So what are you saying a good corner taker should be able to do? Cross it and the player should be able to stand still and head it or volley it in?
Corners are all about movement in the box. Obviously depending on the size of your strikers to the size of the oppositions defence, but really that players are moving onto the ball is a criticism of his dead ball abilities?
I guess Beckham was poor too.
Where did I say Mata was poor because of this? Nowhere, so your other inference is merely stupid. I didn't criticise his dead ball abilities at all in any way. I'm saying if someone has 12 goals and 12 assists in the league, but(i'd love to see them broken down by type, open play or set piece) 6 goals and 8 assists come from set pieces where almost anyone putting in a half decent ball could have gotten most of them, I wouldn't rate that player better than someone who got 12 goals 12 assists from open play. Hazard got 9 goals, 11 assists and I don't think many from set pieces at all.
I just don't think he's as good as most people seem to think. Being a set piece taker will usually bump your stats vs a non set piece taker, not surprisingly. But if a significant, or maybe majority of Mata's contribution could have gone to someone else had they taken all the set pieces, then Mata wouldn't be seen to be as effective as he has been. It's also helped by taking set pieces at a team that is great at converting them. It's not a mark against him, a good set piece is a very useful tool, but I'd take it as a bonus, not a fundamental or strongest part of someone's game.
Utd are crying out for players who can grab a game by the balls, dominate the opposition and drive the team forwards, for me that isn't Mata at all. Mata is the guy who can put the icing on the cake maybe, but you need to bake the cake first, and he doesn't really do that.
Mata not playing much hasn't hurt Chelsea at all, with several games Mata's substitution for more involved players leading to wins.
His open play 89minutes of a game contribution for me, makes him no where near a 37mil player at all.
I'd compare it to Silva, when the team is playing meh, he looks almost completely useless. He's not the reason the team play well, but when the rest of the team is playing well he can become a really effective tool. I rate the guys who make a team play well and drive them towards a great performance much higher than the guys like Silva who really can only perform well when the team is doing very well, and I put Mata in that same category.
Good players, can be great at times, but aren't close to that 30mil + category for me. For me there are guys who can look good even when the rest of the team is playing like ****, and there are guys who mostly only look good when the rest of the team is playing great.
Great teams are full of the former, less of the latter. I'd pay more for the former, less for the latter. He won't be bad for Utd, he's a good player, he just won't be the difference for Utd and I don't think he's worth 37mil.
who knows, looking at the Coventry game tonight...it really ****s me off that we truly miss a killer touch in front of goal. Sure Poldi got a couple but since then we have missed or messed up plenty of chances. 
