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Ander Herrera is a Spanish professional football player. He recently signed a four-year contract with Manchester United. From 2011 to 2014 he was at Athletic Bilbao where he mostly played as an attacking midfielder.
Last year, he grabbed the headlines after being linked with a transfer Manchester United. Athletic Bilbao rejected Manchester United’s £24 million bid and the talks between the two clubs soon broke. After Louis Van Gaal’s arrival at Manchester United, the speculations about his transfer to Manchester United once again gathered heat. The deal is now completed; with Herrera now confirmed as a Manchester United player.
But ‘who is Ander Herrera?’ is the question that everyone must be pondering over in their mind. Here is a scout report on Ander Herrera, if you know a little about the Spaniard.
Who is Ander Herrera?
Ander Herrera was born in the city Bilbao on 14th August 1989 and joined Real Zaragoza's youth academy in 2004 to start his playing career. Despite being a Basque, it was Real Zaragoza who gave him his debut in La Liga.
After establishing himself as young talent at Zaragoza, he then switched to his hometown club Athletic Bilbao where he featured regularly in their fixtures and soon became a first team choice.
Despite being so talented and having represented Spain for U-20, U-21 and U-23 levels, he was never called up to represent his country’s National team. During the 2011 U-21 European Championship finals against Switzerland he scored the opening goal for his team as Spain won the match 2-0.
Playing Career
Ander Herrera joined the Zaragoza academy when he was 15 years old. After four years of his training at their academy he was selected to play in their reserve team, where he played 19 games and managed to score twice before breaking through Zaragoza's main team. He got his first top league action on 29th August 2009 against CD Tenerife, the game resulted in a 1-0 win.
During 2009/10 season he became an indispensable member of Zaragoza squad though his first goal came late in December against RCD Mallorca and that too in a 4-1 loss. His performances for Zaragoza showed signs of his versatility on the pitch although he mostly preferred to play as an attacking midfielder.
The 2010/11 season was an eventful period for the youngster. In December 2011, he signed a five – year contract with his home town club Athletic Bilbao thus laying a strong foundation to cement his career. During this period he was also a member of Spain's U-21 National team which won the U-21 European Championships.
Herrera made his official debut for Athletic on 18 August 2011, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 home draw against Trabzonspor for the season's UEFA Europa League. It was here in Bilbao that he established himself as an attacking midfielder. He played 94 games for the Basque side and found the back of the net seven times.
In August 2013 he was linked in a transfer to Manchester United but the deal broke down because of several reasons. But on 26th June, 2014 Athletic Bilbao announced on their official site that Ander Herrera has paid out his buyout clause and is no longer a part of their club. Later that day, Manchester United announced that Ander Herrera has agreed on a four – year contract with them; thus making Herrera their first signing after the 13/14 season.
Strength
Herrera’s main strength is his versatility to play in any position in the midfield area. Despite being an attacking midfielder he can easily fit in the squad as defensive midfielder or even as a winger if the need arises. He is six feet tall thus giving him a natural edge in winning aerial duels compared to his opponents.
He is also a hard tackler of the ball; in fact Herrera won more tackles in La Liga this season (74) than any player in Spain’s World Cup squad.
He is a box to box midfielder and likes to get involved throughout the game. He likes to work hard and has a high work rate compared to fellow teammates.
While playing, Herrera has shown great vision and creativity a fact being justified by the number of key passes provided by him in the past. He is not afraid to shoot from distance, recording an average of 2.1 shots per game.
Most importantly we shouldn’t forget the fact, that the Spaniard is only 24 years old and still has a lot of years ahead of him to develop as one of the best players in the world.
Weakness
Herrera’s major weakness is his passing ability. While the Spaniard might be good in providing key passes, but he has encompassed only 81% pass completion rate this year in La Liga. Providing too many risky passes could be one reason for his low pass completion rate; nevertheless he has to improve in this aspect of the game if he wishes to feature regularly for The Red Devils.
Another part of his weakness reflects to the rough nature of his game. He has been shown yellow cards regularly last season and has committed fouls at an average of 1.5, thus showing his hot headed nature.
Despite being technically sound, the Spaniard is a bit slow when it comes to speed.
Style of Play
As I have already mentioned that he loves to tackle, often ignoring the risk of being booked. The boy from the Basque likes to get up the field to help the forwards and loves to direct through balls and create chances. His passing stats show that he prefers to play long balls and has an average pass length of 18m during the 13/14 season.
During his stay in Bilbao, Herrera played the role of an attacking midfielder perfectly. He loves to dribble down his opponents and delivers key passes at the right time. He prefers playing as an attacking midfielder, but because of his versatility on the pitch he can be accommodated anywhere on the midfield.
Last season at Athletic he was given the role of central midfielder along with Iturraspe, to which he adapted very quickly showing the versatile nature of his game. He is not afraid to shoot from distance and loves to try his luck if he sees an opportunity.
During a match Herrera is complete machine, constantly going up and down the field. During his stay at Athletic, his work rate during any match was much higher when compared to his teammates.
In short he Ander Herrera a complete midfielder and will blossom to one of the best if given the right guidance at Old Trafford
Player Profile and Statistics for the 13/14 season( courtesy WhoScored.com)
| Name | Ander Herrera |
| Place of Birth | Spain |
| Age | 24 |
| Date of Birth | 14th Aug 1989 |
| Height | 1.82m (6 feet) |
| Weight | 154 lbs (70kg) |
2013/14 Season
Club- Athletic Bilbao
Appearances- 31
Offensive Stats (per match)
| Goals | 5 |
| Assists | 5 |
| Shots per match | 2.1 |
| Key passes per match | 1.6 |
| Dribbles per match | 1.2 |
| Given offside per match | 0.1 |
Defensive Stats (per match)
| Tackles | 3.1 |
| Interceptions | 1 |
| Fouls committed | 1.5 |
| Clearances | 0.7 |
| Blocked Shots | 0.2 |
Passing Stats (per match)
| Avg. Passes | 47.2 |
| Key Passes | 1.6 |
| Passing Completion Rate % | 80.6 |
| Crosses | 0.5 |
| Accurate Long ball | 2.3 |
| Accurate Through Ball | 0.4 |
