Its the wrong question really, given that virtually every player over the past 9 years has underperformed. We can thank the Glazers and Ed Woodward for that.
Strange comparison to make. Mata played exclusively as an attacker throughout his time here, Pogba did not.... besides being played out of position the majority of the time he's been here, he's actually contributed similarly to Pogba across his time in the premier league, statistically, while coming with absolutely none of the baggage, an agent that didn't give our club dogs abuse every week, and wasn't a world record fee at the time.
He went four months without scoring or creating a league goal in 2015/16, playing mostly as a number ten. Van Gaal in particular gave him plenty of chances there, he was just not very good in the role - much better suited to drifting around on the right.he tended to play really well whenever he was given an opportunity at 10 but Mourinho preferred Fellaini and Solskjaer preferred Lingard.
It's why I think it was a poor match for both Mata and United, considering he was just 6 months removed from the absolute peak of his career when he transferred. I think he could have continued to produce at a good level if he'd walked into the the right situation. He was only 26 at time.And yet he never replicated even remotely that sort of form neither for United nor for Spain since. It’s obvious that United was the wrong choice for him but I still think that he was past his best (and that half a season for Chelsea add up to that).
This isn't entirely true either. He spent a lot of time on the right for Chelsea in that 2012/13 season (including some of his best performances, away to Spurs and home to us). They had a pretty fluid three behind the striker but it was very often Hazard on the left, Mata on the right and Oscar in the middle. Quick check on Transfermarkt shows me Mata played about a dozen games on the right and the rest in the middle.Why oh why did our managers kept playing him on the right? At Valencia he was a pretty solid left winger and at chelsea he was pots behind the striker...
Yeah he wasn’t finished at all, his problem was he came into a club in turmoil which made him worse and that’s continued as time has gone on. We shouldn’t have extended his contract really, he’s wasted the past few years where he was probably a level below what we needed.He was only 6 months removed from winning his second consecutive Chelsea POTY after a season in which he had 19 goals and 35 assists. It seems to me that it was more a case of right club wrong time rather than him being finished by the time he signed for United.
Haha, I did think about this.
He's a nice guy. *hugs*Absolute nothing player for us. 4/10. He’s just been meh. Likeable maybe but bland as anything on the pitch. How he escapes criticism. He was club record signing. Came in in a helicopter. Anyone giving Pogba less than this guy for on field impact is telling lies to themselves.
No, I think he's angling for another contract renewal. I think more than likely he'll get it too and people will once again celebrate because 1) Nice Guy 2) Good model in the locker room 3) There's worse players than himIs he officially off?
"Manchester United are Delighted to Announce that Juan Mata will be Staying with the Club for Another Year"
If by wrong time you mean wrong decade if fully agree. He would've been marvelous back in the 60s when football was played at a whole other speed.Mata playing the game always had a knack of arriving right place right time. he is a super footballer super fella but unfortunately wrong time.
Pretty much how I feel. I think he's similar in some ways to Alexis, in that he lost a yard of pace with age and wasn't the same player because of it. When you're a smaller player you really need that upper body strength, otherwise you're easily bullied off the ball.11/10 lovely guy.
United career, 4/10. Square peg in a round hole. Same with Sancho. Buying players because of their skills and ignoring the fact they don't remotely fit into the way we play.
Was a brilliant player at Chelsea but we never ever played to his strengths.
Unfortunately another player kept for far too long on too high wages who was never a good fit. Model professional by all accounts though and I really like him. Not animosity towards him at all which is more than I can say for many of our players.
51 goals and 47 assists in 200 apps. So a goal involvement in one ever two games almost. For a bit part player apparentlyPlayed over 200 matches, scoring I think 50? Goals, had a big part in the last few trophies we’ve won, scoring in the FA cup final. Incredibly short memories on this forum.