Manchester United have slipped back into third place on the Premier League table with a 1-1 draw against Leicester City, and playmaker Juan Mata feels that the Red Devils would be unable to win the league if they keep dropping points like this.
Manager Louis van Gaal has been criticised for his tactics, which have made Manchester United one of the best defensive units in the country, but has also led them to become a bit unimaginative up front.
“There’s still a long way to go but if we want to fight for the Premier League title we have to win these kind of games,” Mata wrote on his blog, on Manchester United’s . official website.
“Things are very tight at the top of the table. It’s not easy to defeat the teams who are up there, as we could see at Leicester last Saturday,” he continued.
Mata also went on to write that Manchester United’s next match against West Ham becomes extremely crucial due to the draw at Leicester City, and that they need to win it.
“The next game – therefore the most important one right now – is on Saturday against West Ham,” he wrote. “They have had a good start this season and have won more games away than at home. They have a very good manager and some of their players are very talented, but our aim is to get the three points and we have the whole week to work well on this game.”
Mata happy for Vardy, but rues the record-breaking goal
While congratulating Jamie Vardy of Leicester City, who made Premier League history by scoring in 11 consecutive matches, Mata also said that he rues the goal as it meant another draw for his team.
“Congratulations to Jamie Vardy for breaking the record of such a great player as Ruud van Nistelrooy – scoring in 11 consecutive league games deserves a lot of credit,” wrote Mata. “Sadly his goal made us drop two points, otherwise we would be leading the table now.”
“We believed we could win but at the end we only got one point, despite taking the initiative most of the time.”