Such a shame he cant play against Bayern.
Juan Mata | 2013/14 Performances
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
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I'm a huge Rooney fan, but it's actually not so easy if, as RvP says, he wants to stay at this club.
If it comes to a straight choice between the two - and accepting that both are equally committed - there are an awful lot of United fans who will plump for RvP.
What an excellent person he is.
A classy freekick, a goal of the highest composure and a classy backheel assist.
United's number 8. Juan Mata!
United's number 8. Juan Mata!
I think Moyes needs to accept that there's only room for two of Mata, RvP, and Rooney on the pitch, and that Mata is definitely one of them.
great match today. just a hint of what he should give us.
Our best player. He's an outstanding footballer.
I have to agree with this, the best thing for our team is for only 1 of Rooney or Van Persie starts up top. Rooney is a good number 10 but I think he's a much better striker and playing Kagawa, Mata and Januzaj in behind gives us attacking fluidity which isn't there when both RVP and Rooney are playing.
Yup. I thought that was the plan when we signed Mata to be honest, then Rooney got a new contract...
We look like a different side when he's allowed to play in his best central position and shows how bad the RVP/Rooney link up has been. As for the long term it doesn't seem we can play a system with Rooney/RVP/Mata without compromising the entire team. RVP could certainly be on his way in the summer.
As for the future If we could get 2 very mobile and athletic centre mids who can compensate for his lack of defensive ability he would really shine. Vidal and Pogba Dave!
As for the future If we could get 2 very mobile and athletic centre mids who can compensate for his lack of defensive ability he would really shine. Vidal and Pogba Dave!
Hope this rids the caf of its hilarious 'but Rooney's the much better #10' contingent that was in full voice a while back.
Rooney - RVP
Mata
Kagawa Fletcher
Carrick
Evra Smalling Jones Rafael
DDG
Worth a try if RVP does want to stay. We should not by any means put him on the wing, he has to be at the tip of the midfield or as a #10, and Kagawa has to start, but this could potentially work. Mata
Kagawa Fletcher
Carrick
Evra Smalling Jones Rafael
DDG
Mata is brilliant though, we all knew that. Plain stupid to play him on the right, and these last few games he's been showing how good he is behind the striker. Some of his touches today with Shinji were just
It's still funny that Chelsea gave him to us.
Make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
To become a top side again, I really feel we should be basing our style of play and team around these two.
Those who are insistent that Mata can only be effective played as a number 10 are undoubtedly the same ones who were saying the same about Kagawa six months ago.
Pretty sure they didn't stand on each other's shoulders today.
Pretty sure they didn't stand on each other's shoulders today.
The Mata is settled. This guy should be playing number 10.
The Spanish, a great bunch of lads.
Lovely performance today, despite being dispossessed when caught sleeping a few times... though the champion for that was undoubtedly our static giant poodle.
It's different though as Kagawa is a lot quicker and has a better turn of pace then Mata. No doubt he can look class wherever, but we get the best out of Mata when he plays through the middle and we play best as a team. Rooney there makes us more static and overall more disjointed, but Kagawa because he has good pace can be very good out wide as well.
When you saw him standing over that free kick you just expected him to score. It is very handy having someone like that, who makes close range free kicks look incredibly simple.
Last season Mata played wide half the time and centrally the other half, he was great in both positions. What matters (heh) is getting the right players around him and playing the right football.
The Spanish, a great bunch of lads.
Need a gif of that! What a fantastic moment!
It is perfectly normal to be nursing a semi whenever he gets the ball, right?
Can't stress the importance of getting the right two midfielders behind him next season, especially if Kagawa is also in the team.
I must admit that I am leaning towards us not qualifying for the Europa if we can get the right players do we can get the team right. I don't see why we can't be back challenging for the league next year with the right tweaks.
I must admit that I am leaning towards us not qualifying for the Europa if we can get the right players do we can get the team right. I don't see why we can't be back challenging for the league next year with the right tweaks.
I'm going to be furious if we sell Kagawa this summer, it's so obvious we should be building our team around him and Mata.
We should give Mata the number 7 when Andow comes back. He'd make an excellent 7.
You're forgetting someone. What the hell's the Mata with Roo?
There's a sizeable group on this forum that's decided that Wayne Rooney, our number 10 throughout the most succesful period in the club's history, is in fact not very good in that position.
Correct me if I'm wrong on this one, but I think most of the time when he was playing out wide for Chelsea he was generally in a side that played a midfield three, so didn't rely on their wingers playing such an out and out winger role, if you know what I mean. He still got the opportunity to drift inside a lot into the middle, like Silva at City. He could play out wide for us if we played like that, but we often don't and prefer much more traditional wingers, which is why we'll probably need to play him centrally to get the best out of him.
To be fair I think that when at his best, Rooney can match up to him in a number 10 role since he's had some superb spells there, but Rooney can have some inconsistent spells there even when he's scoring, which makes Mata the more consistent of the two generally.
And the other half have decided RVP is the problem. Where did Fergie play Rooney for the majority of last season? My memory's not what it used to be...
It was usually when Oscar was taking up the central position, I think. In reality they will most likely have all been highly fluid, which is exactly what we should be aiming for with our attacking players.
Awkward. I'm one of them. That post was totally in jest. I prefer to have Mata behind the striker than Rooney.
I'd agree, although I'm not particularly sure we'll see that to be honest. Until we do, Mata's going to be much more effective centrally.
Wayne Rooney has played as a number 10 for that long? In that role he's been part of two title winning seasons (though he only really played half the season in 10/11 where Hernandez and Berbatov were the main men), but the European Cup and 3 titles in succession I'm pretty sure he was either an out and out forward or playing on the wing to supplement Ronaldo.
I don't think we have really played a classic no.10 playmaker in the last decade or so. Rooney has played as a second striker for the most part but i wouldn't classify him as a playmaker. He's a forward.
Mata is our best number 10. He's finding his feet at United, very happy for him
Was anybody ever in doubt Mata wasn't a class player?
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