Given Juan Mata hasn’t started a Premier League for Manchester United all season and is leaving the club in three weeks, this wasn’t a great time to discover he might still have plenty to offer even at 34.
For the first time in a while, the United attack played with fluency and invention against Brentford and it was Mata knitting so much of it together.
This was a game played at an end-of-season tempo, entertaining for its openness but also not as demanding physically as a January fixture when prizes are still on the line. So it suited Mata, in other words.
READ MORE: Ronaldo gesture shows United how much they will miss Matic
But the effortless ease with which he controlled this game when United attacked was an interesting contrast to the frenetic nature of the play when it’s Bruno Fernandes operating in the No. 10 role.
Come the first day of next season and the start of what needs to be an Erik ten Hag revolution and Fernandes will almost certainly be back in that kind of role, but it does feel like there is merit to the Portuguese playmaker taking a lead from Mata’s copybook and prioritising possession as well as a desire to create every time he has the ball.
Taking that extra touch and sometimes playing a simple pass allowed United more time to build attacks, getting more men forward and more creative movement to try and unpick an opposition defence.
It’s been noticeable in recent weeks that Cristiano Ronaldo has begun venturing further away from the opposition penalty area to try and get involved in the build-up play and he was popping up on the right and the left here, allowing Fernandes and Anthony Elanga to take up more central positions.
Mata is one of this quartet that we know won’t be at the club next season and you’d say there are no cast-iron guarantees around Ronaldo right now. For the first time since 2002/03, he will have to accept playing his football outside of the Champions League if he is to see out the second year of his contract.
His recent performances and goalscoring record should be encouraging to Ten Hag, however, who isn’t short of options to play on the left-hand side of his attack.
The right-wing has been a more problematic position but Elanga showed flashes of quality down that flank against Brentford. He would regularly pull wide to hug his touchline and would drop in before spinning around to try and beat Mads Bech Sorensen for pace.
That was how he created the first goal of the night. His run beyond Sorensen was timed perfectly and he showed brilliant pace to reach the ball just before it crossed the byline, pulling a low cross back for Fernandes to convert.
The fact Fernandes immediately ran over to celebrate with Elanga, who by this time had slid off the pitch, was a sign of his appreciation and their link-up was a sign of things to come in a fluent attack.
Ten Hag can’t repeat it in terms of personnel next season, but the movement and pace at which United played going forward can certainly work as a template.
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