Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy has heaped praise on Man United attacker Juan Mata after his display in the 2-2 draw against Chelsea on Saturday.
Talking on the BBC show (Sat, BBC1, 10.30pm)) Murphy said, “He’s only started one of the last seven which is amazing considering his talent.
“He’s got a coolness and calmness which no other United player has. In the second half his end product became really important.
“What he does in that no.10 roles is he finds those little pockets. And he defended today which he’s been accused of not doing in the past. Clever play, super footballer. When he got taken off they lost something.”
OPINION
Mata is a lot better than the number of starts he’s getting for United at the moment. Many fans would like to see manager Jose Mourinho play a more attacking game and Mata would be at the heart of this. He brings something to the table that no other United player does, and as well as the calmness that Murphy is talking about, he moves the play forward and links the midfield and attack. Mourinho has to play more forward-thinking football and he has to give Mata more starts. If he does those two things we can see a crisis at the club being potentially averted and United moving back up the table where they belong. They were unlucky not to win the game yesterday which would have been massive at Stamford Bridge and taken Chelsea’s unbeaten record away. Only late drama and a Ross Barkley goal in the 96th minute stopped them from their best result of the season so far.