We’ve criminally underused Matic and Mata these past few seasons

All these people who under rate Matic because he doesn't buzz around the field have absolutely no idea what they're talking about. Matic can't play two games a week, but he should at least start one. And if he had, he wouldn't be leaving. Mata should also had played more. Problem is he was used on the wing way too much when he should have been playing in midfield while Bruno should have been playing on the wing
 
Nah, anyone can look good in an end of season dead-rubber.

They've been decent servants to us at a difficult time, and never the problems here, but I think we got what we realistically could out of both.
 
Mata hasn't been used by any of the managers except LVG and he was pragmatic. He never got the right manager after 2013 .

Matic's problem was he never got a right partner with us. He played with Kante & Ramires at Chelsea and we tried to pair him with Pogba . Matic - Herrera was decent for few games.

Both would have been brilliant under the right setup and a right manager. We just couldn't offer them.
 
Both very good players who were sadly bought during a very chaotic period at the club. Mata came in not long after Fellaini under the Moyes era. I mean can you get any two more dissimilar types of player? No long term vision or philosophy. Looking back it was obvious.

Matic arrived and looked fantastic in the middle with Pogba to begin with and in all honesty it felt like the right kind of signing. That said he was a little bit late in his career, tapered off and lacked consistency. Often asked to do the job of two. Ideally we’d have had Fred with him at this point and it may well have worked and allowed Pogba further forward but the timings were out.
 
bond19821982 said:
Mata hasn't been used by any of the managers except LVG and he was pragmatic. He never got the right manager after 2013 .

Matic's problem was he never got a right partner with us. He played with Kante & Ramires at Chelsea and we tried to pair him with Pogba . Matic - Herrera was decent for few games.

Both would have been brilliant under the right setup and a right manager. We just couldn't offer them.
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Yeah my thoughts. Just bad timing with them and lack of planning by the club in terms of making the pieces fit. Both great players though.
 
We've never known how to play with a #10, even when we had Kagawa and Mata both, especially when we had both, we've played games with neither of them in the #10 position. Bruno plays well not because we play to his strengths, he plays well despite it.

Matic was always more than a player who breaks up play, his passing between the lines is very underrated, if we had someone in midfield who could cover ground, Matic could easily have played as a deep lying play maker.

Yes, we indeed have utilized them badly.
 
kthanksbye said:
We've never known how to play with a #10, even when we had Kagawa and Mata both, especially when we had both, we've played games with neither of them in the #10 position. Bruno plays well not because we play to his strengths, he plays well despite it.

Matic was always more than a player who breaks up play, his passing between the lines is very underrated, if we had someone in midfield who could cover ground, Matic could easily have played as a deep lying play maker.

Yes, we indeed have utilized them badly.
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Fred now would have been perfect for the younger Matic
 
Nah. Don't let one game fool you, the whole team turned up when's there's nothing left to play for.
 
Leftback99 said:
Let's not get carried away over Mata. We've seen a few of these good performances against poor opposition where he's given loads of time on the ball. Then we've played him next game and he's been completely dominated.
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That is true. But he could have played in this season's FA Cup game against Middlesborough and even more so in the draws against Burnley, Watford, Leicester amongst others.

That invention, craft and wisdom could have earned us an extra 6 to 8 points, when we had a run opposition in the lower half of the table.
 
Matic was well past his best when we signed him. The fact he has been played a significant number of games in recent years is part of the problem.
 
Welp, despite the wildly different scores, judging by performance and increasing quality of the last 3 matches, it does feel like using more Matic and Mata (even if they need to be subbed at 70th) fixes midfield and our defense, while still shaky, is much better without Maguire in his current form

You fix midfield and defense, shockingly you play better :) Especially so if you don't play that waste of space that Rashford has become
 
It was Brentford who we were playing and who were happy to take part in our going away party for the boys. I wouldn’t be reading much into it.
 
Both should have played more in recent seasons. Playing McFred week in week out really hurt us in games where teams were defensive and hard to break down. So many games cried out for a bit of Mata magic as we all watched another hopeless attack breakdown. Matic’s legs have gone but here was a need for his experience to go alongside an able runner.
 
I feel like our past few managers either saw them as players who can play every game or can't be used in any game. Nobody who needed game time managed to keep them fresh was used well. Even Ronaldo this year. Look at the difference in his level when he's fit.
 
Stacks said:
We have seen them long enough under multiple managers and they have never been reliable enough.we go through this same process every season they play a 'handful' of decent games before we complain their leg s have gone
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This.
It was fecking Brendford.
How many games he did play where he was bullied on the ball buy average players.
Same shit every year, give X player chance he will become good. I already wrote in one post, that Michu guy from Swansea would still be on our books.
Real benched Bale, Hazard and we are still talking about Matic and Mata.
 
We were playing counter attacking football mostly under Ole, so I don't think Mata suits that style. For Matic, he is classy but he can hardly play more than than 70mins
 
They havent been, they're not good enough. Both are slow, Mata specially doesnt have the physique to compete in the premier league. One good game, against a poor side, doesnt change that.

Im glad they'll both be gone, we need way more quality to compete.
 
Agreed.

We dont have a CM who is as good on the ball as Matic. And we don't have an AM who is as technically reliable especially in tight spaces as Mata. Both should go this summer but I agree with the OP that they should have had a bigger role.
 
I see gold fish mode is enabled, dont you remember how Matic got his extension and how he played before that "playing for new contract" stint? Same goes for Mata just different type of issue.
 
OP laying the boot in on a departing Frenchman when Matic should have been starting over McAverage is peak Caf.

I’d agree both may have seen more game time but neither are transformative in their current state. Peak versions of the 2 would walk into this team & improve it, they’re currently good pros who put their counterparts to shame.
 
I don’t know how many times I have repeated this but we have wasted a talent like DeBruyne and Silva, in Mata. Matic in any other functioning team which would still be performing at a much higher level.
 
No, they had stinkers too and they don't have legs to play regularly. They could have played bit more but not regularly.

Matic is good option from bench, not as a regular starter.
 
I heavily disagree on Mata. He should have binned a very long time ago.

I do think Matic could have been used a bit more, but his legs have gone and his time is up.
 
The Corinthian said:
Thread title says it all.

Persisted too long with overhyped and careless on the ball Pogba when Matic should have played more. Bruno has been too reckless, and maybe it’s because we always expect the Hollywood pass from him, but having Mata on allows us to build up and progress up the pitch waiting for the moment to pass.

Matic and Mata are two seasoned, experienced and calm heads. They play intelligently. Imagine some of the games in the last year or two where we get nervous and it shows in our play. Ole should have used their experience way more.

This thread isn’t to say they should stay, but there’s obviously something still there that many of our other players lack.
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Whole heartedly agree. Watching Mata link up at CAM reminded me everything that's wrong with us. Bruno is not a good CAM. Left suits him more because you can try the Hollywood pass and make runs from there. CAM has to be a good dribbler, ball retainer, good passer rather than a guy who scores.

Keep Bruno on the left or teach him how to be a CM. Cam is not a position he is suited for
 
I think mata still has a lot to offer, his ball retention is second to none at United. Played really well the last few games. I’d expect ETH to offer him a new deal.
 
Jibbs said:
I don’t know how many times I have repeated this but we have wasted a talent like DeBruyne and Silva, in Mata. Matic in any other functioning team which would still be performing at a much higher level.
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This is the closest post to the truth within this thread. Mata is one of the only players Pep would take from our squad - lovely footballer.
 
Nah Matic was a nailed on starter when he wasn't hurt for the longest time, and was excellent in the lockdown season when we were the best we've been as a team in recent times. Just lost his legs and battled injuries.

Mata was only good for games similar to today where he wasn't going to be asked to run a ton, but under Ole we were much more of a countering, direct side so his style isn't useful.
 
Mata could have been used like Giggs in his last five seasons at the club.
 
Shouldn't the title have read "criminally abused". I doubt I've read a decent thing about Matta for months. Somebody reckoned he'd never been a good footballer which staggered me and now people are raving about him.
 
No, we haven't. We have failed to move on from them earlier.
 
Yeah, no.
Mata has been mediocre for large parts of his Manchester United career, although I agree he should have been subbed on in some situations.
Matic is an excellent footballer, for exactly 60 mins of a match. After that the man becomes a liability because his legs won't carry him anymore.
 
I don't think we have underrated Matic personally.

He was the only actual CDM we have had for 2 years and have used him as much as we can until he loses his energy.

Pogba for example always looked better with Matic than anyone else imo.
 
Everyone has been complaining about Matic and Mata for 2-3 years now. Couple of performances and we are like OMG we are going to miss them.
Mata has been given enough chances, he plays well in a game here and there and then goes missing for large part of season.
Matic just does not have legs (and not just now, its been for last few years) to play 90 mins , let alone a season. Matic was awful when Jose was the manager , always giving away possession. He did well when Ole was interim and again went missing.

So, now we are not going to miss either Mata or Matic. And we did not underuse either. We did not use them even when they were available and there is a good reason for that.
 
I agree to some extent about Mata. The RW nonsense went far too long. But Matic was decent, did his job, but his legs were done.

But having said that, let us not extrapolate too much from a performance against Brentford. Both could not play day in day out in a brilliant way. We could have used them better by having a pragmatic manager who could get best of whatever players available for a year or two, but not over multiple years.
 
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