iBoss
i-ttack the space
Winner against Chelsea.He's pure class and now he's putting himself about as well. What more can we want?
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Winner against Chelsea.He's pure class and now he's putting himself about as well. What more can we want?
Now that would be something.Winner against Chelsea.
His last appearance against United for Chelsea... a 1-0 win at Old Trafford. The scorer... none other than Juan Mata.Winner against Chelsea.
Yeah once you get pulled a bit wide, it's much harder to score. He took it superblyProduced a good game defensively too. It was an excellent finish. Most players would have missed imo.
You're, right, meant HerreraDo you mean "him and Herrera"?
Mata was, once again, excellent and gave loads of trouble to Clichy. As TRDA pointed out, he was very intelligent and drifted infield to take advantage of spaces in the middle when we overloaded our left side. Him drifting in caused Man. City so many problems as Yaya was attracted to Fellaini and Fernandinho to Herrera. His understanding of the situations is amazing, and I'm sure van Gaal would be very happy with Mata as he currently suits van Gaal's philosophy to the tee.
Louis van Gaal had stated prior to the sale he wanted to work in England but back then Spurs were the club interested in him. Moyes stated his surprise that he signed Juan in January saying they had been working on the deal for a while but expected it to happen in the summer.Wonder if Mourinho would have sold him to us if he knew LVG was going to be our manager. Jose surely thought Moyes would be here longer.
Would make my life.Winner against Chelsea.
That would be brilliantWinner against Chelsea.
Oh yes please.Winner against Chelsea.
He seemed to always play well against us for a start!He was always a big game player for Chelsea. He had a fantastic record against the best sides and in important games.
Well Jose said when he sold Mata that he need to work harder in defence and if he would change his game a little he would be in the first team at Chelsea tbh. But Mata wanted to leave and he was sold because of that, not because Jose didn't wanted him.
Same happened to Mata at the start of the season when he was out of the first team. I think Mata saw what is wrong and listened to LVG and we now see the improvement Jose wanted. Mata is definetly working much harder in defence as he did last year at Chelsea. His attacking contribution was never questioned.
Yup, this is a big improvement in his game and i think that's why van gaal trusts him now.Fair play to him he's turned it around.
Not just the goals but he's also getting more involved in the general play and the defensive side of his game has improved loads. Even saw him winning a few physical battles which he rarely did.
His productivity is just ridiculous.
There's two of themJust a few weeks back, him and Mata were "disliked by LvG and sure to be gone in the summer".
This. Never seen him do it before tbh.Even saw him winning a few physical battles which he rarely did.
His productivity is just ridiculous.
There's two of them
It's uncanny. Hart closed his angles off extremely well but Mata went in between the legs. He has nerves of steel when he is in those situations.He's absolutely lethal. Right up there with the best strikers in Europe when it comes to converting chances.
I think that was helped by the fact that Silva was on his flank and doing the same thing, but yeah, I like seeing that from Mata. It's exactly how I thought Kagawa could've played for us. The fact that Herrera is in the team is a big part of this working.I love his false winger position, it allows him to get around and if he is out of position, Herrera will fill in. It's surprisingly effective.
Which is so valuable to us. We've not had many players you could say that about in recent times. He's a huge asset going forward, in more ways than one.It's uncanny. Hart closed his angles off extremely well but Mata went in between the legs. He has nerves of steel when he is in those situations.
Yes, yesterday's finish was pretty spectacular in fairness. Hart did everything right, but Juan just completely waited him out (takes extreme composure), and as soon as Hart blinked he pounced at exactly the right moment and put it between his legs before the gap closed.His finish for the first goal at Anfield and the goal yesterday were fantastic, neither of those were easy but he made it look so simple. He's class.
Now where's that new blog, Juan??
Yes, it was a wierd decision to sell him. However, we did pay a premium price, so it's not like he gave him away. I think it was a fair deal for everyone involved.I also noticed the bald patch. Imagine if he did turn into Zidane . Anyway on to his performance today, another good display and once again justified why he's in the team over Di Maria. He links up really well with Herrera on the right side and his goal return for us has been very good. Mourinho was nuts for selling him.
He's starting to replicate the form he had at Chelsea. Truly world class.
I actually think he's starting to surpass his Chelsea form. He's becoming a more complete player and almost something of a terrier in this current system with his tackles and pressing - both of which are not only becoming more frequent, but also more effective and are done with the high intelligence the rest of his game is played at.He's now starting to replicate his performances at Chelsea, when he's playing like that, he's fantastic to watch.
He's not a luxury player. A luxury player doesn't show up in big games (Liverpool, City). Its true he doesn't offer much defensively but his defensive frailties have been overplayed.We have always known that Mata offers a lot going forwards, this was never in question. His limitations are that he is a luxury player who offers very little defensively - I think this is why he struggled to get gametime in central positions under Mourinho, and has similarly been using by LVG out wide. It is no coincidence that LVG prefers players like Fellaini and Rooney in the central positions, who offer better workrate and tracking back whilst still contributing in attack.
I am pleased that Mata has come into form, especially now at the crucial end of the season, but for a player who can be a complete passenger, I feel he needs to be performing at this sort of level to justify his place in the team.