Ander Herrera with the assists, Juan Mata with the finish. Quality goal. Spanish connection. #mufc
— Devils of United (@DevilsOfUnited) November 19, 2016
Mata is a quality player. Was gutted when he left us.
— Alastair Paterson (@al_paterson) November 19, 2016
Juan Mata is just absolute quality, left Ozil for dead 😂
— Alex Turk (@_AlexTurk) November 19, 2016
Mata defensive side of the game has improved tremendously with his ability to close space and press intelligently.
— Shadad (@ForzaMundial) November 20, 2016
Mata is better than Ozil and today proved it. Dont @ me
— aѕн (@AshKaneSkittles) November 19, 2016
So is he better than Ozil? As an Arsenal fan I think it would be a bit biased for me to say one way or the other. What I can say is that aside from his goals, Ozil has not been at his best this season whereas Mata has excelled under Mourinho where many thought he may not play at all. The Spaniard has improved the defensive side of his game and he is capable of notching up goals and assists. This is promising for him, but can he really be considered better than Ozil?
Ultimately although Mata had a decent game yesterday, he needs to improve his goal and assist tally to be considered better than Ozil - as that is a good measurement of an attacking midfielder’s quality. The Spaniard only has 4 goals and 1 assist in 16 games this season and people are saying he has had a great season. In comparison people are suggesting Ozil has been poor this season but he has made 3 assists and scored 7 goals in 15 games for Arsenal. What does that tell you about the two players?