It's Official - The Juan Mata Thread

Discussion in 'Manchester United' started by benni..., Jan 24, 2014.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Gilma1990

    Gilma1990 Member+

    Jul 30, 2015
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    What about the Spanish Power?
     
  2. sdotsom

    sdotsom Member+

    Manchester United
    Mar 27, 2005
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    I wouldn't call Mata a square peg. If we're going to play a 4-2-3-1 and Mata is the 10, then he is playing a role he is competent and good at. I don't think he fits in a 4-3-3 particularly, but if we use a 4-3-3 with an inverted triangle - Herrera/Carrick at the base with Pogba and Mata up front, he can drift into a faux-10 area to support the striker from midfield.

    The only place I don't want to see Mata is as the right wing guy in a 4-3-3.
     
  3. Sofabloke

    Sofabloke Member+

    Dec 24, 2003
    Mu
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Teso and Gilma :)

    [​IMG]

    Its a squad game.

    Mata working well with Ander and the younger players means he deffo has a role at the club for me, albeit not in my starting eleven against most clubs - hopefully Miki makes a better 10 longer term, but Mata is a big upgrade on Rooney energy wise.

    Like Mata off the bench too as he is a bit Solskjear like in actively watching the game from the bench and spotting gaps to exploit so he can make an impact when he comes on.
     
    omar_mufc, Ashur and Gilma1990 repped this.
  4. Ashur

    Ashur Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    May 31, 2015
    Riding off into the sunset
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  5. Ruud v.Nistelrooy 10

    Staff Member

    Jamaica
    Jun 4, 2006
    Antilla
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Jamaica
    Mata didn't stop the purchase of Mkhitaryan either
     
  6. sdotsom

    sdotsom Member+

    Manchester United
    Mar 27, 2005
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Found Jose's comments about Mata today to be very interesting. In a roundabout way it also describes a bit about how he is setting us up to play differently than Chelsea, whether that has to do with the personnel or the attacking ethos (I think personnel to be honest).

    I can't say I believe him when he tried to deflect some of the blame for selling Mata by claiming the board had more to do with it. Maybe just another little dig at Chelsea.
     
  7. Diable Rouge

    Diable Rouge Member+

    Jul 17, 2006
    the mata situation in chelsea to me was always very clear, you can say that josé pushed him out in the sense that he wouldn't guarantee him a starting spot but he didn't try to actually get rid of him. i don't think there's a bad guy in that story: josé chose oscar over him for the 10 role and mata thought he was too good to be a squaddie - shit happens.
     
  8. Ashur

    Ashur Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    May 31, 2015
    Riding off into the sunset
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  9. Yahtzee

    Yahtzee Member+

    Nov 4, 2013
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Just Jose rationalizing decisions he made to try and make himself look better. Oscar > Mata, KDB in Jose-land.
     
  10. Ashur

    Ashur Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    May 31, 2015
    Riding off into the sunset
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Another reason why strictly as a human being, Mata is hands down my favorite player in the game right now. He's a genuinely nice guy and gentleman.

     
    Naboomagnoli repped this.
  11. Ashur

    Ashur Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    May 31, 2015
    Riding off into the sunset
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Whether it's mere coincidence or not, Mata's form alone so far should warrant a starting place as the team's chief playmaker.

     
  12. MizzouMUFC

    MizzouMUFC Member+

    Apr 10, 2010
    Places
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    I've said it for weeks now, Mata needs to be a starter. He is constantly one of the most dangerous players on the pitch and even when not contributing he's more likely to chip in with a goal or assist than most. Plus, it's plain to see that when he's played as the 10 our offensive moves quicker. He's also about the only player other than Pogba capable of playing a decent through ball.

    Which bring me to our bigger problem...we have no deep threat on offense and it's made us way to predictable. Nobody is afraid of Ibra making a run behind the back line because he's slow and rarely makes any runs. Until our wingers start making runs in behind or until Ibra is benched (which won't happen), we are going to be very, very easy to defend.
     
    LA. MAN UNITED and jeff070 repped this.
  13. Ruud v.Nistelrooy 10

    Staff Member

    Jamaica
    Jun 4, 2006
    Antilla
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Jamaica
    Ibrahimović isn't slow. he just isn't lightning or particularly quick. running in behind was never his game either.

    he needs those crosses to get a goal atm
     
  14. United 16

    United 16 Member+

    Manchester United
    Mar 25, 2016
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
  15. omar_mufc

    omar_mufc Member

    Oct 19, 2004
    Luxury or no luxury, that is seriously impressive.
     
  16. Ashur

    Ashur Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    May 31, 2015
    Riding off into the sunset
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #341 Ashur, Nov 20, 2016
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2016
    I think it's fair to say that Mata has been no luxury at all this season. Against almost all odds, he's consistently been one of the top performers in the team so far. Pretty remarkable given the fact he was considered all but done with United when Jose came on board.
    Used to be relatively indifferent whether he played or not, but he's arguably become almost essential for us this year.
     
  17. Gilma1990

    Gilma1990 Member+

    Jul 30, 2015
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Juan, Ander, and DDG are invaluable members of United. SPANISH POWER!!
     
  18. United 16

    United 16 Member+

    Manchester United
    Mar 25, 2016
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    While Spanish power is doing good, French power seems to be deteriorating.

    Sent from my LG-D802T using Tapatalk
     
  19. Teso Dos Bichos

    Teso Dos Bichos Red Card

    Sep 2, 2004
    Purged by RvN
    Unless Mata is made the attacking fulcrum of the team he will always be a luxury and a square peg in a round hole.
     
  20. Ruud v.Nistelrooy 10

    Staff Member

    Jamaica
    Jun 4, 2006
    Antilla
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Jamaica
  21. Teso Dos Bichos

    Teso Dos Bichos Red Card

    Sep 2, 2004
    Purged by RvN
    Will keep his valuation high for the summer.
     
    Gilma1990 repped this.
  22. johno

    johno Member+

    Jul 15, 2003
    in the wind
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    He shouldn't be an automatic starter, but he should get loads of rotation minutes. He needs to start against minnows in midfield and can be a RW sub or even play SS if we have solid play on the wings. He can also rotate w/ Mkhi as starting RW too if need be. Valuable contributor and playing with hunger again.
     
    Ashur, Pulp and sdotsom repped this.
  23. Teso Dos Bichos

    Teso Dos Bichos Red Card

    Sep 2, 2004
    Purged by RvN
    Nah. Pointless drifter who clogs the middle. We need to move beyond these inflexible players and get some genuine width.
     
  24. johno

    johno Member+

    Jul 15, 2003
    in the wind
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    He came off the bench to play a major role in two games we struggled to create chances in. These aren't the first times this happened either. He is valuable.
     
  25. gatekeeper2

    gatekeeper2 Member+

    Jun 1, 2015
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    The man performs well when called upon. Not every single minute, but more often than not. There's really no controversy here and we should be grateful we have a player of Mata's quality available to us.

    We still need to address other areas, but that's another topic for another thread.
     

Share This Page