Forget Thiago, Ander Herrera Baby!

Quick match report: Let me just start off by saying that it was very disappointing to see Spain U21's draw last nights game against England U21's. They controlled the midfield, England had no response. If only Spain had a few better finishers on the pitch, they would have kicked the stuffing out of England. I'm not going to completely bash the Brits though, Smalling was immense, he is going to be a great defender and has impressed each time I've watched him. Smalling needs to be fast-tracked into the England NT and Manchester United first team as soon as possible, as he has shown maturity way beyond his years. Adrian was rubbish. Now with the summary complete we can move on.

Forget Thiago, Ander Herrera Baby!

Not to say Thiago is not a great player, he is and does deserve all of the hype he has received in recent months. Ander Herrera on the hand is lesser known outside of Spain and I think he deserves a bit of hyping too. If scouts pay attention to the U21 tournament as they should, then Ander is about to jump reputation in a big way. He showed immense calm under pressure last night, tbh facing and England central midfield that was a lot a bigger and more physical than him. He made a fool out of Mancienne and co. His range of passing is perfect, whether short or long. Also he has that great close-control that all modern CM's should have, and is able to squeeze out of sticky situations. He closes down very well out of possession as well. Physically, all he needs to do if "fill out" a little and then he will very much be the finished article. Dare I say it, he has shown the the skill set to be considered: Xavi-esqe.

If you're thinking, hmmm he will be great for my club, I'm afraid its hands off for now guys. He spent most of his football youth at Zaragoza but has already tied up a deal for next season that sees him make his first big step- He is going to play for Athletic Bilbao. Good luck to him, we will be keeping a close eye on his development.

PS, theres no hating on Thiago Alcantara, I just needed a provocative title- :lol!:

In my opinion the match did not live up to its hype, Spain showed some promise without really having any cutting edge, I really don’t remember Fielding having to make a single save in the first half. What I saw was Thiago Alcantara pretending to be Ronaldinho incarnate, besides the dribbles he pulled off Michael Manciene, his passing was shockingly poor especially the through balls. He was always trying the “no-look” flashy pass, instead of keeping it simple and ended up losing a lot of possession. I expect more of him in the upcoming matches.

Mata was equally unimpressive for a player of his experience he was expected to do way much more but often drifted in and out of the game, I didn’t see too much of him especially in the second half, I’m failing to remember a single dangerous move he orchestrated.

Bojan should probably have played ahead of Adrian, Adrian was ineffective in the whole match couldn’t get behind the English defenders, but you can’t really fault him too much the supplies were not coming as frequently as was expected, Bojan could probably have offered more presence upfront than Adrian.

The stand out player in Spain’s midfield was Javi Martinez, he really bossed the play in midfield and dictated play for much of the game. Ander Herrera scored with his hand and had a fearsome shot on target, he played well enough for the rest of the match. Daniel Parejo also impressed me on coming on, his passes were very crisp and short, he did the simple better than Thiago.

Top 3 on Spains’s side
1. J. Martinez
2. Ander Herrera
3. Thiago

The English side was pretty awful in the first half, their midfield duo of Mancienne and Henderson were clueless, they both offered nothing, Mancienne offered no cover for the defence and was beaten one time too many by Thiago and Henderson offered no creativity whatsoever. Another player who had an off day on the English side is Rose, he was shockingly poor on the wings and created very little for the strikers. Welbeck was not too impressive before his goal which hinted of offside, Sturridge tried to impose himself and his deflected shot pulled a brilliant save from De Gea.

Walker at right back was probably the best English player on the pitch, his runs from right back caused a lot of problems for the Spanish full backs and created much more than any of the midfielders.


The good news for England was their subs especially Rodwell looked dangerous whenever he had the ball, Scott Sinclair was also more impressive than Rose on the wings.

England’s top three players
1. Walker
2. Smalling
3. Sturridge

I expect them to play like this in their next matches.

Fielding
Walker – Smalling – Jones – Bertrand
Cleverly - Henderson - Rodwell - Sinclair
Sturridge – Welbeck

OR

Walker – Smalling – Jones – Bertrand
Henderson – Muamba – Rodwell
Sturridge – Welbeck – Sinclair

My top three players on the night from both sides
1. Walker
2. Javi Martinez
3. Ander Herrera