[Champagne Football]

Lovely guy with a lovely blog. I'll miss his cuddly hugs but there's not a hope he'll be anywhere near Mourinhos first XI. Jose probably see's him as a very handy squad player to keep when he needs to give first teamers a rest. There are players who you simply can not critisize at Utd no matter how average they are most of the time. Berbatov and Nani are 2 other examples of players who turned up in only 1 in every 5 yet you'd be signing a death warrant if you said a bad word about either of them on here

 

[Di Maria's angel]

I don't really know what to think of Mata. He just hasn't delivered in his time here, but that is also due to the managers he's played under and their tumescent style of football. He obviously is a big talent, but he needs to prove to Jose that he deserves to be here.

I don't fully agree with this.

From Feb to May in his first season, he scored a couple of goals (6) in a mere 14 games. Not that they meant much in the end, however, he contributed well in his first 4-5 months.

In his second season, he bagged some vital goals, especially in the big games - goals against Liverpool and City (among others) were fundamental to our 4th place position. All in all, he had a very decent season.

This season, we expected more, however, given the circumstances with our team, manager and style, we probably got the best out of him. 11 goals and 11 assists isn't a terrible return in a completely dysfunctional team.

Since he signed, I think, he's been our second (if not first) most productive player which tells you that he has delivered, to some extent.

 

[Mark Pawelek]

I'd still like to see us keep him for another season at least.

He's on $140k/week. You shouldn't pay bench warmers that kind of money. I agree his passing is a little over-rated. He's good but not that good. He's just too weak for the PL.

 

[NK86]

Yes. And that's a testament to how poor Mata has been for us. Out, out out.

Out, out, out! That's exactly what I feel when I read these type of posts.

 

[dichinero]

He's on $140k/week. You shouldn't pay bench warmers that kind of money. I agree his passing is a little over-rated. He's good but not that good. He's just too weak for the PL.

We have players that earn that much and some much more that should no longer be at the club.

 

[El Zoido]

I think it says a lot that my primary concern with him once Mkhit was in the bag was how much I'd miss his blog.

 

[Antisocial]

Wherever he goes (and I hate that he will almost certainly go) then I dread to think how badly screwed we are going to get on the transfer fee - particularly in light of the ridiculous offers for the likes of Deeney and Benteke

 

[sullydnl]

No real upside? Getting an under performing player off the books is always a bonus. He's going to be 3rd or 4th choice for right wing or no 10 role, so really what's the point of keeping him?
Jose simply won't play him unless we suffer a complete injury crisis. So what is the upside of keeping him?

We're a team that has struggled for goals. He's one of our most productive players (our second highest goal scorer since he arrived, I think?). While I expect Mourinho, Zlatan and Micky Targ to improve us in that regard, we're still a team without a huge amount of firepower.

So the upside would be that even if Mata is relegated to a squad role, we at least have that productive squad player to turn to. As opposed to selling him and being forced to turn to inferior players with inferior levels of productivity if/when players lose form or are injured.

You're basically asking what the upside to having squad depth is. It's pretty self evident really.

 

[Mark Pawelek]

We have players that earn that much and some much more that should no longer be at the club.

Not players, only player (I assume you meant Wayne). Top earners:

Wayne Rooney ----------- £250k/w
Zlatan Ibrahimovic -------- £220k/w
David de Gea -------------- £200k/w
Juan Mata ------------------ £140k/w
Bastian Schweinsteiger --- £136k/w
Henrikh Mkhitaryan ------- £???k/w
Ashley Young -------------- £110k/w
Morgan Schneiderlin ------ £100k/w

 

[sullydnl]

Not players, only player (I assume you meant Wayne). Top earners:

Wayne Rooney ----------- £250k/w
Zlatan Ibrahimovic -------- £220k/w
David de Gea -------------- £200k/w
Juan Mata ------------------ £140k/w
Bastian Schweinsteiger --- £136k/w
Henrikh Mkhitaryan ------- £???k/w
Ashley Young -------------- £110k/w
Morgan Schneiderlin ------ £100k/w

From that list I would certainly see Rooney, Young and Schweinsteiger go before Mata does. Young really got the most out of his time here.

 

[Mark Pawelek]

From that list I would certainly see Rooney, Young and Schweinsteiger go before Mata does. Young really got the most out of his time here.

I agree. Those 3 before Mata. Yet I still wouldn't want anyone on > £100k/w benchwarming.

 

[AltiUn]

A lot of talk that he's agreed terms with Everton.

 

[Rado_N]

This is a performances thread, if you want to discuss rumours of him leaving make a thread.