Juan Mata

[Chelsea? 892]

surprised at some of the talk about Juan especially coming off a game where he was our best player - ignoring Ivan's 2 goals. Practically had 2 assists and almost scored, controlled the game too

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Who's saying he's been bad? They must be perfectionists then. He's done for the season, I'm afraid- we won't see another properly good performance (although we may see relatively good performances). We need to work on his stamina a bit if we insist on playing him nearly every game.

When I say bad, it is to his own standards - and only because he's played 22 games straight without a rest!

[The Big Drog 1,110]

He was excellent last night, probably our best player. He is the only player of his kind in the whole squad, were he a 6 foot 3 super athlete then the transition would be fair easier but he isn't, this is his first season in England (a country with a completely different style to that of La Liga), arriving in a team that is going through a turbulent period, stuck right in the middle of the biggest transition period the club has undergone since the arrival of Roman Abramovich.

The lad is the symbol of the new Chelsea, of what we are striving towards, I think he is a cracking player and has had an excellent debut season at Chelsea under very difficult circumstances. Look at how much better David Silva is doing in his second season in England, Mata will be better next season and is even younger than Silva, if we can sign a few more technically gifted players it will only hep him to shine even more. He is a big reason to be optimistic about the future.

[Jack Uzzi 54]

Hmm, didn't really notice him yesterday. 70 percent passes completed ... has to do better.

[francozola 2,040]

Hmm, didn't really notice him yesterday. 70 percent passes completed ... has to do better.

What?!

And his passing isn't as good because he actually attempts difficult passes which don't come off because of other players not making the proper runs. The passing stat can be very misleading. Our midfielders may have a higher passing percentage but they could be (and most of the time are) sideways or backwards passes which are ultimately useless.

Not saying that Juan was "amazing" or anything yesterday. He was good. He tried to get involved but some things didn't work out because Kalou and Torres weren't on the same wavelength that he was on.

[Santiago. 1,500]

Given this is his first season in the Prem, he does indeed need to bulk up

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Ashley Cole syndrome.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

^ should be an official medical condition.

[Shogun 721]

My favourite Chelsea player by far, He's a joy to watch at times in my opinion.

[BLionheart 516]

Player of the season but he has not lived up to his standards since the departure of AVB , i don't know whether it's exhaustion or the more defensive approach that is affecting his game .

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

Honestly he is a player that is too good to play for us.His qualities don't really match our style and its great to know the he chose to come to Chelsea(credit to Torres) instead of Spurs or Arsenal.Can you imagine him being a Spurs player?Spurs would have definitely been title contenders,the trio partnership of Mata,Modric and Bale would certainly have been deadly.

I am just glad that he is a Chelsea player and that is our no.10.

[Jase 43,479]

Honestly he is a player that is too good to play for us.His qualities don't really match our style and its great to know the he chose to come to Chelsea(credit to Torres) instead of Spurs or Arsenal.Can you imagine him being a Spurs player?Spurs would have definitely been title contenders,the trio partnership of Mata,Modric and Bale would certainly have been deadly.

I am just glad that he is a Chelsea player and that is our no.10.

I agree. Sometimes, people need to be less demanding and be more appreciative of what we got.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Won't be surprised if Madrid come knocking with a £30 million bid in the summer.

[capriccioso 2,545]

30 million? That's chickenshit in today's market. 50 million or get to fuck.

If Carroll fetches 35 million, every single player in England should be valued at or above that level

Edit: 30 million plus Ozil would be very, very interesting. Not that they'll ever give him up, he's better than Mata and I can't see him catching Ozil even in the future.

[chrismada9 1,948]

I hope Mata never leaves! Clearly my favourite Chelsea player of this generation!

The closest thing we have of a Zola-esque player

[Marvin123 484]

mata NEEDS to stay and he has to be in the spine of the team for the future, he could do what lampard has done for us for many years to come, just slightoly different role if you get my drift? we really should be turning luiz, mata, sturridge into ourspine as terry,lamps and drog has been for years!

[BlueLyon 9,359]

This guy should rest a bit...played another match today, well, but you can see he is tired...Unfortunely, he is our best player currently and every match is important. Wonder how will he play against Barca, if RDM wont rest him.

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

He hasn't been at his utter most best since Andre's departure from the club but he has still produced some great crosses and final third passes for his team mates recently, plus the meg he got today was utter genius. Just hope he doesn't leave if we finish 5th or below