RonaldoVII
Full Member
I love Mata but that was woeful today.
Not a lot. I'm not sure what the point of him is. He doesn't create anything and he rarely scores. If he's there for quick one touch passing I don't see the point because there's no off the ball movement in the team, and he mostly passes it backwards anyway. Just a waste of space reallyWhat was he doing today? What does he offer? Feck all goals and assists this season anyway.
I'd sooner have a Mata in the squad than Pogba who, in my humble, has done virtually nothing to earn his reputation. A few moments when he has delivered but on the whole he's lazy and seems to have the attitude that we're lucky to have him. There are players throughout the team who haven't been up to it this year, but Pogba hasn't even tried most of the time. Strolls through a game, with rarely a sense of urgency.
I want to know why players come to United and invariably decline. It's not just one or two.
I don't like to criticize our players individually but what exactly does he offer us? And before someone mentions goals, that should be secondary as he's supposed to be our attacking brains, not a finisher.
All he ever does is pass it backwards or to the side, or worse still, back to where the pass was coming from.
Lacking pace, lacking inventiveness, lacking creativity, lacking guile, absolutely shocking!
To be fair to José, I think he might've wanted to build on the performance against City by having Herrera/Matic/Pogba continue to form an understanding between eachother which is understandable. I still think Herrera and Matic should be in the opposite roles they're deployed in together.Yeah, and I dont think we really needed Herrera today.
I don't like to criticize our players individually but what exactly does he offer us? And before someone mentions goals, that should be secondary as he's supposed to be our attacking brains, not a finisher.
All he ever does is pass it backwards or to the side, or worse still, back to where the pass was coming from.
Lacking pace, lacking inventiveness, lacking creativity, lacking guile, absolutely shocking!
Ozil gets a lot of flak around here but over a season he makes twice the contribution Mata does. It's all well and good being a 'nice' guy but he's a footballer first and foremost, not a pope, he has to pull his weight in the team. I can't remember any season since he joined ever thinking, "he's our main man, our creative outlet", or "the guy to open up the game for us". Never once.
The first decent offer that comes in for him this season he should be sold. Chelsea had his best version, even then, he wasn't in the supreme class of Spanish midgets like Silva or Iniesta, or even now, Isco.
To be fair to José, I think he might've wanted to build on the performance against City by having Herrera/Matic/Pogba continue to form an understanding between eachother which is understandable. I still think Herrera and Matic should be in the opposite roles they're deployed in together.
On Mata, as usual he was invisible but, after the Pogba sub, I thought he did pretty well in a deeper position. He recycled the ball well and got us further up the field with some nice passes.
To be fair to José, I think he might've wanted to build on the performance against City by having Herrera/Matic/Pogba continue to form an understanding between eachother which is understandable. I still think Herrera and Matic should be in the opposite roles they're deployed in together.
On Mata, as usual he was invisible but, after the Pogba sub, I thought he did pretty well in a deeper position. He recycled the ball well and got us further up the field with some nice passes.
I don't remember that many bad passes or touches from him the other night, tbh. Not saying there weren't any but no more than the usual for him from what I noticed. I do remember him playing an excellent ball out to the left, which is rare for him to attempt, and, when moved into a deeper CM position, he played a few nice passes to get us further up-field. Nothing to write home about but, considering I didn't expect much from him at all when replacing Pogba's position on the pitch, I wanted to give him some credit.His passing was terrible yesterday. Nomally while having his usual nothing performance he keeps his passing simple and tidy, but yesterday he was losing the ball all the time and was very sloppy.
I don't either but I can see why José went with it here. Not because we needed the extra defensive cover but to try and build a constant first XI/formation. Better late than never.I dont think we need a 3 man midfield against weak teams at home. We have played 4231 at home all season against teams like West Brom.
I don't remember that many bad passes or touches from him the other night, tbh. Not saying there weren't any but no more than the usual for him from what I noticed. I do remember him playing an excellent ball out to the left, which is rare for him to attempt, and, when moved into a deeper CM position, he played a few nice passes to get us further up-field. Nothing to write home about but, considering I didn't expect much from him at all when replacing Pogba's position on the pitch, I wanted to give him some credit.
I don't either but I can see why José went with it here. Not because we needed the extra defensive cover but to try and build a constant first XI/formation. Better late than never.
He played for probably our weakest squad since the mid 90's (despite the CL) and then a flawed squad where the players were either too young or old. He does have flaws which is why he was eventually dropped when the squad started hitting title challenging standard again but he was far from being protected in a great team.Mata is the ultimate luxury player. Was probably protected by a good Chelsea team still at the top of their game.
He reminds me of a scrum-half that can only prosper with a good pack around him. Unfortunately, we are nowhere near that Chelsea team in terms of physicality or quality.
Not only have I ever seen him win a 50/50 challenge, but he loses anything up to 65/35 in his favour. As soon as any second ball breaks near him, we’re usually on the back foot.
He occasionally makes up for this with a good game here and there, but nowhere near enough for me.
Mata is the ultimate luxury player. Was probably protected by a good Chelsea team still at the top of their game.
He reminds me of a scrum-half that can only prosper with a good pack around him. Unfortunately, we are nowhere near that Chelsea team in terms of physicality or quality.
Not only have I ever seen him win a 50/50 challenge, but he loses anything up to 65/35 in his favour. As soon as any second ball breaks near him, we’re usually on the back foot.
He occasionally makes up for this with a good game here and there, but nowhere near enough for me.
You clearly didn't watch that Chelsea team very closely.Mata is the ultimate luxury player. Was probably protected by a good Chelsea team still at the top of their game.
He reminds me of a scrum-half that can only prosper with a good pack around him. Unfortunately, we are nowhere near that Chelsea team in terms of physicality or quality.
Not only have I ever seen him win a 50/50 challenge, but he loses anything up to 65/35 in his favour. As soon as any second ball breaks near him, we’re usually on the back foot.
He occasionally makes up for this with a good game here and there, but nowhere near enough for me.
Just a ridiculously speculative post.United should move on from Mata. Clearly, Mata does not have the desire to be the best player in the team. He doesnt want to carry the team and he's okay with being used as a sub half the time.
The desire isn't there. He's not even asking for a transfer out. United could be luckier if they just focus on Herrera.
United should move on from Mata. Clearly, Mata does not have the desire to be the best player in the team. He doesnt want to carry the team and he's okay with being used as a sub half the time.
The desire isn't there. He's not even asking for a transfer out. United could be luckier if they just focus on Herrera.
I actually quite agree that Mata seems to be content with playing a small role than to be a starter, completely different from his Chelsea days. I don't think Mourinho treatment of him changed much since both were together at Chelsea, he wanted him as a part of squad but not a main starter week in week out and this is what happening here too. The only thing different is Mata seems to be more content of this principle now than what he was at Chelsea.
Probably he realized he's not young anymore and has declined a bit, that he's not going to find any better club than United at this stage and he's loved by all staff and fans so no point in seeking a main role in an average team.
This is all conjecture though. For all we know, Mata could be looking to move back to Spain to a team where he could be a starter, while Mourinho could be more than happy to let him go and use the wages on a player more suited to his type of football. Until the summer plays out we won't know what their intentions are.
I personally like having Mata as a squad option. But I'm thinking if the first team spot goes to someone better, is he better than Lingard or Rashford as a squad player? Is he really necessary for next season? Currently, I'm leaning towards no.