Juan Mata

[zolayes 14,489]

A clever tactical move to bring him on late ,,,,was superb ..I was relieved he scored his penalty ,, Was Torres taken off in case it went

to penalties?????

[Zone 290]

A clever tactical move to bring him on late ,,,,was superb ..I was relieved he scored his penalty ,, Was Torres taken off in case it went

to penalties?????

Torres looked out of breath and kept leaning on his knees after the 80th minute. Piqué seemed injured too. That was probably the reason del bosque put Martinez in there, in case piqué had to walk off.

Mata's penalty was good but then again besides Bonucci, everyone had an amazing penalty today.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Spain look so much better with Mata and Navas instead of Pedro and SIlva but Del Bosque insists on thetiki-taka nonsense.

[Fernando 6,453]

Totally shit!

Just like when we play against city and he goes missing.

And just like his Spanish team that are total shit when the opposing team is aggressive and press like crazy.

[Ollie 4,400]

Spain in general were shit. There's no way Mata is shit like what you've said in 2 posts now. Mata's a class act who's played over 80 games since August.

[yuvala 2,167]

Totally shit!

Just like when we play against city and he goes missing.

And just like his Spanish team that are total shit when the opposing team is aggressive and press like crazy.

They were all shit ...

To be honest even the "legendery" Xavi and Iniesta were quite bad. not to mention Pique, Arbeloa, Ramos......

Atleast Mata gave one great ball which was supposed to be an assist but David Luiz basicaly did a 'not today' save.

[Zinedine Iniesco 172]

Replying to Stingray from the page behind, i have seen documentaries about spain where the NT's physio team helped iniesta GREATLY for example when it comes to the mental aspect during the 2010 world cup.

About Mata, the lack of the 4-2-3-1 that del bosque has used all these years had its effect, along with fatigue. The brazilians came in with alot of energy and momentum, and i really think del bosque did a mistake not playing martinez @ midfield. Its been shown throughout the tournament, the problem at midfield.

According to toni grande, which is the 2nd coach to spain, they replaced fabregas with mata because they needed more directness and pace, and that almost worked out for them today.

[Styles 9,790]

He really struggled last night, only Arbeloa was worse. I really don't think he has much chance of being in the Spain team in the future. I can see him being part of the squad but not a starter.

[Blue Roar 240]

[Stingray 9,441]

Replying to Stingray from the page behind, i have seen documentaries about spain where the NT's physio team helped iniesta GREATLY for example when it comes to the mental aspect during the 2010 world cup.

That is possible. Everyone think they are specialists. I would leave psychology to psychologists and physiology to physiologists. My point is that the mental aspect is often underrated and can be dealth with 'by merely talking', giving advice. While profesionally good interventions use hard core evidence based protocols. Not just someone who 'thinks' he can do it and is actually specialized in physio.

That is still now - an underrated problem in football. eg: check Adriano.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,919]

He really struggled last night, only Arbeloa was worse. I really don't think he has much chance of being in the Spain team in the future. I can see him being part of the squad but not a starter.

Agreed, and this is a positive for us.

[Fernando 6,453]

They were all shit ...

To be honest even the "legendery" Xavi and Iniesta were quite bad. not to mention Pique, Arbeloa, Ramos......

Atleast Mata gave one great ball which was supposed to be an assist but David Luiz basicaly did a 'not today' save.

And this is why I said:

And just like his Spanish team that are total shit when the opposing team is aggressive and press like crazy.

In the Euro cup that they first won, they where more faster, higher tempo and a bit stronger.

They had some added strength from bigger players to that team of little midgets. Not to mention Torres was in great form.

Today's Spanish players are relying on midget weak guys, and this is what happens you get bully by aggressive team.

It's what happened to us against City, because we also have midget weak guys in Oscar, Mata and Hazard we got owned.

Sometimes you need a balance.

[Milan 17,853]

[Jase 43,479]

He really struggled last night, only Arbeloa was worse. I really don't think he has much chance of being in the Spain team in the future. I can see him being part of the squad but not a starter.

Maybe but that would also depend if Spain continue to persist with the tiki-taka all the time in the upcoming years. Their current short passing style doesn't suit Mata totally.

[The only place to be 11,313]

I love Mata and I think he's an excellent representative of Chelsea Football Club, but I'm really starting to think that he won't have another season like he did last time out in terms of importance to the team, minutes and goals/assists. I really do think he might sit out a few matches where Oscar's workrate might be considered more important, because Mata can sometimes struggle to impose himself on the opposition.

I actually think that Oscar has a higher ceiling than Mata and that Jose might choose to give him the Number 10 role instead of Juan, which is probably why there's been these stories leaking out. This isn't a case of 'Jose likes to bully the opposition' but Mata always gives the impression of being knackered and sometimes the distances between him and the other midfielders makes passing the ball out of defence tricky, and also creates holes for the opposition to exploit.

Maybe that's a case of his stupidly heavy workload over the last 24 months and maybe Jose can work on some of these issues but I do think that Mata might become slightly less important to our team next season.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

You can't afford benching Mata, like him or not, he makes a huuuuge difference on the scoreboard, and we have no one else that can produce at that level yet. Hazard is close but he needs to add more goals to his game, which he probably will this season.

In the big games, where you need every single player to do a job I can understand employing Oscar in the number 10 role but the PL will be Mata's to rule imo. He'll def be favoured over Oscar simply because of the stats he can put up.

[Styles 9,790]

I love Mata and I think he's an excellent representative of Chelsea Football Club, but I'm really starting to think that he won't have another season like he did last time out in terms of importance to the team, minutes and goals/assists. I really do think he might sit out a few matches where Oscar's workrate might be considered more important, because Mata can sometimes struggle to impose himself on the opposition.

I actually think that Oscar has a higher ceiling than Mata and that Jose might choose to give him the Number 10 role instead of Juan, which is probably why there's been these stories leaking out. This isn't a case of 'Jose likes to bully the opposition' but Mata always gives the impression of being knackered and sometimes the distances between him and the other midfielders makes passing the ball out of defence tricky, and also creates holes for the opposition to exploit.

Maybe that's a case of his stupidly heavy workload over the last 24 months and maybe Jose can work on some of these issues but I do think that Mata might become slightly less important to our team next season.

Agree that the Mata dependency will come to an end. That was always on the cards if/when we actually had a normal sized squad and the alternatives weren't Marin, Benayoun,Bertrand etc. The way it's going we're going to have serious competition for places and a number of multifunctional players like Oscar/Schurrle/KDB who will replace Mata either from the start of games or off the bench.

I don't think Mata is suited for some games and therefore having strong alternatives is a must. I think Mourinho knows that better than anyone and will plan for that.

[Stingray 9,441]

I love Mata and I think he's an excellent representative of Chelsea Football Club, but I'm really starting to think that he won't have another season like he did last time out in terms of importance to the team, minutes and goals/assists. I really do think he might sit out a few matches where Oscar's workrate might be considered more important, because Mata can sometimes struggle to impose himself on the opposition.

I actually think that Oscar has a higher ceiling than Mata and that Jose might choose to give him the Number 10 role instead of Juan, which is probably why there's been these stories leaking out. This isn't a case of 'Jose likes to bully the opposition' but Mata always gives the impression of being knackered and sometimes the distances between him and the other midfielders makes passing the ball out of defence tricky, and also creates holes for the opposition to exploit.

Maybe that's a case of his stupidly heavy workload over the last 24 months and maybe Jose can work on some of these issues but I do think that Mata might become slightly less important to our team next season.

I agree as well, but as i have said in another thread - do no forget Hazard (let alone if we start talking about ceiling). People tend to discount him because he can play equally well on the wing (i think he rules at 10 though). He also explicitly expressed that ambition and Mouinhou seems to rate him if th papers are actually right for once.

A team in which you have a 10 and his back up is long gone. The '3' will have to be more fluent. We've seen in the beginning how powerfull this can be and i believe Mourinhou will build on it. You would be pretty stupid to 'fixate' the 10 positions when you have these options - both inter-game as ingame.

So yes, Mata will be less important. Not for being worse, but because others also rise up to he occasion. So much the better, I believe for Chelsea as a team.