Tag Archives: Ander Herrera

Alternative Premier League Team Of The Year Ft. Alderweireld, Alexis & More

Josh Challies April 20, 2017

The PFA Team of the Year was announced this morning and it’s fair to say the majority of people were underwhelmed by the selections, with the announcement going down like a lead balloon.

Naturally, the team was dominated by players from Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, who currently sit in the top-two positions in the Premier League, but both sides can feel aggrieved by certain members of their team that missed out.

Arsenal, Manchester United, Everton and Manchester City fans will also share their frustrations, as they’ve had star performers overlook in favour of some rather questionable choices from the PFA.

Here at FreshFootball, we’ve also been left underwhelmed by the selections (seriously, Sadio Mane) and rather than discuss who should be in or out of the side, we’ve elected to select an entirely new team altogether.

Have we missed anyone out? Let us know in the comments below!

GK: Hugo Lloris

Spurs’ number one has been an ever-present figure this season between the sticks for the most resilient defence in the Premier League, with the Lilywhites conceding just 22 goals so far- significantly lower than anyone else.

Whilst David De Gea at Manchester United has been similarly impressive, and being selected in the PFA Team of the Year as a result, overlooking the goalkeeper for the league’s best defence is a decision that doesn’t really add up.

Valencia & Rashford In: The Man United XI To Ease Past Anderlecht Tomorrow

Josh Challies April 12, 2017

Manchester United’s quest to win the Europa League continues in Belgium tomorrow as the Red Devils tackle Anderlecht. Here, we’ve identified the starting XI that Jose Mourinho should select.

GK: David De Gea

Manchester United’s number one has been first-choice on the team-sheet throughout the season and will remain in that position for the foreseeable future- although Real Madrid are looking to change the situation with a swoop this summer.

Whilst he can be criticised for being over dramatic at times, De Gea is one of the best young goalkeepers in the world and should be able to put in a commanding performance against Anderlecht tomorrow evening- where a clean-sheet would help the Red Devils tremendously in their aim to reach the semi-finals.

‘We Need Him Back’ Man United Fans Identify Their Most Crucial Player

Josh Challies April 3, 2017

Manchester United missed the chance to continue putting pressure on the top-four this weekend, as they once again dropped points at Old Trafford.

A goalless draw with West Brom failed to create confidence amongst the fans for the remainder of the season, as the Red Devils prepare for a difficult run in- which starts against Everton in midweek.

With Jose Mourinho’s side still having to face Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur between now and the end of the campaign, as well as fighting for glory in the Europa League, fans aren’t confident that they’ll be successful in their push for Champions League football.

However, they’re delighted that a crucial player is set to return against Everton and have heralded Ander Herrera as one of their most crucial players- suggesting he’s even more important to them than world-record signing Paul Pogba.

 

All The Player Ratings: Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United

Patrick Ribeiro March 14, 2017

These are Fresh Football’s ratings for the FA Cup Quarter-Final tie between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea

Thibaut Courtois – 7

The Belgian came up with a crucial stop in the second period, denying what would have been Manchester United’s equaliser through Marcus Rashford’s left-footed strike at goal.

César Azpilicueta – 6

Impressive at the back, less so going forward.

David Luiz – 7

Luiz was able to boss the circulation of possession, even throughout United’s sharpest spells.

Gary Cahill – 6

Noted as the weak link in Chelsea’s backline, exemplified by the rare surrender of possession in sight of United’s pressing traps, but such pressure was eventually eased on the ex-Bolton Wanderers man.

Victor Moses – 6.5

The former Crystal Palace and Wigan Athletic winger got up and down the flank well, despite it being crowded by a defensive-looking United line-up.

N’Golo Kanté – 8

The man of the match, N’Golo Kanté proved to be the decisive difference between the two FA Cup hopefuls with his goal from range.

Nemanja Matic – 6.5

Positive and tidy in possession, which boded well for Chelsea’s game plan in the second half.

Marcos Alonso – 6.5

Another to put in a decent performance, as his influence on proceedings grew in the second half.

Willian – 7

Sharp, direct and unlucky not to have earned himself a goal and assist along the way.

Eden Hazard – 8

Along with Kanté, Eden Hazard was as expressive as ever in the final third, escaping the aggressive press-traps from Man United and inflicting lasting damage.

Diego Costa – 5.5

This wasn’t the Diego Costa we’ve become accustomed to seeing in recent times, taking the bait when embroiling himself in physical battles with Marcos Rojo and missing a couple of dead-cert goals on another day.

Subs:

Cesc Fabregas – 6

Accentuated Chelsea’s dominance after coming on in the second half.

Kurt Zouma – N/A

Michy Batshuayi – N/A

 

Manchester United

David De Gea – 7.5

The Spaniard was the main reason why Manchester United kept Chelsea away from the lead in the first half, as the Blues dominated proceedings following Ander Herrera’s red card.

Antonio Valencia – 5

Plenty of fouls coming from a man who was visibly frustrated with his team’s performance. Antonio Valencia was a poorer player, as a result.

Phil Jones – 6

The Englishman was fairly sound at pressing higher up the pitch in the early stages, but Eden Hazard and co. soon had his number, as he succumbed to mistimed tackles.

Chris Smalling – 6

Few complaints hang over the centre back’s head as far as the result is concerned, but as a captain, and United boss José Mourinho also joins him in this equation, Chris Smalling perhaps could have done more to prevent his teammates from losing their cool in battle.

Marcos Rojo – 5

Rash and aggressive, Marcos Rojo was another to tread on a fine line with regards to his discipline.

Matteo Darmian – 5.5

Mirroring Phil Jones’ duties in pressing a little higher up the pitch, almost like a fourth centre back, Darmian also collected his fair share of failed attempts.

Ander Herrera – 5

Man United fans may bemoan Michael Oliver’s decision to red card the midfielder in the first half, especially after such a positive impact in the early exchanges, but the visitors should also be disappointed in Herrera’s foolish actions just seconds after the referee’s general warning.

Paul Pogba – 5

Little inspiration came from the French playmaker, in particular after being paired up with Marouane Fellaini.

Ashley Young – 4.5

Totally retracted, whereas Chelsea’s preference to attack down their own left-hand side saw Young come into the picture at a sporadic rate.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 5

Appeared fairly lively in and around the box, but the Armenian star was the one to be hooked early in response to Herrera’s red card.

Marcus Rashford – 5.5

Kept Chelsea on their toes, but the striker will be disappointed to have not finished a very good chance he managed to fashion for himself in the second period.

Subs:

Marouane Fellaini – 4.5

The Belgian never got into the game, much to United’s detriment.

Jesse Lingard – N/A

‘He Was Immense’ Twitter Raves About Manchester United Midfielders Performance vs. Liverpool

Fresh Football October 18, 2016

Liverpool and Manchester United played out a goalless draw on what had been dubbed ‘Red Monday’ by Sky Sports. The game was seen by many as an largely underwhelming affair, but there was one player that stood out for Manchester United.

Jose Mourinho tried to stop the fast start that was expected to be made by Liverpool, and his team were successful in doing this, but they were unable to capitalise and take all three points away from Anfield.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Phillipe Coutinho and Emre Can all had chances to break the deadlock, but it was Ander Herrera who stood out in the midfield more Manchester United, putting in a Man Of The Match display for Jose Mourinho’s side.

The Spaniard completed 74% of his passes playing in his deeper role in midfield, this time alongside Marouane Fellaini instead of record-signing Paul Pogba, who played in a more attacking role on ‘Red Monday’.

Although Herrera created no chances, he stayed strong in the midfield and provided an excellent shield in front of the back four. The 27-year-old won 80% of his aerial duels, and completed five take-ons during then goalless draw. In addition to this, Herrera made a total of 11 interceptions, more than any player in the Premier League this season in a single match.

Here is how fans on social media reacted to the superb performance of Herrera in the Manchester United midfielder.

Real Madrid Held Talks To Sign Manchester United Star This Summer: Were They Lucky?

Fresh Football October 10, 2016

Last week, Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane confirmed to the media that record-breaking signing Paul Pogba could have in fact signed for Los Blancos instead of Manchester United over the summer transfer window. 

Madrid are currently in second place in La Liga, and will be looking to sneak into top spot ahead of their Madrid rivals over the coming weeks after the international break, and speaking last week, Zidane did mention that the Frenchman could have put pen to paper for Real Madrid, saying:

“It could have happened. There were conversations, but it didn’t go ahead.”

However, Zidane saw Pogba sign for Manchester United for a fee of around £89m, but he been worth the investment?

In the opening weeks of the Premier League season, we have seen Pogba deployed in a deeper midfield role with a number of partners such as Marouanne Fellaini, but now Ander Herrera plays alongside the Frenchman. This has worked better and Manchester United are now well set for their weekend game against Liverpool – get the best football tips ahead of that huge fixture.

Pogba has usually been the man to push forward and look to cause more of an attacking threat for United while Herrera sits back, and the partnership seemed to be effective against Leicester City, but United could only manage a 1-1 draw with Stoke at Old Trafford a week on.

Looking at his statistics alongside those of his defensive midfield partner Ander Herrera, Paul Pogba wins more of his total duels, but only just. The Frenchman wins 52.58% of his total duels, whereas the Spaniard wins 50%. On the other hand, Herrera wins 75% of his aerial duels, and Pogba wins 59.09% of his aerial duels.

Herrera also makes more interceptions per game than Pogba. The Spanish international makes 3.38 per ninety minutes, but Pogba makes on average just 1.33 interceptions per game. Herrera also makes more tackles per game than his French teammate. Pogba makes on average 1.33, and Herrera makes 2.25.

However, the story is a little different when going forward, which is effectively what Pogba is there for. The Frenchman on average creates 1.83 chances per game, and makes the same number of key passes per ninety minutes. Herrera on the other hand makes just 0.56 per game of each.

We have seen flashes of brilliance from Paul Pogba since he joined Manchester United in the summer, but nowhere near so far what £89m should get you. In short, no, Pogba has not so far been worth the huge amount of money invtested in order to bring him to the club, and needs to up his game after the international break.

‘They Were Unreal’ Manchester United Fans React To Trio Materclass vs. Leicester City

Fresh Football September 24, 2016

Manchester United managed to avoid their third straight defeat at home to Leicester City, but did more than just avoid defeat – they took full advantage of a Leicester first-half capitulation to go into the break four goals to the good.

Chris Smalling opened the scoring for United midway through the first half before further goals were added by Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba before half-time to brush the Premier League Champions aside.

Demarai Gray managed to pull one back for Leicester in the second half with a tremendous strike, leaving David De Gea no chance in the Manchester United goal.

However, this had no serious impact on the game as United enjoyed their second victory of the week following their EFL Cup victory over Northampton. Outstanding performances came from Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera and Juan Mata as United ran riot at Old Trafford.

Manchester United fans took to Twitter to react to these amazing performances from their midfielders.