Herrera is Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year

Ander Herrera has capped a fine third season for Manchester United by winning the club’s prestigious Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award.

The midfielder topped the closest-ever poll for this prize, finishing just 242 votes ahead of Antonio Valencia, with top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic not much further behind in a three-way contest that went right down to the wire and reflected the superb contributions of those players in 2016/17.

Operating in a deeper role in Jose Mourinho’s midfield, Herrera’s whole-hearted, all-action displays have won him many admirers and he’s just one appearance shy of a half-century for the season. 

The 27-year-old, who also made his senior international debut for Spain in November, succeeds compatriot and friend David De Gea, the winner of our coveted accolade for the previous three seasons.

"It’s very special for me to win this award because when you see the list of winners, you realise how important it is," said Herrera after collecting his award at Thursday's ceremony at Old Trafford. "And I stopped the record of David!

"I feel it [the fans’ affection] and I’m very thankful but I think a Manchester United player can never stop; we have to keep giving them the affection back because you can see we don’t always perform at our best, yet they are always behind us."

De Gea, who was on stage to help present Herrera's award, said: "He’s a top guy and a good friend. He’s an emotional player who plays with heart on the pitch and he’s a good player, to be fair!"

The high point of our no.21’s campaign was almost certainly the 2-0 win over champions-elect Chelsea last month, when he contributed a goal and an assist in the kind of effective and passionate performance that has made him so popular with the United faithful.

Not that he’s overly concerned with personal acclaim, as he explained to United Reviewbefore that game. "I like to demand a lot of myself because I feel I can give more, and more, and more to the team," he said. "I am happy and I think it is the right attitude. But when everyone is saying you’re having a great season, I don’t think it is good for you, so I don’t listen too much."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

United Now With All Trophies In The World.

Image
We are in the Champions League in the right way and for me the right way is winning the Premier League or winning the Europa League. We were not strong enough to win the Premier League but we were strong enough to win the Europa League and we are back in the Champions League. The club now has every trophy in world football. We fought hard for this since the beginning. We totally deserved the win. I am so happy to see all the players, including the boys with the crutches, with the trophy." THREE TROPHIES OUT OF FIVE THIS SEASON  "And 64 matches out of 66 possible, which is incredible. I am very happy and I thank everyone that had a contribution for that, and I’m not speaking just about the players. Many other staff. The work they did to organise everything for us, for our families, to come to this important match with a short period of time, the way people dedicate themselves to that, to try to have our heads clean and focused and everything was perfect. So I thank everyone
Read more

Fayose urges FG to upgrade‎ Ekiti prison

Image
Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose yesterday urged the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency, upgrade facilities in the prisons across the federation. The governor made the appeal when he visited the Federal Prisons in Ado-Ekiti to examine the facilities and to also pardon some inmates. However, the governor could not ensure the release of the inmates as the Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, advised that some due process needed to be followed before he can veto their release. Some wives of the inmates, especially those whose husbands were in prison for crimes of political violence, knelt down and appealed to governor Fayose to release them. But the governor explained to them that his hands were tied because he had to follow due process and that he would have loved to release all inmates. He said: “We would pardon some inmates but we have to follow due process. We must have the facts and figures before vetoing their release. We have come to see the fac
Read more

Chelsea’s Kante wins PFA player of the year award for 2016-17

Image
N’Golo Kante has won the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year award for 2016-17. The Chelsea midfielder, 26, beat Eden Hazard, Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alexis Sanchez in the vote by his fellow players. Kante was key to Leicester’s surprise Premier League win last year and could become first player to achieve the distinction of winning successive titles with different clubs if Chelsea can stay ahead of Spurs in this season’s race. Since signing Kante in July, Chelsea have gone from a mid-table finish to the top of the pile with six games to play. In his absence, Leicester have largely struggled to replicate their heroics of last season and are still not safe from relegation. France international Kante has played every minute in the league this season apart from the Boxing Day game against Bournemouth, when he was suspended, and the final 11 minutes against Tottenham on Jan. 4. Kante said: “It’s a huge honour to be chosen by the other pl
Read more