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2014-15 Performances

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6.0 Season Average Rating
Appearances
35
Goals
10
Assists
4
Yellow cards
2
Status
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He's a quality player. Players work off him so well and having him on the pitch opens things up for us more.
 
united_99 said:
Considering he hasn't played for ages he has had a great half. I hope @Raees will close his Eriksen thread where he was ridiculously overrating him. If Mata had played like Eriksen today, G Neville, half of the Caf and I don't know who else would be calling him a pub player. How can anyone want Eriksen in our team when a much better player in Mata is not even a starter for us at times?
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It was hard to impress when one team is so much more in control than the other. The little possession Eriksen did get he did well with it. Mata did well today but he was equally brilliant last time we played Spurs at white hart lane.. we shall see how influential he is against Liverpool and the remainder of the run in. He did well today and of course I would love for him to continue to prove me wrong.. I'd rather be proven wrong and an existing united player do well and help the team rather than look wise myself.

I still think he is too slow for us and not a long term solution for our side but one thing he did well for us in comparison to Di Maria is a) provide a better mentality to the team i.e. he actually wants to play for the club - everyone in that side seemed to gel well and b) more intelligent with his passing and thus it helped stifle Spurs and they couldn't get the ball off us.
 
Played quite well considering he hasn't had many minutes for some time.

That said, needs to be more adventurous with his passing. That's an aspect of his play that has disappointed me at United.
 
akash02 said:
Played quite well considering he hasn't had many minutes for some time.

That said, needs to be more adventurous with his passing. That's an aspect of his play that has disappointed me at United.
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I actually thought that aspect of his game was very good today, since it's something I think he's generally been lacking this season. Played some intelligent passes at times which troubled the Spurs defence.
 
Cheesy said:
I actually thought that aspect of his game was very good today, since it's something I think he's generally been lacking this season. Played some intelligent passes at times which troubled the Spurs defence.
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Dunno. I'd like to see him attempt more through balls. Today has proved that you don't necessarily need pace in front of you to do that.

Hopefully that will come with more confidence. Have to say as big a Di Maria fan as I am, it will be tough to drop Mata after this.
 
He played with hunger and it was there for all to see - pressing, making recoveries and generally showing more fire, like the kick after losing the ball (shouldn't be encouraged but he was really up for it today it has to be said).

Really hoping to see him feature regularly in the run in. His link up with Herrera made the right flank/channel impressive and complemented the more direct left flank/channel of Young and Fellaini (with Blind) very well. You could really see that both Herrera and Mata are on the same wavelength on the pitch.
 
akash02 said:
Dunno. I'd like to see him attempt more through balls. Today has proved that you don't necessarily need pace in front of you to do that.

Hopefully that will come with more confidence. Have to say as big a Di Maria fan as I am, it will be tough to drop Mata after this.
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Yeah, I'd play Mata ahead of Di Maria at the moment for definite.
 
Not overly convinced tbh.It's easy to play well when the rest of the team played well but I don't see what's so special about this performance.In fact I would say he's the least impressive out of the front 6.
 
Joga Bonito said:
He played with hunger and it was there for all to see - pressing, making recoveries and generally showing more fire, like the kick after losing the ball (shouldn't be encouraged but he was really up for it today it has to be said).

Really hoping to see him feature regularly in the run in. His link up with Herrera made the right flank/channel impressive and complemented the more direct left flank/channel of Young and Fellaini (with Blind) very well. You could really see that both Herrera and Mata are on the same wavelength on the pitch.
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I loved how Herrera made fun of Mata, when he made a cross that Bebe would be ashamed of.
 
Hope he gets a good run of games now and prove his quality.
 
He was not just good when we were in possession, but also off the ball. Worked very hard and helped Valencia shut down the right side
 
khoazany said:
Not overly convinced tbh.It's easy to play well when the rest of the team played well but I don't see what's so special about this performance.In fact I would say he's the least impressive out of the front 6.
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I dunno, you could say that it's not a coincidence that we click when he actually gets a start in the league.

I think he was as good as we would hope after getting so little playing time over the past few months. I was a bit concerned to see him out wide, but he covered a lot of ground defensively which was reassuring.
 
Knew he could be effective out wide in 4-3-3, hope to see more of him in this position. If has di Maria overlapping him for midfield it could be even better
 
Was class today. Love watching him play, He's just so good and intelligent on the ball all the time. Hopefully he keeps his place even with do maria coming back.
 
Fine peformance. Simply has to play Marie frequently. You can't leave a player like him out for a month. His overall play is very consistent.
 
He was good, I'm more impressed about his off the ball contribution than when we were in possession. His offensive game should be like that every week though, maybe this position on the right isn’t a bad idea after all.
 
Must say, his work rate has impressed me. Not just today, but also when we played against Chelsea, he put in a real shift.
 
Must be so frustrating to be physically targeted by every single team you come up against. This nonstop rough treatment seems to be a new thing this season, I don't remember him having to deal with it last year, or when he was at Chelsea.

Still, he's got a good head on his shoulders. Just keeps picking himself up and doesn't get too riled by it, as far as I can see.
 
Im not the biggest Mata fan, but I thought he did well quite well today, pleased for him, hopefully can play more in that role in a 433.
 
Surprised by his pace at times today when he both carried the ball into attack and chased down players - looked faster than his usual self. Lovely player to watch with arguably the best technique in the squad. Also, he seems to be a genuinely likeable character.
 
ThaReaper01 said:
Disagree. I don't think there is a genuine necessity for pace in the side but there is for creativity which Mata brings but only from the wing. Even under Moyes, he looked far better and more involved from the wing then off the front. Just too easy to brush off the ball and crowd out.
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Exactly. The majority of Mata's best games came from playing out wide on the right. With him being weak on the ball, there's no way he can be at his best in the middle unless he has the space to play his game. He's much better out wide where he can receive the ball in more space and, thus, be more creative and dangerous.

He may not be quick or fast, but he's very intelligent, and his intelligence helps him be "quicker" than he is on the ball. He links up very well with others, and he plays very intelligent passes, particularly in the final third.
 
Another great performance. I mentioned a few months back that in a game where we are going to dominate possession, he is more than fine in a wide area. He just offers so much when on the ball, such a clever player and praying we see him at Anfield.
 
Fans really love him and he justified his place too, albeit marginally. Might lose his place to Di Maria this coming weekend but he definitely is such a valuable asset to us! Would love to read this next blog after yesterday's performance
 
Eric'sCollar said:
Another great performance. I mentioned a few months back that in a game where we are going to dominate possession, he is more than fine in a wide area. He just offers so much when on the ball, such a clever player and praying we see him at Anfield.
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I imagine you had the same happy, warm feeling I did, seeing him get cheered as he left the pitch. He went far beyond the usual clapping to the supporters (a fair number of thumbs-up were thrown in for good measure.) You just have to love the little guy. Gracias Juan!
 
His touch is awesome. Now that we've finally sorted Rooney up front we should be trying to use him in the three behind him, either on the flank like yesterday or down the centre. I really hope we don't let him go in the Summer, he's an excellent player. I've had him written off as a departure in the next transfer window but maybe, just maybe, there's still hope for him here.

If we could get Depay and get Di Maria into proper form we'd have excellent options for our front 4. We could play a compact side with Depay and Di Maria on the wings and Mata in the middle, or whenever needed put Fellaini further up and give up on one of the smaller players. All we'd need is antoher forward to step up when Rooney's not firing and we'd be golden.

He's such a likable character too.
 
I have to watch the game again because I thought he was ineffective and as usual non-creative. I cannot remember him creating any good goal scoring opportunities or playing a part in any of our goals. Nearly everyone is singing his praises and the crowd at OT seemed obviously impressed with his performance. I guess it must be just me and thus I need to watch the game again and make sure I am not being overly critical.
 
khoazany said:
Not overly convinced tbh.It's easy to play well when the rest of the team played well but I don't see what's so special about this performance.In fact I would say he's the least impressive out of the front 6.
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I agree with this. His performance was fine, but he didn't shine like Young / Fellaini / Rooney / Blind. Pretty much all our best moves were going down the left.
 
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