Think this is clearly the case. Mata was our best player last year but I think Oscar has more potential and he has started the season very well. I'd also rather see Mata wide and Oscar in the middle than the other way around. Oscar really needs to play central, whether that be at '10' or deeper. Oscar's work rate and defensive side is getting him the nod at the moment and he is getting in amongst the goals to. Just hope the Mata situation resolves itself quickly as well all want to see him in the team.
Agree, Oscar has been brilliant which is no surprise since he's been played in his best position rather than stuck out wide. I think this Mata 'saga' is the most boring piece of publicity I've ever experienced as a football fan.
Yep, dull as dishwater. But it'll carry on until Mata gets regular games and the transfer window in january will be unbearable. Hopefully Mata will have a blinder in the Swindon game.
Think he needs a run of games to have an impact tbh. Think it was also unfair of Mourinho to have put pressure on him to do well as if he doesn't, he's clearly not getting another shot this weekend!
That won't make a difference. It is obvious that Jose doesn't like Mata. What else does he need to do to prove himself? Do a dance routine for Jose in the ballroom? He will not have mata as his first choice and that's a banker.
Benitez played a counter attacking game with essentially two banks of four. This meant Hazard and Oscar had to spend more time defending. I don't agree with the decision to drop Mata but I can see what Jose is trying to do. Oscar doesn't the kind of incisive passing as Mata nor the vision and link up play but he is a more versatile player and he presses well and knows how to tackle. Jose doesn't want us sitting deep and countering ala Benitez, he wants us to play higher up the pitch so we can dictate games. The best form of defence is offence, the higher up the pitch we play, the less pressure it puts on our defence. Piqué and Puyol used to go 10-15 minutes without even having to defend.
Well spotted.Mata will be off like a brides nightie come January, and good luck to him, He will go to Napoli and Luiz to Barca.
Hope Jose does his old mate Brendan a good turn and let's us have him in January - Extremely unlikely I know, but he'd be a perfect fit for us! I cannot for the life of me work out why Jose is anti-Mata, very, very odd.
i'd have thought the United wums would be more worried about their own team this week but alas, they are still obsessed with us for some reason.
It just doesn't make any sense though. Surely you play to his strengths and play him in his best position. Mata is one of the best on the right side of MF in the league. I can't work out what Maureen is thinking, I like the fact that he stopped the spuds from getting Willian, but then he's seen less action than Mata ??? Is it just ego getting in the way or is there some sort of plan that only he can see ?
So basically, Mata plays alright against Swindon. He's obviously still getting into his stride. Loads of news papers are now claiming he has shown Jose he should be playing. I'm sorry, this is just blatant bias - he didnt make much of a statement, and now when he doesn't start against Totts there will be media outrage. Torres and Essien were fanatastic btw.
And Moyes has destroyed your entire team. No wonder RVP is picking up mysterious injuries. He doesn't want to play in that embarrassing team.
