He really did nothing. Even keeping possession we failed in it. Some of his decision making in the second half was questionable as well.
8
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 40
- Goals
- 3
- Assists
- 7
- Yellow cards
- 1
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
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Then you can check how many goals/assists Mkhitaryan creates near the end of the game.
Hmm.
The caf.
Now that is a reason I believe. But it comes with a little asterisk on top. The oppo defenders have been drained out by the movement of our attacking players (especially Mata) and bringing Martial/Rashford towards the end means that one of the defenders has to stay on that flank making it easier for us to scorein the latter stages
I'm a big Mata fan but Mkhitaryan gives lot at the end of the game. He has very good pace to carry the ball on counter and imo has better stamina. Keeping Mkhi on has worked wonders in PL games, not sure why it should be changed.
I agree with that, all I was pointing was the defensive contribution of Mata that gets overlooked
He wasnt as inconsistent as the rest of the attackers, Mkhi and Lukaku mainly (Rashford was terrible). Good first half, the first 30 minutes in the second half were average though. Rounded off with the freekick to the woodwork. Mata has his flaws, him lacking pace and strength hinders him. He is still intelligent to make up for it. Unlucky with the assists and goals so far, but good player to have, even if we could/should upgrade on him soon.
He's supposed to be the one that keeps the team ticking, the player that is supposes to be calm in possession, but he just lost the ball to easily too many times, can't even hold the ball properly as he's too weak when the opponent pressures him from behind, also has a crack to disappear in the second half, that's why he never plays full 90 minutes this season
He is a good player, and is always on the move. I though he was our best attacker out of the four that started the game.
His ability to play in small areas, his first touch, his ability to find a teammate in space in the last 1/3, his ability to play one-two in and around the box makes Mata’s contribution absolutly essential to us, not at least because our other attacking players seem to be limited - to very limited - in this respect (Zlatan will be a major upgrade when time comes).
Same game, two opinions from the different ends of the spectrum. Gotta love that
Feel like he's been feistier than usual this season. I like it.
I don't know what role he plays in our team. Only sure things is that he gets subbed at 75'.
We need a style of player like him, just better. He is so slow and lacks any physicality.... he will continue to play a part this season but we need an upgrade.
Allow me to enlighten you. His job is to create space. Mata's game is all about dragging opponents out of position. The clearest example of this is the space he creates for Valencia. When he drifts inside, he brings the right fullback with him, which results in a lot of space down the right for Valencia to run into either with or without the ball. Its deceptive given that he doesn't spend that much time out wide, but he does really stretch the play by dragging opponents away from where they're supposed to be.
He also drops into pockets of space between the lines to receive the ball. I know this is a concept often talked about with tactics that doesn't sound like it means much, but the general idea is that he arrives in places where space has been vacated, which draws people towards him, and thus away from the player they're supposed to be marking. For example, if Mata pops up on the left (as he does frequently), he has no direct marker, and the opponent's right back and holding midfielder have a choice to either come to him or stay with their man. If it's the former, their man is left free and if Mata thinks quick enough (which he often does) he can pass to them. If the latter happens, Mata is left free with the ball, and can carry it forward and then try to play a precise pass into feet, only to flit off and find space again.
He's also become very defensively diligent in his later years. He very rarely loses his fullback, and although he drifts all over the pitch, he always seems to get back very quickly when we lose the ball. This more than anything is what has won Jose over.
Not every player is the star of the show. Not every player scores most of the goals or gets most of the assists. Some players are genuinely in the team to provide poise, balance, and stability, and get the best out of others. If this seems like an odd role for a playmaking winger, thats only because the game is changing. Fullbacks are more adventurous than they've ever been, and teams are incredibly well organised, which means more effective movement is required to drag players out of position and confuse that organisation.
And although we haven't seen much of it so far this season, he's also a very composed finisher, both from open play and from a dead ball, and I'm sure he'll get his customary 10 goals this season as he has for the past 3 years.
He needs to be the first choice free kick taker. Everyone else are simply specialists in hitting the wall.
Agreed, for now he is a major part of our attack.
Agreed, I think we will get an upgrade in the next window.
Couldn't have put up much better myself. He is playing pivotal role in this team without getting much credit. Last season lingard was playing the same role, Mata is much better than him in the role jose gave him.
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Kind of another nothing performance, still love him to bits though and he is an important player. I still don't think he fits this style at all and will organically be pushed out of the team when somebody can step up and oust him.
He was really good in the first half yesterday. Linking up a lot of our play, had some great interchanges with all our other attackers and should have grabbed an assist to cap it off.
Griezmann
He was my MOTM (Close between him and Matic). But Mata is not known as 'a runner' and he was really everywhere working hard in all zones to compensate for our lack of Pogba (which was actually Fellaini's job).
He was picking the ball up deep from Bailly/Jones and driving distribution forward through Matic. He was picking the ball up from Mkhi on the right and driving horizontally looking for opportunities to play it through for the forward(s) who were too static. Generally he was key in the fluidity of all of our possession, all concurrently with and perhaps to the detriment of his day job. The stand out player for me whilst the score was 1-0.
He was picking the ball up deep from Bailly/Jones and driving distribution forward through Matic. He was picking the ball up from Mkhi on the right and driving horizontally looking for opportunities to play it through for the forward(s) who were too static. Generally he was key in the fluidity of all of our possession, all concurrently with and perhaps to the detriment of his day job. The stand out player for me whilst the score was 1-0.
He's been the weakest attacking player so far imo. He really needs to up his game if he wants to keep his starting place. He's just not productive enough
He's far from his best, but he's a really good player and he'll do really good things for us.
Plenty of trust in him.
Plenty of trust in him.
He didn't play 'badly' - he rarely does, but I still struggle to see why he is an automatic starter in our attack. And for all his perceived 'creativity', I said in another thread - I think Martial is a more creative wide player. Generally, Mata just plays the Rooney pass from one side to another. He doesn't really have that much of an eye for a killer ball.
In terms of creativity right now he's probably the worse ranked of our attacking players, but what I'm not sure is whether Mourinho sees him as such.
Mata is definitely better in possession and ball circulation than Rashford, Martial and Mkhi. He's not as direct as the others and he doesn't lose the ball anywhere near as often as they do. He doesn't hog possession and keeps the ball and himself in constant movement. He's not exceptional, he's not a David Silva or KDB but he does the simple things very well.
I believe that he brings balance to our team. I feel that if we had another player on that side that puts his head down and dribbles as much as our other AMs do, we might be surrendering possession too easily and putting ourselves on the back foot. He might be upgraded in the future but in the current squad, he deserves the starts in my opinion.
Exactly what I was going to say. All the rest of our attackers tend to surrender possession more frequently due to their style of play. With Mata, Jose knows there is at least one attacker who will keep the ball, be composed in building our attacks and circulate it well. I think he probably also relies on him to put his foot on the ball and calm things down at times in passages when we've been losing the ball too much... something that was very evident when he came on against Stoke.
I can appreciate those qualities, and I would describe him similarly - but still don't think he should be in our, or any team's front three. It's like playing Frank Lampard at RW. The qualities you listed are good, but almost that of a central midfielder - there's little basis of you starting in attack. He can generally finish when given the chance, hence why I picked Lampard as a comparison, but he's no forward player.
Excellent, intelligent post! Thank you.
Like I said, I'm not sure Jose sees him as a forward player. He starts on the wing but has the freedom to drift centrally so much that he essentially becomes another midfielder/ CAM. And yes, we could upgrade on Mata in the future but from the current squad who would you put in his position? Lingard? Young?
Rashford.
Love him as a player but definitely need a bigger output from him to be classified as a elite.
We can definitely do an upgrade in him ( if a suitable player becomes available- like AG)
We can definitely do an upgrade in him ( if a suitable player becomes available- like AG)
Our obsession with pace
And Martial on the left? It'd be an interesting to see for sure, though my gut feeling is that a line up with Martial, Rashford and Mkhi would struggle with ball retention and circulation. All three of them fluctuate quite a bit in their performances, even during a game. I reckon Jose has tried it in training matches and he knows what he's doing by not picking it. Although that's just an opinion as I have no proof of course.
As opposed to 'ball retention' from a winger.Our obsession with pace
I agree that there may be an issue with circulation and retention here. That said, I think Martial is much better than both Rashford and Mkhitaryan at this, and actually has some of Maya's qualities in this respect.
I agree on the whole though, especially with Pogba behind in a 2, there is a likelihood that some composure and control will be lost. That said, in the absence of Pogba, with two 'sensible' midfielders, I think we should look at it.
I thought he was quite decent. I haven't been his biggest fan a lot of the time either.
I think its an obsession with players not being 5 yards behind the play.Our obsession with pace
Excellent post!!
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