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"I Can’t Explain What We Did To Him" - Manchester United Fans Are Convinced They Ruined Juan Mata

Home> Football

Published 10:10 26 Apr 2022 GMT+1

"I Can’t Explain What We Did To Him" - Manchester United Fans Are Convinced They Ruined Juan Mata

Mata has been at United for eight years.

Daniel Marland

Daniel Marland

Manchester United fans are convinced the club stopped Juan Mata from becoming one of the Premier League's greatest players.

Mata joined Chelsea from Valencia in 2011 and many wondered how he'd settle in England, given his sleight frame.

The Spain international ended up a key part of their Champions League winning campaign in his debut season and would win the Europa League a year later.

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In that second campaign, he scored 19 goals and provided an astonishing 35 assists in all competitions.

Mata was their most valuable player ahead of Frank Lampard as well as that season's new recruits, Oscar and Eden Hazard.

Roberto Di Matteo was sacked and replaced with Rafa Benitez on an interim basis but it didn't slow Mata down.

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What did, was the appointment of Jose Mourinho in the summer of 2013.

Mourinho didn't fancy Mata and let him join Manchester United for a then club-record £37 million in January 2014.

He's been at United ever since and despite being an experienced character in the dressing room, he's been on the fringes for a number of years.

Image
Alamy

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Mata's regularly been played on the right wing rather than an attacking midfielder at Old Trafford, which isn't the best use of his skillset.

The 33-year-old will go down as a great player, but supporters believe he was destined for something legendary.

One commented: "Juan Mata is the only player post Fergie I’ll agree United truly wasted."

Another said: "No way was he 25, are you being serious..."

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A third put: "United bought him as the best 10 in the league, played him nothing but RW and ruined his career. Low-key biggest football tragedy in years."

While someone tweeted: "We failed the nicest guy in football."

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Alamy

It's expected Mata will leave United in the summer when his contract expires.

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He's made eight appearances in a bitterly disappointing year for the Red Devils and they'll likely finish outside the top four.

Incredibly, Mata has only played for United 21 times in the Champions League after winning the competition with Chelsea.

A reminder of how far they've fallen and how many of their players are missing out on Europe's elite competition.

Featured Image Credit: LS Comps/Twitter

Topics: Manchester United, Chelsea, Premier League, Juan Mata

Daniel Marland
Daniel Marland

Daniel is a social editor for SPORTbible after moving from the writing team. Nearly scored past Stormzy at Old Trafford once.

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@DanMarland_

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