Juan Mata Has 1 Month to Save His Manchester United Career

As Wayne Rooney trudged back to the tunnel after being shown a red card against West Ham at Old Trafford last Saturday, you could have forgiven Juan Mata, who was watching from the sidelines, for allowing himself a wry smile.

Players want their teams to win of course, but most are also inherently selfish and simply just want to be on the pitch so they can do their job.

At that moment Mata would have immediately realised Rooney’s loss would be his gain, and ensure him a quick return to the United starting XI.

Rooney will miss all of United’s fixtures in October against Everton, West Bromwich Albion and Chelsea. The earliest game he will be available for is the short trip to Manchester City on November 2.

Less than a month ago I wrote that when Louis van Gaal had his full complement of attacking players to choose from, Juan Mata would be the odd man out.

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This was sadly proven correct against both Leicester City and West Ham when Van Gaal relegated Mata to the bench to accommodate Rooney in a more withdrawn role behind Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie.

I say sadly, because I firmly believe Mata is a wonderful and inventive talent approaching his best years, who still has so much to offer United.

Mata’s recent demotion seemed terribly harsh as it followed a run of form in which he had scored eight goals in his previous 10 appearances.

But Van Gaal clearly believed he could prosper without him, and with United having no Champions League, or even Capital One Cup games during the week, Mata was having to face up to a prolonged spell of sitting glumly in the stands each weekend.

But now with Rooney’s enforced absence throughout October Mata has been given what would appear one final chance to prove he deserves to start every game.

Mata brings more culture and finesse to the No. 10 role than Rooney, and, crucially, his passing is also better and more incisive.

The Spaniard’s game benefits from having players of pace and movement around him, and he now has that following the arrivals of Falcao, Angel Di Maria and Ander Herrera. 

So far Mata has only started one game for United since the close of the transfer window, against QPR nearly three weeks ago, and he thrived behind the strikers at the top of a midfield diamond and scored in a comprehensive 4-0 win.

His best season for Chelsea came in 2012-13, when he played in the same position behind the strikers and scored an impressive 20 goals. 

Mata will almost certainly step in to Rooney’s position against Everton this weekend, and by the end of October we should have a clearer idea of whether he has cemented his position in Van Gaal’s side or whether he could be shipped out of Old Trafford as early as January, exactly a year after his surprise arrival.

The next three games represent an audition Mata simply has to succeed at.