Our resident Manchester United fans here in the Football Transfer Tavern are on cloud nine after watching their beloved Red Devils take down arch-rivals Liverpool by a 3-1 scoreline yesterday evening at Old Trafford.
In what was a fairytale debut for new £36 million signing Anthony Martial who struck the goal that ultimately dealed the win late on, everything went right for United in the second half after a largely dull first half for the neutral.
Now on 10 points and second in the table ahead of Arsenal, United are nicely positioned behind the pace setters Manchester City and considering Louis van Gaal’s side haven’t been largely convincing in all of their games, Red Devils fans will take their position right now.
Starting the game up top yesterday as a striker was Marouane Fellaini who despite being a versatile customer isn’t a solution Red Devils fans want to be relying on too much this season.
Struggling to make the most of his hold up play in the first half, United fans will be buoyed that Martial seemed to display no fear in his late cameo suggesting he perhaps is ready to spearhead United’s attack over the coming months.
Following yesterday’s triumph for United, Louis van Gaal has now managed to beat Brendan Rodgers on all three of the occasions the managers have met in the Premier League now and this calls for a few Sunday evening shots!
Capitalising on this buoyant mood, we’re asking United fans by the bar who they reckon is the club’s five most underrated players right now.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 most underrated Manchester United players in the current squad.
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Ashley Young
Praised in his Watford and Aston Villa days and alternatively lamented for his diving nature ever since joining Manchester United, at times we forget that Ashley Young is actually a rather talented footballer.
Still incredibly direct in his playing style and always capable of taking on opposition full backs, Young commits defenders while often forcing fouls, sometimes merited and other times not.
Unlucky not to have received a recall into the England squad, such has been his renaissance under Louis van Gaal after an ordinary spell under David Moyes, Young was fancied as one of the players van Gaal would immediatley dispose of when he arrived but that hasn’t proved to have been the case.
Young deserves a lot of credit for digging in and fighting for his United career and lets face it, he even managed to keep Angel Di Maria on the bench in the latter part of last season!
Ander Herrera
Winning and then converting the penalty that made it 2-0 to Manchester United yesterday evening against Liverpool, it was a fine moment for Ander Herrera who managed to start ahead of Morgan Schneiderlin in Louis van Gaal’s starting eleven.
Somebody who has slowly gotten better and better since arriving from Athletic Bilbao and someone who is yet to be recognised at senior international level for Spain, we think Ander Herrera is still somebody who isn’t seen as a threat by rival fans of top four clubs.
But this is despite Herrera growing in stature seemingly every time he takes to the field for United with the Spaniard capable of doing a little bit of everything in the engine room.
A fine passer who is capable of grabbing goals too, Herrera is most definitely succeeding where Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas isn’t right now.
Chris Smalling
When it comes to Chris Smalling, it seems there is a large proportion of fans who want to put scenarios such as the player foolishly getting sent off away at Manchester City last term at the forefront of their opinions while choosing to ignore when he’s enjoyed a decent performance.
Make no mistake; Smalling is maturing at a much slower rate than was originally anticipated for the former Fulham player but as he’s growing up, the England international is most definitely growing in stature and physicality at the back.
In the first game of the season against Tottenham, Smalling was excellent, giving nothing away and keeping Harry Kane at arms length.
Still susceptible to the odd mistake, these are happening less frequently now and that’s a good thing for United fans to see because Phil Jones appears to be a little way behind Smalling in the maturity stakes now.
Paddy McNair
When Paddy McNair made his full Manchester United debut against West Ham United last September, there were even a lot of Red Devils fans who were asking ‘who the hell is this guy?’
Rapidly promoted from the reserves amidst a defensive injury crisis, Southampton away last term aside, McNair’s performances were often a pleasant surprise with the now Northern Irish international seen as a fantastic prospect at the club.
Starting against Chelsea away at Stamford Bridge last term, this fact alone showed that Louis van Gaal had total faith in fielding the inexperienced youngster despite the occasion and in fairness, on that day in West London, McNair was arguably Manchester United’s best player in a narrow and perhaps undeserved victory for the Blues.
What the 20-year-old has proved in a short space of time is that if United suffer another defensive injury crisis, he is more than capable of stepping up and filling in where necessary.
Antonio Valencia
Not everybody’s cup of tea, we think that Antonio Valencia deserves some credit to still be retained on the books at Old Trafford.
Alongside Ashley Young, many predicted that Valencia would be part of a Louis van Gaal cull when the Dutchman arrived in the United hotseat last summer but that hasn’t proved to have been the case with the Ecuadorian still determined to make it work with the Red Devils.
Utilised more often than not at right back nowadays, the former Wigan Athletic man is a combative pro who is most certainly a weapon when gallivanting up the right hand side of the pitch with his fantastic pace.
When it comes to Valencia, he is sometimes criticised for his lack of consistency but given the fact he is still an important squad member at United, we think he is underrated while deserving credit for remaining in Louis van Gaal’s plans where the likes of Javier Hernandez failed.
