Whenever we criticise the selection of Juan Mata in the team, a raft of Manchester United fans step in to defend him.
This is, after all, a player who tends to deliver quite a lot.
He’s played 15 games for Manchester United this season and scored 4 goals, with four assists to boot. In total he has scored 20 goals in 65 games since he signed and won the September’s player of the month at Manchester United.
But he seems to represent all that is good and all that iS bad about this current Manchester United team.
He is talented. But in a measured and rather cautious way. He isn’t particularly athletic and will never dominate a game with attacking prowess. He is much more likely to offer a square or backwards pass than to ping the ball forward in an adventurous or pacy fashion.
Mata is finally demonstrating his wizardry under Louis van Gaal
And that’s exactly how we felt that Manchester Untied performed against City. Rather too cautious and polite.
Manchester United’s greatest teams had a nasty edge about them but Mata often looked on Sunday as if he was about to ask the City lads round for a coffee morning.
We don’t doubt that he is a good player. But Manchester United can only put 11 out and they need to be 11 great players.
Mata may well be fondly remembered at Old Trafford but we simply can’t see him spearheading victories against the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munchen and Manchester City.
Manchester United fans: Is Mata really the man to take this team back to the top?
