[Annihilate Now!]

Currently the spanner in the works!

Because everything else around him is so fluid?

I think Mata's had a poor half (his worst of the season so far) but come on, Depay and Rooney have been poor too.

 

[Lawman]

Because everything else around him is so fluid?

I think Mata's had a poor half (his worst of the season so far) but come on, Depay and Rooney have been poor too.

I'm not disagreeing but every time Mata gets the ball he checks back killing our attack on the right hand side. He has quality and he can produce from close quarters in around the box but 30-50 yards from goal its horrible to watch him out wide!

 

[DevilRed]

I'm not disagreeing but every time Mata gets the ball he checks back killing our attack on the right hand side. He has quality and he can produce from close quarters in around the box but 30-50 yards from goal its horrible to watch him out wide!

There is also always the chance he gets knocked off the ball even with his back to goal. Right wing is not suiting him very well in these tight away matches.

 

[Lawman]

Because everything else around him is so fluid?

I think Mata's had a poor half (his worst of the season so far) but come on, Depay and Rooney have been poor too.

Get it up you!! Ya Beauty

 

[RedIke]

Now thats a finish! He needed that.

 

[JB08]

He's just so great.

 

[Mindhunter]

Ended his worst spell with a goal.

 

[Señor]

Poor first half, but there when he was needed to finish that. Obviously warming up for his favourite oppononents, Liverpool.

 

[Devil may care]

Did well to get the goal but he still feels like he slows our attacks down way too often.

 

[Tosicsleftpeg]

Did well to get the goal but he still feels like he slows our attacks down way too often.

He does because hes playing in the wrong position. Watch what he actually does every attack, ball comes into his feet and Darmian goes beyond him but the defender knows that Mata cant take him on as he has no pace. So he turns in and then gets his head up instantly and looks for runners....there are none for him to hit.

My favorite player by a mile for United but he has to be in the hole, he makes good runs beyond the striker and scores goals he also passes it into spaces to put players in behind. Playing him on the right is very hit and miss as he has immense quality but hes not suited to play there.

 

[bosnian_red]

Should play in the hole really but was meh today. Swansea's fullbacks did well to press him whenever he got the ball and it stifled his impact. Still scored though so you can't complain about him too much today. Was probably his worst match of the season, but scored.

 

[Raw]

He should have scored 2. He had such a brilliant chance that he smashed wide.

 

[Godfather]

Although he scored I can totally see why Mourinho sold him. There is just no position for him. He just isn't a winger. He drifts inside way too often and finds no one to pass to. Gets disposessed too easily and lacks pace. He is a beautiful footballer but I just don't see it with him on the wing.

 

[jem]

Wasn't great, but then scored and had another chance and then gets subbed. Well done LVG.

 

[the hea]

He was poor today yes he scored a goal but besides that he was no better then Rooney or Memphis. I think with the current formation Mata is the big problem in our attack when he is playing on the right we are basically playing with 2 tens and the centre of the pitch gets to crowded and Darmian gets to isolated on the wing. Mata should either play centrally or he should not play at all we need someone on the right similar to Memphis who stays out wide to strech the pitch.

 

[Globule]

He really is a bit of a square peg at the moment, isn't he. He just isn't going to shine (properly shine, not just scoring goals here and there) in our current formation. Maybe if he was the one in the middle, but that doesn't look likely.

I can't believe we let Pedro slip through our fingers.

 

[Sylar]

Push him behind the striker. We will play everybody but him there. Start him there and then see what happens. I think he should be part of a floating three behind the striker which rotate and cause problems. If hes stuck in one position its easy to defend, if you have him, Memphis and say Herrera switching around, it could cause problems.

Not his best games, took his goal well, but I dont think he should have been subbed because it basically meant long ball which defenders like Williams will be happy to deal with.

 

[NoPace]

Although he scored I can totally see why Mourinho sold him. There is just no position for him. He just isn't a winger. He drifts inside way too often and finds no one to pass to. Gets disposessed too easily and lacks pace. He is a beautiful footballer but I just don't see it with him on the wing.

Maybe in Pellegrini's 4-4-2 boxy type thing? He's not entirely dissimilar to Nasri in that both are sort of conservative on the ball and play both AM and W.

 

[saivet]

Not ideal to play him there but still a much better option than Young imo. When he came on, he stayed wide, tried to beat his man and cross the ball. Problem is that he's not that good at those things. Darmian overlapped, but he doesn't seem to know how to cross either. Not a huge Pedro fan, but he would have been ideal.

 

[DarkXaero]

Shouldn't have been subbed off for Ashley Young today. It should have been Memphis coming off for Young, as Memphis was arguably our worst player today (along with Rooney) and Young is better on the left wing anyway. It was stupid to sub off the guy who scored our goal today.

 

[Eric'sCollar]

Good goal Juan. Enjoy Spain. Hugs.

 

[ZDwyr]

Shouldn't have been subbed off for Ashley Young today. It should have been Memphis coming off for Young, as Memphis was arguably our worst player today (along with Rooney) and Young is better on the left wing anyway. It was stupid to sub off the guy who scored our goal today.

I agree. After he scored and got his confidence up it was strange to sub him. Should have looked to move him centrally and see if he could get another chance when we were chasing the game.

 

[Speak]

He's an impact sub/rotation player. That's all he can hope to be in a top team. Whether he pays centrally or on the wing.

It's almost always: 'he was good but...' or 'he scored/assisted but...'
The same things people claim hinder him out wide will hinder him centrally too. Maybe to a slightly lesser extent, but still too much.

 

[United again!]

I don't get why he's coming so deep and staying central then he's just completely bypassed and has no pace to get in any position to support. If he just pushed back onto his fullback the second Smalling ignored his pass he'd have been on the end of a possible square tap-in. In his role I find myself sometimes looking at the right wing and saying out loud "for christ's sake Mata get up the fecking field and stop dawdling around in the middle contributing nothing.."

There is literally not a single player on the right side of the pitch. Our shape is all over the place because Mata comes so deep and so far out of his own zone to get in the way of the play.

 

[Bwuk]

I don't get why he's coming so deep and staying central then he's just completely bypassed and has no pace to get in any position to support. If he just pushed back onto his fullback the second Smalling ignored his pass he'd have been on the end of a possible square tap-in. In his role I find myself sometimes looking at the right wing and saying out loud "for christ's sake Mata get up the fecking field and stop dawdling around in the middle contributing nothing.."

There is literally not a single player on the right side of the pitch. Our shape is all over the place because Mata comes so deep and so far out of his own zone to get in the way of the play.

It's clear Van Gaal is telling him to come inwards. Mata couldn't play as a winger anyway.

Stupid he isn't played as a #10.

 

[United again!]

Stupid he isn't played as a #10.

He is basically playing as a 10 while we have no right sided forward. It is bizarre.

 

[FC Ronaldo]

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[Annahnomoss]

I don't get why he's coming so deep and staying central then he's just completely bypassed and has no pace to get in any position to support. If he just pushed back onto his fullback the second Smalling ignored his pass he'd have been on the end of a possible square tap-in. In his role I find myself sometimes looking at the right wing and saying out loud "for christ's sake Mata get up the fecking field and stop dawdling around in the middle contributing nothing.."

There is literally not a single player on the right side of the pitch. Our shape is all over the place because Mata comes so deep and so far out of his own zone to get in the way of the play.

When you want him out wide right during the counters or transitions he's often dropping straight in to the line of the midfield and when you do want him making a run centrally during the organized play then he usually sticks pretty far out right. It doesn't seem like he provides any threat at all to the full back during the transitions with runs behind the defense and as he's more or less always dropping deep it becomes predictable for the full back too.

Even when he succeeds and drops deep and offers an alternative he usually does so in an area that isn't threatening at all and it rarely leads to a lot. If he wants to leave his position during the build up he'd be a lot more dangerous if he stayed high up the field and tried to find space centrally instead as if he receives the ball there it is instantly a good chance to create something.

 

[Escobar]

He is one of the reasons why we struggle upfront. He's just so slow with his movement and play. Too often he stops and plays it back again, it becomes frustrating. Really wonder where his top form is but like this, he shouldn't start games

 

[Roboc7]

He is one of the reasons why we struggle upfront. He's just so slow with his movement and play. Too often he stops and plays it back again, it becomes frustrating. Really wonder where his top form is but like this, he shouldn't start games

Make or break season for him now I think, it's been two years since he was one of the leagues best players and if he doesn't get back to that kind of level I think he will be on his way next summer. Failure to sign another winger will give him a run in the team but it's noticeable how we have virtually no threat down our right hand side.

 

[Escobar]

Make or break season for him now I think, it's been two years since he was one of the leagues best players and if he doesn't get back to that kind of level I think he will be on his way next summer. Failure to sign another winger will give him a run in the team but it's noticeable how we have virtually no threat down our right hand side.

Our right wing could be a problem all season. Just a shame he's never reached his previous highs

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

He is one of the reasons why we struggle upfront. He's just so slow with his movement and play. Too often he stops and plays it back again, it becomes frustrating. Really wonder where his top form is but like this, he shouldn't start games

He's also the only one that gets onto the end of crosses in the box, which is his job as a wide forward. He's slow, that was always known and he cannot beat his man from a stand still position but his off-ball movement is excellent and that will add goals.

Edit: Also think he's had a hand in all of our goals from open play in the league so far this season.

 

[sullydnl]

One of the main reasons for our poor attacking play, yet also our best attacking player so far this season. Busy guy.

 

[Devil may care]

I was really hoping we'd get some pace in to play on the right and least offer an alternative to him, he frustrates the hell out of me most weeks and the only cover we have is Ashley Young.

 

[Hit It]

Push him behind the striker. We will play everybody but him there. Start him there and then see what happens. I think he should be part of a floating three behind the striker which rotate and cause problems. If hes stuck in one position its easy to defend, if you have him, Memphis and say Herrera switching around, it could cause problems.

Not his best games, took his goal well, but I dont think he should have been subbed because it basically meant long ball which defenders like Williams will be happy to deal with.

I just think LVG feels he isn't strong enough to hold the ball in the number 10 position. At Chelsea he had Drogba upfront who could hold the ball up and so he could bounce off him but here we have Wayne Rooney. A striker who has no pace, strength and a lack of movement to trouble defenders. On the right wing he has more space but apart from the reverse pass into the box, he doesn't have many other ideas to trouble the defense .

 

[Ash_G]

I just think LVG feels he isn't strong enough to hold the ball in the number 10 position. At Chelsea he had Drogba upfront who could hold the ball up and so he could bounce off him but here we have Wayne Rooney. A striker who has no pace, strength and a lack of movement to trouble defenders. On the right wing he has more space but apart from the reverse pass into the box, he doesn't have many other ideas to trouble the defense .

That's the problem though, don't play him as a 10 play him a bit deeper as an a/m. Let him float and find space. Cutting in from the right he can get some space but then we lose an attacker from that side, where as if he's central and allowed to drift he can be in a position to link up with either Depay or the other winger. It would let us overload some areas like other teams do, forcing the opposition to break their rigid formation as they'll have to move to keep tracking, so either they do that and space opens up for someone else, or they're too slow in which case we might be able to play someone in.

With the window gone and Januzaj on loan it can't really happen now and so he'll have to stay wide but I'd definitely say it's a wasted opportunity.

 

[evra]

We should be building the team around him rather than Rooney; he's more talented and has a better mentality.

 

[Brwned]

He is basically playing as a 10 while we have no right sided forward. It is bizarre.

We did the same thing under Sir Alex with Giggs for a considerable period of time before he was converted into a central player full-time. Lopsided formations really aren't that strange. You can go all the way back to Brazil in 1970 who played with Rivelino - a classic #10 - on the left and Jairzinho - a wide forward - on the right. We've just done the same on the opposite wings with Mata and Depay. The system isn't the issue it's the execution of it.

 

[Dante]

A 4-3-3 has 3 passing midfielders and 3 attacking forwards. Usually the midfielders are all central, but LvG is kind of tasking Mata as one of the passing midfielders, albeit one who starts from out wide. The #10s we've used (Depay, Fellaini, Herrera and Januzaj) have all played much higher up the pitch, almost as strikers.

It kind of looks like this:

------------------Rooney
Depay------------Januzaj

-------------------------------Mata
-------------Scheiderlin---Bastian


Yes, we look lopsided but I don't think it matters. LvG wants to keep Mata's 90% passing in the side but doesn't believe he can do it as a #10. He still contributes a lot, but for some reason the Caf seems to want to judge him as a traditional winger. That's clearly not his role right now.

I think it's fair to criticise the tempo of his passing, but I don't have a problem with his position in the team.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Can you explain this please?

Sorry I missed this, but I meant it's easier for creative players when your striker is not playing the way Rooney has been. In his current form, you can't really play the ball to him in tight spaces or when he's under pressure from defenders as easily as you'd like. I'm not sure from Rooney's POV blame can be apportioned on the service from the likes of Mata too, of course.