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2021-22 Performances

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5.0 Season Average Rating
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12
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0
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Actually disgusted at our treatment of him these past couple of years. Technical, intelligent and hard working player. Not the quickest or strongest but cannot see how he is so far behind the pecking order of those other cnuts we watch every week.

Solskjaer just seemed to suddenly lose interest in him. From memory he was getting minutes until he went on compassionate leave then was never able to make it back into the team.

Can see how Rangnick perhaps didn’t see him as fitting his system at first, but he’s taken too long to realise he can add some value. Especially since he gave up on implementing pressing after about 10 seconds.

A victim of our terrible club recruitment policy, should have left years ago.
 
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sugar_kane said:
Actually disgusted at our treatment of him these past couple of years. Technical, intelligent and hard working player. Not the quickest or strongest but cannot see how he is so far behind the pecking order of those other cnuts we watch every week.

Solskjaer just seemed to suddenly lose interest in him. From memory he was getting minutes until he went on compassionate leave then was never able to make it back into the team.

Can see how Rangnick perhaps didn’t see him as fitting his system at first, but he’s taken too long to realise he can add some value. Especially since he gave up on implementing pressing after about 10 seconds.

A victim of our terrible club recruitment policy, should have left years ago.
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Would love to know what he thinks now of his decision to come to United. He's been nothing but loyal and hardworking to a club that's basically insulted him.

The too slow and too lightweight crap is a bloody myth...he isn't the quickest and he's not a big lad but his brain is quick and he's nifty and skilful...after watching United put out virtually the same players week in, week out, and playing like an amateur Saturday/Sunday side, no one will convince me that Mata's guile and creativity would not have at least made it look like we might score.

Last time he had a run in late 2020 he was great, and was player of the month. When WHU knocked us out of the cup he was one player who got the plaudits from journalists...then his mother dies and he goes away and that's pretty much been it. Could understand it if we'd been doing well...and so could he probably. As it is we've stuck with players who for whatever reason have failed over and over, but not given a chance to a player who always puts in the effort that's been lacking in others.

I'd love to see him score a hat trick in his last game for us and stick two fingers up at the management. Of course, he won't.
 
Red Shorts said:
He should start over Bruno for the remaining games, but unlikely
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No...we need more than one creative attacking midfielder. Bruno and Juan did well as a midfield pair when Bruno first arrived...neither can do it on their own and both need a good partner.
 
Rossa said:
who are these physical players? Rangnick didn’t complain about technical ability, but physicality. We are slow all over thenputch and we lose every duel out there, against any team.
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Well the likes of McTominay, Fred and Elanga sure as shit aren’t technical players. What Rangnick said made no sense because our players aren’t technically good either.
 
I'd genuinely start him as the CAM next game and just give Bruno a free role off the right side.

One of the only players in the team that can actually look after the ball.
 
Elanga---Bruno---Mata--
----------Ronaldo-----------
Guess they can all interchange their positions and have Roni as the lone central target. What have we got to lose exactly ?
 
I get really peed off with the so called supporters who accuse Mata of stealing from the club because he's done virtually nothing for a couple of years - like that's his fault?? Does anyone seriously think that Mata has been happy with the situation?
 
Livvie said:
Not random at all - just been reading comments made after Roy Keane's rant!
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Well, that's Roy Keane, who still thinks Fred is the worst player he's seen in a United shirt while continually gives some benefit of the doubt to a player McTominay.
 
Good lad, good pro, not his fault he's not been picked. Every time he's come into the team he's put in effort and commitment and has looked tidy on the ball.

Symptomatic of our daft policy to hold onto players and then not play them, though. Agree with Keane - should have left a season or two ago.
 
Badunk said:
Good lad, good pro, not his fault he's not been picked. Every time he's come into the team he's put in effort and commitment and has looked tidy on the ball.

Symptomatic of our daft policy to hold onto players and then not play them, though. Agree with Keane - should have left a season or two ago.
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For his own sake more than ours.

He doesn't deserve to read accusations about stealing from the club.
 
acnumber9 said:
Well the likes of McTominay, Fred and Elanga sure as shit aren’t technical players. What Rangnick said made no sense because our players aren’t technically good either.
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Only McTominay is physical, and only Elanga is fast. What he pointed out is that we are not a physical team either. We aren’t fast, nor strong, and I agree with you that the team also lacks technical players
 
Have to say with how poor many others have been Mata should have played more this season. I've always thought this guy is the true defitition of a professional player and honestly he's a very technically gifted player he showed that at Chelsea and many times here.

It's absurd when you think about the fact that he spent majority of his career here winning practically nothing. I actually feel really bad for him in that regard.
 
I remember somebody posting recently that he was our worst transfer in the post-Fergie years. Beggars belief…
 
jem said:
I remember somebody posting recently that he was our worst transfer in the post-Fergie years. Beggars belief…
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Ridiculous. He could have been one of the best. He wasn't a winger at Chelsea - should have been used properly. Or maybe he should have complained a bit more.

There was a time I was half expecting to turn up in goal or as centre back.
 
I think he is easily our most intelligent player in past ten years or so, probably since Carrick left, and even when his legs are gone and when he is ahit he comes on and proves how football can be so simple while rest of our players make it painfully tough to watch. Saying that:

sugar_kane said:
Actually disgusted at our treatment of him these past couple of years. Technical, intelligent and hard working player. Not the quickest or strongest but cannot see how he is so far behind the pecking order of those other cnuts we watch every week.

Solskjaer just seemed to suddenly lose interest in him. From memory he was getting minutes until he went on compassionate leave then was never able to make it back into the team.

Can see how Rangnick perhaps didn’t see him as fitting his system at first, but he’s taken too long to realise he can add some value. Especially since he gave up on implementing pressing after about 10 seconds.

A victim of our terrible club recruitment policy, should have left years ago.
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If players feel left out they can just decide not to sign new contract and go to another club wherw they think they can play better?

I like Mata, and he was underused under pretty much every manager, we played lots of dross ahead of him in his positions, and yet he continued to sign contract extensions, which means that he was probably happy with terms of staying, including number of minutes played/promised.
 
Amar__ said:
If players feel left out they can just decide not to sign new contract and go to another club wherw they think they can play better?

I like Mata, and he was underused under pretty much every manager, we played lots of dross ahead of him in his positions, and yet he continued to sign contract extensions, which means that he was probably happy with terms of staying, including number of minutes played/promised.
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I doubt promises come into it this season - if there were promises, they've been broken. Probably a trusting soul who had this weird idea that Man United are a decent club. They've not been that for 17 years.
 
Seemed a bizarre signing as soon as we handed Rooney his last huge contract, which was just a few weeks after we signed Mata.

It basically doomed us to having two players at the heart of our attack who both wanted the play in front of them and neither of whom had a great deal of pace. Signing Mata would only have made sense if we were going to play him as a number ten and at that point Rooney was occupying those spaces. We ended up playing Fellaini in those areas while Mata toiled out wide.
 
Gazza said:
Seemed a bizarre signing ever since we have Rooney his last huge contract, which was either a few weeks after we signed Mata.
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Are you drinking, Gazza? ;)
 
Livvie said:
Ridiculous. He could have been one of the best. He wasn't a winger at Chelsea - should have been used properly. Or maybe he should have complained a bit more.

There was a time I was half expecting to turn up in goal or as centre back.
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Easily my favourite player in the last 10 years. Of all people to have the accusation of stealing a living thrown at them.
 
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Matt851 said:
Seems bizarre that rangnick has decided to start using him when out season is basically over. Its not like he is one for the future
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Should've been used more really, with Ronaldos positioning and runs he'd have been good for 20 mins in place of a struggling Bruno.
 
I'm not sure about the claims of United misusing him.

If a 25-year-old Mata is coming now to United, his most probable position would be on the right-wing.
 
Some bizarre takes in here....I get it that people like Mata the person, but it’s almost like Mata the player lives in an alternate reality. He was a club record signing and has barely been a regular starter. He’s done alright recently when he’s come on but you wouldn’t pick him as a starter unless you drop Bruno and that’s about the only thing you could really throw at managers the last twelve months. It’s on Mata that he’s been here 9 years and only has 280 appearances because he’s been a poor signing as a club record, flown in by helicopter. Juanfield aside he has done very little. He’s barely been a starter for much of his time.
 
Idxomer said:
I'm not sure about the claims of United misusing him.

If a 25-year-old Mata is coming now to United, his most probable position would be on the right-wing.
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Why? He's a left footed central midfielder
 
Livvie said:
Why? He's a left footed central midfielder
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He’s way too weak and slow to play in the middle, so he’d be having to look at being a 10, which he also wouldn’t get in as he’d be behind Bruno just as he was behind Rooney then (both quite rightly) so he’d be out on the right cutting in again
 
jem said:
I remember somebody posting recently that he was our worst transfer in the post-Fergie years. Beggars belief…
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Absolutely not our worst, but our most disappointing in my opinion.
 
Idxomer said:
I'm not sure about the claims of United misusing him.

If a 25-year-old Mata is coming now to United, his most probable position would be on the right-wing.
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When he was winning back to back POTY at Chelsea he played in the 10. We have misused him horribly because our midfield hasn't been good enough.
 
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Jeppers7 said:
Some bizarre takes in here....I get it that people like Mata the person, but it’s almost like Mata the player lives in an alternate reality. He was a club record signing and has barely been a regular starter. He’s done alright recently when he’s come on but you wouldn’t pick him as a starter unless you drop Bruno and that’s about the only thing you could really throw at managers the last twelve months. It’s on Mata that he’s been here 9 years and only has 280 appearances because he’s been a poor signing as a club record, flown in by helicopter. Juanfield aside he has done very little. He’s barely been a starter for much of his time.
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Indeed. His failure is much his fault as it is anyone else’s. Bottom line for me is, he isn’t a typical United player. He isn’t fast he isn’t strong, he flutters around. He doesn’t impose himself in games and for the record signing at the time, it isn’t good enough.

Thanks for the brief moments but overall, an average signing that we could have done without
 
phelans shorts said:
He’s way too weak and slow to play in the middle, so he’d be having to look at being a 10, which he also wouldn’t get in as he’d be behind Bruno just as he was behind Rooney then (both quite rightly) so he’d be out on the right cutting in again
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He's not the quickest (or the slowest as it happens) but hardly a winger. He made his reputation as a number 10
 
Jeppers7 said:
Some bizarre takes in here....I get it that people like Mata the person, but it’s almost like Mata the player lives in an alternate reality. He was a club record signing and has barely been a regular starter. He’s done alright recently when he’s come on but you wouldn’t pick him as a starter unless you drop Bruno and that’s about the only thing you could really throw at managers the last twelve months. It’s on Mata that he’s been here 9 years and only has 280 appearances because he’s been a poor signing as a club record, flown in by helicopter. Juanfield aside he has done very little. He’s barely been a starter for much of his time.
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Because fans and what's worst, people in the club value more a player like Rashford or James making a 20 meter run to lose the ball before reaching the rival area, or crossing into a defender, that one that slows up the tempo and likes to build slowly but safely like Mata. Pace and verticality creates a sense of threat, even if 9 out of every 10 times it ends up in nothing

The stereotype that Mata isn't built to top level football is something he's been fighting against since his teenage years, still he managed to complete one of the best careers of the last decade, Maybe it's his fault that he just slotted into the role United shaped for him instead of trying to rebel against the mainstream opinion of him not being good enough to consistently be at this level for the 100th time, but how can you fault a player for wanting to remain at a club he likes and do what's been asked of him? Other options he would have would be to throw a tantrum asking for minutes or leave to a lower level team, since he wasn't going to become faster, taller or stronger after reaching 30 y/o.

EDIT: Exactly like this one

Tavern in the town said:
Even when he was young he had the physicality of Ariana Grande, he’d get eaten alive in central midfield in the modern game.
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That's something that Michel told him back in 2006 when he was a manager in Castilla, "you'll never get a proper chance with the first time because your body doesn't have what it takes to make it at the top level".

Michel was wrong 15 years ago, and everyone who thinks he wouldn't make it if he was to break through today probably would be wrong again.
 
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