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.
Teso and Gilma 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.
Juan Mata: a rare breed of footballer. http://thesefootballtimes.co/2016/09/28/juan-mata-a-rare-breed-of-footballer/
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.
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.
Just Jose rationalizing decisions he made to try and make himself look better. Oscar > Mata, KDB in Jose-land.
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.
Whether it's mere coincidence or not, Mata's form alone so far should warrant a starting place as the team's chief playmaker. Points won in the Premier League by Man Utd this season:When Juan Mata starts = 13 out of 15When Juan Mata doesn't start = 1 out of 12 pic.twitter.com/8B0jfS2jEu— Kev Blundell (@kevin_blundell) October 23, 2016
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.
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
Juan Mata has been directly involved in 83 league goals since joining the Premier League; no midfielder has more.42 goals41 assists pic.twitter.com/m3aEumJjuc— Squawka (@Squawka) November 19, 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.
While Spanish power is doing good, French power seems to be deteriorating. Sent from my LG-D802T using Tapatalk
Unless Mata is made the attacking fulcrum of the team he will always be a luxury and a square peg in a round hole.
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.
Nah. Pointless drifter who clogs the middle. We need to move beyond these inflexible players and get some genuine width.
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.
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.