Juan Mata | 2013/14 Performances

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LR7 said:
Moyes: "He can play off the right, off the left, behind the striker. He will play any one of the three roles. We know that is what he does. He plays it in his own style. But he can play in any of those three positions. That is partly what we want. We want people who are flexible. We want people who can change within games as well. We don't want people to stick to one position. It will allow us to alter things if we feel we have to during games as well."

Nice.
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Interesting insight into our future transfers too? Kroos is also quite flexible :drool:
 
Mata is an excellent player, and he will add to any squad. I will concede that he is not the player I would have gone for, as I feel that our projected line up with him, Rooney, Adnan and Persie lacks pace in attack. I will be interested to see how it all unfolds, but if those 4 click we could see some great stuff. Still, can't help thinking I would have preferred a Reus/Di Maria type who, in addition to playmaking and flexibility - have some genuine pace.

I still hope that we can add one quick attacking player to the squad in the summer just to give us a different type of threat, like Walcott/Gnabry do for Arsenal in the midst of all the technicians. Perhaps Welbeck can provide this option from the bench.

I hope Moyes goes with the four I mentioned tonight though. Would really get the crowd going I think.
 
Rozay said:
Mata is an excellent player, and he will add to any squad. I will concede that he is not the player I would have gone for, as I feel that our projected line up with him, Rooney, Adnan and Persie lacks pace in attack. I will be interested to see how it all unfolds, but if those 4 click we could see some great stuff. Still, can't help thinking I would have preferred a Reus/Di Maria type who, in addition to playmaking and flexibility - have some genuine pace.

I still hope that we can add one quick attacking player to the squad in the summer just to give us a different type of threat, like Walcott/Gnabry do for Arsenal in the midst of all the technicians. Perhaps Welbeck can provide this option from the bench.

I hope Moyes goes with the four I mentioned tonight though. Would really get the crowd going I think.
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I get the feeling that Moyes will sign a player similar to Reus in the summer. But I think it largely depends on who is available. Mata is a very difficult player to turn down, and at 37m is not a bad price when you consider Ozil is 40. Mata has PL pedigree which Ozil didn't.

Also, I think a player like Adnan doesn't lack pace. But more importantly, he can beat a man. He appears to be quick in the mind with tricks, which is equally important as raw pace when breaking.
 
LR7 said:
Moyes: "He can play off the right, off the left, behind the striker. He will play any one of the three roles. We know that is what he does. He plays it in his own style. But he can play in any of those three positions. That is partly what we want. We want people who are flexible. We want people who can change within games as well. We don't want people to stick to one position. It will allow us to alter things if we feel we have to during games as well."

Nice.
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Valencia can kiss his United career goodbye then.
 
rpitroda said:
I get the feeling that Moyes will sign a player similar to Reus in the summer. But I think it largely depends on who is available. Mata is a very difficult player to turn down, and at 37m is not a bad price when you consider Ozil is 40. Mata has PL pedigree which Ozil didn't.

Also, I think a player like Adnan doesn't lack pace. But more importantly, he can beat a man. He appears to be quick in the mind with tricks, which is equally important as raw pace when breaking.
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Yea, there may also be a change regarding the strikers in the next couple of years that will open up a space in that front 4, and given the flexibility of the other players, we perhaps wouldn't even need to replace with a striker.
 
I think people are expecting a little bit too much from him. He's not the second coming of Jesus Christ to be honest, he's a great player but not a miracle worker.
 
Vato1979 said:
I think people are expecting a little bit too much from him. He's not the second coming of Jesus Christ to be honest, he's a great player but not a miracle worker.
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Um...We don't need miracles either. We just need a psychological boost. The supporters are already buzzing thanks to the signing, now let's see how the team reacts.
 
Vato1979 said:
I think people are expecting a little bit too much from him. He's not the second coming of Jesus Christ to be honest, he's a great player but not a miracle worker.
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Indeed. Our team still has a lot of work to do and I hope that his teammates don't start doing a Scholes with him in terms of just passing every ball to him and hope he can work miracles with it.

Our defending from front to back still needs a lot of work and our movement off the ball as well.
 
LR7 said:
Moyes: "He can play off the right, off the left, behind the striker. He will play any one of the three roles. We know that is what he does. He plays it in his own style. But he can play in any of those three positions. That is partly what we want. We want people who are flexible. We want people who can change within games as well. We don't want people to stick to one position. It will allow us to alter things if we feel we have to during games as well."

Nice.
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Loving it.
 
Vato1979 said:
I think people are expecting a little bit too much from him. He's not the second coming of Jesus Christ to be honest, he's a great player but not a miracle worker.
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Are you telling me he's not going to salvage our season, attract Kroos, Vidal and Ronaldo, turning young Adnan into He-Man and the best player in the world while getting rid of our debt and the Glazer family?

How dare you?!
 
Rozay said:
Mata is an excellent player, and he will add to any squad. I will concede that he is not the player I would have gone for, as I feel that our projected line up with him, Rooney, Adnan and Persie lacks pace in attack. I will be interested to see how it all unfolds, but if those 4 click we could see some great stuff. Still, can't help thinking I would have preferred a Reus/Di Maria type who, in addition to playmaking and flexibility - have some genuine pace.

I still hope that we can add one quick attacking player to the squad in the summer just to give us a different type of threat, like Walcott/Gnabry do for Arsenal in the midst of all the technicians. Perhaps Welbeck can provide this option from the bench.

I hope Moyes goes with the four I mentioned tonight though. Would really get the crowd going I think.
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Januzaj is deceitfully quick I think, but doesn't exactly have the raw pace or athleticism of a Ronaldo or Bale. More relying on his technique with subtle body movements and close control to evade challenges or beat a man. In that sense I don't think he will be too much of a worry.

You are quite right about the other three though, but thankfully they have ingenuity in abundance, so the movement between three and positions they take up in the final third should hopefully compensate for the lack of pace - to a degree.

I do think we need that pacy, flair player like a Reus or di Maria though. Just to add a different dynamic to our attack. It would be good to see Nani provide that, but it's a mystery knowing what to expect from him. I have felt that Arsenal have lacked the penetration when Walcott was injured and Gnabry didn't feature as often, so I hope that isn't something we start to suffer from with our proposed shift in style.
 
Rozay said:
Yea, there may also be a change regarding the strikers in the next couple of years that will open up a space in that front 4, and given the flexibility of the other players, we perhaps wouldn't even need to replace with a striker.
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I see the future as Rooney up top and 3 versatile players behind him. There is so much fluidity and flexibility there, with Januzaj, Mata and Rooney alone, that it could be deadly. Reinvent the striker with a fluid 3 behind to a complete set of fluid 4. If Mata can get better at scoring, there wouldn't be a shortage as Mata and Rooney certainly would get their fair share. And add to that a 4th player who can score too.

If I was being an Optimist, I think even Welbeck could develop into the player we need. Certainly he has the work rate and link up ability. He needs to be more composed and a bit more clinical, and I think he could really be good.

Welz
Jan Roo Mata

Could be a good combination, especially since all 4 have already enough experience and ability to play in at least 3 out of 4 of those positions.
 
rpitroda said:
I see the future as Rooney up top and 3 versatile players behind him. There is so much fluidity and flexibility there, with Januzaj, Mata and Rooney alone, that it could be deadly. Reinvent the striker with a fluid 3 behind to a complete set of fluid 4. If Mata can get better at scoring, there wouldn't be a shortage as Mata and Rooney certainly would get their fair share. And add to that a 4th player who can score too.

If I was being an Optimist, I think even Welbeck could develop into the player we need. Certainly he has the work rate and link up ability. He needs to be more composed and a bit more clinical, and I think he could really be good.

Welz
Jan Roo Mata

Could be a good combination, especially since all 4 have already enough experience and ability to play in at least 3 out of 4 of those positions.
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I wrote a more detailed post in the Januzaj thread a few minutes ago, but I think he could be our next centre-forward.
 
Re: Januzaj's pace: He's still very young and skinny at the moment. Let's see how he develops.It might be worth trying to develop him physically like Bale did, to add power and pace to his game. He likes to run at defenders and he likes to take shots on so I think he should aim to build on those, not aim to become a playmaker.
 
Rowem said:
Re: Januzaj's pace: He's still very young and skinny at the moment. Let's see how he develops.It might be worth trying to develop him physically like Bale did, to add power and pace to his game. He likes to run at defenders and he likes to take shots on so I think he should aim to build on those, not aim to become a playmaker.
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You think? I don't really see anything that could stop him being both, his through balls are superb at times. Depends on the definition of playmaker I guess, some see it as a Xavi who passes endlessly, I still think a playmaker can be someone who doesn't necessarily dictate the game that much but is still capable of lots of assists whilst also scoring goals and running at defenders.
 
I wrote this in the Adnan thread:

I know there have been a few rumours regarding Cavani recently, but I have a feeling that Adnan will be our next centre-forward personally. The talk has been going on for a while about he can play upfront 'through the middle', and while we were all bemused by it, it has been said at Old Trafford many times. I think he has a bit more selfishness than someone like Mata too, and I believe he will get quicker as he develops too.
I've noticed a few times this season where he has switched with Rooney or whoever and spent 15 minutes through the middle. It was very notable at Stamford Bridge last week, where he played ahead of Welbeck. This also happened away at Fulham, in a game where Rooney AND Persie both started, yet there was a chunk of the second half where Adnan was at centre-forward.
I think as he develops he could be the man to replace Persie in our first XI with another wide player being brought in at some point. Of course he will not be an Alan Shearer so to speak, but Moyes has been speaking of fluidity lately and a potential Messi-like false 9 position may be an option.
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I think there is a chance we may develop like this in the next couple of years.
 
Cina said:
You think? I don't really see anything that could stop him being both, his through balls are superb at times. Depends on the definition of playmaker I guess, some see it as a Xavi who passes endlessly, I still think a playmaker can be someone who doesn't necessarily dictate the game that much but is still capable of lots of assists whilst also scoring goals and running at defenders.
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Yeah, he will always have playmaking ability in his locker, but he shouldn't aim to be some Silva/Mata type player.
 
Anyone still a bit flabbergasted by this?

Think Maureen dropped a real bollock letting this little gem go. Can't wait to see him grace OT tonight !!!!
 
Rowem said:
Yeah, he will always have playmaking ability in his locker, but he shouldn't aim to be some Silva/Mata type player.
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Yeah, I guess it's hard to know, he's 18 after all. Great youngsters often end up playing different positions entirely to the ones they originally did (Rooney, Bale, Ronaldo, Messi, Scholes etc), I'd like to think he'll be a #10 with the ability to smack in 20+ goals a season, in a few years.
 
Rowem said:
Re: Januzaj's pace: He's still very young and skinny at the moment. Let's see how he develops.It might be worth trying to develop him physically like Bale did, to add power and pace to his game. He likes to run at defenders and he likes to take shots on so I think he should aim to build on those, not aim to become a playmaker.
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Like Cina said, depends what you mean by a playmaker. Not to get bogged down in FM-esque language but there's deep-lying playmakers like Pirlo, Scholes, Xavi, Carrick, Xabi Alonso who dictates the pace of the game from deep and then there's the kind of playmaker who plays closer to goal and has the ability to dribble and shoot as well as orchestrate attacks. I think Januzaj has all the attributes to be the latter, stylistically he reminds me a little of Riquelme, but with better physical attributes (and obviously the potential for those to increase further)
 
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I think he will start, he can only play in league games for us anyway so thats what 16 games between now and May? Hit the ground running.
 
Since school is off here in Houston (for possible snow/ice lol), told my 7 and half year old son the game is on at 1:45 he shouts "Juaaan Mataaa" ... then getting breakfast he goes "Juan cookie don't Mata" .... asking for a cookie for breakfast.

Love it ...
 
I don think he will start, especially if he is planning on playing Rooney and RVP.
 
Skywarden said:
Are you telling me he's not going to salvage our season, attract Kroos, Vidal and Ronaldo, turning young Adnan into He-Man and the best player in the world while getting rid of our debt and the Glazer family?

How dare you?!
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No, no don't get me wrong... he can do all that. I just meant he can't walk on water.
 
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