Should Manchester United Stick or Twist with Ander Herrera?

As Manchester United plodded their way through another lacklustre attacking display against Norwich City on Saturday, Ander Herrera's name rang out from the Stretford End. His arrival into the game as a substitute was greeted with what can only be described as the cheers of relief that arrive at the end of an extended period of exasperation.

Louis van Gaal's failure to build Herrera into the fabric of his side has been one of the most glaring mistakes he has made during his time in charge. All of his side's best performances have come with Herrera on the pitch.

Indeed, the only truly convincing performance United have put in this season—the 3-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park in October—came as a fairly direct result of Herrera's return to the starting XI.

Given how often he has been left out in the cold, it is natural there has been speculation linking him with a move away from Old Trafford—this Express article by Bruce Archer being one example. 

Herrera addressed those claims in a tweet that shared an image of an interview with United Review, the club's programme, in which he said: "I don't want this dream to finish. I have to play as well as possible if I want to play as long as I can for this club."

United's website published further extracts of that interview, in which Herrera said: 

"

When I was in Spain, I always thought about the best teams in the world and maybe the biggest and most-supported club is Manchester United. So I worked very hard to be here. When I was in Spain, I was very professional and had to be very consistent to get here.

Now I am here, I always say the same thing: the most difficult thing is to stay at a big club. Of course, it is difficult to arrive at a big team in the first place, but it is even harder to stay there. The club has the possibility to sign new players and it’s a very powerful club so all players want to play here. I have to fight for my position and gain my position and I will do it.

"

There should be no doubt that either Van Gaal or his successor at Old Trafford should stick with Herrera. If Van Gaal is replaced, Herrera could be second to only Victor Valdes in the league table of players for whom that is the best news.

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Last season, Herrera's raw numbers were decent. Six league goals and four assists is a fine return for a midfielder in his first season in a new league.

He starred in the briefly impressive Angel Di Maria-inspired attacking version of United that blew Queens Park Rangers away and raced into a 3-1 lead against Leicester City in September 2014, scoring in both of those games.

He returned to prominence in the spring of 2015 once Van Gaal had shifted his side to the 4-3-3 that worked so well against Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa. Indeed, it was Herrera who broke down Villa's stubborn resistance with a well-deserved brace during that game.

He brings so many qualities with him on to the pitch. His eye for goal is obvious and potentially vital given how hard goals have been to come by for the Red Devils this season. However, he is much more than a goalscorer.

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His creative numbers are decent; last season he averaged 1.2 key passes per 90 minutes of league football. His pass completion in the league was a remarkable 89.2 per cent, but it is the style of his passing that is most significant—and is so notably absent when he is not playing.

Of all of United's midfielders, he is the one who seems best suited to play an attacking role in Van Gaal's current system because he is the player most comfortable with injecting a change of pace into the passing in the final third.

So much of Van Gaal's football has been one note, with anaemic possession held in front of defensive lines that are under little pressure.

In Pep Confidential: The Inside Story of Pep Guardiola's First Season at Bayern Munich (h/t the Telegraph) author Marti Perarnau quoted Guardiola as saying:

"

I hate tiki-taka. Tiki-taka means passing the ball for the sake of it, with no clear intention. And it's pointless.

Don't believe what people say. Barça didn't do tiki-taka! It's completely made up! Don't believe a word of it! In all team sports, the secret is to overload one side of the pitch so that the opponent must tilt its own defence to cope. You overload on one side and draw them in so that they leave the other side weak.

And when we've done all that, we attack and score from the other side. That's why you have to pass the ball, but only if you're doing it with a clear intention. It's only to overload the opponent, to draw them in and then to hit them with the sucker punch. That's what our game needs to be. Nothing to do with tiki-taka.

"

Sadly, for much of Van Gaal's time in charge—especially this season—United have been doing tiki-taka. There have been few overloads, few moments when opponents have been drawn in because so much of the passing has been lateral and predictable.

Herrera is an exception to this rule, and his interplay with Juan Mata during the brief purple patch last season was a fine example. This is partially why it is so baffling Van Gaal has not seemed inclined to trust Herrera for long periods of time. His administration of pace and creativity into United's passing game has been so important.

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He is also an extremely hard worker from a defensive perspective. Last season, only Antonio Valencia averaged more tackles per league game. He averaged the highest number of interceptions per league game of any player who did not play in defence for the Red Devils last season. 

Gifted on the ball, forward-thinking, secure in possession and tigerish out of possession—it is unclear what is not to like about Herrera's football. Of course, he has had games in which it has not worked for him, as almost all footballers do.

Last season, he was sacrificed for reasons that are hard to understand. This season, he has been sacrificed for defensive stability and rigorous structural integrity, but that sacrifice has not proved worthwhile and looks like it will be part of what costs Van Gaal his job.

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At the end of last season, when asked to rank United's players in order of their performances across the season, I had Herrera finishing second—ahead of all United's other outfield players.

At this stage last term, that would have seemed unthinkable given he had been out in the cold for much of the campaign. For those who enjoy seeing United play progressive football, it would be good to see the rest of this season play out with a similar ending in terms of Herrera's contribution.

United should most certainly stick with him. Indeed, if there were a choice between keeping Herrera and keeping the manager, the most cursory glance at any United-related content on the Internet makes it pretty clear where most fans would fall.

He could be a player who stays at the club for a long time to come, around whom the rest of the midfield is built. He is potentially that important.