Yipe I agree Waine (22) is a better footballer than Mata (23), and likely has greater upside. But selecting a football team is about more than that. It's picking the best mix of players that suit the way you want to play, and also matching up with how your opponent plays.
Each international window, national team coaches are mulling all that over, and sometimes picking players at a lower club level or with poorer stats, ahead of other players at a higher club level with better stats. It ain't baseball. Arnie often plumping for Duke is just one example, but there will be plenty of others out there. Bazeley ain't Robinson Crusoe.
Baze & co study Egypt and decide they like to press high so start with Mata. Waine comes on for 25 mins in this game, and barely touches the ball. Then they watch Croatia (with about 70% of the ball) dominate against a deep lying, defensive strong Tunisia, and change it up for the Tunisian game with Barba up front. AWs should have won that game (Singh missed pen). Waine gets 10 mins off this bench that time, and again no real impact.
Waineo is still young at 22. He can improve for sure. But he really needs to work on having more touches. Somehow getting more involved. That's where in my view Mata is better. Maybe it's just as simple as he's bigger guy, but he definitely has more game involvement. Can lay off to team mates more, receiving an aerial pass forward. Mata had a good 30 min cameo off the pine against Ireland in Dublin. Some very decent half chances. But yeah his finishing lets him down alot.
Hopefully he gets a proper off season with Shrewsbury, so then we can make a fairer assessment of whether he can cut it in L1. Have my doubts, but it's unfair to judge unless he gets a proper pre season in.
If they are both in League One next season, then that makes for a pretty open & fairish player comparison. But certainly at the moment neither are setting the world on fire.
Waine2023/2024 |
Plymouth Argyle |
CHA | 895 mins & 2 goals
2022/2023 |
Plymouth Argyle |
LEO | 240 mins & 1 goal (no pre season)
Mata
2023/2024 |
Shrewsbury Town |
LEO | 1,038 mins & 1 goal (no pre season)