Juan Mata signed his first autograph when he was only 12. It had nothing to do with football, though.

Part of a six-strong school quiz team that conquered all-comers in the Spanish Principality of Asturias, the young Mata returned from a subsequent competition in northern Europe to find himself unexpectedly popular.

‘It was just the younger children at school asking me to sign my name,’ recalled Mata bashfully. ‘It was the first time in my life.

VIDEO Scroll down to watch Louis van Gaal tell Wayne Rooney how to shoot

Main aim: Juan Mata insists Manchester United must get into the Champions League this season

Star in the making: The Manchester United midfielder signed his first autograph at the age of 12

‘The quizzes were about history, geography, maths - everything. But it wasn’t down to me. We had two children on the team who were very clever. I did my bit, but was more in the background. They were the reason we won.’

Fast forward 14 years and Mata has signed his share of autographs. Ahead of a new season at Manchester United, however, this is no time for the 26-year-old to be part of a supporting cast.

If Louis van Gaal’s revolution at Old Trafford is to propel United back towards the top of the Barclays Premier League, players such as Mata really must be to the fore.

Revolution: Mata must be at the fore of the Louis van Gaal revolution if United are to be successful this term

The headline on the last of his internet blogs last season was written the day United lost at Everton in April, two days before manager David Moyes was sacked. A Spanish saying, it reads: ‘Falling down is allowed. Getting back up is mandatory.’ As a phrase, it would appear to work perfectly as United seek recovery from the wreckage of last season.

‘Yes, I think it’s appropriate,’ says Mata in excellent English. ‘We are facing a new season with new goals. It’s a new era and we have a new manager and players. It’s a new chance to show that this club can fight for titles. So, yes, it’s time to get back up.’

During Van Gaal’s short time at the club, much has been made of the 62-year-old’s new tactical approach. Rarely has a switch of formation prompted so much chatter.

But if anyone is to benefit from a move from 4-2-3-1 to 3-4-1-2, it is Mata.

New era: Spaniard Mata will benefit from the new role implemented by Van Gaal at Old Trafford

He will start the season in the ‘No 10’ position so loved by the Dutch. The Spaniard will be back in his favourite role - playing behind two strikers - after last season’s struggles to the left and right of Moyes’ formation.

It is also a role he played with some success under another Dutch coach, Ronald Koeman, at Valencia in 2007-08.

‘I hope it will be (perfect) for me,’ he acknowledged. ‘I feel comfortable in that position. I can play as a midfielder defensively or as a striker offensively if that’s what I have to do.

‘But my mission is to assist and score. I can do that from this position and I hope I can have a great season. But more importantly it has to be a great season for the team. This system is difficult and it’s difficult to adapt. You have to be very fit, for example.

Favourite role: Mata will play the 'No 10' for United and is determind to score more goals

‘You have to be focused but, if you manage to master it, you can put lots of pressure on the opponent and you can hurt them with the ball.

‘I think everyone knows that Dutch football likes to play a good way, a way I like to play and watch. This manager wants passing and movement and triangles. It’s how I play my best.’

Last season presented only brief glimpses of Mata’s true self.

He scored six league goals after his January transfer from the shadows at Chelsea but was rarely as influential as he would have liked.

When Ryan Giggs - one of his childhood heroes - took over as interim manager for the final four league games, he picked Mata for only two of them.

Hero: Ryan Giggs, a childhood hero of Juan Mata, picked the Spaniard in two of his four games in charge

‘He spoke to me about it,’ said Mata. ‘He said to the whole team that he was going to use every player. He told me he wanted a different kind of player in that situation and that was it. It was okay.

‘When I arrived at the club he was very good to me and I don’t forget that. It was difficult at the start, after I arrived. The team was in a bad situation and I hadn’t been training at Chelsea and I wasn’t physically ready to play. The team didn’t play at our best level, none of us. I’m looking forward to this season to try to do my best and helping the team back to the level we know it should be at.’

Giggs, of course, is Van Gaal’s assistant manager now.

In the weeks of pre-season, though, it has all been about the one they call the ‘Iron Tulip’.

Assistant: United legend Ryan Giggs will act as Van Gaal's No 2 at Old Trafford next season

In America on tour, United trained twice a day, with Van Gaal so close to the action his players could all but hear him breathing.

The phrase ‘hands on’ could have been invented for the former Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach and it is tempting to wonder if his habit, for example, of telling players how to take penalties - as he did with Wayne Rooney in Denver - may grate after a while.

There is, after all, no point hiring a great painter and telling him how to hold his brush.

‘Yeah, he told Wazza how to shoot, but it’s very good,’ he said. ‘He is a manager who feels every session. Not just a game but a training session. To him, it’s all important. He is very into it.

‘Sometimes he sees a striker or midfielder not make the right pass, he stops the session and tells them. He loves to do that. He is very temperamental.

‘I think the example with Wazza, he was right. If you face the goalkeeper you have to wait for him to go and then put the ball in the other side.

Helping hand: Mata revealed new manager Van Gaal told Man United captain Wayne Rooney how to shoot

‘It’s easy to say it but not so easy to do it when you are in the 88th minute of a game. So you must practise. Everything he says is meant to help.

‘You must have an open mind. If you are a professional player, that’s basic. I have had many managers during the past years and I can learn from all of them. Now with Louis van Gaal we have a new way of working and we are all trying to adapt. Even the goalkeeper has an important role in the game-play.’

Had some United players been more open-minded to Moyes’ approach last season, things might have been different. There is no doubt, however, the club feels as though it has a little more direction and momentum under Van Gaal.

The club that was preparing to defend its title just 12 months ago still feels short of a couple of world-class players in key positions, while much will depend on not only Mata’s form and fitness but also that of Rooney and Robin van Persie.

As we talk in a Cheshire hotel another Spaniard, Ander Herrera, is conducting an interview in an adjacent room. Mata feels he will bring something to a squad he firmly believes can undo most of last season’s damage.

All smiles: Mata knows all about new signing Ander Herrera and believes the Spaniard can help Man United

‘We played together at Under 21 and Under 20 level for Spain,’ recalled Mata. ‘I know how good Ander is and I know he can bring very good things to us. He is a very talented midfielder and the manager likes that way of playing. He can also defend very well.

‘Football has no memory. It’s non-stop. You can have a good result on Saturday and be a good team but then lose on Wednesday and be the worst team ever.

‘We would all love to win the league but the most important goal - what this club needs - is to play in the Champions League again.

‘I cannot imagine a Champions League two years in a row without United.’

Unimaginable: Mata can't picture United going two seasons in a row without playing Champions League football

As he leaves the room at the end of our meeting, Mata still cannot believe the story about his school quiz team is no longer a secret.

Neither is the one about him and his sister Paula posing for a poster advert for the Spanish bank Banco Herrero.

‘My uncle worked there and he asked us,’ laughed Mata. ‘On the picture, my sister and I are pointing at the sky and looking through a telescope.’

Again the image is amusing but the imagery appropriate. It’s time for Juan Mata and Manchester United to look upwards once again.

Fame at an early age: A young Mata and his sister on a poster for Banco Herrero

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