Juan Mata

[mac.bo 48]

Hope Mata beats last years stats for goals&assists or Jose has failed to improve him simples...

[Ainsley Harriott 2,732]

Hope Mata beats last years stats for goals&assists or Jose has failed to improve him simples...

Not really, he'll play less than last year due to depth

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Not really, he'll play less than last year due to depth

And due to the fact that last year we had a record number of matches...Not to mention that he was our main man last season in a 4-4-1-1, while this season we actually have a system built for the whole team and not just one player.

[bushman 2,043]

Mata has been playing less than last year, I agree. After Jose " improved " him, he should be playing a lot more, in my view.

After all, we already seen his play, recently.

[mac.bo 48]

I'd rather see Mata score more and assist more than track back more and tackle more , leave that work to players that are not as gifted as Mata,its 1 thing to try to improve a player its another taking away the most creative player in the team and blunting his talent. In my humble opinion we should be building team around him!

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I'd rather see Mata score more and assist more than track back more and tackle more , leave that work to players that are not as gifted as Mata,its 1 thing to try to improve a player its another taking away the most creative player in the team and blunting his talent. In my humble opinion we should be building team around him!

That is an unfortunately frequent misconception. There aren't two groups of players in a team one responsible for attack and the other for defense. When you have a proper system, you attack as a team and, perhaps more importantly, you defend as a team. Meaning every single one of the eleven players has a defensive duty. That's how you get the most out of your team.

As for building a team around him, I think it is best that we build a team on a footballing philosophy rather than around a player. What happens if he gets a long-term injury or hands in a transfer request? A philosophy lasts for years and provides stability and consistency regardless of who comes and goes.

[mac.bo 48]

I think if you have watched Mata the last few seasons you would have seen his fair share of track back and defending,if he got injured or put in transfer request then there is Oscar, we have to utilise his creative input as much as possible as he is the best in the premiership at this.As for the last statement about philosphy etc .bollocks.

[Tomo 21,733]

I'd rather see Mata score more and assist more than track back more and tackle more , leave that work to players that are not as gifted as Mata,its 1 thing to try to improve a player its another taking away the most creative player in the team and blunting his talent. In my humble opinion we should be building team around him!

If Jose wants a high pressing game, then every single attacking player is going to have to play their part, as great a player as Mata unquestionably is, Jose is not going to scrap his plan to accommodate one player. Del Bosque doesn't do it so why should Jose? speaking of Del Bosque, maybe with more pressing to his game, Mata might actually play more games for Spain, as they play with high pressing like we are intending to do.

If a few less goals and assist's for Mata coincide with the team as a whole improving and getting better results, then quite frankly that's fine. The club/team come before any one player.

[carayip 15]

Chelsea star Juan Mata given thumbs down by PSG fans

Now that's bad journalism...

He got the thumbs down because people voted for Iniesta over him? What an absolute non-story.

The results were as follows:

Iniesta 58%

Mata 30%

Sergio Ramos 6%

Casillas 6%

The fact that he got 30% of votes over the other 3 world class players looks more like a thumb up for me lol.

[mac.bo 48]

If Jose wants a high pressing game, then every single attacking player is going to have to play their part, as great a player as Mata unquestionably is, Jose is not going to scrap his plan to accommodate one player. Del Bosque doesn't do it so why should Jose? speaking of Del Bosque, maybe with more pressing to his game, Mata might actually play more games for Spain, as they play with high pressing like we are intending to do.

If a few less goals and assist's for Mata coincide with the team as a whole improving and getting better results, then quite frankly that's fine. The club/team come before any one player.

[mac.bo 48]

Looking at most of these comments about Mata you would think he didnt do any pressing or tracking back the last few seasons! (Agree i'd like everybody to work harder without the ball)Come back with your negative comments when we have any better creative player in OUR team and worry about the defenders defending better and the Cm improving , the strikers scoring more!

[Sheva. 5,373]

Scores for Spain.

[Jase 43,479]

His goal vs Georgia..

[Pacquiao 1,834]

I hope Mata can bring that goal scoring touch back to Chelsea! Suddenly all of Mata, Hazard, Oscar, KdB, Willian and Schurrle have scored WIllian and Hazard v Norwich and the other 4 on international duty! I hope they can keep this up!

Who needs a prolific striker eh?

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Nice goal for mata, I'm happy all our AM's are in scoring form

[meetdoscar 335]

Its good he is in scoring form we need goals

[ChelseasMessiah 304]

Nice little poacher's finish by Juan. We now have a plethora of inform midfielders.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Good instinctive finish. Hopefully he can open his account for us this season soon.