Thought he was unlucky to come off, he was knitting things together to a degree.
8
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 18
- Goals
- 3
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 0
- Status
Moronic post.
Justified his start, albeit in a team performance that wasn't exactly stellar.
I knew it wouldnt last.
Did he looked pissed for coming off the pitch to some?
Played well. Was not hooked for being crap. He is the sort of player who gets subbed when you need to try something different. That’s life for Mata.
I hope anyone being subbed is annoyed unless we are in a 3+ lead!
Yes and rightly so tbf. I think we would've been better off bringing on VDB than Pogba as well.
We weren't losing though either - I've not seen Mata look like that even when we are losing under all managers.
Today I felt like he didnt feel he was rightfully subbed.
Not convinced he did much more than I did.
Please substantiate.
Mata is nowhere near being a poor player. He demonstrated his class as recently as last week against Newcastle.
Pretty much this. Mata was no worse than anyone else in that front 4.
I suppose it comes down to our subjective interpretations of what a poor player is. To my mind, Mata is a perfect also ran player against the likes of Newcastle, but he should never be starting against a top six opponent. The guy lacks any sort of dynamism. Picking James and Mata yesterday sent a certain sort of signal and completely destroyed any burgeoning momentum that the side had.
Agree on James; disagree on Mata.
You know that one of our best chances - the first half rashford moment came after a clever and quick pass of Mata. In form he has something to give
The ball came to Mata thanks to good pressure from Bruno. It was a decent enough cushioned pass, although it could have done with a bit more on it. If you watch it back, Rashford had to wait for it slightly.
Mata is a classy player in the right moments but he shouldn’t be starting games of this magnitude unless he is surrounded by a stellar cast – not Daniel fecking James.
Mata's goalscoring record vs top 6 sides: vs Pool - 3 goals, vs City 2 goals, 1 vs Chelsea, 1 vs Arsenal.
You include the assists and it would become record as good as any other player
Wow, that is a very kind interpretation of the numbers.
Uhm, let's be honest - there are games that don't suit him and I'll probably not start him vs say a City or a Pool side right now as they are going to dominate territory, and the issue is never to find spaces in defence. However, against any side where we are expected to dominate territory, I'd consider him to play some part - be it as a starter or as a sub. He currently offers us pass and move football which is troubling to low blocks and if we're being honest, he's the best we have in that right now - Bruno is good, VDB has shown glimpses - but Mata has managed to do it consistently and to a good degree of effectiveness.
The "Is not good vs top sides" has come from our decline under Mou and the kind of football we played then where Mata was useless tbh
A left back's dream to play against. 3 wins in 10 in PL games he's started since last season.
Honestly, we would have been better with Mata starting today than Pogba and play 4231.
Istanbul Basaksehir 2:1 Man Utd
Miscontrolled a ball that he, with his technique, should be able to control and then was way to slow to make up for his mistake and the opponent scored. Not good.
Terrible performance. The way he lost possession for their 2nd goal was just ridiculous. The Mata, van de Beek + Fernandes combination didn't work at all.
Poor control, didnt keep the ball like he usually does. Looked like a player we should have sold 2 seasons ago
There is no use for Mata. I rather we play van de Beek than him or play pellistri
I was the first to praise him against Newcastle but those performances are far and few.
To many side passes or backward passes, slow and helpless.
I was the first to praise him against Newcastle but those performances are far and few.
To many side passes or backward passes, slow and helpless.
And like I said earlier, Mata's performance is basically reflective of our performance in 9 games out of 10. He plays well when the team is playing well, he is shite when the team is playing shite. Chances that he'll stand out in a game when we've been bad are null and vice versa
It's not just the goal, there was a clearance of sorts AWB made to him in the second half, just after Juan had passed the ball to AWB to kick it long. And quite obviously Mata lost the ball but thankfully didn't result in a shot on target.
Like today, Martial offered zero movement, Bruno was off, VDB was busy watering the fires behind which meant that he was alone and like we've seen previously, ineffective.
Just when I was starting to feel he could still be of good use for us.
He started the season very well but his last two games have been disappointing. Today in particular he didn't provide anything. Could have played with 10 men and wouldn't have noticed the difference.
Bit of an Old Yeller game tonight. 
We persist with players who have shown they are not up to it for way too long. A few good performances here and there and people become too giddy, forget why he has become this peripheral figure.
But he can't compete in most games, too slow and weak and at right wing he is not a threat so defences can allow space there and tighten up in other areas.
But he can't compete in most games, too slow and weak and at right wing he is not a threat so defences can allow space there and tighten up in other areas.
Back to his normal level after some good performances probably still get his extra year on his contract though. Should have gone years ago but has made a career at Utd by not being as shit as other players.
This.
Mata can do one thing and one thing only: play as a 10. He has looked good there this season.Bit of an Old Yeller game tonight.
It is 20fecking20 and we still have managers trying to play him on the right. Even worse was the fact that after it was clearly not working first half, the manager seemingly instructed him to hug the right touchline.
Nights like tonight though just make me wish he would retire and focus on his charity work. Every manager we have repeatedly falls into the same trap.
This stuff again....
What stuff?
Sometimes strings 2-3 good performances together that remind you of the quality he possesses, but most of the time he has little to no influence on matches. Reminds me of Kagawa in that sense.
Shame we haven’t got to see prime Mata at United. I like him starting matches against significantly weaker opposition, where we expect to dominate possession, but this only adds up to circa 10 matches per season.
Shame we haven’t got to see prime Mata at United. I like him starting matches against significantly weaker opposition, where we expect to dominate possession, but this only adds up to circa 10 matches per season.
Honestly Istanbul is significantly weaker, and we did dominate possession. Bottom line is if he isn't perfect with his little touches and dinks, then he's useless, because he's going to provide no sort of physicality or pace to the game, nor will he provide defensive work. The second goal was a bad decision from Bruno, but my god it was embarrassing watching Mata get picked off and then left in the dust.
Come off it, its not a problem that his touches werent perfect. Its a problem that they were horrific. It doesnt matter if he gets 2 things wrong with a slightly misplaced pass and then does something good and gets it right enough for us to profit from it. Thats pretty much Bruno in a nutshell and hes our best player.
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