Juan Mata

[CHOULO19 24,332]

No, sorry, that wasn't nearly good enough. He looked slower than usual on the ball and on the defense he was terrible. Gave away 3-4 needless FKs in our own half. It is unfair to judge him on this game alone, but if this the "chance" that Jose gave him, then he definitely didn't take it.

[zolayes 14,489]

No, sorry, that wasn't nearly good enough. He looked slower than usual on the ball and on the defense he was terrible. Gave away 3-4 needless FKs in our own half. It is unfair to judge him on this game alone, but if this the "chance" that Jose gave him, then he definitely didn't take it.

agree ,,he just made Oscar more certain as our number 10

[Korea 734]

To be fair, he never played with Willian and I don't know how much time he played with KDB prior to this game....

Hopefully, we can use a different game with maybe Hazard-Mata-Schurrle and see how he does....

[meetdoscar 335]

In some aspect this was not a good game from him.

But there were a few incidences where he made a defence splitting pass that no one else in the squad can provide on a regular basis. Jose, even if he does not rate him, must (imo) try and get him involved in the first team becuase he privdes that spark of genius that can get us goals (especially when the opposistion play two banks of four andsit deep) that others so far have not shown us.

I do not agree. As much as we all like mata i don't think he did too well against teams that defended deep(swansea,Qpr,newcastle, southampton e.t.c. all at stamford bridge) it was rather the opposite. Most of his goals and assists came on the counter attack(manu, arsenal,spurs,norwich, e.t.c) and that's what most people fail to see even with mata we found it very difficult breaking smaller teams especially at stamford bridge where most teams come to defend. On the counter or when he had space to play into behind the defence, he was superb.

[Jase 43,479]

Chelsea FC ‏@chelseafc 38m

Holland: 'Jose made it clear what he wants from all the attackers, not just Mata. Tonight we're very pleased with his contribution.

[Weckerz 3,781]

Chelsea FC ‏@chelseafc 38m

Holland: 'Jose made it clear what he wants from all the attackers, not just Mata. Tonight we're very pleased with his contribution.

So pleased he'll get to watch the Spurs game from the bench.

We know (or think we know) what Mourinho wants from his players, I very much doubt he was satisfied.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,920]

Solid match from our backup no.10

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Mata was never hard worker in defence because that limits his creative side, much like Ozil. If he is offensive player, I expect him do create goals not defend. Double pivot and defense should work harder and then we will have good defence and offense.

Mou wants all team to defend and thats clear why we cant score more than 2 goals per game. Like he limited Mikel creativity, he wants do the same, but with whole team. For the sake of trophies, I dont want to see our team winning by one goal and defend for 70 min whole season.

[meetdoscar 335]

One of swindon's best effort in the first half came when Kasim skinned mata and took a dangerous shot. I think he shouldn't play so deep.

[ChelseasMessiah 304]

Far too much pressure on the boy for what was centainly a meaningless match. He overcooked it.

Still a solid performance though. I'd love to see him involved against Spurs.

[zolayes 14,489]

Solid match from our backup no.10

sorry can't agree ,,even in offense he was poor today ... So far this season it has been terrible for him

[Rmpr 8,977]

No, sorry, that wasn't nearly good enough. He looked slower than usual on the ball and on the defense he was terrible. Gave away 3-4 needless FKs in our own half. It is unfair to judge him on this game alone, but if this the "chance" that Jose gave him, then he definitely didn't take it.

Definitely agree, but if this is the kind of chances Mourinho is going to give Mata (as he did with Kaka), I have a problem...

I have been on the record Oscar is my preferred #10 (and no, it is not because he is Brazilian), but Mata sure can play and he deserves better than games against Swindon.

So, for me, Jose must find a balance in keeping Oscar as our primary CAM and giving Mata enough opportunities to prove himself!

[Blue Armour 4,323]

Good first half, but faded in the second. Still not close to his menacing best.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

No, sorry, that wasn't nearly good enough. He looked slower than usual on the ball and on the defense he was terrible. Gave away 3-4 needless FKs in our own half. It is unfair to judge him on this game alone, but if this the "chance" that Jose gave him, then he definitely didn't take it.

The problem is that this whole thing is ridiculous. Mata was easily our best player in the past 2 years. Suddenly, a game or two into the season, Mata has to play game by game for a spot out of position in a style he's not suited for, something Oscar and Hazard don't have to do. They have bad games and they're right back in the starting XI in the same spots. I'm not worried about Mata's ability. Last year, he was was pretty awful for his first 6 games. 0 goals, 0 assists. He had 20 goals and 28 assists after that. He's been great for 2 years. If Chelsea were to give him a few games in a row, he'd be back to his dominant offensive self. (Although still a liability defensively) I am worried about and don't remotely understand the way he's being jerked around, especially when offensive creativity is the single thing we are missing the most.

BTW, In Mata's 3 starts, he has started with 5 different central midfielders (Van Ginkel, Essien, Lampard, Mikel, RamiresX2), 5 different attacking midfielders (Willian, De Bruyne, Oscar, Schurrle, HazardX2) and 3 different strikers (Eto's, Torres, Ba). For a player that relies on reading plays developing and chemistry with other players, how is he supposed to do that when he never plays with the same players?

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,920]

sorry can't agree ,,even in offense he was poor today ... So far this season it has been terrible for him

It only looked bad if you were comparing him to last year.

If you take him as a squad player and backup player now that was a decent enough performance.

Far from good, but solid enough.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Definitely agree, but if this is the kind of chances Mourinho is going to give Mata (as he did with Kaka), I have a problem...

I have been on the record Oscar is my preferred #10 (and no, it is not because he is Brazilian), but Mata sure can play and he deserves better than games against Swindon.

So, for me, Jose must find a balance in keeping Oscar as our primary CAM and giving Mata enough opportunities to prove himself!

The problem is that we're not exactly setting the world alight at the moment, so even against the likes of Fulham, Jose would still want to put out his best XI, especially in that number 10 role for it's importance to the team. But despite that, Juan has had 3 starts and a couple of sub appearances in our opening 7 matches, so I don't think we can say that he isn't being given a fair chance by Jose.

The problem is that this whole thing is ridiculous. Mata was easily our best player in the past 2 years. Suddenly, a game or two into the season, Mata has to play game by game for a spot out of position in a style he's not suited for, something Oscar and Hazard don't have to do. They have bad games and they're right back in the starting XI in the same spots. I'm not worried about Mata's ability. Last year, he was was pretty awful for his first 6 games. 0 goals, 0 assists. He had 20 goals and 28 assists after that. He's been great for 2 years. If Chelsea were to give him a few games in a row, he'd be back to his dominant offensive self. (Although still a liability defensively) I am worried about and don't remotely understand the way he's being jerked around, especially when offensive creativity is the single thing we are missing the most.

BTW, In Mata's 3 starts, he has started with 5 different central midfielders (Van Ginkel, Essien, Lampard, Mikel, RamiresX2), 5 different attacking midfielders (Willian, De Bruyne, Oscar, Schurrle, HazardX2) and 3 different strikers (Eto's, Torres, Ba). For a player that relies on reading plays developing and chemistry with other players, how is he supposed to do that when he never plays with the same players?

It really isn't ridiculous, one player is playing so much better than the other and thus is starting. Mata has failed to perform from the start of the season and find himself in a position where he has to prove himself in order to regain his place, that's only natural. Sentimental reasons can't cloud our judgement. We really can't afford to give Mata a run of games because we need Oscar in that number ten role to get results.

[Sheva. 5,373]

He did alright. There was a moment at the end of the first half where a player was wide open in front of the box, and Mata stepped in front of him to deny any pass coming in, which shows how tactically aware he is of situations around him.

Overrall he had his usual good passing numbers and made 3 tackles. So while not impressive, Jose must at least have been pleased with his effort, enough to get him back to 4th choice after Schurrle. And it's only a matter of time before he starts showing what he's got at the other end of the pitch also.

[bushman 2,043]

To those who doubted Mata.

According to Mirror:

" The brilliant Spaniard was instrumental for the Blues & was in the mood to show the " Special One" he should be the man at SB.

Mata´s superb pass released Torres in the 27th minute but the striker was denied by keeper. "

Two minutes later, Mata was again involved & Torres tapped in the rebound.

All for you expert who thought Mata was shit, last night.