One big difference between Mata and those two is that when a defender overplays Silva or DB, both have the ability to blow past a defender and maintain that advantage (DB is especially good at staying ahead of a beaten defender). Therefore, defenders have to be cautious in going in against them or they could be out of the play. This is one reason they are so good in possession. Mata, on the other hand, does not have that burst and can't maintain an advantage he has on a chasing defender because he is slower than average. Defenders happily press Mata because they are unlikely to be punished.
Juan Mata | Official: Signs two-year contract with option of a third
- Thread starter kouroux
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
He’s the type of player that will be signed by Juve and will have 2 outstanding seasons.
Is he just one of these players that will flourish in a talented side?
If his extension is based around him being a sub type player with limited playing time then I have no problem with him staying another season. Can be useful but nowhere near reliable enough to start lots of games.
Is he just one of these players that will flourish in a talented side?
If his extension is based around him being a sub type player with limited playing time then I have no problem with him staying another season. Can be useful but nowhere near reliable enough to start lots of games.
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D. Silva may skin defenders but you’ll never see him blow past someone and not be caught up like Hazard/Salah/Sterling/Bernardo style or any pacey attacker for that matter. His football IQ is what gets him by. He just keeps the play ticking and is a through ball master, pace doesn’t even come into it. KDB though, you’re probably right.
Mata is not exactly the same player, but with overwhelming lack of creative players in the squad, I would wait with letting him go until United having a fully successful transfer window. Maybe... maybe then.
Get him signed.
Let’s plan short term whilst also longer term for his eventual replacement
Let’s plan short term whilst also longer term for his eventual replacement
Would he make a difference in the squad? No.
So lets not waste minutes on players that are not only not good enough but also declining and on high wages, he'll just get worst and worst as the season continues. We can give those minutes to some youngster that may eventually become good enough.
So lets not waste minutes on players that are not only not good enough but also declining and on high wages, he'll just get worst and worst as the season continues. We can give those minutes to some youngster that may eventually become good enough.
Grant is a third choice keeper. Dont get why people want him gone. He is on low wages and no troublemaker. Better him than a young GK who deserves to play
But what if he just sold the 13 who declined his Catalan Doctor’s offer, to replace them with ten that would accept?
3 goals 3 assists this season...... not good enough for a squad player sorry. Read Newcastle are interested, hopefully he moves on
Some of the remarks here are ridiculous.
He is not deadwood at all.
Not a starter, but he can play a part for us. Has a knack for getting goals, and is still a very intelligent/technically strong player. Has experience and is a model professional.
We have plenty other issues (and other players who we need to get rid of), which take priority. Keeping Mata around for another year and bringing a replacement in then makes sense.
Put it this way, let’s say Pogba gets injured. Who else in our squad has a creative spark? Stick him at number 10 and he’s a good option as a deputy for our playmaker.
We just can’t play him off the wing anymore. Was much better at no. 10 against Chelsea.
He is not deadwood at all.
Not a starter, but he can play a part for us. Has a knack for getting goals, and is still a very intelligent/technically strong player. Has experience and is a model professional.
We have plenty other issues (and other players who we need to get rid of), which take priority. Keeping Mata around for another year and bringing a replacement in then makes sense.
Put it this way, let’s say Pogba gets injured. Who else in our squad has a creative spark? Stick him at number 10 and he’s a good option as a deputy for our playmaker.
We just can’t play him off the wing anymore. Was much better at no. 10 against Chelsea.
That logic only apply if we don’t sign a single creative midfielder or attackers (i’ll be very concerned if the club doesn’t sign one). Bruno Fernandes is available, he should be the one who supposedly provide the creative spark beside Pogba.
You made him sounds like his role can be similar to Giggs, giving Mata a new improved deal is basically damaging our wages structure & nothing like Giggs. Getting rid Mata is the right decision if he doesn’t want to take massive pay cut to 60k-75k p/w. At his current age he’s not at level of player who can make the same impact as Giggs.
The logic of giving him a new “improved” contract doesn’t make any sense, unless if we aren’t planning to sign a new attacker means we will see another Lingard & Mata being rotated for starting XI.
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He’s deadwood mate, just face it. 3 goals and 4 assists is pathetic for a front player at United.
A poster above was talking about Giggs at the same age, just for comparison Giggs at 31 put up 8 goals and 22 assists, Mata can only dream of these sort of numbers. He should have been gone years ago.
I think the only reason Ed might want him to stay is because of his global recognition, due to his charity work. Having him as an ambassador after he retires would be good for the brand.
From a footballing perspective, you'll find more consistent attackers at clubs like Huddersfield/Fulham than Juan. Wouldn't say no to offering him in a deal to get Longstaff, if Longstaff has as much potential as reports say.
From a footballing perspective, you'll find more consistent attackers at clubs like Huddersfield/Fulham than Juan. Wouldn't say no to offering him in a deal to get Longstaff, if Longstaff has as much potential as reports say.
Saw somewhere he was the most impactful substitute in the league this season. The goals and assists don't say much for a team this awful
Needs to be sold. How has he managed to keep going despite being so mediocre for us? Well because believe it or not he’s not the worst of a bad bunch - but that shouldn’t be a reason to keep extending this guys contract.
Giggs' role in the team at that point isn't comparable to Mata's, the former was still a preferred starter at 31. Can't be bothered to check the numbers, but I'm pretty sure he played considerably more/had considerably more starts than Mata (this season).
Yeah, even when Giggs was 33, he started 30 league games and 5 sub appearance. Also he was in PFA team the year. Giggs when he was 39 played more games than Mata at 31. There is no comparison at all. Also he was quicker when he was so close to retirement than Mata.
a lot of good it's done for usIt’s a million times better than the alternative of having Pogba, Sanchez, Lukaku, De Gea, Martial wandering about the pitch wishing they were some were else. Then us signing another 2/3 big names to join them in doing the same.
Good squad player? Man Utd played 25 games under Ole, Mata only provided 2 goals and 0 assists (1 vs Reading at January and 1 vs Chelsea at April, which is three months later), 11 games not starting for any mins, 10 games for starting line, but within those 10 games, 4 games being substituted before 65 mins. The only good games that he played under Ole is vs Reading, vs Fulham and vs Chelsea first half, so basically he had no performance for 22.5 games out of 25. Is it what we called a good squad player?
Creative player? As i mentioned above, 0 assist under Ole takes charge, 2 assists for the Premier League this season, same as Lingard, who scored more goals than Mata for the last 2 seasons, but was criticized by many Man Utd fans.
Good leadership? Then how come Martial, Pogba didn't learn from his attitude, Rashford became more and more arrogant? Because they all think Mata's performance and position in the team is way below them, and cannot convince them to listen him.
The reason he is still at the team is only based on his past reputation on and off the pitch. If Ole plays 4-3-3 as our main formation next season, we don't even need to buy a player to replace him, because there is no pure no.10 position for Mata, and there is no conflict between buying a right winger and giving up a no.10.
ST : Rashford ; maybe M. Dembele ; Greenwood
LW : Martial ; maybe D. James
RW : a new right winger ; Lingard
And i already not mentioned about his high salary, and block the way for Angel Gomes, which has 2 years contract remaining, and is linked to PSG. I can't think of any reasons why we still need to keep him if we really want to rebuild our team to complete with Man City and Liverpool.
Creative player? As i mentioned above, 0 assist under Ole takes charge, 2 assists for the Premier League this season, same as Lingard, who scored more goals than Mata for the last 2 seasons, but was criticized by many Man Utd fans.
Good leadership? Then how come Martial, Pogba didn't learn from his attitude, Rashford became more and more arrogant? Because they all think Mata's performance and position in the team is way below them, and cannot convince them to listen him.
The reason he is still at the team is only based on his past reputation on and off the pitch. If Ole plays 4-3-3 as our main formation next season, we don't even need to buy a player to replace him, because there is no pure no.10 position for Mata, and there is no conflict between buying a right winger and giving up a no.10.
ST : Rashford ; maybe M. Dembele ; Greenwood
LW : Martial ; maybe D. James
RW : a new right winger ; Lingard
And i already not mentioned about his high salary, and block the way for Angel Gomes, which has 2 years contract remaining, and is linked to PSG. I can't think of any reasons why we still need to keep him if we really want to rebuild our team to complete with Man City and Liverpool.
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I would rather just give Gomes his game time. It doesn’t benefit us at all to keep players like Mata, we should be looking to fill the squad with our younger players and bring in high quality players for the first 11.
Similar to what Pep managed to do with Foden towards the end of the season. Obviously there’s a risk he won’t be good enough long term, but we’ll never know unless we actually give him a chance.
Similar to what Pep managed to do with Foden towards the end of the season. Obviously there’s a risk he won’t be good enough long term, but we’ll never know unless we actually give him a chance.
100%
Ole keeps talking about youth. This is a prime opportunity to move on some old legs and give squad position and minutes to a promising youngster.
What he says and what he does seem to be two different things at the moment. Young starting all those games over Dalot, Gomes not starting in the final two games of the season.
We’ll know more by the start of the season how real he is about this. If we haven’t managed to clear the squad then we know the likes of Jones/Smalling will be playing over Tuanzebe, which will be a real shame.
No it's not, that's choosing between pest and cholera. Stupid thing to do anyway
Most impactful at United because most of our subs were rubbish. Meaning the squad players all need to go
It's not that I want him or a few of those others gone, its that I expect theyll all leave and need replacing in some form.
Mata is useless then and useless now.
People say he's a natural 10. But 4 managers after he's never played there, and i suspect for a good reason. Didnt trust moyes, but when moyes lvg and jose all didnt rate him they probably seen something we dont.
If we kept him, at best we'd stiffle playing him as rw where he's less than good there. Enough is enough, he's had 4 years to show us what he brings, at 31 it's time to move him on.
People say he's a natural 10. But 4 managers after he's never played there, and i suspect for a good reason. Didnt trust moyes, but when moyes lvg and jose all didnt rate him they probably seen something we dont.
If we kept him, at best we'd stiffle playing him as rw where he's less than good there. Enough is enough, he's had 4 years to show us what he brings, at 31 it's time to move him on.
I would prefer Mata to leave, but if we sell Sanchez and Lukaku, I reckon the club will be too wary of losing half of its first-team squad's attacking force and struggling to replace them all in one go. If the club can target 2-3 absolute top quality replacements for these guys then sure, but I'd be surprised if it pans out like that. Mata will (unfortunately for some) be kept and probably on slightly higher wages for a year if the club can't find the appropriate replacement. It's just what we'll do, but I'd personally not be too bothered as I think we are in a place to allow for it. It's going to take years to offload the players we don't want and get a full squad of players we do. If Mata is here next season it won't be the end of the world, but I'd expect him to only be here for one more year tops if we can't sign the right quality this Summer.
Which is basically what I said
. Far better to have a settled replacement on the bench than to have to buy yet another player, just to sit there.Hopefully next summer one of the kids will be good enough to take the bench spot.
Replace him in the first 11 maybe (though he isn't in the first 11), but not as a bench/squad player. Investing in the first 11 should be the priority and then we can worry about the wider squad next summer.
There is a limit to the number of players we can sign this summer (both financially and in terms of settling players in).
I think at this stage he knows he's only gonna be a backup rotation squad player..knows he wont be starting a lot when Ole want s to get who he wants in. If he's happy with that, i dont see why we couldnt keep him. One of the more senior and experienced players we have for the younger guys to look up to. (Id rather they used him as a role model than some of the others) , ..on top of that, when hes not stuck out wide, he can do a pretty good job.
I’m not saying it’s ideal. Ideally you get a team spirit and the players play for you. However I stand by my point, it’s better to have players that want to play for you and give everything for the club.
Come to think of it, he was relatively young when joined us (for our standards anyway) at 25, and I remember him being one of Chelsea’s best players at one point.
Why did Chelsea let him go that early, and why did it coincide with his heavy downturn in form that’s lasted for 5 years now?
Why did Chelsea let him go that early, and why did it coincide with his heavy downturn in form that’s lasted for 5 years now?
Jose preferred Oscar in his position.
As long as they're competent footballers yeah, otherwise they're masking their deficiencies with "passion" when it's just pointless. Young is the perfect representation of that
No. Most impactful across all the teams in the Premier League mate. Definitely more meaningful than just our bunch of jokers.
Would do very well in Liverpool or Man city.
Anyone see Mata as part of a title challenging team? Isn't happening. What are we doing?
To be fair to him, he has won the UCL, UEL, several cups, the Euros and the world cup. Hardly a bad player - just needs to be used in the right way.