Juan Mata Has Adapted His Game to Ensure His Survival at Manchester United

There has been more than one instance this season when it's looked like Juan Mata could be on his way out at Manchester United.

When Angel Di Maria arrived from Real Madrid for a British-record fee in August. When Radamel Falcao followed a few days later. 

When Mata was left on the bench for the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium in November, or when he scored the winner against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford and celebrated, not with a smile but a frustrated fist pump.

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He was hauled off at half-time against Queens Park Rangers in January and didn't start another Premier League game for two months. It became easy to conclude, as he sat on the sidelines for five of United's six games in February, that Louis van Gaal just didn't fancy him.

He's not Van Gaal's player, rather one he inherited from David Moyes. The Dutchman has never been under any obligation to pick him, simply to find a team capable of finishing in the top four.

Mata might still be on the bench had Di Maria not been suspended for Tottenham Hotspur's visit to Old Trafford. But his impact in the last two games, especially his two stunning goals against Liverpool, mean it's likely it will be Di Maria who's left out when United play Aston Villa on Saturday.

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Mata's talent has never been in question. You don't win the World Cup, European Championship and the Champions League without it. But it's his adaptability that has brought him back into Van Gaal's plans.

His favourite position is as a genuine No. 10. But it's on the right wing where he played so well against Tottenham and Liverpool. The general thinking at the time was that Jose Mourinho sanctioned the sale of Chelsea's two-time Player of the Year because he doubted whether Mata could ever be converted into a wide midfielder.

You imagine he might have had a pang of regret as he watched Mata come off the right wing to score two wonderful goals at Anfield.

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Had Mata's exile from the team gone on any longer, stories linking him with a move away from Old Trafford would have gathered more and more pace. And there would have been plenty of takers for a 26-year-old in the prime of his career.

But in the last two games, important games in United's quest for Champions League football, Mata has finally found his place. After looking like the odd man out for so long, he was in the right place at the right time to ensure he still has a future under Van Gaal.