When he cut in he had so much space but did nothing with it, also it doesn't help when any pass he did play into the striker was miscontrolled or Rooney was so slow to react, the defender nipped in front and possession was lost. Very frustrating.
8
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 35
- Goals
- 10
- Assists
- 4
- Yellow cards
- 2
- Status
He's blatantly not a winger.
Unfortunately reverting back to how he was earlier in the season, with little penetration in his passing and an ease to nullify due to his lack of pace and stature.
No, not a traditional one anyway.
He's only going to work out there with quick passing and clever movement around him. He doesn't have the pace/skill to beat a defender one on one, so needs to be clever. When the passing is slow and the movement pedestrian (like today) he's virtually pointless.
Valid points, but he was just at fault with the pedestrian passing. Him and Valencia were playing some of the slowest one-two's I've seen.
Yeah, don't get me wrong, I thought he was terrible today. Didn't take any initiative to make something happen on his own, and just kept taking the easy option with every pass. It might have kept us in possession, but it wasn't going to get us a goal.
My stream was iffy, but from what I saw, Mata, Valencia and Herrera didn't seem to have those delightful, one-touch triangles going that they'd had during our winning run. Any particular reason why?
There was just no zip or fluency in it, it was always in front of their lines and very plodded.
Yeah that was my impression, but I'm curious as to why that's the case. Was just a collective malaise, or was there a more tactical explanation for it?
I think it was just a bad day at the office. We struggled in our switching over to the left side - Fellaini found himself in too many petulant duels that riled him up, Shaw did okay but wasted a few crosses, and Young didn't look anywhere near as threatening as he has been recently. As a result, almost some sort of telepathy, the right side struggled.
It happened so often in the first half, it's bit unfair to blame him after he gave up trying for through passes after that.
We don't concede an early goal. Any team in the world finds it tough after conceding an early goal at the bridge vs mourinho's chelsea. Maybe there's some player in the world we could sign that means we could create lots of open play chances in that scenario - but I don't think so
Well we didnt concede *early* against Chelsea - it was the 38th minute, close to HT.
I maintain that in a game where over the 90 minutes we have 70% possession, that it is players like Mata who we need to be able to make the difference. Against stubborn, organised defenses is where a defence splitting pass, a clever one-two, a good through ball....these are the tools that we need.
If we are playing against a side who are attacking us, rather than sitting back, there are plenty of options - pace, long balls etc. It is against the stubborn defences that we need the "creators" to create something, and that is the category that Mata certainly would appear to fit into.
Basically, I dont want to get into the "luxury player" debate again (to be fair, I was impressed by some of the defensive efforts from Mata today) - but it is against the organised, stubborn defences where we need that sort of player to shine I feel. Against weaker, lesser teams basically anyone should be able to do the job (within reason). You pay £37m for a top quality playmaker for precisely the type of game we had last week against Chelsea, in my opinion.
Last edited:
Yeah I get it. My point was the best players in the world have failed to cut open Mourinho sides that park the bus. The player that will do that consistently doesn't appear to exist.
There have been times where I've been very critical of mata when he's created nothing vs very defensive sides. I just don't think it's fair vs this chelsea side, at home, a goal up, playing for the title. No player in the world could be relied on, give him a break
Valencia in particular was extremely slow at releasing it, but Everton did a cracking job of filling in the holes so the guys just ended up going for the easy option. A bit gutless at times, particularly when you're already trailing in the game.
He was a bit flat, lacked some dynamism on the ball I thought. Those saying he isn't a winger or whatever are being a bit hasty. He can clearly play there (as he has shown).
I know he's the nicest man alive and a Caf favourite but he isn't really what I want to see in a United front 3, I feel in that formation you need two dynamic and fast wide attackers supporting the lone #9.
So you didn't enjoy his performances vs Tottenham, Liverpool, Aston Villa and City? He may not fit the conventional winger profile, but he's more than capable of being decisive from that position.
It's pretty obvious that if you cut him off from Herrera he's not going to offer much, when you play wide in a front 3 you need to be able to drive in with the ball and commit defenders, he's never going to be that player. I think there are games we can use him there but he wouldn't be a starting choice for me, in the last 2 games it looks like the triangle stuff we used in the prior 4 games has been sussed and the limitations individually of a couple of players have been highlighted.
Fair enough - I agree that a lot of players can and will struggle against Mourinho teams like that. Even the mighty Fellaini had a quiet game
The problem you are always going to face eventually is that the teams wisen up and then plan to cut such things out. The Triangle passing system has been key to us for the past 6 weeks along with Fellaini and teams have now seen that, and plan accordingly to prevent it. Now we are at the stage where LVG has to earn his money and think of alternate ways to freshen things up. Whether that may be to put Di Maria in on that wing against West Brom to throw off the scent is something LVG should probably be looking at. I would of liked to of seen the Triangle system with Rafael rather than Valencia initially though, think that could of been possibly even better.
The video was great! Why did they show Fellaini goal against Tottenham though? Mata didn't assists or play a part in it, did he?
I think they're showing his hugs, referring to his blog posts that always ends in 'Hugs!'.
Hope he has a great day and spoils himself.
Hope he gets plenty if hugs for his birthday. He's a ripping bloke who's nigh on impossible to dislike.
Happy birthday Juan. 
Hugs.
Agreed, it's time to try a switch up and utilize the options we have, I just think you need starters that can vary their game as opposed to actually needing to swap them out in the middle of a good run.
Can someone embed this please. Not sure how to do it.
https://www.facebook.com/DavidDeGea...7805967594675/870074023034534/?type=1&theater
https://www.facebook.com/DavidDeGea...7805967594675/870074023034534/?type=1&theater
Last edited:
Can you embed the actual post. It's pretty sweet what De Gea says.
Done mate, cheers.
Cheers mate!
Fomer team-mate, neighbour, personal driver, cook... You are many things, but especially a friend! Happy birthday@juanmatagarcia! #HalaMadrid!
Last edited:
Fomer team-mate, neighbour, personal driver, cook... You are many things, but especially a friend! Happy birthday@juanmatagarcia! #HalaMadrid!
Wtf is a fomer team-mate? Silly Spaniards.
So Mata doesn't work hard... doesn't put in a shift the detractors say...
http://www.givemesport.com/570411-j...ny-other-manchester-united-player?autoplay=on
Nice graph here showing all our main players but heck if I can figure out how to get it here....
http://www.givemesport.com/570411-j...ny-other-manchester-united-player?autoplay=on
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...anchester-Uniteds-hardest-working-player.html
Nice graph here showing all our main players but heck if I can figure out how to get it here...
.- Status