Who needs Wayne Rooney? Reinvented Mata is Man Utd's hero yet again

Juan Mata was once considered the best No.10 in English football as he dazzled and delighted during his time at Chelsea. And on Wednesday he delivered the latest in a string of fantastic performances which have helped to make up for the slump of Manchester United's own No.10.

United's 2-1 victory over Wolfsburg in Group B of the Champions League encapsulated the form of both Mata and Wayne Rooney. While the Spaniard scored one goal and made the other with a magnificent piece of artistry, the England captain was again a shadow of his former self as he blazed an easy chance over the bar and struggled to get into the game in the final third.

Mata has been United's one real constant this season. While Louis van Gaal switched between options before Anthony Martial's arrival, Memphis Depay has found it hard hitting his stride in his early days at the club, with Rooney struggling to find his flow. But the 27-year-old Spaniard has had no problem expressing himself in a side which are slowly putting together results if not convincing performances. Whenever United needed something on Wednesday, they turned to Mata and he delivered.

After Daniel Caligiuri stunned Old Trafford by walking through United's defence and slotting past David de Gea, the home side looked for some inspiration. And they found it from the man starting on the right side of the attack. He asked constant questions of left-back Ricardo Rodriguez, and when he got on the end of Matteo Darmian's delicious cross it was only a scrambling diving header from Dante which denied him an equaliser. He would bring the scores level soon after though, converting coolly from the penalty spot after his own cross was blocked by Caligiuri's arm.

And he didn't stop there. Mata continued to ask questions of the Wolfsburg back-line, and when they thought they'd found solutions he had something else up his sleeve. After a half-cleared corner met him with his back to goal he produced a sensational side-foot flicked pass over the Germans' defence and straight into the path of Chris Smalling.

After the England man slid home the winner, team-mates rightly went running to Mata to give their congratulations. This game was typical of the midfielder's growing influence in this team. In so many games already this season he has been the man to turn to in United's hour of need. He might not wear the No.10 and may well not start in the central position, but he is the go-to man for Manchester United.

Van Gaal, the hard task-master that he is, claimed afterwards that this was not one of the Spaniard's better performances. "I don't speak about individual performances, but I have seen Mata playing better than today," he said. "I can say as a manager that he played very well and agree with you, but I don't agree with you."

Whatever Van Gaal claims, Mata is United's go-to forward right now. Martial has been a great addition, but will require more time to become the rounded striker he is expected to eventually be. Depay, meanwhile, still needs to adjust properly to the demands placed on him in the hustle and bustle of a Premier League environment.

And Rooney, well... he just isn't up to scratch at the moment. The latest listless performance from the United skipper will certainly worry Van Gaal privately, no matter what he claims publicly.

But for as long as Mata keeps standing up tall and asking for the ball, they will have more time to help get Rooney back on track. While the skipper missed an open goal and was then seen more in the United penalty area than Wolfsburg's, United's little Spanish maestro is the real difference-maker. It was he who led the charge against Liverpool too.

It was also Mata who forged the opening to get United into the game against Southampton then finished a 45-pass move for the winner. It was Mata who shone brightest and netted at the weekend against Sunderland. And it was Mata who was the main man again as United made up for their previous defeat in the Champions League. Few would argue there is a better No.10 in the English game right now, even if Van Gaal still won't play him there.