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Brandon Williams says midfielder Man Utd signed for £37m used to be absolutely unreal in training

Charles Jones

Fri 14 March 2025 17:15, UK

Certain players are just ridiculously good in training.

Indeed, while certain players thrive during big games, oth꧟ers showcase their best abilities when the pressure is off and they have a bit more room to experiment and try different things.

Gareth Barry used to be inc🃏redible in Everton training, despite not being the most standout player on a weekend, while, unsurprisingly, Christian Eriksen used♊ to be bri🥂lliant in Tottenham training.

These technical players often shine in training se🦄ssions when it’s more about ability and skill wh𓆏en playing small-sided games rather than intensity and energy in a Premier League game.

Speaking on the More than a Match Podcast, Brandon Williams has been asked to name the best player he ever played with at Manchester United.

Williams claimed that Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes were the two best players he worked with at United, but, interestingly, he says that the best player in training was often Juan Mata.

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Juan Mata was amazing in Manchester United training

Williams was asked to name the b⭕est player he’d ever played with.

Overall, Pogba and Fernandes got the nod, but, interestingly, the defender said that Juan Mata was the best player in training for Manchester United, claiming that the midfielder often did things that💟 were hard to comprehendꦬ.

“Who’s the best player you ever played with?” Will🍰iams was asked.

“Best player I played with? I played with a lot of good players, but, in training, Juan Mata, yeah, I just saw him do things in training where it’s like ‘how have you done that?’” Williams s𒈔aid.

“I would say Paul Pogba overall. He was just a unit, if you wanted to make a midfielder you would make him. He’s strong, he’s fast, he can pass the ꦛball and shoot. Bruno as well thoug꧑h, so I would say those two.”

Juan Mata stats for Manchester United

Juan Mata may, on a technical level, be one of the best players to play for Manchester United 🙈after the Alex Ferguson era.

Indeed, on his day, Mata could pull all of the st🐼rings in𓆉 any given game.

However, unfortunately♑ for United, Mata wasn’t quite as consistent for the🧔 Red Devils as he could have been.

At peak performance, Mata was genuinely one ꦇof the best players in the Premier League, but he did appear to dip a little bit at United after joining from Chelsea.

Mata would eventually leave Unit𓄧ed to join Galatasaray, but he did flirt with a Premier League return on a number of 💃occasions.

Mata was linked with Newcastle at one point, while Leeds looked at Mata too.

Nowadays, the World Cup winner🅠 is playing over in Australia, and at the age of 36, his career is now winding down.