Manchester United fans shouldn’t be too harsh on Andreas Pereira – he still has time to develop
By Ali Akbar
Andreas Pereira was woeful during Manchester United’s 2-2 draw against Burnley on Tuesday. But that doesn’t mean fans should just give up on the youngster.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s winning streak as Manchester United caretaker manager finally came to an end when his side were held to a 2-2 draw by Sean Dyche’s Burnley at Old Trafford.
Up until then, United had breezed past Cardiff City, Huddersfield Town, Bournemouth, Newcastle United, Reading, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton and Hove Albion and Arsenal.
Scores as low as THREE and as high as EIGHT after Manchester United came back to make it 2-2 against Burnley at Old Trafford. light. PLAYER RATINGS
So, what changed between this amazing run of games and the disappointing result against Burnley? The answer’s simple: the replacement of Ander Herrera for Andreas Pereira in the starting XI.
Indeed, Herrera has been phenomenal in the centre of the park under Solskjaer, pressing the opposition constantly, winning back possession in dangerous areas and covering the backline phenomenally well.
Pereira, on the other hand, has had a difficult season. Under Jose Mourinho, the midfielder was involved in one of our worst games of the campaign – the 3-2 away loss to Brighton and Hove Albion.
The 23-year-old didn’t get much game time after that woeful performance until Solskjaer decided to bring him back into the fold in the Premier League clash against the Clarets.
However, Pereira once again showed that he is not ready to be playing top-flight football in midfield for United.
He was directly responsible for the opening goal which saw the Red Devils trail by 1-0 after the Brazil international lost possession cheaply to Jack Cork who played in Ashley Barnes who smashed it into the roof of the net.
Worse still, in the 63 minutes he spent on the pitch before being taken off, Pereira lost possession 14 times and failed to recover the ball even once!
Nevertheless, even after that abysmal showing, I’d urge fans to lay off the youngster for now.
Every young player makes mistakes – just look at centre-back Victor Lindelof when he first arrived at the club last season.
Fans were quick to label the £31m signing a “flop” after a rough start to his United career. Now, the same fans are calling him our best defender this season.
After Pereira’s performance against Burnley, social media was rife with posts calling for the player to be dropped from the squad and even sold.
As Lindelof’s case shows us, such judgements are way too reactionary and premature. Fans must give players like Periera a little more time to develop, and who knows, he could be a terrific squad player for us in a few years time.
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