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What's the story?
Manchester United playmaker, Juan Mata has admitted that slow start to games are his side's biggest problem this season.
The Spaniard wants to the squad to buck the trend of pushing for goals in the final few minutes of matches. According to him, the Red Devils must begin their outings more positively.
In case you didn't know...
United continued their capricious start to the campaign when they lost out to Valencia by 2-1. Although they qualified, Jose Mourinho's men have dropped points way too often this term. As far as the Premier League is concerned, they are 16 points off the summit and 15 behind noisy neighbours, Manchester City.
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The heart of the matter
More often than not, they have gone behind by a goal or two and have depended on last-gasp heroics from a collective unit in themselves.
A horrific own-goal from Phil Jones doubled Valencia's lead, which meant that a late consolatory strike from Marcus Rashford wasn't enough for the English giants. They were far from their best in the opening exchanges, and Mata accepts that the inability to start matches more effectively is hurting the team.
He said:
"It seems like we always push in the last minutes, when players come off from the bench or the players that are on the pitch. It seems like we react in the last 10, 15 minutes and start creating more chances and getting closer and closer to score. That is what we did today but it was not enough."
The veteran midfielder added:
"We are disappointed because obviously it's more painful knowing that Juventus lost and if we had have won we would have finished first in the group. It was special for me personally coming back to Valencia and feel the love of the club and the supporters, so I am grateful for that, but disappointed overall. We reacted a bit too late."
What's next?
It's time to regroup as bragging rights are on the line next weekend when Manchester United travel to Anfield to lock horns with arch-rivals and table toppers, Liverpool.
