Yep but no getting away from my initial post imo he's been stone average since joining. Was expecting a lot better.
Juan Mata
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Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) discuss United's fantastic win away against Athletic Club in the semi-final of the Europa League.
They also pick out the positives of United's 4-3 loss away at Brentford, and Nik reviews a day out at Old Trafford watching Manchester United Women qualify for the Champions League.
Yep but no getting away from my initial post imo he's been stone average since joining. Was expecting a lot better.
Our attack has been shit since he joined and he's a massive factor in it. He has been average since signing and doesn't merit a place in the starting 11.
I agree both that he's been average and that he's been one of our most productive attackers. We've been abysmal in attack and being one of the best in a bunch that bad isn't something Mata should be bursting with pride about.
If there's good money on the table I'd take it, but given the choice I'd sooner give Rooney a piggyback to China and keep Mata.
If there's good money on the table I'd take it, but given the choice I'd sooner give Rooney a piggyback to China and keep Mata.
maybe we have different opinions on the meaning of average. However I do agree with expecting better
For a record signing and two time player of the year at Chelsea I expected a lot lot better. I think he's a good player who hasn't produced the goods for us.
Agree.
Love Mata and think he's a good player but he's been a big factor in our extremely average performances.
He's a big game player for sure but in away premier league games at the smaller sides he just gets bullied out of games as the referees give less fouls in his favour and teams just go in hard on him. If he fails to get a decision he starts playing safe or just goes missing entirely.
Still think he's our best set piece taker and should get more games at no10 than he does - in fact if it wasn't for fecking Rooney stinking up #10 we might all have a completely different opinion of Juan Mata.
Completely agree unless people think our attacking players should always play backwards because they have no chance of beating the defender in front of them.
I think him, Rooney and Mikhi should compete for the 3 spots they can each play. Mata has been the only positive in a terrible attack
I think we should sell Young and Fellaini before selling Mata.Those two shits players should leave as early as possible.
I can see Fellaini staying to be honest. Jose likes to have a thug on the pitch sometimes.
What if the manager they had for two of their two and a half seasons wanted them to play like that? Mourinho has already pointed out that he's trying to break the team from playing in that way. Maybe Mata just adapted to what LVG wanted, which is why he stayed in the team while others (like Di Maria) didn't?
Then we must excuse all our attackers.
It depends on why the specific attacker hadn't performed well, as to the degree in which you can excuse them. It isn't as simple as "if you excuse one you excuse all equally."
Rooney being unable to trap a bag of sand isn't because if a manager or their tactics. Di Maria being unable to make a short pass isn't because of the manager or tactics, although there are slightly more mitigating factors than with Rooney, Rojo (towards the end of last season particularly) making rash decisions isn't because of the manager or tactics and Fellaini in general likewise.
Herrera essentially having his wings clipped (publically) and Mata playing the safe option 9 times out of 10 were a part of Van Gaals game plan. Being hyper positionally disciplined and losing the ball as infrequently as possible were key facets of what we were trying to achieve.
You can criticise Mata for being bullied off the ball too often, but to criticise him for playing too safe and passive, when Martial aside every player in our team clearly had instructions to do so would be unfair.
For that particular offence, maybe we should. Though people often complain about more fundamental things with Rooney like his first touch, which would have very little to do with Van Gaal. Or in Mata's case his lack of pace and physical strength. That sort of thing is fair criticism.
I've got a feeling someone will make a big offer for him before the end of the transfer window and Jose will accept it.
It can be taken further though, as if Rooney, Di Maria and Rojo are making mistakes this can be also put down to lack of confidence due to them being made to play a different way. Which then in turn produces poorer performances and affects confidence then decision making and a down turn in performance and then the simplest things (trapping a ball) becomes difficult.
But you can over analyse everything and from what I saw last season and since he signed is Mata producing average performances in an United shirt.
Totally agree, these guys should adapt and still produce the goods.
Agreed, I think the main thing is that for once we want to get a proper fee.
Fellaini is probably one of our best players and will stay for a very long time. Young is a good squad player and we are pretty light on the left side. Mata is touch and go. We have players who can do his job and more.
Mata is a better player than Fellaini and has performed better than Fellaini while at this club. If Fellaini is one of our best players....
Of course not. It is the same poster who claimed that Cleverley will become a top 3 midfielder, and that David Moyes will win titles for us.No white text.
twigginator will love this guy
Fellaini should go just for making himself look even more like sideshow Bob than he already did .
Here are some thoughts...
Mata is incredibly skilled technically. He is also a slow player, in that I mean he takes his time on the ball. Under LvG that was great. Unfortunately for Mata not much scoring happened but when it did Mata was usually contributing. Now you want to tell me Mata is average, i would argue average in a very substandard attack makes him pretty good.
The issue under Jose is he likes quicker attacks. No dawdling on the ball. Get it up field quickly and exploit. Also Jose likes his players to work on Defense. Mata has totally stepped up his game in that department as noted here...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...anchester-Uniteds-hardest-working-player.html
So in theory it really comes down to the question of Mata playing the ball quickly enough on offense. The reality is Rooney and him being nearly un-droppable. I would love to see Pogba behind Mata with Martial, Miki, Zlatan and or Rashford around him. I think you would then see some real quality.
Now against the bigs on the European Continent where Jose has the team sit back and counter, I do not think Mata will get much time. I do think Mata could help unlock some EPL clubs parking the bus. Oh well we will see.
Mata is incredibly skilled technically. He is also a slow player, in that I mean he takes his time on the ball. Under LvG that was great. Unfortunately for Mata not much scoring happened but when it did Mata was usually contributing. Now you want to tell me Mata is average, i would argue average in a very substandard attack makes him pretty good.
The issue under Jose is he likes quicker attacks. No dawdling on the ball. Get it up field quickly and exploit. Also Jose likes his players to work on Defense. Mata has totally stepped up his game in that department as noted here...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...anchester-Uniteds-hardest-working-player.html
So in theory it really comes down to the question of Mata playing the ball quickly enough on offense. The reality is Rooney and him being nearly un-droppable. I would love to see Pogba behind Mata with Martial, Miki, Zlatan and or Rashford around him. I think you would then see some real quality.
Now against the bigs on the European Continent where Jose has the team sit back and counter, I do not think Mata will get much time. I do think Mata could help unlock some EPL clubs parking the bus. Oh well we will see.
I agree with that. Mata can Play the killer pass with enough movement around him. Would love to see this.
When Mata is played centrally, his pace, height and lack of strength doesn't matter. He makes space for himself and can spray passes out quickly to the pacey players.
I like Mata and think he has a place in the squad definitely, he's not going to start every game but he showed on Sunday that he can put in a good performance and make the difference when he's in form.
My only issue is the lack of pace from the front players with him in the team. For me Rooney, Mata and Ibra can't all play together on a regular basis as the pace of them is not enough to cause anyone problems. Technically Mata is very good and that's for sure but if there are no players making runs for him and spaces being opened up then he can't take it by the scruff of the neck.
A good player and one I'd like us to keep and rotate as the number 10 or when desperate out on the flank. Can score and is technically good but if someone offered 25m I'd take it.
My only issue is the lack of pace from the front players with him in the team. For me Rooney, Mata and Ibra can't all play together on a regular basis as the pace of them is not enough to cause anyone problems. Technically Mata is very good and that's for sure but if there are no players making runs for him and spaces being opened up then he can't take it by the scruff of the neck.
A good player and one I'd like us to keep and rotate as the number 10 or when desperate out on the flank. Can score and is technically good but if someone offered 25m I'd take it.
£25m for Mata would be an insane bargain. We should keep him. He should probably be in the team too.
Shits players, really?