Deserves a lot of credit. He had some bad games last season, looked very rusty, gave the ball away a lot but looks in control so far this season. Really pleased for the old guy.
8
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 18
- Goals
- 3
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 0
- Status
Excellent performance, he can't play week in and week out any more but we need him to be able to come in and produce those kind of performances to give us quality squad depth.
This.. he was just unplayable tonight.
Always available and smart positioning between the lines. Today, I didn't see his physical disadvantages affected his game at all. Everything were pass, move, link up, one two, finding spaces... He ( and the understanding with Bruno) kept the team tick and we moved the ball much better. His technique and composure are much needed atm in our team.
When he has the players who are on the same wavelength as him, he's brilliant.
Never a RW and should have always been played central for us whilst he's been at United.
Never a RW and should have always been played central for us whilst he's been at United.
I don't like LVG, but this is simply not true. Mata's best season for us was probably LVG's first one.
Brilliant player and a brilliant person. Glad we have him.
Well done Mata. When he plays like he did tonight he is a joy to watch. I thought he was done, happy to be proved wrong.
Shame we are where we currently are. This guy is a Premier league legend like David Silva and he’ll never get his plaudits.
Great game today.
Great game today.
I don't think there was much of a difference between his seasons. All the managers were playing him in a tactical position they had lined up because there was no one else, not because he fit. Whether Mata was slightly better in one season or the other is irrelevant to the point. He's not been played to his strength whilst here and that's reflective in his overall contribution.
One of the most under-appreciated players in my time watching United. Absolutely brilliant today.
When he is on it, he's bloody on it - brilliant player.
Sorry mate, but that's blatant revisionism. Ole barely uses Mata. Both LVG and Mourinho in particular got a lot more out of him. A lot of the best things we got from Mata were during the period between LVG's last season and Mourinho's first.
Mata never stuck to the flank whenever he played as a right wing for us, neither under LVG or Mourinho by the way. He was starting there but once the game started, he would always drift inside and plays central anyway, while Valencia was usually the one who would cover the flank.
He could have a new lease of life at United alongside Bruno. Delighted for him either way, has always been a class act.
I hope we get to see a bit more of Bruno and him together. He's always worth playing when we've got a lot of the ball.
Ole uses Mata less because he's 32. Other managers had him in his prime and didn't get much out of their team, including Mata.
There was a great interview recently with Wenger who was talking about Ozil, and saying that these types of players were becoming obsolete because of the way everyone plays.
I’d put Mata in the same category. He’s never really fitted in. Such a great guy, and a wonderful footballer in the right circumstances and in the right time.
I’d put Mata in the same category. He’s never really fitted in. Such a great guy, and a wonderful footballer in the right circumstances and in the right time.
Fair play to grandpa, he's been good this season.
Wish we could merge him with James, that would be our RW sorted.
Wish we could merge him with James, that would be our RW sorted.
Who’s the greatest player in the premier league......
Yes and the next game when you put him on the wing, the cannot play. Put him in the centre with a player like Bruno and also DVB who will pass and move and he will play. I think one forgotten aspect of the game is James. He did take the pressure off Mata and they all knew that he has got the pace to hurt them if Mata can lay off the passes for him.
I wish we signed a 27 year-old Mata now then what he is now. Touch of class at times and was crucial today
we signed a 25 year old Mata and generally wasted his best years.
Him, Bruno and VDB are the three players in this squad who truly understand the concept of passing and finding space immediately to give player they passed to options and occupy defenders. Three very different skillsets and hard to fit all of them into a lineup since they take up some of the same spaces, but I enjoy them playing football together.
It's a shame how much he has been misused by all the managers here. Class player who if used properly can be an asset even at this age
Was he 25? feck I thought he was older then that considering he was a superstar for Chelsea before Mourinho came in
We didn't do that. He himself couldn't sustain the initial success he had with Chelsea under different circumstances due to his physical weaknesses in a physical league. That's pretty much it. Not everybody needs to have an excuse, and Mata has been disappointing overall. The very low expectations we have of him at this moment is the exact reason he gets the praise that he does right now. He played very well, I'm so happy for him.
yes. And I did just check.
he was brilliant for Chelsea. I met him at Carrington just after Moyes was sacked. We’ve not made the best use of him.
Good pro but you can tell he's hanging on by an absolute bee's dick with his smarts to being able to function at PL pace.
Spot on
Great game!
Thought he had a really excellent game.
It's a nice weight off the shoulders when squad players can actually contribute. He did well, I imagine on the basis of his start to the season we'll see more of Mata against the dreaded "low-block" sides. He stepped up today, really happy with that performance.
Agreed. Bruno, VDB, and Mata combined was the best I've seen this team has performed. Why would anyone not want to see it again, but instead going back to awful disjointed performances by other players/formation.
Hope Pellistri can learn from him, this is the type of player you aspire towards in terms of technique.
So many were moaning pre match with selection and then Mata delivers an cultured MOTM display.
So much to love about his play when he is surrounded by other creative ball players like Bruno and Donny. His contributions today were exquisite and won is the game.
Seems as though OGS has created himself into a massive opportunity . Just need to find a way to limit Mata’s understandable weakness which is pace. If Bruno and Donny can do some of his running, mata will destroy plenty more defences this season, for the strikers to feast on with goals.
mata : 2020 Renaissance man!
So much to love about his play when he is surrounded by other creative ball players like Bruno and Donny. His contributions today were exquisite and won is the game.
Seems as though OGS has created himself into a massive opportunity . Just need to find a way to limit Mata’s understandable weakness which is pace. If Bruno and Donny can do some of his running, mata will destroy plenty more defences this season, for the strikers to feast on with goals.
mata : 2020 Renaissance man!
One of natural balller we have in the team , if you all don't know ,ball moves faster than any person. It doesn't matter if he doesn't have the pace , his brain work one two steps faster than anyone else on the pitch.
I will very quietly say that it's the tactics that made him look so good today. Newcastle were very rigid and he drifted all over the place creating overloads with no one marking him specifically.
He couldn't sustain the success he had in the Premier eague because of his physical weakness in the Premier League?
- Status