Will the Spaniard become an instant saviour of Man United’s ailing season, or are their problems too deep-rooted for even Juan Mata to fix?
Gameweek 22 review
If you’re going to score your first hat-trick for your new club and double your tally of league goals for the season, you might as well do against the Champions, which is exactly what Samuel Eto’o managed against Man United in a game that seems like it took place ages ago at this stage.
Eto’s treble was enough for 17 points and the status of top scorer in the last gameweek, one better off than Santi Cazorla after his double against Fulham and two better than Yohan Cabaye, who scored what look like his last goals in a Newcastle shirt in the victory over West Ham.
It was a good week for goalscoring midfielders, with Adam Johnson and Yaya Toure (both on 13 points) muscling their way into the Dream Team’s five-man midfield alongside Jason Puncheon, who put his hilarious penalty woes behind him with the only goal of the game in Crystal Palace’s victory over Stoke.
Norwich’s Ryan Bennett also scored the only goal in the Canaries’ win over Hull and, allied to a clean sheet, it was enough for a 15-point tally and a place alongside West Brom’s Diego Lugano and Gary Cahill (both on 10 points) in defence, in front of his Norwich team-mate John Ruddy (8) between the sticks.
Last but not least, meanwhile, Emmanuel Adebayor continued his recent run of ridiculously good form with two goals against Swansea and a 13-point haul for a place alongside Eto’o in attack.
J-League
In a league containing as much high quality as the J-League undoubtedly does, it only takes one slip before you’re looking at a slide down the table and former leader Stuart McGoldrick found that out to his cost last time out.
After his charges, Champions 2013/14, recorded an average enough 58 points, they were usurped at the top of the J-League table by Barry Curran’s Gambitbeer, whose three-pronged attack of Suarez, Sturridge and Aguero delivered the goods.
Barry and Stuart have been neck and neck at the top for a while now and look set to be for some time to come, but the gap between them and the chasing pack is closing, with a fine 82-point haul from Anthony Murphy’s Sea Dogs!!! pushing them within 20 points of Stuart in third place.
Anthony has a bit of breathing space from Paul McInaw’s Poppycock Wednesday and Sean Jackson’s Bloemfontein Celtic in fourth and fifth respectively, but with the end of the transfer window yet to come and many managers yet to avail of their Winter Wildcard, things could change dramatically in the coming weeks.
J-League Top 5:
- Gambitbeer- Barry Curran: 1,504 points
- Champions 2013/14 – Stuart McGoldrick: 1,497 points
- Sea-Dogs!!! – Anthony Murphy: 1,477 points
- Poppycock Wednesday – Paul McInaw: 1,460 points
- Bloemfontein Celtic – Sean Jackson: 1,451 points
Where’s your mind over Mata?
It’s amazing the effect that the arrival of a blue-chip signing like Juan Mata can have on a club and the general mood of its fanbase. Manchester United may have been knocked out of the Capital One Cup by bottom of the table Sunderland last week, they may have lost three games in January and lie a barely conceivable seventh in the table, but the arrival of Mata has created a significant level of excitement ahead of the visit of Cardiff City to Old Trafford this evening.
And, although he might have cost a lot of money and has spent most of the season combing an ass groove in the Chelsea bench, there is no doubt that the Champions have landed a player of serious quality.
Chelsea’s Player of the Year in the last two seasons, Mata contributed 17 goals and 34 assists in two league campaigns with the Blues and would no doubt have added to the two assists he provided this season had he been given more game time under Jose Mourinho.
The official Fantasy Premier League website are obviously quite generous when it comes to what constitutes an assist because an article in the UK Independent credits Mata with having created 27 goals during his time at Chelsea, just two less than the most prolific provider of goals, his compatriot David Silva, who hasn’t spent half the season rotting on the bench.
The same Independent article points out that only five players have been involved in (scored or assisted) more goals than Mata (45) since he arrived in England: his new teammates Robin van Persie (84) and Wayne Rooney (72), Luis Suarez (70), Sergio Aguero (64) and Theo Walcott (49), pretty illustrious company, we think you’ll agree.
Whether Mata can have the midas touch on a dramatically under-performing United remains to be seen but there are a number of factors in his favour to suggest that he can. For one, there’s the imminent return of Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney, who have been sorely missed in recent weeks and will relish the chance to get on the end of his searching passes.
Secondly, he’s pretty much guaranteed to start every game in a team crying out for his sort of guile, ingenuity and creativity and although it’s hard to tell what represents an easy game for United these days, their next six fixtures include games against Cardiff, Stoke, Fulham, Crystal Palace and West Brom.
As far we can see, the positives of introducing Mata outweigh the negatives and, considering that he is £1 million cheaper than he was at the beginning of the season and that a lot of managers still have a winter wildcard yet to play, we expect that he’ll be prove a very popular choice in the coming weeks.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:
Top Dollar: Juan Mata (£9.5 million). We’ve waxed lyrical about him above, but if you needed more convincing, he has a habit of scoring on his debut, having netted in his first league and Champions League games for Chelsea following his arrival at Stamford Bridge.
Mid-Range: Christian Benteke (£8.7 million). Before a goal drought that lasted from September until New Year’s Day, Benteke was one of the most prolific players in the league and he appears to be back on track with two goals in as many games.
Bargain Basement: Adam Johnson (£6.6 million). Having done damn all up until Christmas, Johnson has turned his season around in 2014, with four goals, two assists, six bonus points and 35 points in total in his last two games.
Irish Pick: Shane Long (£5.6 million). Hasn’t scored as often as he would like or he probably should have this season, but he’ll want to convince Steve Bruce he was right to splash out on him with a debut goal away to Crystal Palace this evening.
Captain’s Pick: Eden Hazard (£10.6 million). Hazard is in the middle of a brilliant run of form and with three goals in his last five games, he could do serious damage to West Ham at Stamford Bridge.
