Juan Mata has complained that Manchester United played too much long-ball football in their 0-0 draw at Burnley.

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The Spaniard formed part of a new-look attacking quartet with Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney and record signing Angel Di Maria -- who made his debut at Turf Moor -- but Louis van Gaal's side still failed to score.

And the former Chelsea player said he believed the direct tactics employed did not bring the best out of United's flair players.

He told MUTV: "I think we were on top in the last 20 minutes of the game, but didn't score. We played most of the time in their half which is good but, if you don't score from these chances, then it's not good enough.

"I believe that, when we try to play football in the last third, we can create -- but we played too many long balls in the first half, which is maybe why we didn't play as well."

According to WhoScored.com statistics, defender Tyler Blackett attempted 20 long balls, finding a teammate on only nine occasions, while centre-back Jonny Evans succeeded with only three of his nine long passes.