Ander Herrera key to Manchester United's improved attacking approach

Analysing Ander Herrera’s performances in Manchester United’s last 6 games

There was one point during the season, when Ander Herrera was at a particularly low ebb, that a Premier League player who appeared against him privately expressed some surprise at the Spaniard’s progress. The figure claimed that, although you could clearly see Herrera’s talent, this opposition squad felt he wasn’t really “hurting teams” enough.

It is clear now that Louis van Gaal felt the same, which is why the young midfielder went so long on the sidelines. Although Herrera was one of the few Manchester United players willing to take the kind of gambles they seemed to need, not enough of them were paying off.

For Van Gaal, the reward didn’t match the risk, especially at a time when he was trying to lay a foundation with the formation and the general approach. All of that has obviously changed.

Since properly returning to the first XI in late February, Herrera's performances have gradually grown to the point where he is now running matches - as seen against both Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool - and deciding them, as perfectly displayed at the weekend with those two goals against Aston Villa.

All of those sides certainly felt the pain, and Herrera has clearly made real gains. It also seems he’s made some compromises for his manager, who has sought to accommodate him.

The contrast between United with Herrera in the team and without can be seen from the stats. While these figures are somewhat skewed by the fact everything has picked up now - not least the win ratio, which has shot up - that’s of course partially to do with the Spaniard himself.

Manchester United’s statistics with and without Ander Herrera

Basically, what everyone felt - and Van Gaal himself obviously thought - was true. When Herrera is in the team, United score far more (at 2.17 a game compared to 1.53), but also concede far more (1.53 to 0.68).

He almost personifies so much of the debate from that curious period between November and February when United had put together a fine run of results, but in a manner that wasn’t always that convincing or in-keeping with the club’s heritage of adventure. The FA Cup defeat to Arsenal - which was, pointedly, just before this big transformation within the team and Herrera - seemed to sum it up.

Herrera was trying to make United move, but it was leaving open too many gaps, so Van Gaal took him off. It also took away the side’s initiative and invited Arsenal onto them.That, however, was the last time we saw Herrera so erratic. As he admitted himself two weeks later in an interview with AS, he was at that point in the process of changing his approach for Van Gaal.

Characterising Ander Herrera’s strengths and weaknesses

“He loves possession and doesn’t like to risk the ball,” Herrera said of his manager. “He likes long spells of possession and to keep the ball because he believes space will be created by keeping to positional play because the team has the quality to find you. He got angry with me at the start because I went to look for the ball, because I always wanted to have it. I should have waited.”

He then had to wait for his chance, as that Van Gaal anger led to Herrera’s omission from the team, but it has also led to an overall improvement. Looking at the Spaniard’s stats now, it almost seems like an ideal for the Dutch coach.

He certainly isn’t giving the ball away. Herrera has the fourth highest pass success in the United squad at 89% - which is just behind the most accurate in Juan Mata on 90%, and ahead of Daley Blind on 88.5% - but he is still one of the most productive players in the squad.

His two goals against Villa made him United’s third top scorer in the league this season with five, while he is joint second on assists, thanks to his four. He's grown into a complete Van Gaal midfielder in that regard.

Then there are the most telling figures of all. With Herrera in the team, as you might expect for a player of such drive,United just win more. They have a better points per game record, at 2.08, compared to 1.95 without.

A point has clearly been made by Van Gaal, Herrera has responded, and it seems like a few opposition sides may now feel the pain of that.