Scouting the Start of Andreas Pereira's Loan from Manchester United to Granada

Manchester United's Andreas Pereira has made a good start to life on loan at Granada.

The Brazil under-20 international clearly needs high-level first-team football this season given he is now 20 years old. Another season around the fringes of United's squad would not have done him a lot of good.

Pereira's is a curious case. In an interview with podcast Beyond the Pitch (h/t Manchester Evening News) in September, he spoke of his frustration with former manager Louis van Gaal's handling of his career: "Every player wants to play, and I was disappointed I couldn't play more minutes. I trusted the manager, and it didn't happen as I wanted it to. But that's life, and I'll learn from that as well."

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The implication was Pereira had expected more time in the playing squad based on the signals his then-manager had sent than he received. The most confusing thing about the whole situation was United were crying out for invention and creativity for much of the time he was on the sidelines.

And after Pereira played well against Ipswich Town in the then-League Cup in Sept. 2015, he looked ready for a higher level.

Shortly after that game, he had a cameo against Wolfsburg in the UEFA Champions League at Old Trafford. It was a bad decision on Van Gaal's part to bring the youngster on when he did. United were under a lot of pressure for the last part of that match, and there was a slight thrown-to-the-wolves quality about the substitution.

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Loan watch: Andreas Pereira last night against Bilbao pic.twitter.com/mmcZrSbAF0

— Man Utd Videos ⚽️ (@ManUtdVines) September 22, 2016"

After that, his involvement was pretty limited.

Unlike Van Gaal's peculiar treatment of Pereira, boss Jose Mourinho's decision to send him on loan made plenty of sense. The summer arrival of Henrikh Mkhitaryan knocked the youngster another notch down the pecking order, and Mourinho has historically preferred a small squad.

Marcus Rashford and Timothy Fosu-Mensah seem to be the Portuguese manager's concessions to the pressure to play young players at United, with other promising talents sent for loan spells.

So far, it is working for Pereira in spite of his loan club's struggles. Granada have played six league games since his arrival, and the United loanee has featured in each, starting the last five in succession. He has an assist to his name, earned during El Grana's 3-1 defeat to Alaves.

Bleacher Report's Sam Tighe said of Pereira's start in Spain: "Granada have been hilariously terrible, but Pereira has been one of the shining lights. He joined close to deadline day but went in and stole a starting spot immediately. He was their best player in the 2-1 loss to Athletic Bilbao; he had the right-back in fits with his weaving dribbles and stepovers."

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The game against Athletic in September was probably Pereira's best performance for Granada yet. Those "weaving dribbles and stepovers" resulted in seven completed take-ons of an attempted 11. There was some end product too—two key passes, for example. 

He also took two shots, both blocked. In general, he is averaging three shots per 90 minutes of action in La Liga—with 2.2 of those coming from outside of the box. His performance against Athletic was a good deal ahead of his usual average in terms of attempted take-ons—5.4 dribble attempts per 90 minutes, succeeding with 2.4 of those.

He is also averaging two key passes per 90, of which 0.7 are coming from crosses, which have been an impressive feature of his game.

These are more than decent numbers in what is a struggling side. "Hilariously terrible" is a fitting description of a team without a win—their record reads played seven, won none, drawn two, lost five, scored seven and conceded 16. It is unfortunate that Pereira finds himself in this kind of position, but he is managing to offer Granada fans some hope amid the gloom.

It is not just his general output of decent numbers that has impressed and given them cause for celebrations. In news that will not surprise anyone who watched him in youth-team action for United, Pereira has clearly taken his capacity for moments of brilliance with him to Spain.

Against Las Palmas, during his debut as a substitute, he showed his fine range of passing, firing a quick and accurate pass across the width of the pitch from the right flank to the left—incidentally, in spite of a couple of these examples coming with Pereira playing on the right flank, Tighe pointed out that he has started exclusively on the left side of the pitch.

He is a thoroughly modern creative forward, though, in terms of his ability to play in a range of spots—another reason it is odd Van Gaal used him so little. Perhaps Pereira was just too improvisational for the process-driven coach the Dutchman had become.

That pass against Las Palmas, though, was the kind of ball that can change the dynamic of an attack, creating overloads with quick thinking and top-drawer execution. It was the kind of pass United's stodgy attack badly needed under Van Gaal.

Against Eibar, in what was his first start, he showed his tremendous ability with a beautiful inswinging right-footed cross at around the 68-minute mark. The ball landed on a plate for a team-mate in the six-yard box as Granada chased an equaliser at 1-0 down. Unfortunately, the shot was somehow spooned over the bar, robbing the United man of an assist.

The assist he did record, against Alaves, came from another cross, this time having popped up on the right. It was a fine outswinger to the edge of the six-yard box. He created the room for the cross with a burst of pace, driving out toward the touchline to gain half a yard on the man attempting to defend him. The striker's job was made pretty straightforward by Pereira's invention and quality.

As Tighe said, it was against Athletic that he showed the best of his dribbling style—a positive quality, in truth, but one that is not very Van Gaalian. One of the many successful runs upon which he set off saw him pick up the ball on the left touchline, around 10 yards deeper than the edge of the penalty area.

By the time he had finished his run and earned his team a corner, he had driven the ball to the byline. Within five seconds, he had created chaos in the Athletic defence and very nearly worked a superb opening.

He first beat his man on the touchline, then cut inside. Once he was level with the penalty spot, he faked to go on the outside of the defender but dragged the ball back inside, driving to the byline. It was another example of good improvisational, on-the-fly decision-making and superb execution.

A long season lies ahead, and Pereira has a lot to fight for. There is not an obvious route into United's first team for a player in his position—especially assuming Mkhitaryan comes good. However, there was no obvious route for Rashford into the first team, and he has forced the issue.

If Pereira's performance levels remain as impressive as they have been so far, a spot in the United squad next season may become a non-negotiable.

Quotations obtained firsthand where not otherwise stated.

All advanced data per WhoScored.com.