Juan Mata aiming for 10+ goals for Manchester United this season
Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata insists he is ready to share the burden of scoring goals with the club captain Wayne Rooney this season.
With the departures of Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao the Red Devils are ready to use Wayne Rooney as their leading striker for the season, with the 29 year old declaring himself ready for the challenge.
Juan Mata believes he can score a considerable amount of goals which will ease little bit pressure of Rooney. The former Chelsea man, who scored 10 goals in all competitions last season, has a good goal record in England at both Chelsea and United and says he is looking to extend that good record into next season by getting into double figures once again.
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The Spaniard was talking to media in Chicago, where United are currently on the final leg of their pre-season tour, when he said;
"“I always try to score.I’ve always done that. I used to play as a striker when I was a kid and every team I played for I had a good goals record and it’s the same at United.”“This season I will aim again to score a good number and to help the team with assists and goals."
Despite being in and out of the first team last year, Mata was able to score ten goals after fighting his way back into the team towards the back-end of the campaign. The impending departure of Angel Di Maria to Paris Saint-Germain will surely give Mata more chances this term. He believes it is a fantastic achievement for a midfielder if he is able to get into double figures in a season.
"“I had a 21-goal season at Chelsea and another with Valencia when I scored 14, so I’ve always been lucky enough to score a good number for a midfielder.I always try to score more than 10 goals in a season. I’ve nearly always done that and I think that’s a good number for a midfielder.”“Last season I tried to score as many as I could and it’s always a big part of my game. I will try again to be in and around the box and score again.”"
Mata has been used in an unusual role of a false winger on the right hand side of the attacking trio. The Spaniard reveals that he is happy to play in this new role and he also applauded the right-backs who help him to be able to drift centrally where he is most dangerous.
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"“It just depends how we shape.I used to play on the right and I used to play as a No.10 and on the left. Right now I’m very comfortable to be playing on the right.“I try to cut inside with either Antonio or Matteo overlapping me and I feel very comfortable there, trying to link with the No.10 and the striker.”"
With new midfield acquisitions Mata believes Manchester United’s squad is a stronger unit now and is ready to fight with the other top 4 clubs in the league. He also suggested that he is ready to fight for his place in the team as he has always done with the national squad and in his former team Chelsea.
"“We’ve signed some very good players. We have a good mix now of young players and experienced ones. So we have a very well-balanced squad.Maybe there are a few more coming, I don’t know, but I’m sure it will be big enough and good enough to face all of the competitions.“I’ve faced a lot of midfield competition with the national team and at Chelsea, but definitely we have a very good midfield at United now.The way we’re playing, with two central midfielders, we have a very compact unit.”"
Manchester United play their last game of the tour against PSG on Wednesday. After that they directly start the Premier League campaign against Tottenham on August 8th and Mata believes that would be a very important game ahead of their Champions league qualifiers.
"“The most important game is Tottenham. Then we have our second match against Aston Villa, and we need to be fit enough, mentally and physically, for the battle in Europe, because it’s going to be a battle.”"