He plays way better when there's pace and a lot of movement in front of him. Who would have thought ey?
8
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 54
- Goals
- 11
- Assists
- 11
- Yellow cards
- 7
- Red cards
- 1
- Status
Can't believe I sold him on FIFA yesterday 
Yep pace, movement and most of all trusting him to play in that 10 role. He was even great defensively today.
He is a great number 10 in a counter attacking side
That was more Silva than Mata.
Let's see if he can put some form together and replicate in tougher fixtures,
Let's see if he can put some form together and replicate in tougher fixtures,
His only truly class game as a #10 for us and his best performance since the one against Liverpool at Anfield last season.
He clearly needs pace to thrive, and it's a shame he's been wasted in LVG's shitty philosophy system.
He won World Player of the Year for me in FM when he was 29. But I played him only as a right winger. He was fantastic for me.Can't believe I sold him on FIFA yesterday
Kinda like Ozil in that regards, imo. He has the ability to pick people out especially on the move. Its kinda wasted when its all static.
He gave the final pass for all three assisters today.
In other words, he wasn't providing assists but at least he was getting us playing in an attacking sense today.
In other words, he wasn't providing assists but at least he was getting us playing in an attacking sense today.
Another pacey trickster on the right hand side to mirror Martial on the left and Mata will do wonders for us in the #10 position, whilst Rooney is in this sort of form he can complete the front 4 as well.
He was busy, floating into channels and it contributed to the attacking fluency, still not enough end product from him though, you expect more from dead balls and assists, Martial did it all tonight.
... He was the only bloke on the pitch who was directly involved in all 3 of our goals.
The 2nd one in particular was a brilliant bit of play.
To be fair he assisted the assister in all 3 goals tonight. Stats don't tell you that, but he made an important role in setting the correct pass at the right time.
I was more than happy with his work rate tonight though, he got up and down the pitch really well and looked fairly nimble while being strong also, quite a rarity for Mata. He looked like his old Chelsea self tonight.
Good players will play better when the whole team does. It is not surprising. Anyone with half a football brain knows Mata is playing for a team which doesn't get the best out of him. He needs movement and energy around him.
Must be a lot happier he's being played in the number 10 role. With pace and width around him, it gives him a lot more freedom to get on the ball and make things happen. Very good game from Mata yesterday.
Yep. That right wing is what we need to sort out more then anything IMO. Lingard has done alright but he's a limited player. I'd give Memphis more time to see if he can perform on the right, and develop into a top player out there, because if so, that would really help us long term.
Decent game from him. Did well to keep hold of the ball in the build up to Martial's goal.
That was always the problem with him. Once the team is in full flow, he's a very good player. If we play poorly (and that happened too often this season) he just cant improve our game. He was very good yesterday even though I thought he messed up our chance for our 3rd goal first
Who would've thought he would play better as a 10 than as a winger, eh?
Sometimes Louis, the most obvious answer is the correct one.
Sometimes Louis, the most obvious answer is the correct one.
If he picks up serious form in this position, I think it will doom Herrera.
He's been awful for us at number 10 in many games, and had his finest performances so far on the right eg. Anfield last year.
That said, I though he was excellent yesterday.
Has he really played many games as a 10?
And he's been awful on the right now for several months. When there's running to be done for Mata I cringe.
Key involvement in every goal, can't ask for more than that. He's one of our best passers in key areas of the pitch.
I don't think he's that slow. Compared to normal wingers, maybe but I don't think he has a problem getting up and down.
He was actually rather good last night. Here's hoping he keeps it up.
Personally I see Ander more as an 8 than a 10 and LVG might just agree. A midfield 3 of Carrick/Morgan, Ander and Juan could work, especially when we are looking to play more offensively against weaker opposition (and to be fair, Stoke last night were weak in key areas). In a squad our size and particularly if we stay in the CL there are plenty of matches to go around players like Ander.
He is very composed and is a great passer but sometimes I feel he holds play up a little too much: Not so last night, where he exhibited the vision and speed of thought that we have been sorely lacking recently.
Definitely agree on the tracking back point - working the flank in that way is not one of his strengths - but at his best he is a great player. For a while it looked like he might be a vanity purchase that we couldn't afford but if LVG can come up with a system that suits Juan and the rest of our squad then we could get back to seeing why some of us were quite excited back in the day when we signed him...
Also have to consider that most of his games as a #10 have come when we were playing a 3-5-2. There's no width in that formation, reducing space for Mata to work in.
Yesterday was one of the few occasions where Mata has been playing as a #10 with pace around him on both flanks, with Martial, Lingard, Darmian and CBJ all bombing forward.
Was very good last night, it helps that Stoke came to play football which allowed him room to operate.
One good game and one good half against Stoke/Derby aren't enough... he needs to turn up and make things happen at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Chelsea 1:1 Man Utd
Absolutely awful. Put him on the right or drop him please. He should not play through the middle.
He's been absolutely fine.
Are you serious?
Perhaps in the 2nd half.
His movement was bamboozling Mikel and Matic during that completely dominant spell at the start.
He was one of the main reasosn why we controlled the first 20 odd minutes of the game. Which is why Chelsea have got tighter on him.
Good so far. So much better when playing AM instead of right wing.
- Status