Juan Mata and Ander Herrera do everything asked of them and they do more.
As maestros go, they’re as polished and as scintillating as the best of them. They’re tidy, they’re clever, they’re brave, they’re visionaries.
As workers go, they’re as willing and as biting as the worst of them. They’re ratty, they’re tireless, they’re game, they’re aggressive.
Then, the attitude on the pair of them. The depth of that attitude. For no good reason, both Mata and Herrera are still fighting to establish themselves as regulars at Manchester United and they’ll probably continue to do so for the rest of the season. It never seems to matter. They almost love the challenge of fighting for their place, for their respect and they seem to love the discipline that comes with biding your time. And then they do it again and again and prove themselves over and over.
This picture pretty much sums the two of them up, watching on from the sidelines with nothing but pure support for the club.
Secondly, they just get it.
They get English football. They get the Premier League. They get Manchester United.
With the sort of football these boys can produce, you’d be forgiven for generalising their nation and assuming that they were tippy-tappy, nice players. They could spin your head without even touching the ball, sure, but could they do it on a wet and cold midweek night in… you know the drill.
Their application and dedication to the squad is one thing but how are they in the tackle and all that British and Irish physicality we hold up so high? How are they when their backs are to the wall and when Jose Mourinho is asking them to park the bus? Answer: they’re faultless. Both of them.
After the win against City on Wednesday night, after a big result, some beautiful football from the Spaniards in particular and a few good vibes around Old Trafford again, it wasn’t lost on the pair what it takes and what it is going to take.
Juan Mata took the opportunity to praise the battling qualities of the group:
“The most important thing is that we fought together again. I think we left everything on the pitch and did what we had to do to beat this team…”
Ander Herrera looked to more important fixtures… against Burnley and Swansea:
“We were very happy to win but overall for our fans. The last derby, we lost. They were disappointed with our performance.
“We all know the Premier League is the most important thing. Burnley and Swansea are fighting for relegation right now and they are going to give everything. But if we want to fight for the Premier League, we have to win both games.”
They get it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9AZMB042Hc
You only think that grit is important until you come up against footballers but then you have two boys here who have it all. They have bite, they have hunger, they haw raw honesty and they have serious skills.
Mourinho has woken up to the Herrera effect. After going 2-0 down to Chelsea at the weekend, he’s come back around to the Mata way of thinking. And how could you not?
It's hard not to like Mata and Herrerahttps://t.co/dTUPrTOgvI
— Conán Doherty (@ConanDoherty) October 27, 2016
That moment was just one isolated piece of genius. It was only a few seconds of composed, brave and skillful football but it summed up only a half of what they bring to United.
Because the rest of it is off the ball. Hounding men down, closing in gaps, playing football and playing for the team with pure and total commitment. No half measures. No shortcuts. They play with desire – the way they did it to win this ball back.
They win it back, and they set up what should be a goal. Mata and Herrera in one clip.
But don’t try to talk to them about that magic. That’s just second nature to Spaniards like them. These boys are different gravy; they only want to talk about what they are in control of: their effort. They want to talk about the battle. The fight.
They want to talk about Burnley and Swansea.
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