Coach Lopetegui Insists on Herrera’s Importance at Porto

In a recent interview, Julen Lopetegui, the coach of Porto, insisted on the importance of the team’s Mexican central midfielder, Hector Herrera. The 25-year old midfielder plays for the Mexican national team as well. This past August, Herrera scored his first goal of the 2015-2016 Primeira Liga in a 1 to 1 draw match against Maritimo.

The Mexican midfielder was transferred to the Portuguese club in 2013, when Porto parted with €8 millions for his move. During the 2014-2015 season, Herrera played an important role for the Primeira Liga team, as he assisted Porto in their 0 to 3 win over Belarusian club, BATE Borisov. Herrera bagged the game’s first goal and assisted the other two.

However, lately Herrera somehow receded into the background. He appeared to be unusually sluggish, while at the field, and wasn’t in particularly good form. Porto’s coach had no other option, but to send him to the bench.

Despite these mishaps, Julen Lopetegui, is firmly convinced, the Mexican midfielder is to play an important role for Porto this year. Lopetegui was appointed as the Dragons’ coach in the summer of 2014. His first season with the club did not go particularly well, as Porto were crushed by the German Bayern Munich at the UEFA Champions League.

Lopetegui is certain Herrera’s position with the club is an important one, despite the limited time, the central midfielder spent on the field. The Dragon’s coach described the 25-year old as a gifted player with a great attitude, possessing an incredibly competitive spirit. Lopetegui went on to predict Herrera’s role in Porto will become even more important in 2016.

The Spanish coach continued to say Herrera has hardly taken any time off in quite some time. He spent most of the past two years, playing either with the Portuguese, or with the Mexican national team. Lopetegui believes both fans and experts tend to brush off this fact as unimportant, but in his opinion, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Herrera’s time on the bench was warranted, as the player obviously needed a well-deserved rest.

Herrera is not the only Mexican player on the Portuguese team, as Lopetegui also took the chance to sign Jesus Corona and Miguel Layun, as midfielder and defender respectively. He shared, he was very pleased with all three players’ performance and lauded their work ethic and agreeable disposition. Lopetegui observed the three players have improved considerably and everyone at the club was pleased with their energy and abilities.

Lopetegui, who himself was a goalkeeper in the past, did not hesitate to praise Layun’s improvement on the defence. The coach went on to say last season, Layun was playing in the League Championship, where his position was more forward than on the wing. According to Lopetegui, the defender’s excellent technique and good form proved to be very helpful to Porto.