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2015-16 Performances

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5.7 Season Average Rating
Appearances
54
Goals
11
Assists
11
Yellow cards
7
Red cards
1
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Played well at number 10 today but that could also be because Wolfsburg wernt playing as deep as our other opponents.

He done plenty of chasing of their CBs which would explain why he was knackered.
 
Subbing him off last night was easily van Gaal's worst sub during his time here, and he has at least one awful substition every game, which is telling a lot. Subbing our best player on the pitch, and best scorer of this team for a player who didn't play competitive game in 16 months and was never good enough to begin with, in our biggest game of the season for any other reason apart from injury is seriously idiotic on every level, and he deserves criticism for that even if we won the game.

Btw, he was excellent yesterday, did everything everyone here expects our number ten to do, it was probably best game by our number ten in a while. Third most touches in the team(even though he finished the game 20 minutes earlier than others), most key passes, great assist, controlled the midfield at times, kept the ball very well, and all that ahead of midfield which was far from great. The amount of times he had to track back because Fellaini stayed forward was criminal, I almost felt sorry for him, and he still managed to play very well and be active with the ball despite doing awful lot of defensive work.
 
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Bournemouth 2:1 Man Utd
He is crap today, everything he has been doing has been backwards/negative.
 
Been worst player on the park by a distance today probably.

Gets pushed off like every fecking time.
 
I thought his touch, awareness and close control would make him stand out in that congested part of the pitch but he just gets pushed off the ball like a little boy.
 
He's being a coward today. Should be showing an example to the kids, but he doesn't want the ball. Really disappointing.

Man up Juan.
 
Mixed day so far but still would have him in that position behind Martial over any other player we have, every day of the week.
 
Look at the state of the side and he's still probably been the worst player on the field.
 
izec said:
Not just today, cant remember him having a really good game for quite some time now.
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Think his last really good game was the CL game where he set up a goal with a first time flick from outside the box? Can't remember which game that was, only remember it cuz LVG seemed unimpressed when a reporter brought up how good he had been. Since then he's been very poor.
 
He seems to be alright in the first half, only to go completely missing in the second half every week now.
 
The Spanish Peter Brady, one of the worst big signings I've seen. Total luxury we cannot afford.
 
Same old. He never dictates a game. He's not good enough. We never should of signed him. Also, most of this forum is faster than him.
 
diarm said:
He seems to be alright in the first half, only to go completely missing in the second half every week now.
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Honestly, try to mention one sequence of play you remember he did in the first half.
 
Slevs said:
Honestly, try to mention one sequence of play you remember he did in the first half.
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I thought he got on the ball a few times and tried to play the wide fellas in once or twice. It's hard to remember precise examples because that second half took about 3 weeks I think.

He wasn't brilliant but I saw him a few times as opposed to the second half where he was totally anonymous.
 
It amazes me that people still want to make him a key component (as a 10, no less) when he basically has to surrender possession of the ball as soon as he's closed down. Every time.
 
The only positive contribution he made the entire 90 minutes was the 1-2 with Memphis. So ineffectual.
 
Totally invisible whenever we need him to step up. Apart from the Liverpool game i can't remember any notable contribution in 2 years.

Also i thought Kagawa was the weakest player i'd ever seen in a United shirt but Mata wins it hands down. The slightest physical pressure on him and the ball is yours.
 
Speak said:
It amazes me that people still want to make him a key component (as a 10, no less) when he basically has to surrender possession of the ball as soon as he's closed down. Every time.
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This is a great point i never really considered before. All the top no.10's other than ozil, like Isco, silva, even erikson, have the ability to protect the ball in dangerous areas to wait for the right run to then unleash a penetrating pass.

With mata, if there isn't a runner STRAIGHT AWAY when he receives a pass and turns, he has to play it back to safety, even on a counter attack, because he is too easy to rob of possession.
 
How did he stay on the pitch? Was anonymous and let us down, badly.
 
His next assist or goal, watch the u-turn in this thread. It's as predictable as our football how our fans react to Mata's performances.

Either fantastic and misused or the worst signing in the clubs history.

I still love you Juan. Hugs.
 
His classic "pass it sideways/backwards and jog a few yards forward" move is extremely frustrating.

I hope Pereira gets more chances now, he seems to be much more of a number 10 than Mata.
 
There's nothing new about that performance that we didn't know.It just like lottery (with obviously higher successful rate) with Mata.On the right day he'll score/assist or when the opponent leaves him with enough space he'll look influential.Else, it's like playing with 10 men with an extra body to pass the ball.
 
Mata needs to play behind a target-man striker with a deep-lying playmaker in CM behind him (ala Alonso).
 
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