Herrera hails Man Utd tactics as Pogba freed to produce his 'magic'

Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera says that he and his teammates are helping Paul Pogba get into more advanced positions under their new caretaker boss.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer secured his fourth consecutive win as United's interim manager on Wednesday evening, masterminding a 2-0 victory at St James' Park against Newcastle.

Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford grabbed the goals in the second period, to help the Red Devils close the gap on fourth-placed Chelsea to six points in the Premier League.

Pogba produced another assured display in the middle of the park against the Magpies, continuing his recent resurgence since Jose Mourinho's departure as head coach.

Herrera stated post-match that the team is shaping up to grant Pogba a free role in midfield, in order to maximise his output on a consistent basis.

"He is playing very simple and effective in our half, then when he is in the opponent's half he has that magic to change the game," the Spaniard began. "I think Nemanja and me, or the other players, have to help him to make him feel free and that's what we're doing"

Herrera went on to praise the World Cup winner further, insisting that he has also been an important player for the team in defensive areas, as he added: "He is very important for the club – [on] the pitch and out of the pitch as well. He's playing really, really well.

"Not only with the ball. I think as soon as we lose the ball he is ready to defend, ready to help the team."

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United are riding the crest of a wave at the moment and seem to have a renewed vigour and confidence on the pitch with Solskjaer on the sidelines.

They have now scored 15 goals in the Norweigian's first four outings in charge, while also grabbing their first clean sheet of 2019 against Newcastle.

Herrera admitted he is happy with the team's recent progress before expressing his delight for David de Gea after finally registering a successful shut-out between the sticks.

"We are in a good moment," he continued. "Even when we are not playing great, we have the feeling that we can win the game. We control the game, we have the possession, we play in the opponent's half and we have fantastic offensive players.

"We wanted to make David happy because he was a little bit disappointed the last games... I had to cope with him after, killing my mind, telling me that he wanted a clean sheet!"