Manchester United playmaker Juan Mata has lavished praise on Ander Herrera for dealing with the pressure of playing for a big club during his first year at the club.
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However, the pair didn’t always see eye-to-eye it seems, and Herrera has accused his compatriot of being a diver in La Liga.
Herrera’s only full 90 minutes in the Premier League this season came in his most recent league game against Liverpool back in mid-September, and the attacking midfielder scored from spot in the 3-1 victory.
The 26-year-old has represented his country at under-21 level, but still awaits his first senior cap.
“We have the best midfielders in the world right now, but I think I have the quality to be in the national team”, he told MUTV.
The Spaniard also feels that United “deserve to enjoy such a good moment” after all the hard work the players and staff have put in over the last few months. It is somewhat circumstantial and I do not think it will go on for an extended period of time. The player himself said “of course, I wish it” because “it’s the next step for me” having arrived at Manchester United in 2014.
Mata: “We were playing in a match, Valencia against Real Zaragoza, and I always say now it’s very nice to play with him”.
Herrera has been missing from the United team with injury recently but was not featuring regularly before that, with just two league starts this season.
With Spain boasting an abundance of midfield talent, Herrera acknowledges that earning a call-up will be tricky, but the ex-Athletic Bilbao man is adamant that he has the quality. So I am doing the right things to get into the national team but, of course, the [international] coach will decide. “It’s the next step for me”.
“I think I am ready to help the team [at United], help my teammates, and I am going to play wherever the manager wants me to play”, he said.
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The European Championship in France is “the next dream” for Herrera, even if he knows “it’s difficult”.
