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2017-18 Performances

View full 2017-18 profile

5.9 Season Average Rating
Appearances
40
Goals
3
Assists
7
Yellow cards
1
Status
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Has done well to stay here for so long, and has often done well in terms of goals. But he's never quite fitted that starting wide right position.
Lingard is way less talented, but is so much more effective. Put Sanchez in instead, and we have one dynamic front four.
 
And one week later...
.. "This is why Mata has to play"
 
LeftyBlaster said:
Didn’t do himself any favours today in light of Alexis arriving. Easy replacement.
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True. But his technique, decision making and vision is actually far superior to many of our other players. I think at times he can keep us ticking over much like Carrick did. An unsung hero. Problem is he cannot defend well at all and is a little inconsistent, so he feels like a luxury player in Jose's system.
 
No he has been the cause of many a problems that we face. He may be playing in the wrong position for him and I have no doubts about his ball control but when he is on the right he causes problems for the team. His job is not to congest an already congested penalty box. But that is exactly what he is doing repeatedly by coming inside and bringing in a defender with him and congesting an already congested box. When that happens he is the closest player to our player who is in possession and it becomes extremely easy for the opposing team to defend. It also close down any space that our attackers can exploit. He should remain on the right ( if he is playing on the right) and take a defender away from the opposing box.
He is too slow anyway.
 
Yeovil 0:4 Man Utd
He's become really ineffective this year. His lack of pace and strength has become really evident and most of the times when he takes the ball he's already facing his own goal and keeps moving towards it till he finds a midfield player to offload it to.

He's got a class first touch and intelligence, but with his end product so low and the lack of contribution in other areas, it's becoming harder and harder to justify his place in the starting XI.
 
Thought he was absolutely dreadful to be honest, apart from that build up to the second goal. It really was alarming to see the contrast in how swift and skillful Sanchez is on the ball on the turn and in the lanes and it made Mata stick out like a sore thumb in this outfit. He continuously gets the ball and dribbles 15-20 yards away from the goal under minor pressure instead of pulling up and turning to open up play. It is bizarre 'I don't trust my game' type stuff.

This has almost become a bit of a Zlatan situation where you can see the physical movement at speed be replaced by Lukalku and you get an "OH! He can do all of this AND move at a deadly speed, right I get it now" feeling.
 
He was fine, and had some nice link up play with Sanchez.

People look for way too much in a performance against Yeovil bloody town.
 
Has become painful to watch for me. During the first half especially he left the whole pitch completely and went on to crowd the left on Sanchez and Shaw, leaving the right flank devoid of any presence since Darmian was there.

I love him as a person but the first good offer comes for him and I won't mind selling him tbh.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
He was fine, and had some nice link up play with Sanchez.

People look for way too much in a performance against Yeovil bloody town.
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Really, is that how you see it?

I think one of the major issues at a big club is recognising a player’s decline and acting accordingly.

I’ve felt for a while he hasn’t suited the team and, as a lot of posters have observed, he kills counters and slows our attacks down. I’m not sure he has long left.
 
Cliche Guevara said:
Really, is that how you see it?

I think one of the major issues at a big club is recognising a player’s decline and acting accordingly.

I’ve felt for a while he hasn’t suited the team and, as a lot of posters have observed, he kills counters and slows our attacks down. I’m not sure he has long left.
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Considering he's been pretty good recently and started however many games in a row where we've mostly been winning, then yeah that's how I see it.

Hardly going to wish the guy sold because of a performance against Yeovil Town, where he wasn't even that bad.
 
Im a big fan of mata but this year i think its a step down.

Before he could have cold matches but he always had goals and assists. Now he doesnt even has the stats on his side. Hard to defend him from criticism
 
I like Mata, everyone likes Mata, but it’s easy to see that he is not the one for our right side. Could you see Martial at Barcelona or Real? Of course. Pogba, Sanchez? Certainly! Mata? Nah. Great to have in the squad, probably a calm guy to tone down the crap from Pogba and Lingard and the younger chaps, but not good enough to start. Bringing in Sanchez is such a huge boost for our attack it’s crazy - easily brings us up a notch.
 
Thought he was shaky and not so good in the first half, but picked up in the second half when the game opened up a bit.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Considering he's been pretty good recently and started however many games in a row where we've mostly been winning, then yeah that's how I see it.

Hardly going to wish the guy sold because of a performance against Yeovil Town, where he wasn't even that bad.
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It's not just the match against Yeovil though, is it? It's the theme of his season so far. He's done nothing worse or better today than he's been doing lately. Which quite frankly is not quite enough to keep him in the starting XI after Sanchez's arrival.

The fact we've won the last 4 games in a row, has had little to do with Mata. It's a poor argument. The team form and the individual form can be two different things in a game of XI players. One could flip your argument and say we won these games in spite of Mata. That would be very harsh, but it wouldn't be any further from the truth than your argument is.

My point is he's been very anonymous and ineffective this season and that is following a trend of decline for the last 4-5 years. It's rather evident. With Lingard and Martial being on hot form and Sanchez arrival, he's probably gonna drop out of the XI.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
He was fine, and had some nice link up play with Sanchez.

People look for way too much in a performance against Yeovil bloody town.
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I thought his link play with Sanchez was really good - almost instantly had a connection. For all the shit about his strength (which is non-existent), he managed to hold up the ball and turn for the second and killer goal.
 
He has declined greatly, anybody with a bit of pace would be an upgrade on that right side.
Ideally Marhez
 
MadMike said:
It's not just the match against Yeovil though, is it? It's the theme of his season so far. He's done nothing worse or better today than he's been doing lately. Which quite frankly is not quite enough to keep him in the starting XI after Sanchez's arrival.

The fact we've won the last 4 games in a row, has had little to do with Mata. It's a poor argument. The team form and the individual form can be two different things in a game of XI players. One could flip your argument and say we won these games in spite of Mata. That would be very harsh, but it wouldn't be any further from the truth than your argument is.

My point is he's been very anonymous and ineffective this season and that is following a trend of decline for the last 4-5 years. It's rather evident. With Lingard and Martial being on hot form and Sanchez arrival, he's probably gonna drop out of the XI.
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He's never been a constant in the starting 11 though. Recently he has been starting most games, as his performances have warranted that, but he pretty much gets rotated as much as all of our other attackers bar the main players, with the exception that he never gets considered in the big games. And he's delighted to be here. People saying he should be sold are fecking crazy because you need to have a large squad filled with quality and he's exactly that. A squad player with loads of quality who pushes to start often like you would hope. Also offers something way different then most others in our squad with his composure on the ball and preciseness with his passing.
 
bosnian_red said:
He's never been a constant in the starting 11 though. Recently he has been starting most games, as his performances have warranted that, but he pretty much gets rotated as much as all of our other attackers bar the main players, with the exception that he never gets considered in the big games. And he's delighted to be here. People saying he should be sold are fecking crazy because you need to have a large squad filled with quality and he's exactly that. A squad player with loads of quality who pushes to start often like you would hope. Also offers something way different then most others in our squad with his composure on the ball and preciseness with his passing.
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I didn't say he needs to be sold. I'm happy to have him in the squad. He's been in the starting XI because he deserved the starts ahead of Mkhi and Rashford who have been very poor. But that doesn't mean he's been good himself. For an attacking midfielder playing for Man Utd, he's offering very little threat and almost no end product. In fact it's amazing that despite him and Mkhi having seasons so below par, we managed to be 2nd to this point.

My point though was that he does not deserve starts ahead of Lingard, Martial and Sanchez at the moment. So he should be the player to drop out of the XI based on this season's form so far. And I also lamenting he's massive decline from his glory days, which is quite obvious to anyone that watches our games.
 
He did okay. The majority of dangerous play inside the opposition's final third in the first half was built up from Sanchez and Mata linking up.

He even let Sanchez take a direct free kick from a spot he's scored form recently.
 
There must be a reason why Mourihno starts him, and I trust him more that the majority in here. Maybe he is the balance we don't need in a Fifa game.
 
I've lost count over the years of the amount of times Mata has lost the ball due to not being aware of surroundings or lack of physical strength. It's frustrated me no length. He's a good player to have if we can keep him, but i doubt he'd be happy playing a bit part / substitution role. I'd be ok with him leaving to find regular football, if that's what he desires. If we are to progress, i'm sorry, it's without Mata.
 
Its just a farce at this stage that he is getting picked, doesnt deserves a place in the squad yet alone a starting 11 place yet he is still in there.

He was a shambles again last night and theres still people who cannot accept this, which is as bizzare as his continued seletion. He needs to refind his form of 3 years ago or be got rid of and quickly too.

The worst player we have now, by a distance..4 goals in almost 12 months
 
For me he seems to have caught the herrera syndrome of being highly risk averse on the passing side of things. He's slowing down attacks and he's lost a yard of pace which for a player who was already a bit on the slow side is highly worrying. He remains fantastic at set piece deliveries and free kicks but he's simply not providing the creativity anymore. The right side of the team is deviod of any creativity at the moment and he will probably be the first one to drop out.
 
smallred said:
hopefully to secure a few pounds in summer when we bin him.

worst player at the club at the moment.
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:wenger:

He isn’t as effective as he once was granted, but he is a useful attacking option and good depth. He can play centrally and he does a good job at RW even though he is far from being a winger. He’s also our best free kick taker. Happy to sit on the bench when required and generally a nice bloke. If you think that about Mata, I’d love to know what you think about the likes of Blind, Darmian, Fellaini etc.
 
smallred said:
hopefully to secure a few pounds in summer when we bin him.

worst player at the club at the moment.
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Awful post, lost a bit of pace but offers so much as a squad player. Criminally underrated, he's such a good player live. He's got great experience and still has much to offer.
 
Don't understand the quotes? It's not really an extension is it as all we've done is executed an existing clause, we need to be tying these players down to another 2 or 3 years
 
IrishRedDevil said:
:wenger:

He isn’t as effective as he once was granted, but he is a useful attacking option and good depth. He can play centrally and he does a good job at RW even though he is far from being a winger. He’s also our best free kick taker. Happy to sit on the bench when required and generally a nice bloke. If you think that about Mata, I’d love to know what you think about the likes of Blind, Darmian, Fellaini etc.
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To be fair, that’s far from a compelling case you put forward there!
 
smallred said:
hopefully to secure a few pounds in summer when we bin him.

worst player at the club at the moment.
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Good thing you don't post that often. I mean really, why do you think he's the worst player at the club right now?
 
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