Ran his socks off.
8
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 54
- Goals
- 11
- Assists
- 11
- Yellow cards
- 7
- Red cards
- 1
- Status
Quality. When he is proactive he looks a totally different player. Needs to show this kind of intensity more often.
He is a great player. Hope he keeps going.
His defensive effort has improved massively since joining us.
Was very good today. Not a coincidence his improvement in form has coincided with us playing a bit more direct. He's not suited to a possession game IMO.
Was very good today. Not a coincidence his improvement in form has coincided with us playing a bit more direct. He's not suited to a possession game IMO.
You could be right about that. One thing he did today more than usual was run with the ball at his feet. He pushed forward into and through spaces more than I have seen in a while. A possession game doesnt really allow him the opportunity to do that as much.
The difference in Mata when he has fast players in front of him compared to when Rooney is our striker is night and day
I'm not sure if it's a new thing or if he always ran this much, but the last couple of months I've noticed that he runs like his life depends on it, regardless of opposition, form or result. He's nearly always on top of the "Distance covered"-list, and usually covers 10-12 km every match. He also does a lot of "invisible" defending, the stuff that doesn't show up on stats. Reading the game and positioning himself so that the opposition have to rethink their attack and thereby slowing it down, is worth a lot when your defenders and midfielders are still reorganizing.
It's called pressing and it's why players like Xavi and Iniesta (small and technical) were/are able to do it effectively. Sure in a flat footed race a Walcott might beat you shoulder to shoulder but if you ran ahead of him with you inbetween the goal (and thus slowed their momentum), they must be absolutely amazing to beat you AND past the team mates behind. That whole 7 second rule makes so much sense that it's a wonder why we haven't got a pressing plan/regime in place (as other fans have highlighted in other threads) for a club of our size. It's why so many fans want a Poch or Simone.
If you can get the whole team coordinated and able to do those occassional insane 7 second sprints, the rest of the game you are to snuff the opposition out of rhythm and with the physicality AND technical qualities of the type of players we possess, we should be a very dangerous team on paper. Of course Mourinho could do this too but history tells us it, it'll last for 18months and then sh|t hits the fan (and without the progressive football too).
Ranieri is doing a simple/'low-level' of this within the confines of his squad by letting them play simple tactics (counter-attacking by smothering the ball at certain parts of the pitch and racing up the pitch) but getting them in optimal physical condition every week. He's pretty much said so in interviews. It's extremely effective for the situation they are in.
The so called 7 second rule is so horribly misunderstood.
The trigger for Barca pressing hard was not any 7 second rule, it was related to when they had numbers close to the opposition ball carrier. because of Barca's short passing game they just about always had numbers close to where the ball had just been lost. However anytime they lost the ball and the player had been isolated and didnt have support in numbers bearby they dropped, regained their shape and got set to defend. They only ever immediately pressed when they had numbers nearby.
I think thats because his his best moments are finding that pass (like the lead up to the third). Having runners for him helps.
Good game especially second half I thought because he had to adapt a bit given the way the game was going.
We can finally start to see where he fits into the bigger picture. when theres freedom and pace upfront with some space to counter his use of the ball and technical quality really is top class. It was definitely him that said he's half the player under Van gaal. He struggles in a slow tempo side.
Were statistically the best pressing team in the league and were last year as well
https://www.redcafe.net/threads/uniteds-pressing-copied-from-newbies.402466/
If I recall correctly, last year when we had our "purple patch", Herrera and Mata were always the top 2 in distance covered.
Mourinho dropped Mata because his position was the No. 10 and he thought that Oscar had more to offer.
I think that Mata should play in the 10 or not play at all. We need pace on the right, and Lingard brings that. Mata can do the job he does well as long as he has pace and movement around him and the freedom to move into different areas of the pitch to break down the opposition.
I love Mata's ability and good character, but long term, I still see him as a bit too slow and lightweight for where United want to be in the future. I wouldn't be surprised if he moves back to Spain in the summer.
I think that Mata should play in the 10 or not play at all. We need pace on the right, and Lingard brings that. Mata can do the job he does well as long as he has pace and movement around him and the freedom to move into different areas of the pitch to break down the opposition.
I love Mata's ability and good character, but long term, I still see him as a bit too slow and lightweight for where United want to be in the future. I wouldn't be surprised if he moves back to Spain in the summer.
His one-two with Herrera that gave us the second goal was excellent. This is how we should utilised his game to the fullness.
He's flourishing as a 10 with 3 pacey players around him, and i think everyone on here know that's the style of football he's best suited to.
Oscar's probably the most useless player I've seen play at number 10. Does he ever do anything?
I think it would be a bit dumb to sell the one player of ours who is seemingly never injured, and so always available for selection.
Little Maestro ran the show. No doubt he is benefiting from runners around him. Showing his worth now.
He had a very good game and run non-stop. Finally he showed that he's still a very good player
He thrives when the game's open. The gung-ho football is a lot of fun to watch, I don't know if it's a sustainable option long term.
With a solid backline and a 3-man midfield, I don't see why it wouldn't be sustainable.
It's really interesting how good he is in a counter-attacking setup. Somewhat counter-intuitive given his personal speed, but his mind seems to work so much faster than most players that it more than compensates.
Agreed, which makes me wonder what an incredible player he would be if he had the physical attributes to accompany his technical qualities.
Looks more of the Mata of Chelsea.
You watch Ozil and Silva and you see the way they make space by being on the turn. It's no good being technically good if all you do with it is pluck the ball from the sky. That was my gripe with Mata. He wasn't using his technique to good effect. Now he is. Hope we see him get better. Play good and the stats will come.
You watch Ozil and Silva and you see the way they make space by being on the turn. It's no good being technically good if all you do with it is pluck the ball from the sky. That was my gripe with Mata. He wasn't using his technique to good effect. Now he is. Hope we see him get better. Play good and the stats will come.
Was saying for a while that he's at his best in a counter attacking side with space and runners off the ball. When we are playing a slow, possession style, he cant really dribble past players in an organuzed team, and more often then not, there are less runners off the ball and definitely less space to pick a pass.
On the money....
People focus far too much on physical running speed. Real speed in football is a function of first touch, body position on receiving, skill and most importantly ball speed. Ball speed not being how fast the ball is actually moving but its transition either from player to player or from defence to attack.
Loved the way he went straight for Ramsey after his mate was pushed to the floor 
Just to pick up on the Oscar thing a few posts up.
Mata is comfortably a better footballer than Oscar and a hell of a lot more useful. I really can't say I rate the latter at all quite frankly. I'd have Coutinho before Oscar and I don't even him much either. I hope if Mourinho is coming he doesn't make that mistake again.
Mata is comfortably a better footballer than Oscar and a hell of a lot more useful. I really can't say I rate the latter at all quite frankly. I'd have Coutinho before Oscar and I don't even him much either. I hope if Mourinho is coming he doesn't make that mistake again.
Loved the way he went straight for Ramsey after his lover was pushed to the floor
FIFY
Don't know what Mourinho was looking at. Mata is clearly the superior player to Oscar. Has he ever missed a game because of injury? Been playing non-stop since 2010. Remarkable stamina.
I've had the opportunity to watch him live on several occasions and my view is that the notion he doesn't work hard enough is BS.
I've had the opportunity to watch him live on several occasions and my view is that the notion he doesn't work hard enough is BS.
Yeah I made a lazy reference but I mean it in pretty much the same principle; win the ball back by getting yourself into the most advantageous situations.
I've said it before in other threads, our laborious getting-back-into-shape (that whole phases of attack and defence LVG wanted) mentality instead of (organised) chasing the ball (i.e pre-philosophised Herrera) meant we covered more 'tiring'-type running as a team and as a result we looked fecking shattered and out of ideas in the final third.
Bursts of high speed sprints (pressing and attacking) is the way forward (with measured possession to control the tempo and our physical levels) it's so obvious.
We did do it well in some games (that 6 game spurt) but it was purely physical and emotionally driven i.e it wasn't sustainable and we didn't develop it as a consistent gameplan. As said in by other posts in that thread though, I don't the stats accurately tell us much about something as intangible as effectiveness of collectively pressing, especially when teams were happily sitting back by purpose and not by our game.
Aye, his work rate has been consistently good since he arrived here.
I think some people place too much importance on the defensive ability of attacking players anyway. Obviously they have to play their part defensively but their primary role is in attack and they should be judged on that basis.
I think some people place too much importance on the defensive ability of attacking players anyway. Obviously they have to play their part defensively but their primary role is in attack and they should be judged on that basis.
Mourinho likes players to follow specific tasks. Remember what he did to Joe Cole? Joe Cole was a tremendously gifted player but Mourinho insisted he play in a restrictive manner relative to Joe Coles strengths. Same deal with Mata.
He was great against Arsenal, but what's been most impressing (at least for me) in that performance was his work rate. He just wouldn't stop moving around the pitch, was trying to be everywhere and was always looking for the ball and how to create something, big difference from matches in which he would turn invisible for some time.
Hope he builds on that!
Hope he builds on that!
More than work rate it's his proactiveness that's been beneficial. Also, he's really benefitting from A) playing as a 10 and B) Having pace in front and decent options on either side. The pass he played to Rashford for the third goal isn't possible when Rooney is up top.
One thing he's surprisingly bad at is protecting the ball when he's on a dribble.
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