The Mak

Being at one club for 10 years and still managing to somehow look as if his loyalty level is still at 0 says everything you need to know about the man.

You'd swear by listening to some people that Mata has been doing nothing but scratching his arse for the past two years...anyway, enough of this for me for a while I think. I'll stay away from this thread to avoid the (few) ungrateful idiots. The last thing i'll say is on this: '(I wish) to keep being happy and to make the people around me happy. At the end, that is what life is about! '. Those are the words Mata used in his blog just under 3 weeks ago. You heard Mourinho, he wasn't happy here anymore. He tried to adapt to Mourinho, he tried to change, he was doing the best he could but it just wasn't enough apparently. Juan is happy when he plays his football and that's pretty much all he needs - he wasn't getting that here. So for people to start holding stuff against him and belittling his accomplishments here, well, it just goes to show how little they know about the man and in general. Adios amigo. I genuinely hope you become happy again.

It pisses me off that his last act here was being dragged off against Southampton - a game he was actually playing well in; 100% passing, 3/4 tackles made in his own half - he was trying to adapt the best he could, but it wasn't enough apparently. Such a great player for us and, contrary to the way some are acting here, a player we owe a lot to. Such a shame. It'd be nice if he said goodbye to the fans, or we got to say goodbye...something.

Why Mata? Well, you saw Moyes in the summer, his plan seemed to be 'if we bid on enough unrealistic targets someone will eventually join'. It just so happens that Mata was that someone, sadly. I hope they lump him out on the wings. He's not even half his worth out there. Knowing Moyes, that's what he'll do. Well, I'm not really sure about the profit part. We've already spent £11-12m on Salah, potentially rising to £16m, so that's the profit pretty much gone. It could've been avoided if we kept him, sold him for less in the summer and used any one of Traore, Hazard, Atsu, Piazon etc. for free. We could've not sold to a rival and developed one of the 23421534324 AMs we already have instead....but, alas. Shitty transfer in my eyes.

That was my next point.

The definition of irony. If you cared to read any of my previous post you'd understand that i'm not a 'Mata zealot' and am only against the sale to a rival, but i'm not surprised, perhaps they were a little long for your liking. At least i'm not a clueless knob who tries to be controversial just for the sake of it - I don't try to belittle those who have the capacity to think independently just because they don't conform to 'God Mourinho's' will. It's nice that you let Mourinho do all of your thinking for you though. Does he cut your toast in the morning and wipe your arse as well?

Well the zealot part wasn't aimed at you, but what you say about information is my point though: People will never really know what happened even though they'd like to think otherwise from the snippets of information we'll receive. We hardly expect Mourinho to say he was pushed out the door for the money, the same way Mata isn't going to say he would've preferred to stay at Chelsea, at least for the time being. But some people will take these little things ('Mata was happy to go') and interpret it to suit their ideals (again, not really you) and I expect it to be brought up in later arguments. My point is that there's not really any point in focusing too much on this information because it's just a translation of events for the media and everyone has their allegiances to stand behind. It's all conjecture right now and we probably won't get a real version of events for quite sometime.

Mourinho zealots already out to take swipes at Mata I see...'confirmation bias' anyone?

I doubt it's true. If he is who he says he is, then he should be happy to accept a 1 year extension. However, if it is and he puts his greed ahead of the club then I couldn't care less if he goes. We're not in a position anymore to be handing massive contracts to 30+ year olds and he knows that - 'Mr. Chelsea' of not.

Great post. I also find it funny when people bang on about the extra cash we're getting 'because United are desperate and we won't get the same in the summer'. Well...we've spent £11-12m of it on Salah already, potentially rising to £16m apparently - so there goes our so called 'profit' from the sale. Something which could've been avoided if we waiting until the summer and brought in any one of Traore, Piazon, Hazard, Atsu etc. for nothing. I mean, Salah is also young and needs time to develop as well, so why not wait and use one of the exciting youths we already have instead of reducing the chances of our current youth and also strengthening a rival? Because he's hardly going to have a big impact from now until the end of the season while on the bench. So far, this has only benefited United in my eyes and that's what I'm angry about. But the people who think Mourinho is infallible will somehow make it out that 'I'm not a true Chelsea fan' for not blindly following him. Nice isn't it?

That's a bit romantic in all honesty. Realistically, we offered a lot more for Salah than Liverpool and Basel are the ones who really decide on the matter. I'm not saying he's against coming here though, obviously. What you've said is very true for Willian though!

I read this a while ago now: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/pitchside-europe/salah-puts-himself-shop-window-again-015555303.html Here are the parts that question him: Gotta love laugh at that last line!

Eh, you mean the system where he was allowed to roam free because he was our attacking fulcrum? Oh yeah, good comparison! You're just as knowledgeable as the other guy!

Oh yeah, the whole 104mins Mata played in our first two CL games where he was trying to adapt to a new system - good comparison. Whoever said that is an idiot.

Not my point. Please see:

Your examples are all first team replacements; Mata was a squad player at Mourinho's Chelsea and that is what Salah is now - a bench player. There is always going to be an element of disappointment if we get £37m to spend and just sign a squad player. I know a squad player is still needed to replace Mata, but I don't believe we are still not any stronger than before. Only United have been strengthened. Anyway, if this was going to be the case, why not just keep Mata until the summer and sell him abroad? Sure, you may not get £37m for him, but you won't have to fucking spend £11m on another young player who won't get a proper chance to fully develop here either. We could've waited until the summer, sold Mata for less but could've picked from Traore, Piazon, Hazard etc. to take his place while not strengthening our rivals, and not spending another £11m and giving our current youth a fucking chance for a change.

This comforts me. Thank you so much.

I feel sorry for Salah on two levels. 1) Going from Mata to Salah is underwhelming to say the very least. A lot of fans with direct their anger towards this guy, but he really isn't the problem. 2) He simply won't develop properly with Hazard/Willian ahead of him. He needs constant game time and, bar a massive injury plague, he won't get that here.

Well look at the fact that we know, Mourinho doesn't fancy him. So do people ever think that the club is just being a massive knob about the whole situation? They saw the £££ signs and just want to shove him out the door a.s.a.p.? Maybe people can tell themselves that he wants away just to make themselves feel a little better about the whole thing, but why would he willingly join a sinking ship? He's constantly spoken highly of this club throughout this whole thing and spoke of fighting and doing what's best for the team. If he was being forced out the door it's a completely different story. Why would he try to stay where he's not wanted?

Well maybe he just respects the clubs position no matter how shit it is. Because that's the classy guy that he is. Maybe I'm being romantic about the whole thing, but I can't imagine him saying 'Yes. I definitely want to go to United'. More like 'oh you want me to leave...oh, ok.'.

"Hey Juan, thanks for the two years; especially for basically carrying us to the CL last season resulting in millions for the club to buy players to force you out, but we've decided to sell you to that crumbling shit up north. We know you love Chelsea and we like you, but we like the money more. Bye." Exactly what it feels like. Thanks for everything Juan, you magnificent bastard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds2l_qlTF_A

I can't get the image out of my head: Mata driving up north tonight all by himself after being forced out of the club... I'm not so sure he asked to leave. I mean, look at the fucking state of their team for christ's sake. I'm sure he'd rather stay and fight or at least move to somewhere like Atletico. God damn, I am going to miss that man. Sick that we have to see him every week wearing that red piece of shit.

At least there's definitely no trophy for United this year. Cunts. Funny thing is, their fans won't give a flying fuck and neither will the press because they're getting a top player. All the pressure on them in the past few weeks is disappearing.

You just watch him in his next conference then.

You're failing to see my point. Sorry, I don't give a fuck about anything on that list. It's got nothing to do with styles of play or putting faith in one player over another. I don't want us selling to United, end of story. Simple as. I certainly don't think people should be happy over it either. They're crumbling as we speak but we've decided to bail them out so they have a foundation to challenge for future titles. It's about having dignity as a club by not selling to the bunch of wankers who refused to do business with us in the summer. We look like absolute mugs right now and, unless you can see into the future, I don't think people should be painting this as a Mourinho masterstroke until we get the full picture - which we won't get for months at least.