Maybe against weak sides with two great DMs like City, you could play Mata wide. But Silva and certainly Nasri both track back more than him. He played inside out wide in 433 under AVB and at Valencia with hard workers around him. Against top sides you cannot play Mata wide in 442, even with a Matic and Yaya. You would get destroyed by BAyern Chelsea etc
Please can we close this thread. We don't need a new post every time he does something notable, hopefully there will be plenty of those in the future! (notable performances, not meaningless posts) I think the "Mata to us?" issue has been resolved tbh.
His latest blog - http://blogs.grada360.com/juanmata/en/2014/03/31/la-mejor-energia-del-mundo/#.Uzkux_n4nJs.twitter
Mata is a cheeky little scamp. I genuinely love the curly haired little ****. I think he could go on to be a legend for us.
Yeah I think we got a real good player there, even if we had to pay 37 million. The guy is class, and I think it will turn out to be one of Mourinho's worst ever decisions letting us have him. When I watch Oscar play, it really does make me chuckle that Mourinho thinks he's better than Mata. Mata is miles ahead of him, and Chelsea should have built there team around him. Though there loss is our gain
Being perfectly honest, I wouldn't say Mata is miles ahead of Oscar. Oscar is a fantastic player and will go on to be world class. Yeah Mata is ahead now but I think they'll both reach the same level. Mourinho, however, did make a mistake in letting us have Mata, though. He will strengthen us immeasurably when he fully settles in and finds his best form and consistency. To be fair I think Mourinho has to be given credit for insisting that Mata should be allowed to join us, knowing that we were his preferred destination. Not a lot of managers would have had that much integrity towards a star player.
Great interview with him by Sid Lowe - http://www.theguardian.com/football...manchester-united-chelsea-transfer?CMP=twt_gu