In an exclusive interview, former Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera gave us his honest thoughts on Paul Pogba's opinion-dividing spell in England between 2016 and 2022.
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Now back at Athletic Club in LALIGA, the 34-year-old agreed to sit down with Soccer Laduma for an insightful one-on-one interview, in which he discussed a wide range of football-related topics. Herrera is fresh off winning the Copa del Rey in Spain and will see his deal at Los Leones expire at the end of the season, but he had time to share with us his thoughts on matters related to his career.
Herrera is most famous for his five-year stay at the Red Devils between 2014 and 2019, during which he amassed 189 appearances and became a fan favourite. His energy and commitment at United didn't go unnoticed by fans, who were terribly sad to see him leave Old Trafford for Paris Saint-Germain five years ago.
Between 2016 and 2019, the Spaniard was a part of a midfield contingent that included Pogba, a man who often split opinion in England. The Frenchman, for all his obvious talent, battled to get going in his second United stint following his multi-million pound return from Juventus. Herrera, speaking to Soccer Laduma's Kurt Buckerfield, admitted he feels the Red Devils never truly saw the best and most consistent version of the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner.
"Every time you guys, journalists, ask me about Paul, I always say the same. I've never seen a player who can do everything. He can win the ball with the head. He could dominate the game with his left foot and with the right foot. He could steal balls from the opponent," he said.
Read our full interview with Ander Herrera in the latest copy of the Soccer Laduma!
"He could score goals. He could shoot from distance. Everything. He had everything. But it didn't work. It didn't work. Or it didn't work the whole time he was at the club. Because in some moments he was great, he was brilliant because his quality was amazing. But I feel the same as all the other fans. We didn't see or we didn't enjoy the 100% of Paul at the club.
"That's true. Sometimes, in football, you cannot find explanations for everything. I can give you a lot of examples, like Alexis Sanchez. He was great at Arsenal. He could win games for Arsenal by himself, and he came to Manchester United and it didn't work. But, with all my respect to Arsenal, it's a big club, you cannot compare Arsenal with Manchester United. Manchester United is much bigger, it's more demanding.
"If you lose a game at Arsenal, you are not in the front page of every single newspaper the next day. If you lose a game with Manchester United, you will be on the front page. If you make a mistake at Arsenal, it's not the same as if you make a mistake at Manchester United.
"I compare it with Real Madrid. When you use another shirt, you can allow yourself to make some mistakes that you cannot allow when you put on a Real Madrid shirt, or Bayern Munich, or Juventus or Manchester United. Not everything has an explanation in football, but that's the explanation I find for why those amazing players didn't work for the club."
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Herrera claimed four trophies in England prior to his free-agent departure in 2019, while Pogba returned to Juventus in 2022 when his deal at the Manchester club expired. The Frenchman is currently serving a four-year doping ban after testing positive for testosterone last year.
