Jaime Mata Scout Report
Jaime Mata, now a seasoned force at 35, continues to hold his own in a challenging La Liga season in the 2023-2024 exposition for Getafe, predominantly operating from the left flank. Traces of his striker past seep through with his striking Goal Threat metric, placing him in a lofty 92 percentile, demonstrating he can still instill fear in opposition defences, acting as a sucker-punch mechanism for Getafe. Despite his age factor, his Goals per 90 and xG per 90 are impressively high, standing in the 72.92 and 79.17 percentiles respectively, manifesting that he remains a consistent goal-scare. However, his creative mandate seems to be diminishing, evidenced by his underwhelming Chance Creation and Assists per 90 metrics, languishing at mere 10 and 22.92 percentiles respectively.
Yet, Mata's major achilles heel come in the form of his Progressive Carrying and Progressive Passing abilities, both sharply declining to the mere 2 percentile, signalling towards a drastically retreating agility and incisive handling with age. His Pass Accuracy per 90 and Successful Dribbles per 90 stats too, plum in the 16.67 and 6.25 percentiles, point towards a weakening command of the ball. His middle-of-the-road Ball Recovery and Ball Retention metrics, sitting at the 50 and 30 percentiles respectively, somewhat insinuates that he can still put his experience to use when required, but overall, Mata is a player more invaluable for his nostalgic audacity and less for his diminishing on-ground capabilities.