Manchester United gave Erik ten Hag a new attacking blueprint in Brentford win

Given Juan Mata hasn’t started a Premier League for Manchester United all season and is leaving the club in three weeks, this wasn’t a great time to discover he might still have plenty to offer even at 34.

For the first time in a while, the United attack played with fluency and invention against Brentford and it was Mata knitting so much of it together.

This was a game played at an end-of-season tempo, entertaining for its openness but also not as demanding physically as a January fixture when prizes are still on the line. So it suited Mata, in other words.

READ MORE: Ronaldo gesture shows United how much they will miss Matic

But the effortless ease with which he controlled this game when United attacked was an interesting contrast to the frenetic nature of the play when it’s Bruno Fernandes operating in the No. 10 role.

Come the first day of next season and the start of what needs to be an Erik ten Hag revolution and Fernandes will almost certainly be back in that kind of role, but it does feel like there is merit to the Portuguese playmaker taking a lead from Mata’s copybook and prioritising possession as well as a desire to create every time he has the ball.

Taking that extra touch and sometimes playing a simple pass allowed United more time to build attacks, getting more men forward and more creative movement to try and unpick an opposition defence.

It’s been noticeable in recent weeks that Cristiano Ronaldo has begun venturing further away from the opposition penalty area to try and get involved in the build-up play and he was popping up on the right and the left here, allowing Fernandes and Anthony Elanga to take up more central positions.

Mata is one of this quartet that we know won’t be at the club next season