Mata/Rooney

Originally Posted by believe

I think a rotating front three of Mata, Rooney and Falcao will work well. It would probably work just as well with RvP in there for someone too but something seems amiss with him at the minute.

What we need to do is £#%&! off this wing back situation until we get two decent wingbacks and stick to a 4-4(1-2-1, 2-2, 3-1 wotevs) - 2 formation.

For the Chelsea games I'd go with a rigid as a formation as possible to try and negate the midfield and hope that the talent we have going forward is enough to break them on the counter.

My perfect line up would be:

De Gea
Rafael - Evans - Rojo - Shaw ()
Herrera - Blind - di Maria
Mata - Rooney - RvP (or Falcao)

With the front three constantly rotating to assist the midfield.

That midfield will be overrun by chelsea. Need Carrick in there desperately. Move di maria to the front 3 in place of mata.

Originally Posted by vangaalsbigballs

That midfield will be overrun by chelsea. Need Carrick in there desperately. Move di maria to the front 3 in place of mata.

There's nothing to suggest that having Carrick in there will strengthen us one bit especially considering he's not played for so long. If strengthening the midfield is the only way to stop them then we may as well throw Fellaini or Fletcher in there which isn't going to do any of us good.

What we need is for the back four to remain a back four and for Rafael and Shaw to stop getting caught so high up the pitch, they are simply not good enough for that role. If we keep the discipline at the back then that midfield will be more than comfortable.

I agree we need defenders whose primary responsibility is to defend, though rafael is a good wing supplement, but the problem with that midfield above is that herrera and di maria are attacking midfielders at best. a tight midfield of valencia-carrick-blind with herrera in front of them, di maria free to roam either wing and one striker would be a far better set up. personally, I would pick rooney and tell him to stay the £#%&! up front (and hope he finishes better than for england).

if fletcher or fellaini gets anywhere near the team against chelsea or city, van gaal should resign.

Is Rooney available? I thought he was still banned

Originally Posted by believe

Is Rooney available? I thought he was still banned

true. he's only available for one of them. unless veep makes a miraculous recovery, falcao for the other then.

He is still banned. We know RVP will start. So not sure why people are just dropping him from the line up. And most like falcao will start too. We are not going to drop him after getting him on loan for a year at such a high price.

Hope its

--------carrick--------blind--------Herrera----
--------van persie---falcao-----di maria----

As much as I like mata you can see why Maureen got shot of him(and for top money too)but that's what world class managers do as I think LVG will even if it's unpopular with a fans favourite as he is here and was at chelski.
I'd be surprised if he is still here next season but the greater good of the team is needed and we can't afford luxury players these days
Italy or Spain suits mata and he will do well over there

Originally Posted by jem

if fletcher or fellaini gets anywhere near the team against chelsea or city, van gaal should resign.

Think Fellers will be the first name on the sheet tbh.

Have you seen the the size of Chelsea? Fellers behind Falcao nailed on.

Fair play to Fellaini he gave us a bit of much needed steel in midfield that you need against the west brom,Stoke and West Ham type teams away from home.(which herrera and mata did not)
Chelski though is a different ball game he could have a good game or just give fouls away and get sent off.

Originally Posted by HotChip

Think Fellers will be the first name on the sheet tbh.

Have you seen the the size of Chelsea? Fellers behind Falcao nailed on.

Wouldn't be surprised if Valencia started either .

Mata would benefit from a more mobile side around him, if he's going to be (inevitably) slow, then the rest of them need to compensate. He's not magically going to get quicker is he.

Unfortunately none of our forward line, Di Maria aside, have any kind of pace.

So even though his scoring record is comparable to any of the attackers since he joined & he's made a decent amount of assists everyone looks at the price tag & wants more. Not sure you can blame anyone for that, for £37m I want to see some magic from the little chap.

I don't want to see him leave, but unless you stick a pacey, attacking forward to his right & a more mobile forward than van Persie in front of him it's more of the same.

Originally Posted by Red Al

Fair play to Fellaini he gave us a bit of much needed steel in midfield that you need against the west brom,Stoke and West Ham type teams away from home.(which herrera and mata did not)

Chelski though is a different ball game he could have a good game or just give fouls away and get sent off.

Are we not playing them at football? Bit unfair if we aren't.

Lot of words to the effect that Mata is crap and we were mugged by Chelsea. That free kick that he ballooned over the bar on Monday was diabolical.

Originally Posted by guerreiro

Lot of words to the effect that Mata is crap and we were mugged by Chelsea. That free kick that he ballooned over the bar on Monday was diabolical.

Is it a confidence thing then? When he was Chelasea player of the year his set pieces were really good.

the last fk we scored from was shit as well tbh and should have been caught never mind just saved

mata scored a beauty last season at newcastle iirc


amazing how often the top players balloon them over the bar - or in some cases miss the target wide by about 6ft. No doubt it's cus they're aiming for postage stamp, a particular spin on the ball or for an exact trajectory over a particular point of the wall etc

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

the last fk we scored from was shit as well tbh and should have been caught never mind just saved

mata scored a beauty last season at newcastle iirc


amazing how often the top players balloon them over the bar - or in some cases miss the target wide by about 6ft. No doubt it's cus they're aiming for postage stamp, a particular spin on the ball or for an exact trajectory over a particular point of the wall etc

Originally Posted by dodger

Is it a confidence thing then? When he was Chelasea player of the year his set pieces were really good.

Well, looks like he's been completely removed from set piece duties for some time and that was one of his main strengths; won't be long till he's just got 'nice bloke' left in his locker of tricks.

Originally Posted by Baron

Mata would benefit from a more mobile side around him, if he's going to be (inevitably) slow, then the rest of them need to compensate. He's not magically going to get quicker is he.

Unfortunately none of our forward line, Di Maria aside, have any kind of pace.

So even though his scoring record is comparable to any of the attackers since he joined & he's made a decent amount of assists everyone looks at the price tag & wants more. Not sure you can blame anyone for that, for £37m I want to see some magic from the little chap.

I don't want to see him leave, but unless you stick a pacey, attacking forward to his right & a more mobile forward than van Persie in front of him it's more of the same.

If only we'd had a young, quick, powerful striker just waiting for the opportunity to blossom

Originally Posted by Crumps

How many goals has Mata scored when Rooney hasn't been on the pitch?

I honestly thought Mata would do well stepping up in his absence but he looks as bad as he has ever done in a red shirt.

Does Rooney's presence afford him a bit more space in his preferred positions?

I like Mata but he really does need to start performing when given a chance.

Originally Posted by barrington avenue

Mata gets a lot of space but unfortunately he seems to have lead boots on....ive always been a fan but id rather have kept Kagawa .....i wont miss Mata when he goes

Both correct. I almost feel bad for Mata, he seems like such a lovely bloke but the truth is, he is not a good fit for the side and what LVG is trying to do. He will probably be sold in the summer or maybe even January, I just hope he goes back to Spain and we treat the guy with a bit of class.

Originally Posted by jem

a tight midfield of valencia-carrick-blind with herrera in front of them, di maria free to roam either wing and one striker would be a far better set up. personally, I would pick rooney and tell him to stay the £#%&! up front (and hope he finishes better than for england).

if fletcher or fellaini gets anywhere near the team against chelsea or city, van gaal should resign.

I agree I think Tony adds some bit to the midfield. Herrera is so good with the ball at his feet he should be further up the pitch, and Di Maria can then roam a bit and play off Rooney (don't you dare £#%&!ing drop into midfield) or Falcao.


Will never happen though. I thought Tony was excellent in midfield fwiw.