Mata: We have to be more ruthless
JUAN MATA insists that Manchester United must “kill” teams off more ruthlessly after Jose Mourinho’s huge rollicking.
The Reds return to action at Old Trafford today against Burnley after back-to-back disappointments.
Boss Mourinho blew his top on Saturday after seeing United concede a last-gasp equaliser in a 2-2 draw at 10-man Leicester, who had sub Daniel Amartey sent off.
That followed the holders’ shock midweek exit from the League Cup at Championship side Bristol City.
And it has delivered a miserable Christmas for Mourinho who blasted his team’s display at the King Power as “childish” and “immature”.
He fumed at United blowing several good chances when 2-1 up at Leicester after recovering from 1-0 down. And they desperately need victory today after the Foxes debacle saw them slip 13 points behind leaders Manchester City.
Mata, who scored twice at Leicester, admitted: “We didn’t kill it – and we should have killed it.
“If we win at the end, instead of drawing, we would have been saying that it was a fantastic game, that we came back and we did the most difficult thing which is to score twice after they went ahead.
“We get a point but it feels like a defeat because we were so close to winning and we had a chance to kill the game.”
United will hope to be more successful today as they boast the best Premier League record on Boxing Day with 19 wins, two draws and just two defeats.
It means United have won 59 points on Boxing Day – 15 more than the closest challengers Arsenal. Ahead of successive home games against Burnley and then Southampton on Saturday, Mata added: “You have to keep going and especially at Christmas time. You play every two or three days and obviously now we feel frustrated and angry.
“But we need to keep going with the will of finishing the game with a much better feeling.
“The last week hasn’t been very positive for us in terms of results. For the record, scoring two goals is something very special, even more because it was my 300th game in England, but we should never forget that football is a team sport – the individual success is based on team success.
“So, when we miss, we all miss, and when we succeed, it is the group which is winning. We will work hard in order to have many more wins than defeats in 2018.”