Manchester United: While Zlatan and Pogba grabbed headlines, Mata's brilliance was lost in the noise

Every Monday of a football season, Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata writes a blog post on his website, mostly about the matches from the weekend that just ended. This Monday, following United’s first home game of the 2016-’17 season, Mata wrote a blog post titled “The Theatre of Dreams never disappoints”. In it, he wrote, “As you can imagine, the atmosphere lived up to the expectations. Once again we could feel the support of the crowd; it is vital if we want to make of every game in Old Trafford a special day. It is also vital, in my opinion, to generate that ‘chemistry’ with our fans in order to make of our stadium a very tough place for the other teams.”

Mata shares a brilliant chemistry with the Old Trafford faithful, who have accepted the former Chelsea playmaker as one of their own, ever since the Spaniard moved from London to Manchester in January 2014. Despite being Chelsea’s Player of the Season for two successive years prior to joining United, he became an instant fan favourite at Old Trafford, even as the defending champions floundered haplessly following the departure of the club’s longest serving manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.

Mata, along with compatriot David de Gea, was one of the few success stories at United in the three despondent seasons since Ferguson’s departure. As the Reds fell from being 20-time league champions to seventh, fourth and fifth, failing to qualify for the Champions League in two of those seasons, Mata worked tirelessly in whatever role was given to him. From playing as the No. 10 at Chelsea, he was shuffled around the United midfield by managers David Moyes and Louis van Gaal, mostly occupying the right side and filling in any gaps created by his teammates.

Intelligent team player

In the 2016-’17 season, under new manager Jose Mourinho, who was at Chelsea when the club sold him to United, Mata has again played in the RM role, with captain Wayne Rooney occupying the No. 10 position. Not that Mata has ever complained. He has just gone about doing his business, which is to supply balls into the box and cover up for his fellow midfielders if they venture forward and leave any gaps.

Mata has an astute footballing brain and a keen eye for detail. He is one of the best readers of a football match. What he lacks in his 1.7-metre frame and speed, he makes up for with his intelligent brand of football and positive attitude. He has influenced both of United’s two league games played so far this season.

Against Bournemouth away on the opening weekend, he pounced on the opposition’s error and scored his team’s first goal of the season. “It was an important goal, a clever goal, a goal by somebody with a natural instinct to play football,” Mourinho said after the game. Against Southampton at home in the second match on Friday, the Spaniard did not score a goal, but was world-class nonetheless, passing the ball around and easily spotting his teammates’ runs into the Saints’ box, along with tracking the opposition.

The headlines were grabbed by the two new blockbuster signings – Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored two goals, and Paul Pogba, who impressed on his homecoming night. Mata’s brilliance, meanwhile, was barely noticed. Instead, the 28-year-old finds himself in the midst of transfer speculation, with reports being published by the dozen that he is surplus to Mourinho’s requirements, even though the Portuguese has continuously said that there is space in his squad for the Spaniard. A hug shared by the two after Mata was substituted in the second half of the Southampton game might just shush some of the speculation.

One of the things contributing to stories about Mata’s uncertain future at Old Trafford is United’s purchase of attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, another No. 10, this summer. With Rooney and young Jesse Lingard also available for the same role, Mata was pushed down the pecking order in the media, but not by Mourinho. The new manager has trusted Mata with two starts out of two in the league so far, and he hasn’t disappointed.

The question is: with Rooney occupying the No. 10 position, having Mata on his right and Anthony Martial on the left, where does that leave Mkhitaryan, who was bought for £30 million (Rs 264 crore)? It’s a difficult question, one that Mourinho must also be pondering over. On current form, Martial and Rooney definitely appear to be more susceptible to be benched, compared to Mata. Mkhitaryan and Mata would be the ideal pairing, swapping the No. 10 and right-wing roles through the match. If anything, Mata is much more useful playing in the centre, as he has the ability to bring others into play.

However, will Mourinho think of dropping his captain once Mkhitaryan has completed his integration and is ready to start? Don’t count against it. The Portuguese is not one to go by reputations.