Mata should be Man Utd's main man in the middle

It is going to be very interesting to see how Manchester United boss David Moyes uses his new £37m signing Juan Mata.

When everybody is fit, we might see a change of formation to fit Mata in, from 4-4-2 to 4-3-1-2.
I would put Mata in the hole as the forward behind the two strikers because the last two years he has played there as the number 10 for Chelsea and that is his best position.

But, by signing the Spaniard, Moyes has given himself the option of playing a variety of formations - it just shows how one signing can totally transform the team.
As well as 4-3-1-2, Moyes could play 4-2-3-1, with Jones and Carrick the holding midfielders and Mata, Rooney and Adnan Januzaj behind Van Persie.
Or he could go 4-4-2 and play Mata and Januzaj on the flanks with Carrick and Jones in the centre of midfield and Rooney with Van Persie up front.
The bottom line is that Mata creates lots of chances - 227 in 82 Premier League games since he moved to Stamford Bridge in 2011 - and has made 27 assists. Only Manchester City's David Silva (29 assists and 252 chances created) has made more in either category in the same time.
We are used to seeing United attack with wingers and put in a lot of crosses, something Moyes has kept doing since taking over from Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer - his side have made a total of 473 in their 22 Premier League games, the most in the top flight.
Mata is not an old-school winger but if United play 4-3-1-2 or 4-2-1-3 it is their full-backs who would be expected to bomb forward and give the team attacking width, a bit like Aleksandar Kolarov and Pablo Zabaleta do for Manchester City.

Manchester United crosses
	Crosses per game	% successful
2011-12	21.7	20.5%
2012-13	20.3	21.2%
2013-14 (so far)	21.5	18.8%

Would it work? I think so. United need to play in a shape that suits their best players, and that formation will suit United perfectly.
That is certainly the case as far as Patrice Evra and Rafael are concerned at left-back and right-back, because attacking is the strongest part of their game anyway.
They have two strong holding midfielders in Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher who could sit in front of the defence with Phil Jones.
And that means David Moyes can play Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie up front. He has to pick those two and Mata, and find the way of getting the best out of all three of them.