It'll be interesting to see what LvG does with Mata if we get Pedro.
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Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 54
- Goals
- 11
- Assists
- 11
- Yellow cards
- 7
- Red cards
- 1
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
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Maybe, move mata central and depay on the left and pedro right or keep mata where he is and move pedro to the left. If lvg feels young can be improved upon he is brutal enough to do so
I don't get why Mata isn't played as a number 10. He has no pace and it's obvious what he is going to do on the wing. If he must play, play him in his best position ffs.
Silky touches and keeps it tidy but just doesn't add enough as a wide player IMO.
I think LvG is of the view that he is too weak to protect the ball centrally in attack, that's something Memphis has done well even though the position is not a familiar one to him.
Thought he was pretty good in the first half, and among our best players. Faded in the second half.
Man Utd 1:0 Tottenham
very good today. glad he covered rb at the end. may have saved the game.
He was ok. I still think he'd be far better in the middle.
Was grand. Our attack in general was a bit meh.
Our best attacking Player today.
Very enjoyable player to watch.
Very good performance, shame about that free kick, hassled everybody around the pitch, nothing new from him as he's always running plenty but it was an impressive display of hard work done on the pitch.
Really needs to be playing as a #10. It sounds crazy, and probably hasn't been suggested by everyone ever.
Davies was there for the taking, and Young couldn't beat Walker for pace. We should have put a quicker player on the right and gone at them.
Davies was there for the taking, and Young couldn't beat Walker for pace. We should have put a quicker player on the right and gone at them.
Did ok. That touch at the end was sexy. Still no winger though.
He was brilliant defensively and filling in at LB when Shaw burst forward.
Very average offensively, as was the rest of the team.
Very average offensively, as was the rest of the team.
Not so impressed, very off the pace first half but he got better later on. He had some very good actions though and that shows his potential. Still would prefer Pedro on the wing, we need speed and dribbling over there.
Did OK, after an iffy start where he gave away the ball a couple of times too many.
Sometimes he will have a brilliant game in which he scores goals and plays amazing passes. This was not one of them and it makes him look very average. Especially when played on the right wing and being incapable of putting in a cross. He should be playing where Depay is playing.
Mata worked his socks off today, clearly a different player than the one we've signed, his defensive contribution was very good.
He was ok, very tidy I guess the word is, needs to look for Darmian on the overlap more though, not a long term solution out there though.
Anyone has a gif of his touch near the end of the game?
Hopefully continue to play him and drop Young.
Depay was dispossessed 6 times today. I wouldn't say he has done very well in that specific regard and I think Mata would do better with his technique. If Depay learns the role he will definitely provide a lot of penetration and dribbling which Mata will never do though.
For me, he's not like David Silva.
He's primarily a scorer, not a chance creator.
He should be behind the striker. He's only shined on the right with Herrera there.
He's primarily a scorer, not a chance creator.
He should be behind the striker. He's only shined on the right with Herrera there.
What is strange today is that I thought he was fantastic today and yet he still remained totally ineffective on the whole... he doesn't make us a more threatening team when in possession he just makes us more likely to keep the ball.
Depay might be less efficient but he looks dangerous every time he gets it, Mata no matter what position he plays, he doesn't look dangerous. Maybe if we had a more dynamic striker he would be able to pass forward more and get more assists on the board.
Depay might be less efficient but he looks dangerous every time he gets it, Mata no matter what position he plays, he doesn't look dangerous. Maybe if we had a more dynamic striker he would be able to pass forward more and get more assists on the board.
Thought he had a rubbish first half and a decent second half... so not bad overall.
In 4-3-3 he had a lot of freedom to come inside, but van Gaal has come up with this weird formation that suits nobody bar Rooney maybe. Now he's asked to stay out wide, his role is very restricted. I don't understand why are we playing that way.
He had a lot of very good touches, was very tidy and did well defensively but IMO he doesn't do enough in attack. Once we get Pedro he will probably find himself on the bench as lvg clearly doesn't rate him in no 10 position.
He had a lot of very good touches, was very tidy and did well defensively but IMO he doesn't do enough in attack. Once we get Pedro he will probably find himself on the bench as lvg clearly doesn't rate him in no 10 position.
In fairness I made the comment after the pre season games where he was more effective than today in the role. It wouldn't hurt to try Memphis on the left and play Mata as the #10 for a game and see how it went but LvG seems resistant to play Mata centrally, choosing Fellaini and now a winger to play there instead of him.
It's simply because he is not very creative. I've said it countless times before on here - he isn't the player in the side that's going to play defence splitting passes, because it's simply not in his repertoire.
Worked really hard and had a few good moments that showcased his skill and control but produced very little in regards to actual end product. Not really a dig at him its just that he doesn't possess the skillset to be consistently dangerous in the role he was played today. He had all the defensive duties of an orthodox winger (and fulfilled them surprisingly well) with a little bit of leeway to drift inside once in the opponents half but he simply isn't suited to the right wing.
He invariably slows the play as he doesn't have the pace to burst past his man (or even force them not to get as tight) and isn't the crossing type which all makes the overlap so predictable and easy to counteract. Despite being an inferior player, Young provided (and regularly did last season) the more threatening supply in to the box. He'll have good games there over the course of the season but most of his good moments will come from drifting in to other areas (more central) rather than playing his position. Such a waste IMO and hard to make sense of.
He invariably slows the play as he doesn't have the pace to burst past his man (or even force them not to get as tight) and isn't the crossing type which all makes the overlap so predictable and easy to counteract. Despite being an inferior player, Young provided (and regularly did last season) the more threatening supply in to the box. He'll have good games there over the course of the season but most of his good moments will come from drifting in to other areas (more central) rather than playing his position. Such a waste IMO and hard to make sense of.
He's a tidy second striker who takes a good set piece. Nothing more, nothing less.
He's lacking so much that's needed for a '10' in a possession team.
He's lacking so much that's needed for a '10' in a possession team.
Who would you pick ahead of him as a #10?
I agree a bit.
He is not suited for a number 10 role in the PL neither though I fear. Not for a possession based ga,e like ours anyway. He is too lightweight to play in the centre of the park where all the action takes place. I rate him but I am just not sure whether Mou actually had every reason to sell him. There just doesn't seem to be a position in the EPL that suits him perfectly.
This. Many people are under the illusion that he is a creative, David Silva kind of player. As someone else said his biggest assets are in keeping possession and the ability to finish/take brilliant set pieces. He doesn't possess the creativity, nor the skill set, to shine in the no10 role. As a second striker(which is where he played at his best for chelsea); is a completely different role and he would shine there no doubt but LVG doesn't play with such a formation. I would even argue that his creativity is largely overrated. He is very capable of putting in good balls and his passing accuarcy is sublime but his ability to read between the lines and see potential runners is actually quite poor on the whole and this is what I mean by creative.
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Nah he's grand in the right system - for instance, he'd thrive in the Arsenal system IMO. He needs the team built to his strength though which is my whole irritation with our transfer policy post SAF.
We seemed to have been desperate to just buy "big name" players because we could, without actually having a plan of building a team - resulting in good, expensive players often forced out of position. When we decided to fork out £37m for Mata, we should have been prepared to build the team around him at #10.
But yeah, he's too slow and lightweight for our current setup. We don't have a CF who's able to bring the best out of mata (pacey/strong). Its criminal how much we've spent on players, only to still constantly play them out of position the last few years. Kagawa, Mata, Fellaini and AdM £130m+ worth of talent & sort of not used in positions they thrived which made us fork out that amount of money in the first place.(barring finding Afros bets use last season).
It might be a controversial opinion, but if mata isn't first choice #10, he should actually be sold for a pacier winger.
edit: #10 being further up the field "support striker" type position and not an attacking mid
For all his obvious qualities I struggle to see a place for him in this team. He could play as #10 (which seems to equate to a support striker in this LVG system) but would need a more dynamic striker than Rooney in front of him.
I do think he is PL proven though but clearly requires certain allowances or a team shaped around him to get the best out of him.
Pretty much agree. Especially about the passing. He puts final touches on moves, from a very advanced position. But his ability to play the ball behind a defence isn't particularly great. Whereas how often do we see Silva play that inside channel pass to his full backs? The 'assist bedore the assist'.
I'd disagree that he's great at holding possession, though. Keeping possesion, yes. but holding it himself? Not so much.
Thats probably what you meant though.
But we pretty much agree on Mata.
He gets dispossessed really easily which annoys me a bit. He was good otherwise though.
Agree with everything you said, especially about the 'assist before the assist' and yep by holding possession, that's what I meant. Edited. Living in a foreign country has taken a toll on my English
.Indeed, Silva essentially controls and commands City's attacking play through such qualities and hence why he is so good in that position. It's clear as day Mata is not capable of the same and possesses a different skillset. Those qualities are essential for a no10 in a possesion oriented game no10, and are essential in breaking teams down. People keep banging on about how many we have; they ignore the fact that we don't have any with the required skillsets like that of Silva, Isco, Coutinho etc to really provide the required creativity/penetration from the middle. Getting assists and being creative are two totally different things, although they often coincide. Silva is extremely creative yet never seems to get brilliant assist tallys. Go figure. I actually think the closest we have to this is Herrera and I am curious to see if he gets some game time there throughout the season. Is that where he was playing today?
I thought he did well, if a bit quiet. He is a ridiculously talented player, so much fun to watch.
I expected him to be a player who can make lots of defence splitting passes when we signed him. Perhaps because I wasn't paying attention when he was at Chelsea. Whatever, it doesn't seem to be part of his game at all. Which is a problem. Presumably Van Gaal thinks Depay can be the man to open up defences. Big ask for a young player with a lot of adapting still to do.
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