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Opinion Piece

“He is not the player we need”

mataThe signing of Juan Mata could prove to be a key factor in our challenge for top 4. My initial thought was “He is not the player we need”

As a versatile attacking midfielder, it’s clear that he has demonstrated at Chelsea he is at his best in behind the striker, with right midfield being his other position. To me, Wayne Rooney is a better a No. 10 than Juan Mata is. As for right midfield, despite Antonio Valencia underperforming this season he offers an incredible amount of pace, a trait Mata does not appear to have in mass.

I presume David Moyes is looking to play Mata in behind the striker. With that in mind as well as the hefty fee, I think David Moyes is adding him to the team to prepare us for life without Wayne Rooney. Is Wayne Rooney going to be a Manchester United player this time next year? I don’t think so.

Going back to my initial point, I still do not think Mata is the answer to resolve the problems that we are having in midfield.

Yes we are lacking creativity in the final third but we are also lacking a general in the centre of the park, someone who can dominate a midfield battle and really influence the players around him. Of course we could list the likes of ?lkay Gündo?an, Arturo Vidal and Paul Pogba, but it is imperative that we secure Champions League football next season but whether Juan Mata is the right man at the moment for us, we have to wait and see although there is no denying he will lift a demoralised group of players psychologically as well as providing quality and guile on the pitch; hopefully that will prove enough to get us into that top 4.