Manchester United came back to win at AFC Bournemouth and previously forgotten man Ander Herrera was a big reason why. The Spaniard, just two years removed from being the club’s player of the year, has found minutes hard to come by lately in United’s very expensive, but not all that prodigiously productive midfield.
Ander Herrera was a hero yesterday, with manager Jose Mourinho praising him after the game and remarking that he provided balance to the side. Will we see more of Herrera going forward? Things are about to get much tougher with a midweek Champions League clash at Juventus, followed by a Manchester derby next weekend.
Herrera knows that United must now raise their game up to meet the tremendous challenges ahead of them. He stressed the importance of overcoming the slow starts that keep plaguing them.
“If we want to win against Juventus, against Man City, we cannot concede what we did in the first half today, even more with the team we have,” Herrera said.
“When I see some players training or some players the way they played in the second half, Anthony, Jesse when he came in, Marcus Rashford, we have to win a lot of games with these players.
“So let’s try to improve for the next game, from the first minute.
”We have to face the game the way we did after 30, 35 minutes because I think also for the last ten minutes of the first half, we played really well, but if we want to be in the top four soon, we have to do it from the first minute.“
You’ll notice that Ander Herrera referred to Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, the two goal scorers yesterday, in his remarks. The young forward duo will also be key to success this week. With Romelu Lukaku struggling, and also injured now, United need to give the young talented pair ample opportunities to make things happen.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Lineups.com and Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.