Ander Herrera has had a minor renaissance of sorts in his Manchester United career of late. After failing to hold on a first-team spot in the first few weeks of the season, it looked like the Spaniard was heading back to Spain at the next opening of the transfer window. The arrival of Paul Pogba and the form of Marouane Fellaini seemed to have wrecked his chances of a regular first-team spot. Yet, Herrera has featured in all three games since coming back to the starting line-up in the game against Feyenoord. United were extremely poor in the game, but Herrera was one of the few shining lights.
Jose Mourinho has always liked a skilful defensive midfielder who can pass the ball with a lot of precision. The Portuguese had a lot of success with Claude Makelele at Chelsea before achieving success with the likes of Esteban Cambiasso. More recently, however, his success has been with Nemanja Matic. There is every possibility that Herrera could well be the Matic of Manchester United this season – of course, we are talking about Chelsea’s title winning campaign.
Last season was one of the worst campaigns for Matic, as he was largely a passenger in Chelsea’s campaign in recent memory. Matic, though, is best known for the impact that he had during the 2014-15 campaign when the blues won the title. Matic missed just two matches during the campaign. His record of one goal and three assists are excellent for a defensive midfielder, but what put him apart was the near perfect distribution of the ball and the ability to read the game, which eventually helped him to become one of the most coveted defensive midfielders in the league.
Matic had a pass accuracy of 86.4% combined with an average of 0.7 key passes per game. Fabregas may have provided most of the assists and Costa with most of the goals, but Matic was the silent force at the back. He broke up play and gave to those who could create more. He may not have been the most effective player offensively, but his presence at the back surely helped the side. He won 51% of his average duels that season which includes; winning 52 of his 66 take ons and 75 of his 118 headed duels.
Herrera has the potential to be even better. He had an astonishing pass accuracy of 91% in the game against Feyenoord. United were clearly let down by Herrera’s teammates and not the Spaniard. Jose Mourinho recently spoke in great fondness about Herrera. It is seen as a direct hint that the Spaniard has a much bigger role to play going forward. His best performance by far came in the 4-1 win over Leicester during the weekend.
He had an 88% pass accuracy – better than that of Pogba – and dispossessed the opposition twice. Three successful tackles also showed that he has the capability to play as a defensive midfielder.
Herrera may not be similar to Matic in terms of physical stature, but he seems best positioned to replicate the Serbian’s successful 2014-15 campaign at United.
