Predicting the Future for Manchester United Attacker Juan Mata

Manchester United fans were largely delighted to capture the signing of Juan Mata from Chelsea just under a year ago, paying £37 million to bring him to Old Trafford where he was heralded as the new attacker to help the club get back to the top level.

It didn't quite go to plan straight away as United toiled in 2013-14, while this season Mata has had to make do with seeing his position chopped and changed as new boss Louis van Gaal looks for consistency and solidity in his side while making use of all available attacking talent.

Mata hasn't been the undroppable success that was expected of him at Old Trafford, and it is questionable whether he can reach his best level at the club at all.

Chelsea Best

Until Jose Mourinho returned and decided Mata didn't work hard enough for his team, the Spaniard was one of the most feared attackers in the Premier League.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

He created close to 100 chances for his Blues team-mates in 2012-13, scoring a dozen himself in the process as he roved and raged from the right or centre of the attacking line, targeting space, beating defenders for fun and showing tremendous end product in the final third.

Mata was unstoppable at times that season and still created chances the following campaign, though he was used with far less frequency and often only from the substitutes bench.

Since his move from Stamford Bridge, his game time has gone up somewhat, and he has scored 10 in only 26 games for United, but he still seems some distance from his best, partly as a result of circumstances and certainly as a result of a lack of trust.

Underused

The lack of consistency in United's tactics—partly forced, partly on account of the manager not yet knowing where he's going with the side—means there is no particular position Mata can make his own even if he performs well.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

He clearly would prefer to be operating in a central attacking capacity, but club captain Wayne Rooney is obviously a first pick if that specific role crops up. Wide from the right, depending on the system in any given game, he will have competition from Angel Di Maria, a player who simply cannot be dropped.

Mata has only managed 784 minutes of game time this season compared to 1,083 minutes for Robin van Persie—who has the same goal and assist tallies as Mata. You suspect that had Ander Herrera, Radamel Falcao or other offensive players not had injuries this term, Mata's game time might have been even lower.

As it is, that tally of minutes is the fifth-highest in United's squad—but three of the four above him are positional rivals in attack.

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Juan Mata: Has scored 4 goals from 11 attempts on goal in the Premier League this season

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) December 2, 2014"

He is playing partly because he's fit. He's a quality player, of course, but is shoe-horned into the team wherever the remaining spaces are. Mata is most certainly not the player United's attack is built around.

The Future

For this season, at least, it looks like Mata will have to put up with a second-fiddle role, coming into the team as and where Van Gaal needs him to do a job, whether that is wide, centrally, as a midfielder or a forward.

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Now 26 years old, Mata should be hitting the best years of his career between now and 2018, but it looks increasingly unlikely that it will happen for him at United given the players signed so far and the continued rumours linking them to other attacking options.

Perhaps only when Van Gaal is able to field a consistent system and personnel in the new year will we see whether United will most regularly play a diamond midfield, a variation of 4-3-3 or with a back three in place, but in each situation, it doesn't look as though Mata will be the first name on the team sheet in the No. 10 role or in the front line of attack.

The Spaniard will have no shortage of takers if he opts to depart Old Trafford, but whether that would be with clubs ready to challenge for trophies remains to be seen.

He likely wouldn't get into either Barcelona's front three or Real Madrid's attacking quartet on the form of the past year or so while United would doubtless be loath to sell to a divisional rival. Would Mata move to a second-rate side again, where he would star for sure but be unable to win trophies?

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Sevilla are monitoring Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata with a view to a January move for the 26-year-old. (Daily Mirror)

— Get Football News (@GetFootballNews) December 4, 2014"

He shouldn't want that. Somewhere, there must be a place for him in a top team—he's that good of a player.

Mata needs to break his current run of more than a year as a secondary figure in attacking sides to be the great he has already shown he can be. But for that, he needs the trust of the manager to allow him to flourish, something he hasn't had at Old Trafford this season and which doesn't look like changing.

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