it is down to van Gaal, but he has to take some blame as well.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I'll add to the point that Herrera isn't the kind of footballer who can carry a side that's not performing on his back. Martial and Rooney, at top form, can pull magic out of nothing. Herrera is a team footballer, like a Carrick but a different player than Carrick. As far as this season's form, most of the blame has to fall on LVG for pushing a philosophy that misuses our talent, such as Herrera, and makes it easy for shit sides to beat us.

Ander will never be the first name on our squad sheet (Martial, for me) but if used properly is capable of magnificent performances. Ferguson must be spitting nails watching how LVG is managing this squad.
 
I think he needs to adhere to a disciplined role - contrary to the 'let him play' notion a lot of folks seem to put forward.

He's not good enough to run a midfield on his own merit. He's an energetic player with flashes of quality. The best you'll get from him in my eyes, is giving him a role on either side of a midfield and having him stick to it. Running around like a headless chicken (which he is very prone to) is useless.

Ironically, I think Van Gaal has been spot on with him.
 
Last edited:
He needs to play instead of one of the holding players ideally

-------Herrera-------Carrick-------
New Winger---Mata-------Martial
---------------Rooney---------------
 
My opinion is that he should be playing instead of Fellaini. I feel Carrick+Fellaini/Schneiderlin is not mobile enough and Herrera would fix that problem in defense. He's also better in attack and I'd be willing to sacrifice the certain qualities that Fellaini offers for that.
 
Good player. Often very good. As has been mentioned a hundred billion times, needs to play in a midfield 3. For whatever reason, we don't play 4-3-3 anymore. We persist with a #10, even though we don't really have a very good #10. He's not been great there. Neither has Rooney. Mata is finally getting a shot there and has done well in the last couple of games.

He's more suited to the box to box role rather than as a #10. I'd like to see him get a chance next to Carrick or Schneiderlin. Perhaps not against Chelsea though.
 
bucky said:
Overall he hasn't been as good as he has been for Athletic. Some of it is down to van Gaal, but he has to take some blame as well.
Click to expand...

He wasn't even that good for Athletic. He's an alright player, never been anything special though and never will be.
 
Snow said:
My opinion is that he should be playing instead of Fellaini. I feel Carrick+Fellaini/Schneiderlin is not mobile enough and Herrera would fix that problem in defense. He's also better in attack and I'd be willing to sacrifice the certain qualities that Fellaini offers for that.
Click to expand...

He should technically be playing in front of fellaini but maroune has been better than him recently. Simple.
 
Bob Loblaw said:
He wasn't even that good for Athletic. He's an alright player, never been anything special though and never will be.
Click to expand...

I feel like I'm going to explode here!

NlboVh.jpg
 
Bob Loblaw said:
He wasn't even that good for Athletic. He's an alright player, never been anything special though and never will be.
Click to expand...

He was their best player in his final season, even if he struggled for the first part of the season, he was vital to them. But yeah he's probably no Henderson. I had to many discussions with Barney about this, forgive me.
 
He's far better than he is showing at the moment. Still early days for him though and has shown enough so far to give hope he can cement a place in the team.

I like his as a number 8 as he can inuence things more easily but his tackling worries me at times so can understand LVG trying him as a 10.
 
Art said:
Good player. Very overrated in here.
Click to expand...

At the moment people seem to be underrating him due to his bad form. "Never going to become a top player" etc. He is still very young for a midfielder, and just needs to find his place in the team in order to flourish.
 
He's an 8, preferably in a 433 when we signed Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin I thought we'd play
---------Schneiderlin-------
Herrera--------------Basti
Which is great on paper, however I don't think it's been tried yet. Mata is the better #10 IMO.
 
bucky said:
He was their best player in his final season, even if he struggled for the first part of the season, he was vital to them. But yeah he's probably no Henderson. I had to many discussions with Barney about this, forgive me.
Click to expand...

He wasn't their best. Iturraspe, Aduriz and Muniain were all better.

Fact is he had an inconsistent, up down time at Athletic Club, just like at Man Utd. There's always an excuse for him when he's not performing though for some reason.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.