A Reflection On Juan Mata’s Manchester United Career

Midnight on the Old Trafford pitch, and one man stood alone in the centre circle. Many of us dream of being in such a scenario, and the man in the scenario was one who had lived his dream. But the sun had now set on that dream, and there in the dusk light was Juan Mata recording his farewell video to Manchester United fans after his departure had been announced.

A stylish man, a stylish United introduction

Juan Mata was signed in January 2014 for what was at the time a club record transfer fee of £37.1 million and arrived at the club in serious style, touching down at Carrington in a helicopter.

His on-pitch debut was equally stylish, laying on an assist for Ashley Young in a 2-0 victory over Cardiff City. He would lay on a further four assists and score six goals for United before the season finished, ending with eleven goal contributions in the league for the club.

The Louis van Gaal era

The next two seasons would be the most prosperous of his Manchester United career. Mata contributed 15 goals and nine assists in the league under Louis van Gaal, two of those goals coming on the famed afternoon where El Mago turned Anfield into ‘Juanfield’.

After scoring once in the first-half, Mata doubled his, and United's, tally on the day with an outrageous bicycle kick.

That performance is probably the one United fans thank the Spaniard the most for, and being remembered for a great performance against Liverpool is always a major legacy boost at the club. To this day, Diego Forlan’s chant rings around Old Trafford frequently. 

Mata’s other great contribution in these seasons under van Gaal was his crucial equaliser in the 2016 FA Cup final against Crystal Palace, which took us to extra time.

It often goes under the radar because of Jesse Lingard’s brilliant winner, but had Mata not punched on Marouane Fellaini’s chested down ball in the box then Lingard wouldn't have got the chance.

It makes it somewhat poetic that Mata’s final appearance for the club came against the team he made his greatest contribution for us against, 1-0 loss aside.

Over these two years, despite often being used as a right winger rather than in his preferred number 10 role, Mata managed to consistently come up with big moments. The "LVG" days were not United’s finest, but Mata was a bright spark who gave United fans hope.

Moments such as the aforementioned two goals, his otherworldly flicked backheel volley assist against Wolfsburg, his goal against Manchester City in 2014/15 and many other flicks, tricks and moments where he made something out of nothing.

Under Jose Mourinho

When Jose Mourinho took over in the summer of 2016, there were concerns about Mata’s future at United, given that Mourinho was the one who sold him at Chelsea.

In the 2016 Community Shield against Leicester City, Mata being subbed off after having been a substitute initially heightened these concerns. However, as we know, he stayed at the club and scored the first Premier League goal of the Jose Mourinho era in a 3-1 win over Bournemouth.

That season he scored six league goals in 19 starts, and started nine matches on the way to United’s Europa League victory, including a start in the final. He also scored a crucial goal to send The Reds through against FC Rostov in the quarter-finals.

A winner against rivals Manchester City in the fourth round of the EFL Cup was another highlight, as well as scoring in the first leg of the semi-finals of the same competition against Hull City.

Whilst the number eight's league campaign may not have been as strong as his previous two, Mata continued to be a key player for the club, scoring invaluable goals in our two cup victories that season, just as he had in the previous year’s FA Cup victory.

In 2017/18, he was again mostly used on the right. Again, he kept his head down and worked his hardest for the club with his best performance being away to Leicester two days before Christmas, scoring two goals including an excellent free kick.

Even though he only contributed eight goals and assists in total, he was consistently a top performer. His ability to impact games outside of goal contributions is what makes him one of the finest number tens of his generation.

2018/19 was another season for the club that wasn’t so great, but Mata still produced in moments. On the opening day of the season against Leicester City, he assisted Luke Shaw’s first ever goal in professional football in a true feel-good moment, and came up with the goods in memorable comeback wins against Juventus and Newcastle, scoring from free kicks in both games to kickstart comebacks from 1-0 and 2-0 down for United. He got on the scoresheet against former club Chelsea at Old Trafford that season too.

A changing role under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Over the next three seasons his game time would become more and more limited as he aged, but he still provided great value not just in being available for rotation in cup games but also as an experienced figurehead who devoted a lot of his time to mentoring younger players as the next generation of youth looked to break through at Manchester United.

It is often joked about how Mata always posts players’ baby photos on their birthdays, but it is a testament to his close bond with his teammates.

Mata has been like a big brother to the younger squad members, he is extremely well respected at the club and in his appearances across these seasons, where he was often on the pitch with youngsters being given a chance to prove themselves, he was seen giving them advice and guiding them as they took their first steps into professional football.

Even in his limited cameos for the club, he still displayed the graceful technical ability and elite footballing brain that had made him a world class footballer in his prime years despite his fading legs.

In matches such as against Brentford at Old Trafford just last month in his final appearance for us at the ground, he still shone and proved that he is a top class footballer.

As a person, Juan Mata has always represented Manchester United in the best way he possibly could and has always given back to the club, fans and city of Manchester as a whole.

In 2017 he set up his Common Goal initiative where he pledged 1% of his weekly wages to charity and urged other footballers to join him, and since then the initiative has seen high-profile male and female footballers make the same pledge such as Paulo Dybala, Serge Gnabry and Vivianne Miedema. The company Adidas were another to join the initiative last year.

Mata and his father also part-owned a Spanish restaurant in Manchester city centre which was forced to close in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This all shows that Manchester United was not just a job for the midfielder. The club was his life and the city was his home. Juan has always had a special bond with the United fans, Spain is known for its warm temperatures and warm is one of the best words to describe Juan Mata off the pitch.

Even if he is on the bench and unlikely to come off it in a game, he always makes time to meet fans before and after matches, signing shirts and taking photographs.

They say once a red, always a red, and Juan Mata will very much always be a red. Even as he moves on the club will always be in his heart, and it would be no surprise to see the Spaniard return to the club after his retirement in some capacity.

Mata was signed for a club record fee as a world class player, and whilst it may not have truly lived up to the hype, he still gave United many great moments and was a key player in the limited success the club have had since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.

But unlike many others who joined and it didn’t truly work out for, Mata never turned his back. He always stuck around and gave his all, and for his loyalty he’ll always be appreciated by the Old Trafford faithful. As he departs now, we’ll forever wonder what could’ve been in another time with Juan Mata, as we have with too many other top players in the last decade. But he’s given us more than enough to say his time here was worth it, and for that we thank him. Farewell, Juan Mata Garcia.