Juan Mata

[bababoom 4,478]

Some posts on Redcafe (I know) regarding Mata, this was after our magnificent performance against City.

I know I will get blasted for this but I'm sure I can't be the only one.

I loved signing Mata. I was over the moon when we managed to get him. Absolutely buzzing. But the last two days have had me thinking...

I mean, he really does almost next to nothing off the ball. This means that we're going to need runners around him. Van Persie isn't that. So we've essentially got 2 players that don't move about too much. Is this enough for the biggest games? I don't know. I don't think so. I think we will need to change our team drastically in the summer in order to compensate for Mata. He's a brilliant player on the ball but off the ball we can pay for this.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed this.

You're not the only one. Mourinho's issues with Mata have not disappeared because he plays for United now. It would matter less if he was deployed behind the striker. But out wide, we will have a problem going the other way, especially with a poor midfield to cover.
My other reservation, although this is not a reservation about Mata directly, but as a team on the whole, is the lack of pace and penetration in behind going forward. Ozil was great but they also have a Walcott.

- An attack built on Rooney, Mata, Janujaz and RVP is too slow to be successful
- There is no formation that will work with our current full backs, and Mata and Janujaz. Not enough defensive nous with those 4 on the flanks

Mata is not the kind of player Ferguson was after in recent seasons. We should've spent 37 million on a faster, more dynamic attacker (as excellent as he is)

Some of them have come to the realisation that a front four of RVP, Rooney, Mata and Januaj was never actually possible if they want to win big matches... It looked good on paper, but so did Oscar, Mata and Hazard. it worked against smaller sides but we were embarrassed in Europe.

Oh yeah and the best for last..

Briefly touched upon in the 'Unpopular opinions thread', but thought worthy of its discussion. You know that feeling when you spent a good chunk of money on something, then immediately feel buyer’s remorse? That’s how I’m feeling with Mata.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s a bloody brilliant footballer, and would improve almost every team in the world. Almost.
I think it’s generally accepted that our ‘desired’ front 4 is a 3 of Rooney/Mata/Janujaz in behind RVP, with Kagawa able to slot in too as a sub. Undoubtedly that is the most technically adept front 4 players in our squad, possibly the most adept we’ve ever had. But there seems to be a serious lack of pace if they’re all together. It’s not that they’re slow per se, but I fear we’ll lack the ability to stretch defenses. Especially if Rooney is the most withdrawn.

It would be a huge shift from the way we’ve played for absolutely ages – which is to force the defensive line back because our wingers are rapid and can easily exploit space with through balls or balls over the top.

I worry that with the lack of pace teams would be able to compress our attack even more, and negate all the ability of those 4. An ideal system would really be 2 incredibly technical players, and 2 very rapid ones imo.

[YouNameIt 1,511]

he did play a ton more than some others who deserved to play way more than mata did. however mata decided to go the easy way (even though mourinho and the team wanted to keep him) and double his wages by joining our rivals.

im not expecting (or hoping) but it wouldnt surprise me if he got 'figo treatment' the next time utd plays @ stamford. dont see how this is any different than it..

Huh?

Are you trolling now or are you actually serious about what you are writing?

You are SERIOUSLEY telling me that;

1. There are other players in our squad that deserved to play more than Mata? As if Mata didnt deserve to play? PLEASE explain to me why you claim this or Im gonna have you submitted to a mental hospital.

2. You are also saying that Mata played, and I quote you, a TON. Please tell me how much he played under Mourinho.

[sk21 11]

Huh?

Are you trolling now or are you actually serious about what you are writing?

You are SERIOUSLEY telling me that;

1. There are other players in our squad that deserved to play more than Mata? As if Mata didnt deserve to play? PLEASE explain to me why you claim this or Im gonna have you submitted to a mental hospital.

2. You are also saying that Mata played, and I quote you, a TON. Please tell me how much he played under Mourinho.

1. mata offers nothing defensively and also sadly enough nothing offensively (this season) 17 games and 1 goal for a guy who offers absolutely nothing defensive stuff. created absolutely nothing, scored less goals than john terry.

2. mata played 17 games. one goal. same amount epl appearances as one of mourinhos favourites azpilicueta by the time he parted. mata really was given tons of chances.

yeah. bossed you pretty well there. talk about knock out.

[Jase 43,479]

1. mata offers nothing defensively and also sadly enough nothing offensively (this season) 17 games and 1 goal for a guy who offers absolutely nothing defensive stuff. created absolutely nothing, scored less goals than john terry.

2. mata played 17 games. one goal. same amount epl appearances as one of mourinhos favourites azpilicueta by the time he parted. mata really was given tons of chances.

yeah. bossed you pretty well there. talk about knock out.

Not that I want to get into your discussion here but to say Mata created absolutely nothing this season is just ridiculous and OTT. That Swansea home game alone was enough to show he has created chances this season but just didn't have a clinical finisher to put it away to have people take note of it. And funnily, those two goals of Terry came was assisted by Mata.

[YouNameIt 1,511]

1. mata offers nothing defensively and also sadly enough nothing offensively (this season) 17 games and 1 goal for a guy who offers absolutely nothing defensive stuff. created absolutely nothing, scored less goals than john terry.

2. mata played 17 games. one goal. same amount epl appearances as one of mourinhos favourites azpilicueta by the time he parted. mata really was given tons of chances.

yeah. bossed you pretty well there. talk about knock out.

No, what you made is make yourself look like an utter fool.

First of all, claiming Mata offered nothing offensively is probably the dumbest thing Ive read on these forums.Clearly you have NO FRIGGIN IDEA what your talking about.

Secondly, saying that Mata got a TON of chances under Mourinho is probably even dumber.

I really dont understand where you are getitng all this? Are you reading this on another forum, some twitter or simply making things up in your mind? Because the statistics, facts and reality simply doesnt agree with you.

[sk21 11]

No, what you made is make yourself look like an utter fool.

First of all, claiming Mata offered nothing offensively is probably the dumbest thing Ive read on these forums.Clearly you have NO FRIGGIN IDEA what your talking about.

Secondly, saying that Mata got a TON of chances under Mourinho is probably even dumber.

I really dont understand where you are getitng all this? Are you reading this on another forum, some twitter or simply making things up in your mind? Because the statistics, facts and reality simply doesnt agree with you.

stop already. 17 games 1 goal for a guy who doesnt defend at all is not acceptable.

i dunno man i feel like youre trolling me.

'but he creates chances!! so what if those never lead to goals!!'

the stats are there. hes been horrible this season. just admit it my uppercut connected and you went down. the stats are there.

[YouNameIt 1,511]

stop already. 17 games 1 goal for a guy who doesnt defend at all is not acceptable.

i dunno man i feel like youre trolling me.

'but he creates chances!! so what if those never lead to goals!!'

the stats are there. hes been horrible this season. just admit it my uppercut connected and you went down. the stats are there.

Sorry but you are either trolling or you're simply a dumbfuck.

Go check his stats for chances created and whatnot. Because THAT is/was his primary job.

What you are saying is basically, that if Mata sets up ONE HUNDRED chances for someone else to score 1 inch infront of an open goal, and they miss that chance....then Mata's job and the chance he set up is totally irrelevant. That is just PLAIN FUCKING RETARDED.

[sk21 11]

Sorry but you are either trolling or you're simply a dumbfuck.

Go check his stats for chances created and whatnot. Because THAT is/was his primary job.

What you are saying is basically, that if Mata sets up ONE HUNDRED chances for someone else to score 1 inch infront of an open goal, and they miss that chance....then Mata's job and the chance he set up is totally irrelevant. That is just PLAIN FUCKING RETARDED.

his epl stats this season for chelsea:

13 games, 0 goals 2 assists.

for a guy who doesnt defend thats awful. you want to blame it on others? take hazard for example, guy defends a ton more than mata

24 games, 9 goals 7 assists.

you can keep talking out of your ass all you want but the stats are there. if mata creates chances that never leads to goals and doesnt defend, how is he more useful for chelsea than the other players who a) defend score goals c) assist

like i said you can keep talking out of your ass all you want but the stats are there. always been always will be.

[YouNameIt 1,511]

his epl stats this season for chelsea:

13 games, 0 goals 2 assists.

for a guy who doesnt defend thats awful. you want to blame it on others? take hazard for example, guy defends a ton more than mata

24 games, 9 goals 7 assists.

you can keep talking out of your ass all you want but the stats are there. if mata creates chances that never leads to goals and doesnt defend, how is he more useful for chelsea than the other players who a) defend score goals c) assist

like i said you can keep talking out of your ass all you want but the stats are there. always been always will be.

Dude you are getting on my nerves.

Before you even fucking reply again, do the following:

Look up how many games Mata started/how many MINUTES he played under Mourinho and look at how effective he's been. Chances created and so forth.

The fact that you are comparing Hazard to Mata is just FUCKING LAUGHABLE and keeps proving that you are either trolling or you are simply plain dumb. Hazard has started what, every game for us? LOL

[sk21 11]

Dude you are getting on my nerves.

Before you even fucking reply again, do the following:

Look up how many games Mata started/how many MINUTES he played under Mourinho and look at how effective he's been. Chances created and so forth.

The fact that you are comparing Hazard to Mata is just FUCKING LAUGHABLE and keeps proving that you are either trolling or you are simply plain dumb. Hazard has started what, every game for us? LOL

how 'effective' he has been? 13 games 2 assists. hazard has indeed started alot of games because he has been useful. hazard creates chances that lead to goals, defends, assists, scores goals. mata umm i dont know he... he creates chances that sadly dont count for anything. you dont get points/goals for a created chance.

now please explain to me, how are the chances that mata has created (THAT SADLY DO NOT LEAD TO GOALS) more useful than goals+assists+defending that other chelsea players bring? im really stunned with all the shit you talk. just give up already with your shit.

[Cosmin 2,484]

People can argue forever about how useful Mata was / could've been for us, but the only way to find out how good or bad the decission of selling him was is not to look at his performances with United, but to look at OUR performances without him. If this team turns out to be a great team, a team that wins things, then selling Mata was a right call by the manager, because it was part of his strategy and as long as Chelsea is a successful club, the strategy is a good one.

My only wish is that the Chelsea fans won't go crazy everytime he scores or assists for United.

[kellzfresh 7,228]

Mata was a victim of our poor finishing. There was one southampton game at the bridge where he created so many chances but we missed a lot of them. Some other games like everton where he played we paid for missed chances and we didn't defend well then conceded and lost the match.

If we are not scoring our chances, we can't afford to be bad at the back.

If we had a top striker to be burying mata's chances, he probably will still be here and mourinho can afford us to concede 2 goals at the back if we end up scoring 4-5 a game like he did at madrid.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Some posts on Redcafe (I know) regarding Mata, this was after our magnificent performance against City.

Some of them have come to the realisation that a front four of RVP, Rooney, Mata and Januaj was never actually possible if they want to win big matches... It looked good on paper, but so did Oscar, Mata and Hazard. it worked against smaller sides but we were embarrassed in Europe.

Oh yeah and the best for last..

Why cherry pick those opinions to make him look bad?

He won 4 tackles in the Stoke game. More than any other player on the United team, they're talking bollocks.

They've been playing the more defensively stable Valencia/Young duo all season song and have still been leaking goals for fun. Unfair to pin United's defensive failures on him alone.

[zolayes 14,489]

People can argue forever about how useful Mata was / could've been for us, but the only way to find out how good or bad the decission of selling him was is not to look at his performances with United, but to look at OUR performances without him. If this team turns out to be a great team, a team that wins things, then selling Mata was a right call by the manager, because it was part of his strategy and as long as Chelsea is a successful club, the strategy is a good one.

My only wish is that the Chelsea fans won't go crazy everytime he scores or assists for United.

TOP TOP TOP POST

[bababoom 4,478]

Why cherry pick those opinions to make him look bad?

He won 4 tackles in the Stoke game. More than any other player on the United team, they're talking bollocks.

They've been playing the more defensively stable Valencia/Young duo all season song and have still been leaking goals for fun. Unfair to pin United's defensive failures on him alone.

Make him look bad? everyone knows he's a great player, my post is pointing out how worried they are after watching us on Monday and about what Neville said, The majority of them love Mata.

I do agree with some of their points, i know you didn't want Mata to be sold, but surely after Monday you can see why it had to be done? he's was never going to play in the big games.

[kellzfresh 7,228]

Leboeuf: Mourinho was right to sell Mata

http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2014/02/07/4603064/leboeuf-mourinho-was-right-to-sell-mata

"I've never been a big fan of Juan Mata," the Frenchman told Perform. "I think he's a fantastic player [but] I think he doesn't suit English football.

"I guess Chelsea tried to find the new [Gianfranco] Zola. But Zola was much more powerful than Mata, and Mata is a little bit light.

"I think Mourinho realised that and that is why he bought Willian, because he has a little bit of Zola, not as big as Zola but strong, skilful and works really hard for the team and can defend.

"With [Eden] Hazard, Oscar and Willian, it is an armada. You don't know where to look, because you know you are going to struggle at some point."

[edenhazard17 281]

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Frequently Asked Questions

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From Mata's wiki :

Oh dear

[5354 204]

Mata!!!! Still miss his perfect corners.

Mata's corners are worth the millions! Just a pity we sold him so cheaply. If Ozil is worth so much, Mata is worth as much as him.