What about if they are right?
8
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 42
- Goals
- 10
- Assists
- 6
- Yellow cards
- 5
- Status
What about if they are right?
If who is right?
Really....? I can't even find the words to respond to that lol
Jacky and Haddock.
Yeah, sorry, I'll stop the insults. I don't know if this guy is meant to be a wum or not.
Still shouldn't be saying it.
Not productive? I'm not sure you're paying attention if you believe that as he has higher goals/assists than Silva. Fair enough if you believe Silva is the better player (I'd agree with that) but Mata has always been reliable when it comes to scoring or getting an assist.
I hate seeing Mata played wide right.
His natural inclination is to drift infield which massively reduces our effectiveness from wide positions.
He's a great player, but if he can't be accommodated centrally then he should be benched.
His natural inclination is to drift infield which massively reduces our effectiveness from wide positions.
He's a great player, but if he can't be accommodated centrally then he should be benched.
As I said in my original post, obviously he pops up with goals and assists now and then but that aside, his wider contribution is very limited in my view.
He's not a top class attacking midfielder, he's not strong or quick enough and will never be a driving force in a side pushing for top spot.
He's a squad player and one who's suited to games where he's given time on the ball and a lot of space, hence the point about a limited contribution.
He scored some very important goals this season and had few assists. It can happen to anyone to have a bad day like he did yesterday tbh.
That all being said i stand by my claim that he is a great super sub, impact player in moments when opposition isn't that fresh to expose his defensive weaknesses.
He shouldn't be a starter for us in league games.
That all being said i stand by my claim that he is a great super sub, impact player in moments when opposition isn't that fresh to expose his defensive weaknesses.
He shouldn't be a starter for us in league games.
I agree. I know a lot of people want him to start but he is just not consistent enough
Your team wouldn't be competitive if he started every game and you wouldn't challenge for the title. He's the perfect squad player. I think I said he was a luxury player at one point (maybe at the start of Van Gaal's first season), but I was wrong about that.
Obviously not every manager gets every decision right, but Del Bosque, Van Gaal, and Mourinho have all not played Mata in that #10 role (consistently). Mata has played on the right regularly and has been never been a key figure for any of them. In the first case, they obviously have some outstanding technical players, so we can excuse that. However, Mourinho was quick to move him to the right and bring Oscar in to the side... and Chelsea won the title in 14/15. In Van Gaal's case, he got a small run as a #10 in the 3-5-2 and failed massively. He was moved to the right against Crystal Palace, and we looked much better. In a top side, he should be nowhere near that first team, and he is being managed very well by Mourinho this season. I can't be bothered getting into his deficiencies again, so here's what I said a couple of seasons ago:
Mata's technical ability and productivity, even when he's not playing well, are two big reasons as to why we should not even consider selling him. But building a team around him because his stats are good would be the wrong move, as Chelsea found out. For a team to be built around a #10, they have to share responsibilities, and show that they can defend, press, transition well, act as a link between the midfield attack, and create chances.
The difference between Mata of the past two seasons and the Mata of 12/13, is that he has less freedom to do what he wants. In 12/13, he didn't have to bother with the defensive side of the game, and that resulted in lackadaisical pressing. (The GIF below is the perfect example of the free role Mata was given.) If a player needs a team to be built around him to be effective, then that's a huge limitation. Even ignoring the defensive side of his game, which has undoubtedly improved, there are a few elements of his game which do not do not fit the cohesive style Van Gaal is looking to play, IMO.
His positioning is probably the worst part of his game for me. He always likes to position himself away from congested areas - his favourite position being wide right - but it doesn't balance the side and it leads to a missing link. In the QPR game, for example, we seen that. He drifts away from space, while little pressure comes from the opposing team, and he's able to open his body up and deliver a great ball to Falcao. That's when he's at his best, but how many times have we seen him central? How many times have we seen him create chances for us with great passes?
I would understand building a team around Mata if there is any evidence to suggest that it would be the best route for the team. However, in a side that looks for balance, he's not the type of player that should have a divine right to start every game. FWIW, I like Mata and think he's a good squad option to have, but I simply don't understand building a team around him, especially when you consider that he's done nothing - for us and Chelsea - to warrant that. He's simply not a good enough player for the level of competitiveness we're looking for.
I've said before that he is one of the best finishers at the club and I stand by that but that was a really bad miss from him yesterday but it happens to everybody I guess.
I think the miss came because he wanted to kick it a bit higher because someone came sliding in so if the shot was pointed towards the ground there is a chance it would've been blocked, but he overhit it maybe because of the pitch with the ball bouncing up or something, I didn't really see the miss again so can't comment on that.
Agreed. He is not dependable. I remember last season he had a couple of really incredible misses just like the one against Stoke. Very inconsistent. Can sometimes be cool and calm yet often loses concentration and misses an open goal.
The less said about his work outside the box the better.
Now this is incredible.
It literally happened one time in his United career, but apparently he misses the open goal often and loses concetration.
Incredible.
So one bad miss and poor game magically erases the rest of his season so far, where he has been one of our most reliable and consistent players?
Nah man, he can be cool and calm but often loses concentration and misses an open goal.
He's a joy to watch. Zlatan had an identical miss earlier on in the season and everyone was saying he is too old after and then he went on an insane scoring run and became God all of a sudden again. Mata will never be a first teamer here but he's a very handy squad player to have and his constant positive demeanor can only ever be a good thing for the dressing room
Man Utd 4:0 Wigan
Feisty today but didn't seem to be quite on song and missed a decent chance.
That wasn't easy at all. Did pretty much he could in that chance.
Was invisible overall though.
What position was he playing today? Couldnt really tell. It didnt seem behind the striker, seemed more to the right. I dont think him and Rooney can play in the same team anyway, but also think if hes on the right, hes better when Tony V is there, and if hes in the centre he needs movement around him.
The one thing I dont like is when he comes deep to cross the ball from there, as its almost always headed away (I think he tried this against Boro too, until it got blocked and put him in a better position to cross for Pogbas winner).
The one thing I dont like is when he comes deep to cross the ball from there, as its almost always headed away (I think he tried this against Boro too, until it got blocked and put him in a better position to cross for Pogbas winner).
Despite how he plays, still retains that technical ability and will always be in a position to score you a goal. I'd always have Mata in my team.
I said in another thread it was an odd looking midfield. Basti protecting the back four with Felly for "support" Then we had Mkhi, Rooney & Mata playing as the three in front of them? Not Mata's best game in a red shirt but always looking for space and looking for telling through-ball. No complaints from me about his overall performance though.
He's been a bit all over the place recently. Hope he finds some better form soon, especially his finishing
Thought he was pretty poor yesterday.
I seem to be in a minority here, but I thought he played well. Not up to his usual brilliant standard, but he was in my top 4 performers along with Micki, Martial and Rojo.
It's hard to play well in the final third when you have Rooney slowing down/ruining every attack. (Obligatory Rooney-bashing over)
He interchanged well with Micky, popped up all over the pitch and I swear I even saw him excecute a perfect sliding tackle right in front of Jose on the touchline. He initiates so many runs in behind the defense, and is in general so positive in his play. We need him against the more defensive teams.
It's hard to play well in the final third when you have Rooney slowing down/ruining every attack. (Obligatory Rooney-bashing over)
He interchanged well with Micky, popped up all over the pitch and I swear I even saw him excecute a perfect sliding tackle right in front of Jose on the touchline. He initiates so many runs in behind the defense, and is in general so positive in his play. We need him against the more defensive teams.
When was the last time he finished 90 minutes before yesterday?
He was good? Not sure why anyone would think any different. Heavily involved in most attacks and didn't do much wrong.
He hasn't been though. There are more players who are more reliable and consistent than him.
Valencia, Zlatan, De Gea.
Even the likes of Rojo, Jones, Herrera and Carrick have been more consistent and reliable than him.
Rojo and Jones only came into the side after a portion of the season already happened, same with Carrick. Zlatan went through a spell where he both wasn't scoring and was quite poor, and you could argue Herrera and Mata have had similar seasons in terms of good and bad games.
I can't remember Mata have a lot of reliable or good game this season. When I look at it again, only his early season in the league that he was considered to be good such as Bournemouth, Leicester, Stoke, Burnley, Arsenal. Other games such as all cup games and some of our Europa League games he's been very good but ever since the Arsenal game, his league games have been consistently average performances.
The likes of Rojo and Jones have been consistent since they started playing as centre back in Swansea game until now. We can also say they are reliable enough as we haven't conceded more than 1 goal since that game apart from Hull city game.
Even though Zlatan had his off period for not scoring doesn't mean he plays poor. Even so, Mata is still less consistent than him. No way Mata is closed to Ibra in term of consistency this season.
Carrick has been consistent whenever he plays. He was a bit off recently but you can't call him less consistent based on one or two games.
Not true, he made a huge difference in the Middlesbrough and West Ham games for a start,
Zlatan was very poor for a stretch of games, as Mata has been poor in some games too, it's not that dissimilar.
The others have been good/consistant, but they missed portions of the season. Where as Mata/Zlatan have been in since the start.
Surely would be cracking as a 2nd striker. Did Van Gaal ever play him there? he has the movement and the finishing
Is that what you called consistent? To be fair against West Ham he wasn't that good. He saved the day with his goal that's all.
Zlatan had less poor games than Mata. And obviously more reliable because we are depending on this guy to score goals and he's been scoring a lot of goals for us.
Well those other players (Rojo, Jones, Carrick, etc.) missed portions of the season not because they play poor at the start of season. They have played enough games to be considered more consistent than Mata.
Man Utd 0:0 Hull City
Sorry, but what the feck is this guy doing these days? Shouldn't his finishing be his one redeeming trait? Or has he put some shady bets on Hull in recent weeks? Atrocious finishing.
Thought he played well when he came on. We looked to be creating more chances and he was constantly moving the ball and creating space.
The save was world class, but he really should have just roofed the ball in the net.
The save was world class, but he really should have just roofed the ball in the net.
Bringing him on instead of Martial was bullheaded from Jose, we had no one on the flanks then that could stretch the Hull back 4 and we just made the game more congested.
Fecking joke this fella. His finishing has cost us 4 points in the last 2 league games. Total sitters too. Im as pissed off with him as anyone.
Has he updated his blog yet though?
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