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His close control and dribble-brain is at an exceptionally high level. A few of those touches he was already engineering the touch away from the defender before the defender know he was going to press and make the challenge. I think he's a very very good instinctive dribbler. I think in a perfect world we'd get him into spaces where we just say Right Adnan, heres the ball its a 1 on 3, beat all of these guys and make something for an assist or goal. Although young, he really is an exceptional talent with the ball at his feet in my view.
Agreed with this, we do need to take a step back and acknowledge that we were playing an injury hit team but even so, the movement and trickery displayed in the first half in particular was very promising given our recent performances. Januzaj was at times excellent but did make a few errors which is only natural when returning to match sharpness but the signs were there that he looks like a viable first team option again. I was very impressed, looked really dangerous and caused their defense all kinds of problems.
I don't see how Januzaj has anything to do with Pedro, Adnan is playing centrally and isn't fast, Pedro was to add pace to our wide attack on the right.
Because Mata is the first choice player on the right, and if Pedro came then Mata would go in the middle and januzaj to the bench. The way I see it... Rooney, Memphis and Mata are pretty clear starters as they are our best attacking players. Who is the other player, whether its a right winger or #10? It's up for grabs. Januzaj, Herrera, Fellaini and Pereira will all be fighting for that spot, even Hernandez (to push Rooney deeper and him to start up top). So us getting one more starting quality player would mean that those players are all firmly back up players for the starting positions, instead of having a spot to compete to make their own in the starting 11.
The #10 role is up for grabs but I don't think LvG has any intention of using Mata there because he is so easily knocked off the ball, he's less risky playing from wide. He has played everyone but him there. Pedro would have upgraded Mata on the right and gave us pace either side of Rooney with Adnan developing as the #10.
If we signed Pedro, we would have moved things around so Mata would stay. Mata has been excellent this season IMO and I'm always confused when I see people thinking Van Gaal will drop him eventually. He's exactly the type of player Van Gaal loves (minus the physical attributes). So smart on the ball, always gets 90%+ pass accuracy, has a huge impact in controlling games, picks out the right man very often, and can both score and create goals. He's not going to be dropped nor should he be, because he's a terrific player at his best, which I think he can be now that he has players with pace around him stretching teams more then before when he had nobody to aim at.
Who are the players with pace he now has to aim at? Januzaj and Rooney are not fast, Memphis is the only addition we have made in this regard. I thought he'd be dropped because he's not fast enough out wide and offers zero penetration and is too weak to play centrally, he was the obvious player to upgrade in the front 4.
Januzaj has decent pace, not blistering of course, but he has good movement and makes clever runs in behind which is the important thing. Rooney once he is at his best looks quicker and stronger and just better all around. I do think we need more pace in our attack, but it wouldn't be Mata dropping out that's for sure. He doesn't need to be fast for his role. He doesn't play as a proper winger but a wide playmaker like how Silva is for City essentially. I don't think he's as good or creative as Silva is, but at his best he's still a top class player and can have a similar impact.
Januzaj has poor acceleration like Barbatov, that is why he struggles to get away from players, they catch him easily over the first few years, he's fine once motoring but you rarely get the chance to do that if you can't get off the mark quickly. There's no point in us going round and round on this mate, you clearly rate Mata in this role and I don't so we might as well just leave it at that, as for Rooney, he's physically deteriorated, he's not going to outpace defenses.
^^^^^ This - I realize the Villa game was not exactly top notch, but for the first time in recent memory I could look up and see all 4 players up top in different spots. Rooney would come deeper to get the ball, Adnan would shift to either side while Memphis and Mata would go central. This is the third game these 4 have played together - it really can only improve. Was it great football - NO - but it certainly gives a glimpse of what is to come.
It was great to see all his touches in one video (thanks @MoneyMay ) and I have to agree. He's working extremely hard and he can control the ball artistically at times. I see him continuing to work on the deficiencies in his game and realizing his potential, it may just take a little longer than we want. His mentality is right, he has the talent.
He can actually get past players rather well. Pace doesnt really seem to be an issue with him
Major point that few seem to give appropriate consideration. The hattrick chance Memphis fluffed was an illustration of what could come but isn't quite there yet. With all our changes over the last few years, that means everyone has to re-learn their roles, develop new understandings and partnerships, and practice all over again.
Odd post given that getting past players is exactly what he's best at, and he does it almost effortlessly.
I didn't say getting past I said getting away, he uses a trick to get past them but can't get away as he has poor acceleration and they recover on him.
He doesnt use fancy trickery to get away. Usually he just moves to the side quickly then uses his pace to get away. He certainly does not have poor acceleration as he showed during the Moyes season
Never noticed that myself. Once he's past a man he tends to show him a clean pair of heels. He's not lightning but he's certainly fast enough to make his dribbling count.
God bless their persistence but they might need to work on a more short-term strategy.
Mata's been great in the last two games. The more that him, Memphis and Januzaj work on their link-up play together the better.
Possibly - but then Januzaj doesn't get minutes in his preferred position and the one which he will surely play in the future. I'd prefer we just stick with him at #10 for a while. He's not going to learn how to play as a #10 if he's shunted out to the wing. We haven't done Phil Jones any favours with this sort of treatment in the past either.
That sounds more like Valencia, Adnan has excellent footwork that allows him to shift the ball between feet and swerve the defender, but his poor acceleration means he rarely gets away with the ball.
It just feels like we are seeing different players, I don't see speed as a big asset at all with Januzaj, to me his control and passing will be what allows him to hurt teams centrally like Silva, but he's not going to go past players and burn them off like Hazard or Sanchez as more often than not most have the speed to recover if he doesn't release the ball quick enough.
He doesn't have poor acceleration at all. In fact I'd say it's one of his strengths. His sprint speed isn't great, but he certainly has enough acceleration for it to be a valuable asset.
