Louis Van Gaal Talks Juan Mata, Antonio Valencia After United Beat Wolfsburg

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal had a mixed reaction in store for his players after they rescued a 2-1 win over Wolfsburg on Wednesday, singling out Juan Mata and Antonio Valencia for contrasting reasons.  

Mata was particularly bright for the Red Devils—equalising from the penalty spot before setting up Chris Smalling's eventual winner—but the Guardian's Daniel Taylor quoted Van Gaal, who was in no rush to laud the Spaniard's display:

Mata has entered a rich vein of form of late and has now scored three goals and recorded two assists in his last three outings for the club, raising the question as to why the manager wouldn't be more generous to his star.

The maintenance of a player's ego is a fine craft for any manager, though, and ESPN's Alex Shaw suggested the need to keep Mata's feet on the floor was reason behind Van Gaal's withdrawn reaction:

Mata's two goals prior to Wednesday each came from open play, but the 27-year-old stepped up to take a crucial spot-kick against Wolfsburg instead of club captain Wayne Rooney, to the surprise of some.

There are clearly no bad feelings between the two, though, as Rooney was happy to shine praise upon his team-mate, per his official Instagram account:

But Van Gaal would explain it was merely Mata's "turn" to take on penalty duties, hinting that Rooney perhaps doesn't look like his most confident asset from 12 yards at present, per BT Sport Football:

Whereas the manager merely seemed nonplussed in the case of Mata, Van Gaal was more forthright when asked why makeshift right-back Valencia was taken off at half-time in place of Ashley Young.

Just four minutes into the match, the Ecuador international played several Wolfsburg attackers onside as Daniel Caligiuri was permitted to open the scoring. Van Gaal confirmed Valencia's withdrawal was purely tactical, per Taylor:  

It's well-founded Valencia moved to Old Trafford as a winger before converting into a wing-back over the last three seasons or so, and his lack of positional nous was clear for all to see on Wednesday.

Matteo Darmian has stood as Van Gaal's first-choice right-back since moving to the club from Torino this summer, and Sky Sports pundit Matt Le Tissier couldn't believe the error:

The mistake left some supporters so incensed that a fan set up a petition in an attempt to see Valencia sold during the winter transfer window, per Metro's Tom Olver.

Van Gaal's primary concern will be that United clinched a maximum three points from a tough test of their ability, but certain United stars undoubtedly emerged from the win with reputations more intact than others.