I don't understand it either but it's quite obvious. The usual suspects are easy to recognize.
8
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 54
- Goals
- 11
- Assists
- 11
- Yellow cards
- 7
- Red cards
- 1
- Status
I don't understand it either but it's quite obvious. The usual suspects are easy to recognize.
Yikes. That first half video was bloody hard to watch. His first 9 touches he gets the ball and runs backwards, or goes sideways and passes backwards. A couple of times he has acres of space in front of him to take his marker into as well and he stops and then turns and passes backwards. As it goes on though the run from deep in the corner was great (though why is literally 2m from being the furthest he can possibly be from his position), shot was nice, there was also a couple of really nice passes when he was up the field as well.
I just really want him to stay forward and stop getting stuck behind the play supporting Darmian. Darmian is a grown man who can defend his wing. When he is stuck back trying to defend he rarely gets back up the field into the opposition third.
Yeah it is bloody hard to watch sometimes. A few times he actually engineers his touch to make sure he's taking it even further away from his marker, bacl toward his own goal when he has time and space to take the ball down and go forward and attack his man. I honestly can only come to the conclusion that he thinks his own legs are gone and is down on confidence. (Or the must play safe attitude mentioned earlier).
Yeah, of course there is. He's barely ever up front creating on the opposition back line. He's always inside or way behind the play. There are only about 7 of those passes on the wing where he needs to be operating consistently.
He did have nearly as many passes forward as backward though to be fair.
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As a person mata is clearly a gentleman, however his footballing style and how he fits in our system is causing us problems.
He is not a right winger, he has little pace, power or acceleration and more importantly he fails in the decisive moments. For all of the slick passing and his technique on the ball, there are too many moments where if he had the clinical approach of a world class forward he would be cementing his place by making these game changing moments.
Unfortunately as it stands he is replaceable and makes our right side look slow and easy to defend against.
The only way I can see it working long term is if he is moved centrally and a world class right sided forwarded is brought in and Rooney is replaced as they are both too slow.
He is not a right winger, he has little pace, power or acceleration and more importantly he fails in the decisive moments. For all of the slick passing and his technique on the ball, there are too many moments where if he had the clinical approach of a world class forward he would be cementing his place by making these game changing moments.
Unfortunately as it stands he is replaceable and makes our right side look slow and easy to defend against.
The only way I can see it working long term is if he is moved centrally and a world class right sided forwarded is brought in and Rooney is replaced as they are both too slow.
It would take a pretty good player to displace him. I'd rather have Mata than some past paced winger with no end product (See Valencia or Navas). Especially in the way we play now.
I think some of the criticism is unfair. How many players are there in the world who are both world class passers and finishers? If Mata played for City, he would have loads of assists when paired with players such as Aguero and Toure.
He isn't on the same level as silva though so wouldn't really get into their team.
This isn't matas fault entirely as he is really playing out of his natural position. But that doesnt get away from the fact that as a right winger he doesnt offer us what we need. He needs to play central with fast paced and decisive players supporting him.
Yikes. That first half video was bloody hard to watch. His first 9 touches he gets the ball and runs backwards, or goes sideways and passes backwards. A couple of times he has acres of space in front of him to take his marker into as well and he stops and then turns and passes backwards. As it goes on though the run from deep in the corner was great (though why is literally 2m from being the furthest he can possibly be from his position), shot was nice, there was also a couple of really nice passes when he was up the field as well.
I just really want him to stay forward and stop getting stuck behind the play supporting Darmian. Darmian is a grown man who can defend his wing. When he is stuck back trying to defend he rarely gets back up the field into the opposition third.
Yeah it is bloody hard to watch sometimes. A few times he actually engineers his touch to make sure he's taking it even further away from his marker, bacl toward his own goal when he has time and space to take the ball down and go forward and attack his man. I honestly can only come to the conclusion that he thinks his own legs are gone and is down on confidence. (Or the must play safe attitude mentioned earlier).
Yeah, of course there is. He's barely ever up front creating on the opposition back line. He's always inside or way behind the play. There are only about 7 of those passes on the wing where he needs to be operating consistently.
He did have nearly as many passes forward as backward though to be fair.
I really like him but that's my main gripe with him, he's good enough to pick out dangerous passes but too many he resorts to safe back and sideways passes. I honestly think it's because he's playing under the philosophy bullshit that makes the player keep possession before taking a risky action. How I would love for LVG to stop with this nonsense and just asks the players to play positively.
I didn't say he was. I said he would do a lot better in a team with more movement and better attacking play, like City. There aren't many players in the world on Silva's level in that particular position, so saying he's not on the same level doesn't really say much. And he's played large parts of his career on the right wing, LvG isn't the first manager to think that it's his best position. I agree we could do better on the wing though, but there are positions I would strengthen before that.
I'm not really sure how they compare as they are completely different players in terms of style and the way they are deployed.
Navas is lightning and uses his directness as a weapon, he rarely contributes defensively and a lot of his work is done deep in the opposition third.
Mata on the other hand is a much better play maker and uses his superior passing.
Look at Navas' map compared to Mata's. Plus he is a right footer playing a natural right footed wing forward role compared to Mata's right sided inverted forward role.
I'm not really sure how they compare as they are completely different players in terms of style and the way they are deployed.
Navas is lightning and uses his directness as a weapon, he rarely contributes defensively and a lot of his work is done deep in the opposition third.
Mata on the other hand is a much better play maker and uses his superior passing.
Look at Navas' map compared to Mata's. Plus he is a right footer playing a natural right footed wing forward role compared to Mata's right sided inverted forward role.
Wait, I am not comparing them, other than saying that I don't think we would do much better if a player like Navas replaced Mata in our team. Or did I misunderstand you?
I'm not sure. I remember him being like that quite a bit at Chelsea. Even when they broke forward, he'd check and pass sideways if there were men to take on. If there weren't men to take on, then he'd be able to surge forward. A great example would be the third goal against Liverpool last season (the assist for van Persie) - That's basically Mata at his best. Space to run and pass into, nobody to dribble past.
The sideways passes and safe play wont suddenly stop just because of van Gaal's tactics. He plays safe because he's not capable of holding the ball or advancing the play effectively when he's pressured in midfield. I don't believe it's just down to tactics.
I compared them and their role in both teams? I think Navas role suits City because they have a good stable RB and the pace they play at allows him to stay up and direct, I am not really sure they can be compared as individuals. I kind of agree with you I think Navas would struggle in this system.
Just adding food for thought, not trying to pick apart your point albeit a good one!
Oh right, I get it
Yes, I think you're right that they do need some with and directness in their team, which Navas prodived I suppose.I'm not talking about those moments when he is under pressure but he has time and space but doesn't go for the creative pass.
Play him behind striker or don't play him at all.
He can play well on the right wing, but it's so obvious that's not his preferred role and sometimes he goes missing during matches since he can't impact play the way he would if played in the role of SS or AM.
LVG is doing his best in playing players out of position and Mata is prime example of his philosphy, playing player that's not strong enough, not pacey and isn't best at backtracking as a winger.
He can play well on the right wing, but it's so obvious that's not his preferred role and sometimes he goes missing during matches since he can't impact play the way he would if played in the role of SS or AM.
LVG is doing his best in playing players out of position and Mata is prime example of his philosphy, playing player that's not strong enough, not pacey and isn't best at backtracking as a winger.
He did that in the first goal against Villa, to be fair to him.
But the reality is, in a possession system, you will be under pressure most of the time. You have to create your own space within there.
The few times Mata finds space is when he drops deep and basically allows the two banks of four to develop. Essentially he's finding space in areas where it doesn't hurt teams - which is not praiseworthy at all.
What is ideal is a player who can create space without having to drop into that deep, nonthreatening area all the time. There are only so many times a pass like against Villa will work out. Someone like Isco, for example, creates space in advanced/congested areas. That's what it's about.
I guess, essentially, my issue with Mata is that his version of creating space is often not the kind of creating space that is required. It's not space in the areas that it needs to be.
I keep seeing people saying this and sometimes wonder if we are talking about the same player...He does those passes often. The assists to Januzaj against Villa, and the brilliant through pass to Memphis in the same same game are just some examples of it.
I didn't say he doesn't do it, just said he doesn't do it enough, specially when he has space.
Yes he did and it was great and hopefully more will come.
It's not that easy to consistently do when your striker mostly needs the ball under no pressure. He can improve at it I suppose but for me Mata has been one of the bright sparks of our attack so far. He's still not the kind of player I want at right wing, but he adds a lot.
Can you explain this please?
I will sort out the footage block tomorrow.
I wish he could influence games like Silva does.
The odd thing is, the more I watch I would say the closest thing we have to Silva is Januzaj
The thing is, he actually does influence the game far more than any other United player. 109 touches and 93 passes against Newcastle. Only Schneiderlin came close to those numbers but he was much further back on the pitch. FWIW, Silva had 91 touches and 80 passes against Everton, but obviously made them count for so much more.
I know the videos above have been taken down, but I actually thought he did well in the first 15-20 minutes. He moved the ball on quickly and had Newcastle scrambling. But then, as Mata started to slow down the tempo, United's entire attack began to lose its bite.
For better or worse, Mata has consistently been given more freedom than any other player in the United side. First in the hole in the 3-5-2, then on the right in the 4-3-3 and now the 4-2-3-1. Everyone else has to stick to their positions whereas Mata can wander pretty much wherever he likes. If only he'd shoulder that responsibility with a bit more verve, I think we'd be favourites, or thereabouts, for the title.
On paper, Depay, Rooney and Mata are three of the most talented players in England. Mata's form is critical to making it all tick, though. So far, he's only given us about 20 minutes in the league. Solve the problem of Juan Mata and you solve the problem of Manchester United, imo.
Yeah, I'd agree with that. We could start by putting him in the middle.
I know, I know, crazy thought.
Brugge 0:4 Man Utd
Barely been involved today.
I reckon 95% of his play and passes was forward oriented in this first half, something that people constantly moan about him.
They were, but he wasn't involved enough. Most - if not all - our best spells came from the left side of Memphis.
Please get him central. Pretty pretty please.
Just play him in the middle for gods sake. He puts himself there most of the game anyway.
Nice pass for Rooney hattrick
Nice little assist for the third goal, timed his pass to Rooney well even if it was fairly simple.
Didn't even notice he was on the pitch until I saw him start the 2nd half and hearing that Bastian was the only sub. Lovely pass for Rooney's third - his through balls this season have been excellent.
Still easily our most prolific creator, however involved. I still expect some gifs of a hesistant pass from the 23rd minute to illustrate some bizarre, opaque point, mind..
Aye, he can perhaps be frustrating in some of his play sometimes, but he's easily one of our most skilled and productive outfield players when he's on form.
Which is what a player like him is for. Not to compare him to Eric, but that's exactly what he'd do. He could be rubbish for 85 minutes then produce something mercurial. He didn't score from open play until December after coming back from suspension if I remember correctly. Oh, the gifs we'd have had. Sack Fergie, Sell Giggs.
I'd really like to see him given a run in the 10 role but LvG doesn't seem interested.
I'd really like the whole second striker plan to be binned
I think we'll see more of Herrera in that role now. Mata suits a number 10 role, but he's equally capable of playing out wide when he's allowed to drift inside, whereas Herrera wouldn't really suit being played as a winger. I'd be more than happy with a front three of Memphis, Herrera and Mata, though.
I'm still not convinced I have to say. He just seems so slow and that's just not his pace but also until he releases the ball or knows what to do next. He slowed us down too often lately
great creative player, I really wanted him to get on a scoresheet, let's hope mad manager plays Herrera in the hole so they can combine together once again, tehy were joy to watch last season and I think it can work this season too in slightly different lineup, Schneiderlin, Depay this time included
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