Another setback?

I thought he trained last week?

if ando stayed injury free he will be top three cm in the epl.

someone posted a pic of ando training with the first team, so hopefully he will be back soon

such a shame for the lad, quality player when fit, would have been nice to see him own gerrard again on sunday.

if, and it's still a big if... this recent injury is his only one for the season.... Then that will signal a big improvement.

Anyone can do their hamstring.... It's a shame for him, but nothing to be concerned about.

has he actually had a setback or is this just about his general fitness?

I agree, Ji.

I said earlier that if he can get over these injury problems - a bit like Van Persie has - then we have a hell of a player on our hands. I think Sir Alex thinks that way, too. I don't think he would have been this patient with him otherwise.

Apparently he's been training this week which is good news.

He's traininand should be back soon

if ando stayed injury free he will be top three cm in the epl.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Only in cloud cuckoo land maybe.

3rd best midfielder in the Premier League? I'll have some of what you're smoking mate.

I'd say he's probably only the third best midfielder at United, never mind the whole league.

It's absolutely criminal how over rated the fella is. It took him 4 years to score a goal at Old Trafford ffs. He's a mediocre crock. He's not a poor player but he's no world beater either and never will be.

I'd say there are easily ten better midfielders than him in the PL, probably more.

Harsh ender, better than cleverly for me! Uniteds best midfield is carrick and Anderson as they suit each other very well. Anderson drives forward which is good to see, not a world beater but certainly a very good player

Mr Ender talking out of his arsene again

I Prefer Cleverely tbh. Better on the ball, stays fit and has shown he's far more a threat on the opponents goal.

Anderson's shooting has to be right up there with some of the worst I have seen watching United.

Mr Ender talking out of his arsene again

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

How exactly?

6 years mate. 6 years.

Cleverley better than Anderson

What next Welbeck better than Van Persie

Let's see if fatboy gets back in the team ahead of Clevs on a regular basis. I'm betting no.

He was getting ahead of him when he wasn't injured. If you want to slate him for being injured that's your prerogative but to belittle his ability on the football pitch is disingenuous

Stretford_Ender85

To be fair mate i think your evaluation of Anderson is incredibly harsh. Firstly, the Ginger Prince didn't say he was the 3rd best midfielder in the league, just that he could be in the future if he stayed injury-free.

It took him 4 years to scored at Old Trafford? Yeah, but let's not pretend that he played consistently for four years. Also, for the first 3 or so years he was played in a much more withdrawn role and was more of a defensive midfielder than anything else giving him less opportunities. But I will agree, his shooting, other than the odd effort (two spring to mind from this season, newcastle and reading) he is poor at shooting. But i don't think anyone who champions Anderson is trying to claim that he's a goalscoring threat. And to be honest, Cleverley's shooting is just as poor most of the time. He's scored two good finishes recently but most of the time his efforts go ballooning over the bar.

That's not to say i dislike Cleverley because i do like him. But i don't think he's going to improve much from the level he's at now. He won't be the midfielder we're hoping for. Anderson, on the other hand, considering he's had relatively little football since arriving still has potential in my eyes. There is a condition to this of course and a big condition. He must stay fit. We can take comfort from the fact that his most recent injury isn't a recurrence, just a standard hamstring injury that could happen to anyone.

Anderson this season has regularly been our saviour. When we were going through a patch (if you can call it that) where we seemed to be going behind in every game, the game only changed once we brought on Anderson. His urgency, power and directness is exactly what we need so often when our performances are lethargic and slow. He will always make things happen and is constantly looking forward. Which is why, as someone above has suggested, he is the perfect compliment to the composed and calm Carrick in midfield.

I thought Anderson was a special player in his first season. I will admit i've been hugely underwhelmed by his progress and frustrated at his injuries. But if, and it's a big if, he can stay fit and get a good run of games i see no reason why he can't be a cracking midfielder.

Forget the injuries then.....

92 games and 5 goals for a so called creative attacking Brazilian midfielder when we bought him.

2 years to score his first goal. 4 seasons to score 1st goal at Old Trafford.

His assists record is also appalling. It has been brought up on here before.

It's not just the constant injuries.......he's simply not that good. He's not crap but there are miles better in the PL.

Yeah but you're missing the point. If you want goals from Anderson then fine, you're never going to be happy. But whether you want to agree or not he makes things happen. Whenever he's been on the pitch this season we've looked livelier and, quite frankly, better.

When they're both fit, ando is comfortably better than clev.

I'm not missing any point. I think he's a decent player. DECENT. That's about it.

Some people on here really believe he's better than Fabregas I think (as the song goes).

I actually made an article a few months ago about how he was starting to win me over slightly but that's gone now. He's had FAR TOO many chances for me.

He'll be beck in action in a few weeks for us and I know, and you all know, that not long after he'll go AWOL again with some recurrance of some injury. It's been the same for 6 years now.

It's sad because he's a decent player but he's never been the world beater he's made out to be on here.

When they're both fit, ando is comfortably better than clev.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In your opinion. I think the opposite.

I don't think Clevs is a world beater either by the way, but I think he's more intelligent on the ball and doesn't give it away as easily. And he's starting to show Fergie his goal scoring instinct that he showed at Watford and Wigan. He has scored two beauties over the Xmas period.

Football is all about opinions though.

Anderson has his strengths but he also has the lung capacity of a 90year old smoker and is why he hardly ever lasts a full match.

The other day you were drooling over Modric who averages 4 goals and assists a season over his time here. You were quick to defend him using other aspects of his game but here you are bashing ando for it. What about the other aspects to his game?

This is why I struggle to take you seriously

You know what, i think to a certain extent you and i are actually agreeing. You seem to be talking of a cycle where he plays well, gets injured, comes back overweight, gets fit, plays well and the whole thing happens over again. It just so happens that at West Ham on saturday me and my mates were discussing exactly the same thing. We all agreed that it's incredibly frustrating.

But i think where we differ is that when he plays i think he's amongst our best players, you clearly don't. That's fine, you're entitled to your opinion obviously but i find it hard to believe that you watched him over the october/november period and thought he was nothing more than 'mediocre crock'. Numerous times he was the catalyst for turning games. He may not have scored goals (except reading in the league), or even assisted (though i think he may have one), but he was certainly the one who changed us from looking slow, lazy and uninspiring, to a quick, urgent and direct team which was exactly what was needed.

He was then given opportunities to start and continued to impress. But then he got himself injured. Again.

Anderson is an excellent midfielder. If he's regularly fit we have no problem. Cleverley also is a top player.