Some Manchester United fans feel that midfielder Andreas Pereira is a better player than Jesse Lingard even though he isn’t the best option the club has.
The Brazilian midfielder managed to score his first goal of the season for the club last night, netting the opener in United’s impressive 3-1 win over Graham Potter’s Brighton at Old Trafford.
The win meant that United go into the international break on the positive note, having climbed up to seventh in the Premier League table. They are now only one behind Arsenal, who are at sixth.
Some Man United still think that while Pereira did score, he isn’t that good a player. The perception around him is still rather negative.
Pereira Better than Lingard
— Mark Goldbridge (@markgoldbridge) November 10, 2019
Bar isn’t that high tbf
— No Nut Tony (@CeemoreButtts) November 10, 2019
Lost the ball 5 times the first 11 minutes i’m not sure
— Jo Traalum (@JTraalum) November 10, 2019
But still not good enough should be Bruno in that position
— Steven (@R1CEY69) November 10, 2019
My grandma is better than Pereira!
— Tom (@tomsverre) November 10, 2019
And still awful
— Ante Buljan (@ABuljan) November 10, 2019
Negative. Worst player in the squad.
— Derek K (@dkaz) November 10, 2019
The former Valencia man has played 11 Premier League games for the Red Devils so far this season, assisting and scoring once each so far. He has played twice in the UEFA Europa League, appearing once in the League Cup.
The 23-year-old scored for United in their 3-2 win over Southampton last season and the goal against Brighton was his first since then.
Pereira has played 50 times in all competitions for the first-team, scoring three times and assisting twice. He and Jesse Lingard are currently United’s attacking midfield options and some fans believe that the Brazilian-Belgian is better than the England international.
Pereira has spent two loan spells in Spain – playing for Valencia and Granada in the La Liga. At the Mestalla, he played 29 times in all competitions. He scored once and had a tally of five assists too.
What do we think?
While Pereira deserves credit for how well he played against Brighton, United sure do need better to become a top-four contender. The fact that Pereira has just one goal and one assist in 12 appearances isn’t a pretty statistic for any attacking midfielder. To improve that figure, United need to sign an attacking midfielder in the upcoming January transfer window.