Mata Not Surprised By Harsh Criticism

Juan Mata says Manchester United are focused on proving the critics wrong, starting with Saturday's Premier League encounter against champions Leicester City.

The Spain international has seen the team and individuals face some real flak in the wake of three defeats in eight days but the win at Northampton Town in the EFL Cup has at least quietened some of the negative noise surrounding the club.

When asked by MUTV if he was surprised by the intensity of the criticism, Mata replied: "No, because I feel there are always a lot of people talking about Manchester United, obviously one of the biggest clubs in the world.

"There is a lot of repercussion when we do well and not do that well. Obviously, there were a lot of people waiting for Manchester United defeats and we got it and have to face it and deal with it. Me, as a professional footballer, and all my team-mates, we don't focus on that.

"We don't focus too much on what people say or journalists write and all those things. If you start thinking about every single comment, you'd go crazy and can't play football. You have to focus on what you have to do on the pitch, train well, get ready for the game and then deliver your best level."

Many non-United fans will have been hoping for an upset at Northampton in midweek, and their hopes may have been raised when the Cobblers drew level at 1-1, but Mata was understandably happy there was no giant-killing to give more fuel to the critics.

"There are a lot of people waiting for us to do wrong and we have to show them that they can keep waiting," he added. "We want to win the tournaments we are in. We can have one or two bad games but, at the end of the day, we know we have a good squad that can compete and hopefully we can do that. We know that, in some kinds of our football, we can improve and that's what we are trying to do.

"When you lose, your level of confidence is not the same as if you win but it's not as bad as people want us to be and, when we win, it's not as good as some people want us to think. So, for me, the key is just to have this balance and to know what we can improve and what we are doing well to try to win football games."