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2015-16 Performances

View full 2015-16 profile

5.7 Season Average Rating
Appearances
54
Goals
11
Assists
11
Yellow cards
7
Red cards
1
Status
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Godfather said:
He's sadly too slow and weak if we are honest.
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Was never the case before he came here. I do think he's never going to be good enough for the likes of Madrid, Barca or Bayern but feck me to we need to actually learn to walk before we should be even think about running with those big boys.

And at this level, he's easily one of the most talented players in this squad and should/has before shown that he's capable of a lot more than we're getting out of him - pretty much like every single other attacking player at the club.
 
Completely ineffective again. Replace him with a proper right winger and we'd be such a more threatening team. One of our main aims next summer should be to find someone to replace him.
 
He was better I thought. Not one of our best probably but he is looking to do more in possession. It's a shame his finishing has been a bit off in the last few matches.
 
SteveW said:
I'm sick of hearing about how bloody likeable he is. If he wasn't likeable he'd have been lynched at this stage. Physically weak and generally cowardly in possession. What does he actually offer? We spent 37 million on him

Edit: and what actually makes him so likeable? he's been shite on the pitch. what do you all like so much? his beard? Don't get it, never have. Every now and then he does something lovely on the pitch but it is happens far too rarely to explain the love this guy gets on here.
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I'm going to hazard a guess that it's his genial demeanour and the obvious affection he displays towards the club, its fans and its history. Doesn't seem too hard to figure out.
 
And disgraceful. Missing a shot, a poor performance, losing to a lesser team isn't a disgrace. Leg breaking tackles, racism etc, that's disgraceful.
 
Just viewing the 'Klopp' thread; 'fraud' is another annoying, overused term.
 
It just makes me so frustrated that we couldn't accommodate Adnan, as a left footed player cutting in from the right he would have been a decent option to have.
 
A disgraceful, spineless, cowardly, luxury fraud who should be lynched. He's been shit the entire time he's been here and even the time before that when he was actually good was just him dragging another team down to his horrendous level. Most awful buy in the history of both buys and awful things. Still better than Rooney though.

Think I'm getting the hang of this...
 
Eric'sCollar said:
But conveniently forget his goals and assists.
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It's not enough to be honest he's killing our right side of attack. Imagine we had Mane we'd be much more of a threat in my opinion. I think it's going to happen with Mane so we will see but I think Mata is a huge part of our unbalanced attack as much if not more than Rooney.
 
Ayush_reddevil said:
It just makes me so frustrated that we couldn't accommodate Adnan, as a left footed player cutting in from the right he would have been a decent option to have.
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Decent is what we have we need better imo
 
I understand why people aren't happy with Mata's lack of pace but some of the stick he gets on here is unbelievable. He is unbelievelably talented and although he has a few ineffectual games to me he always looks like he wants to play for the team and the club. We have a fair few players at United who could be just playing for anyone as far as they're concerned but Mata comes across as a guy who has genuinely subscribed to United as a whole and loves being at the club. His goal and assist return has been much better than some others in our squad (alright still not astounding) but this seems to get forgotten about at times. I doubt very much that he wants to be playing on the right hand side and I bet we'd see a very different player if he was consistently deployed centrally behind a striker, or strikers - especially a striker that can offer a bit more forward movement and thrust than Wayne does.

We've already seen the very talented Kagawa misused at United and it's happening to Mata as well. Imagine the qualities he could bring to our team if we had some pace in front and outside of him, rather than simply replacing him with someone pacey. The whole attack is unbalanced and we can't blame a round peg of a player if he's put in a square peg of a position. That comes down to management, tactics and formation.
 
dcullivanio said:
I understand why people aren't happy with Mata's lack of pace but some of the stick he gets on here is unbelievable. He is unbelievelably talented and although he has a few ineffectual games to me he always looks like he wants to play for the team and the club. We have a fair few players at United who could be just playing for anyone as far as they're concerned but Mata comes across as a guy who has genuinely subscribed to United as a whole and loves being at the club. His goal and assist return has been much better than some others in our squad (alright still not astounding) but this seems to get forgotten about at times. I doubt very much that he wants to be playing on the right hand side and I bet we'd see a very different player if he was consistently deployed centrally behind a striker, or strikers - especially a striker that can offer a bit more forward movement and thrust than Wayne does.

We've already seen the very talented Kagawa misused at United and it's happening to Mata as well. Imagine the qualities he could bring to our team if we had some pace in front and outside of him, rather than simply replacing him with someone pacey. The whole attack is unbalanced and we can't blame a round peg of a player if he's put in a square peg of a position. That comes down to management, tactics and formation.
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Too many excuses, Martial, Rooney and Young managed to play well yesterday. Martial and Young provided the 'pace' from the flanks, what more does he need? He wasn't restricted to the right wing either.
 
Mata doesn't take risks - he's a coward
ADM take risks - he doesn't want to play for United

Seems like United fans hate both types with equal measure.
 
Standards are obviously low for Mata. That was the sort of performance that 21 year old Sterling gets the 'overrated' comments for.

He's good at certain technical elements, but lacking in others. And, unfortunately for him, those areas where he lacks prevent him from being a top player who can influence games, especially when there isn't a lot of space.
Influencing games when there isn't a lot of space is what top players do. He doesn't have the skill set - thus it's always the fault of someone else, apparently.

Someone mentioned him needing a system that shields him. What the heck are his team-mates going to do? Create a human shield every time he gets the ball, and bundle through?

Put Silva in this team (yes, even this team) and his superiority in receiving the ball, turning his man, dribbling past people, making the ball stick... would become apparent. He's the type you build around.

Mata will probably leave, and yes, he'll look better. But it'll be to a lesser club, where they play on the counter every week, and they're just so thankful to have him, so they let him do what he wants every game, and ignore his flaws.

He'll look good in the same way Bolasie looks good at Palace but wouldn't at a team who actually look to dominate possession (which requires more skill). Palace would suit Mata, actually. And they're closer to his level than the top teams/clubs in Europe.

Some even call him world class for his two good seasons at a poor Chelsea (where Ivanovic, Drogba, Cahill and Terry made it hard not to rack up the assists from set-plays). Yet they wouldn't call Sturridge world class for his 1.5 years of goals galore.
 
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Just watching the game now, relaxed as I already know the result. Mata has run the furthest of all United players and constantly finds space in and around the box. Unfortunately, we are still static in the box.

I wish he would take more shots instead of that extra touch he always seems to take.

When people make runs, like Ashley Young has done a lot of today; even Rooney looks livelier, then he finds space. We all know he is a very classy player, and the difference between his technique and Rooney's is huge. He really offers very little defensively though. I still think that with a pacier attack, he will improve massively.
 
I think he did well yesterday. He looked like he wanted to create stuff and had some good initiatives and link ups which he was a little unlucky to not pull off. It's obvious that he's not in tip top form though, if he was he probably would have buried at least one of those shots yesterday.
 
CLARiiON said:
Mata doesn't take risks - he's a coward
ADM take risks - he doesn't want to play for United

Seems like United fans hate both types with equal measure.
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Honestly, do you even think at all before you post shite like this?
 
He's a very good player and had a good season last year, his goals against Liverpool and Man city showed the quality that he has inside the area and I think his best moments come inside the area or right on the edge of the area.

He's getting slated but I can remember times this season where he has been brilliant and provided important assists and goals. Look at the pass for Januzaj goal at villa that was fantastic and the assist for Martial against Wolfsburg. That's just 2 moments that spring to mind instantly. OK at times he's been poor but who hasn't for us this season.
He has definitely been misued he isn't a winger and he isn't a central midfielder, his best position for me is almost as a second striker dropping off and looking for it then joining the attack one he's threaded it through.

He's very good but hasn't been in form this year but despite that is one of our contributor of goals and assists. I don't want him to leave I think he's a great asset to have and once we start playing a bit better you will see his quality shine through again.
 
Speak said:
Standards are obviously low for Mata. That was the sort of performance that 21 year old Sterling gets the 'overrated' comments for.

He's good at certain technical elements, but lacking in others. And, unfortunately for him, those areas where he lacks prevent him from being a top player who can influence games, especially when there isn't a lot of space.
Influencing games when there isn't a lot of space is what top players do. He doesn't have the skill set - thus it's always the fault of someone else, apparently.

Someone mentioned him needing a system that shields him. What the heck are his team-mates going to do? Create a human shield every time he gets the ball, and bundle through?

Put Silva in this team (yes, even this team) and his superiority in receiving the ball, turning his man, dribbling past people, making the ball stick... would become apparent. He's the type you build around.

Mata will probably leave, and yes, he'll look better. But it'll be to a lesser club, where they play on the counter every week, and they're just so thankful to have him, so they let him do what he wants every game, and ignore his flaws.

He'll look good in the same way Bolasie looks good at Palace but wouldn't at a team who actually look to dominate possession (which requires more skill). Palace would suit Mata, actually. And they're closer to his level than the top teams/clubs in Europe.

Some even call him world class for his two good seasons at a poor Chelsea (where Ivanovic, Drogba, Cahill and Terry made it hard not to rack up the assists from set-plays). Yet they wouldn't call Sturridge world class for his 1.5 years of goals galore.
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But he got a blog with hugs and by the looks of it that seems to be more important than his actual performances on the field.
 
Speak said:
Some even call him world class for his two good seasons at a poor Chelsea (where Ivanovic, Drogba, Cahill and Terry made it hard not to rack up the assists from set-plays). Yet they wouldn't call Sturridge world class for his 1.5 years of goals galore.
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Good shout. I completely agree.
 
jem said:
'Cowardly' has to be among the most overused and annoying adjectives currently employed on here. Cowardly is Nasri jumping out of the way of a RVP free kick.
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It's very similar to how many labelled him as a coward in away performances, and then he gave us that Liverpool performance... among a run of other brilliant performances.

Don't worry, opinions will change if he hits form.
 
He played as a number 10 yesterday and he was very poor. He just cannot influence the game, his lack of strength is alarming, if anyone comes anywhere near him he is easily shrugged off the ball.
 
Di Maria's angel said:
Don't worry, opinions will change if he hits form.
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He hasn't 'hit form' in 28 matches. These throwaway comments need to stop. Juan Mata isn't world class, he won't become amazing if we put 'runners' in front of him, and he has to be replaced.
 
Speak said:
Some even call him world class for his two good seasons at a poor Chelsea (where Ivanovic, Drogba, Cahill and Terry made it hard not to rack up the assists from set-plays). Yet they wouldn't call Sturridge world class for his 1.5 years of goals galore.
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Dude, this is rubbish.

It's like dismissing the contribution made by the likes of Ozil, di Maria, Sanchez, Iniesta, Pedro etc. because they were just assisting Messi and Ronaldo.

It's a teams game. He played his part in a team that won two European titles in two years, which, by no means, was easy.

Just for comparisons: Mata scored 12 and assisted 20 in 11/12, Chelsea won the CL and the FA Cup. In 12/13, he scored 20 and assisted 28, Chelsea won the EL.
On the other hand, Sturridge scored 11 and assisted 3 in 12/13, Liverpool won nothing. In 13/14, he scored 24 and assisted 3, Liverpool won nothing.
 
DWelbz19 said:
He hasn't 'hit form' in 28 matches. These throwaway comments need to stop. Juan Mata isn't world class, he won't become amazing if we put 'runners' in front of him, and he has to be replaced.
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He hasn't hit form in 28 games? Didn't he win player of the month during what was probably our best spell this season? When we were actually scoring goals and he was involved in about half of them? He's playing poorly enough as is, you don't need to exaggerate so much.
 
sullydnl said:
He hasn't hit form in 28 games? Didn't he win player of the month during what was probably our best spell this season? When we were actually scoring goals and he was involved in about half of them? He's playing poorly enough as is, you don't need to exaggerate so much.
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He won it by 1 or 2%, and probably was awarded it because Smalling and Martial (who were the other two nominees) had won the past two.

In any case, he's certainly not showing himself as so clinical right now as you once said.
 
Eric'sCollar said:
But conveniently forget his goals and assists.
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Well the stats are not on his side though? For me he's always been a player who does easy stuff most of the time but pops out with an assist or more likely a goal, but it’s been exactly 13 games since he was directly involved in a goal for us (NPG). You have to admit, it’s quite terrible for a player who gets total freedom to do whatever he wants, wherever he wants on the pitch.

It’s bizarre that some people still think he needs to be surrounded by runners (or whatever is the excuse for today) and don’t see that he is one of the reasons we are so poor in attack (not directed at you, just an observation).
 
DWelbz19 said:
He won it by 1 or 2%, and probably was awarded it because Smalling and Martial (who were the other two nominees) had won the past two.

In any case, he's certainly not showing himself as so clinical right now as you once said.
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5 goals and 7 assists in a season we're struggling for cohesion is not a bad return. He's excelled with us when we've actually been functional, albeit in a run of only 6 or so games.
 
Di Maria's angel said:
5 goals and 7 assists in a season we're struggling for cohesion is not a bad return. He's excelled with us when we've actually been functional, albeit in a run of only 6 or so games.
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Mata's very good at assisting/scoring goals even when he's playing poorly, but even that aspect of his game has been non-existent in the last couple of months. The fact that he's patently good at that sets him apart from most of our other attackers right now, but there's always more he can be doing.
 
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