Why Ander Herrera Will Yet Again Have A Better Season Than Paul Pogba
Manchester United have made a couple of smart signings this summer but they will know that their work in the transfer window is far from over. They have lost their all-time top goal scorer and their top scorer from the previous season and are now looking to make some more additions to provide the right balance to the squad.
They have purchased Romelu Lukaku from Everton for £75m, but their most important player for the next season remains French international Paul Pogba.
The world record signing who penned his contract at Old Trafford, Pogba was making a comeback to Manchester, four years after he was deemed surplus to requirements by Sir Alex Ferguson. However, he did not have a fruitful season and was overshadowed in the midfield by Spanish ace Ander Herrera, who was named as the player of the year for the Red Devils.
Pogba will be expected to pick up his game and in his second season, he will surely be better. But the former Athletic Bilbao midfielder, now linked with a move to Barcelona, might just have a better time than Pogba yet again next season.
The former Juventus star is a playmaker who loves to bomb forward on every opportunity. He does his fair share of the dirty work in the defensive mid but he is a player who is more comfortable and effective with the ball at his feet, moving towards the goal.
Mourinho found out that playing him as a part of a midfield duo alongside Herrera was not working well and had to use him on the left-side of a midfield three, a familiar position from his time in Italy. To help him do the same, the manager is has brought in Nemanja Matic, who could then settle in-between Herrera and Pogba next season.
This will surely make Pogba a more effective player but will have the same effect on Herrera, who showed that he could be of great effect in the offensive third as well.
The Spaniard is an energetic midfielder who will cover loads of ground and have an effect at either end of the field. Unless Pogba comes up with numbers like an assist every two games or a goal in every two and a half, he will have to perform extremely well to overshadow Herrera next season.
He will have all the media attention on him yet again, which will not make it easy. So as painful as it might sound for United fans, Paul Pogba may still not be the player they were hoping to get, when they spent £89m on his last summer.
It is once again going to be Ander Herrera’s time.