Centre-back: Alongside Sakho stands a man who has been far less patchy in recent times: Manchester United's Chris Smalling. A regular for his club, he's not far off being a regular starter in Roy Hodgson's first-choice England XI. In United's 3-0 win over Everton, Smalling was a man in control of his surroundings at Goodison Park, marshalling United's back line confidently and competently. Mariner says Smalling is "playing as well as ever" for his club, while Nicol adds that the 25-year-old is growing in "stature and consistency."
Centre Midfield: High praise indeed for Morgan Schneiderlin from Nicol, who says: "I wish he wore the other red jersey." (If you haven't worked it out, Steve desperately wishes the Frenchman was a Liverpool player, not a Manchester United one.) Schneiderlin grabbed his first top-flight goal for his new club in the win at Everton, tucking home a loose ball with the aplomb of a striker. But it was his defensive work that drew praise from Mariner, who thinks he offered "total protection" to the back four.
"[My selection] is dependable on the game plan, it is dependable on the qualities of the opponents, which players I want to select for the lineup and also dependable on the defeat of the Dutch team," he explained.
United face CSKA Moscow in the Champions League and Van Gaal is likely to field a similar team.
"Now they have played very well, so I am not stupid, I won't change too much on Wednesday," he added.
Mata -- who has scored 18 goals and set up another 11 in 57 Premier League appearances for United, and was named the club's Player of the Month for September -- does not mind being considered a "luxury player" with his stats.
"If a luxury player is a player who scores and assists and has good stats, then I'm happy to be a luxury player," he said at a Special Olympics project in Madrid.
Mata has either scored or assisted 74 goals in the past five seasons -- a higher total than any other Premier League midfielder during that period -- and says that "creative players" are unfairly blamed for defeats.
"I've scored as many goals for Manchester United in the Premier League as for Chelsea, but in something like 30 games less," he said. "In terms of scoring and assisting I'm quite happy with the stats, and stats don't lie. They are facts.
"I want luxury players in my team. I like creative players, and players who do different things. It's easy to say certain players are luxuries, especially when you've lost a game. When you lose, a certain kind of player -- the creative players -- always get the blame."
Mata -- who has been operating predominantly in a wide-right position this season under Louis van Gaal -- said that he was not given an explanation for his Chelsea exit, but is grateful for his time at Stamford Bridge and is targeting future silverware with United.
"I've not tried to prove anyone wrong," he added. "I didn't speak with Mourinho like he has spoken with you, for example. I never had any explanations and didn't ask for them.
"But what is past is past. I will always be very grateful to Chelsea for everything they did for me, but I had a chance to join a great club and am enjoying it here.
"I've got a good record with goals and assists and hopefully we can reach a point where we win trophies, which is what I did at Chelsea."
发表于 18-10-2015 10:21 PM
比利时到底有多少魔兽？？？
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