Juan Mata

[Henrique 9,133]

The point is he says managers lie...

And besides, players are part of the squad and Mata is that. If Jose isn't happy with him, can still sell him to make the squad better..

Dude, dont try to make Mourinho a enigmatic or messianic character. What he said is very simple: Mata is not leaving, and if a player is going to leave, its on loan, because he want to work with 22 players. About the squad he said all managers are the same, because even when they say they are happy with the squad, they are always trying to make it better, he just said managers are always trying yo buying new players.

Please, stop the bullshit.

[Henrique 9,133]

About Mata, what I think is:

-Perhaps he is not that good, perhaps we all made him look like bigger than he really is. The reason why I'm saying that is very simple: as soon as Willian thing appeared, people got worried about Mata. Are people questioning Ronaldo's future at Real because of Bale? People would question Messi future at Barcelona if they were signing Bale, people questioned his future when Barça signed Neymar?

[Term-X 7,891]

Mourinho (and the club) understand the admiration for Mata amongst the fans, hence why he won't be sold THIS season. Jose needs/'and may want' to prove we can win without him. Or at least prove the team is better without him first, before alarming squad harmony.

If we win a title or even a few cups and a very convincing title challenge, and Mata wasn't that instrumental.. there at least won't be any "if's or but's". His transfer value won't go down either, because it will just be a case of 'he didn't fit into OUR system'.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

About Mata, what I think is:

-Perhaps he is not that good, perhaps we all made him look like bigger than he really is. The reason why I'm saying that is very simple: as soon as Willian thing appeared, people got worried about Mata. Are people questioning Ronaldo's future at Real because of Bale? People would question Messi future at Barcelona if they were signing Bale, people questioned his future when Barça signed Neymar?

Exactly. Mata should prove he's best for us. Work on some of his weakness and get even better. That's what drogba would have done.

[Vybz Kartel 1,613]

2 years ago today we signed this little maestro from Valencia. What a ride it has been with the only Juan Mata. 23 mill seems like a bargain now

[The_Flash 1,144]

I really don't want Mata to go

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

On this day in 2011 Chelsea signed Juan Manuel Mata from Valencia for 23.5 million pounds.

[The_Flash 1,144]

I agree that the window should shut before the start of the season. It would cause less problems, it is such a distraction all this coming and going while the season has started. I think it should finish earlier, and you have who you have.

[Reddish-Blue 2,345]

I agree that the window should shut before the start of the season. It would cause less problems, it is such a distraction all this coming and going while the season has started. I think it should finish earlier, and you have who you have.

I don't mind seeing the window open...it brings a bit of excitement to the first 2 weeks of the season.

Watching the Arsenal fans hold up: "Spend, Spend, Spend" signs was hilarious.

[sainttourist 68]

Think Willian arrive could ever help Mata, because it will leave him in his best position - AM, while Willian with his pace and dribble could take RW. Lets be honest Mata not a winger, he is too slow and couldn't cover defensive work.

[Term-X 7,891]

Think Willian arrive could ever help Mata, because it will leave him in his best position - AM, while Willian with his pace and dribble could take RW. Lets be honest Mata not a winger, he is too slow and couldn't cover defensive work.

Oscar is first choice CAM, Mourinho has said (direct quotes) that Mata will be an RW. Thus, Mata will be competing with 'natural' wingers, which will not end well for him.

[Jase 43,479]

Juan Mata García ‏@juanmata10 1m

Exactly two years ago, i signed for #Chelsea. Too many things happened since then... #CFC http://instagram.com/p/dZabopkCI3/

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

Think Willian arrive could ever help Mata, because it will leave him in his best position - AM, while Willian with his pace and dribble could take RW. Lets be honest Mata not a winger, he is too slow and couldn't cover defensive work.

Oscar is first choice CAM, Mourinho has said (direct quotes) that Mata will be an RW. Thus, Mata will be competing with 'natural' wingers, which will not end well for him.

He said that before we got Willian. You'd have to think he realized Mata isn't cut out as a RW in his system and opted for Willian.

[Barbara 15,149]

I'm not sure if Willian threatens Mata. I do hope Mourinho isn't desperate enough to have Rooney - who I don't even rate that high as a striker - so he'd be willing to give ManUtd the one man that could improve their squad and make them even stronger.

Willian threatens Kevin immediately, as he'll play where Kev has played in the first match, so I expect Kevin to warm the bench a lot this season. He'll probably start most matches there and there will be a lot of them when he won't be used - and a lot of them when he'll come as a sub. Something like 50/50 coming from the bench and a few starts.

Mata could fight with Oscar for the CAM position and I think Mourinho favors Oscar in general because the team is less dependable on Mata now than it was last year and definitely much less than 2 seasons ago. And that becomes even clearer when he's strengthening the wings - so creative (and aggressive) play can come from there.

The moment we got Eden and Oscar Mata automatically became less crucial for us because he could divide the creative work with them. Of course both needed a season to adapt, but my expectation has always been that in this season Mata would be less crucial because he was going to share the job with Eden and Oscar even more. It doesn't make Mata any less of a player, but it's only natural that where there was only one good AM and now there are three that the stats get shared between them.

But then now we have Willian (nearly) and if Mourinho is bringing someone better for the position he initially wanted Mata to play it can mean two things:

1) He's directly replacing Mata in the position he wanted to use him and Mata will lose space in the team

2) He's moving Mata back to where he thinks he might be better (center). Here there are two sub-scenarios: move Oscar to a CM or DLP position and have Mata as the CAM or have the two fighting for the CAM position.

Nobody but Mourinho has the answer to what his plans are. It could be diminishing Mata's influence in our squad or it could be cementing his position as a CAM.

I'll give my two cents... and this is purely a guess.

Mourinho found a perfect working formula in RM during his spell there. He had plenty of issues outside the pitch and the situation was unbearable and he decided to leave to the one place he knew he wouldn't have those problems. He's aiming to have the same formula here: two top players in the wings (Ronaldo, di María) + one creative CAM (Ozil) + one striker (Benzema/Higuain).

When he arrived at Chelsea he had issues in half those positions and his first idea was to move Mata to one of the problems (RW) until André was ready to be the guy there (and then Mata could play on both positions, RW and CAM) - reason why I think we signed André in the first place. In the meanwhile (while Mata was in the RW) he would use a boy he sees potential to be what he needs in the middle (Oscar) who also has the high work-rate he loves. He didn't have a problem in the LW with Hazard and let's not talk about our ST situation.

Then Anzhi goes on sale and he sees the perfect guy to strengthen one of his wings for real - instead of having to adapt Mata there (he must have watched Mata playing in the wings last season and he must be aware that it doesn't come close to his results in the middle). So while he's still having trouble to solve the ST, he solved one of the areas he thought we could improve to reach the level he has in mind.

Now I have no idea what he plans to do with Kevin (it's obvious Moses will be loaned). I think Kevin was one of the main reasons why we were so amazing in the first half against Hull. Maybe he'll become an immediate sub to Willian, which makes me wonder where André will play then. Of course any of them could replace Eden in the LW, but the player I see Mourinho investing the most is Eddie, so I expect Hazard to play as many 90-minute matches as his shape allows him to. But he's no machine and his body may complain at the last third of the season.

If we solve the ST issue (and I do hope we bring a new guy), André's prospects are even worse because he could be played as a striker down the road. Also counting that he'll loan Moses we still have a 23-player squad and while I don't take it literally that he wouldn't work with 23 because he said he prefers 22, that one player costs us money on monthly wages and maybe it isn't entirely up to him.

[Jusek 2,031]

Juan Mata Stats @MataStats

Juan Mata signed for Chelsea, two years ago today. Since then: CL, FA Cup, Europa Lg, CFC Player of the Year (x 2), 32 goals and 49 assists.

[nadavTKL 1,787]

Oscar is first choice CAM, Mourinho has said (direct quotes) that Mata will be an RW. Thus, Mata will be competing with 'natural' wingers, which will not end well for him.

I havent seen a quote of Mou saying Mata will be an RW. I did saw a quote like "I like that my LW plays with a strong right foot and the RW plays with his left. Mata is my only option on RW in this aspect". Did you see something else?

[Gilvorak 3,734]

This Mata can't play out wide might be the biggest myth of all time. His two best seasons at Valencia were from LW.

He was just as good as he is now in his first 3/4 months under AVB playing LW too.

Stop spouting nonsense already.

Here's Juan ripping Villarreal to shreds as a winger.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Here's a question we did not ask ourselves: Would united even want Mata?

They play with traditional wingers; they always have. Their system doesn't include 'modern' attacking midfielders. Just look at how Kagawa has struggled there because the system is not built to suite a player like him. The only reason I can see them interested in Mata is to play that second striker role, but even there they usually have a bit more 'physical' players.