Juan Mata

[Cech's helmet 220]

Agreed. While Mata isn't the greatest at implementing Mourinho's high pressing and tackling strategies, you cannot deny that he possesses a level of technical ability and vision much superior to that of Willian, Oscar and even Hazard. Hard-working AMs are great, but in the majority of cases they can't play that killer, subtle and deft pass that we see with Mata all the time. Surely it says something when our CB (playing DM) Luiz has to take free-kicks where the best option is to shoot on goal because none of Willian, Hazard and Oscar can (or at least try to). It's a shame Mata doesn't fit into Mourinho's system because I think he is our best player technically and creatively.

I like the part where you mentioned no one can shoot free kicks. same with corner kicks/set pieces. It's been rare this year to get a good cross to our center backs from a corner. JT/Cahill/Ivanovic/Luiz always look for those crosses, today Cahill managed to get one header which led to a goal. I hate it when Willian and Hazard pass the ball instead of going for the kick when it comes to corners. we're good in the air, we score a lot from set pieces (rebounds included) no one crosses the ball better than Juan Mata. Oscar can win as many balls as he wants, but he'll never be a "magician". it's no brainer Oscar should be a CM with all the tackling/running he does.

[Fernando 6,585]

Just put him out of his misery and sell him now.

[manpe 10,861]

I still remember his debut like it was yesterday. Against Norwich, stoppage time, this magician still unknown to us, pops up, intercepts a stray pass, takes a touch or two and slots it home coolly. This introduction gave us a glimmer of hope and excitement during depressing times. If there's one image I would need to remember of Mata, it's this.

[Roquila 1,335]

Can't believe we're actually still seeing Ramires playing on the right side. it's ridiculous the number of games Ramires has played this year.

If Mata was as bad as Oscar or Hazard were today, he'd been substituted in half time. double standards of peace. it's clear that Jose doesn't like him for some reason and he should cut the nonsense and give everyone a fair chance

A player a who scored 19 goals and 35 assists last year can't even get a start in 2 games in a row? BS. it's no rocket science that he's the only player who creates chances for our strikers. Hazard always cuts in and prefer to shoot, Oscar is all about tackling and individual moments. Look at Torres goals last year, more than half of them were created by Juan. our strikers are not getting chances, they have to depend on themselves to create something out of nothing. cahill created 2 of samuel's goals today ffs.

When a defender asissts 2 goals and you take it as a negative note then you should really reconsider whatever you are taking brah.

[The Chels 2,502]

When a defender asissts 2 goals and you take it as a negative note then you should really reconsider whatever you are taking brah.

I think the point is that if Cahill can make 2 assists, why can't our AMs make any?

[Roquila 1,335]

I think the point is that if Cahill can make 2 assists, why can't our AMs make any?

It's not like our AMs didn't make any chance all season long. I don't want to come up with stats but not long ago Mata and Willian almost the same minutes played. He had his chance and blew it every single time.

[The Chels 2,502]

It's not like our AMs didn't make any chance all season long. I don't want to come up with stats but not long ago Mata and Willian almost the same minutes played. He had his chance and blew it every single time.

If you take the game against Swansea (1-0) for example, twice did Mata play in Samuel Eto'o with 2 brilliant passes. Would he have been substituted and dropped for the next game if those 2 had resulted in goals, I wonder? Would you honestly say that any other AM in our team, apart from the occasional Hazard moment, can produce moments like that? Whilst there may be complaints about Mata's workrate and pressing/defending abilities, surely there is no denying that he is by far the best creative AM player we have, and hence he shouldn't be sidelined to the extent he has been.

[lionsden 4,689]

This thread is really boring and predictable now

Pro mata (which i belong to btw) will argue that mata is our most creative player and should be getting more game time etc etc which is then always countered with the argument that he doesn't fit into jose's system and Oscar deserves to be ahead in the pecking order on the basis of his tactical superiority. wash rinse and repeat.

If he has any sense and knows what's best for his own career then he would push really hard for a transfer out of the club.

[Cech's helmet 220]

Sorry but I'm not going to sit here and accept the fact our player of the season for 2 straight years can't get get a start to the limit that Ramires is ahead of him on the right wing. players like Mata are rare, I'd gladly accept the fact Oscar has earned his place this year, but the lad isn't given a fair shot compared to the other 3. he has 1 game to prove himself and he's played out of position, then he's taken off at the 60'th minute. he played 90 minutes vs Arsenal and got MOTM. if Jose wants his wingers to track back/defend then Oscar should be on that right wing because he's the most hardworking player after Rami.

I'd accept Mata not tracking back/defending in ratio to the creativity he provides. Oscar works hard but he doesn't create enough chances. Mata can play with his back to the goal because his first touch is out of this world. Oscar is limited, not because he's not a good player; players like Mata are just naturally technically gifted.

Oscar- Ramires

-Willian-Mata-Hazard

I still can't believe we never tried this.

[blu35_army 551]

Sorry but I'm not going to sit here and accept the fact our player of the season for 2 straight years can't get get a start to the limit that Ramires is ahead of him on the right wing. players like Mata are rare, I'd gladly accept the fact Oscar has earned his place this year, but the lad isn't given a fair shot compared to the other 3. he has 1 game to prove himself and he's played out of position, then he's taken off at the 60'th minute. he played 90 minutes vs Arsenal and got MOTM. if Jose wants his wingers to track back/defend then Oscar should be on that right wing because he's the most hardworking player after Rami.

I'd accept Mata not tracking back/defending in ratio to the creativity he provides. Oscar works hard but he doesn't create enough chances. Mata can play with his back to the goal because his first touch is out of this world. Oscar is limited, not because he's not a good player; players like Mata are just naturally technically gifted.

Oscar- Ramires

-Willian-Mata-Hazard

I still can't believe we never tried this.

fixed this...

Matic - Oscar

Willian - Mata - Hazard

[Barbara 15,149]

It will be a while.

Its no co-incidence that he hasn't started after his reaction to his substitution against Southampton.

Started? he hasn't played a single minute but has been on the bench each of those games as punishment

I went as far as stating I didn't think Jose would punish him for the bratty behavior. I do wonder how much of this is just a coincidence and how much it's José just showing him his place. As I said back then, in the never end saga of his behavior, I don't think Mourinho would have blasted him to the media. I still can't say (though I tend to think that way) he was more frustrated on Mourinho than on himself. But there had been chances for him to get even a few minutes ever since (not today though given the scoreline and ManUtd scoring) and I wonder why he wasn't given especially because in many matches before the incident he's been given some odd minutes. He couldn't get minutes against Derby for God's sake!!!

Just so we're clear (I mean everyone else, not you), I'm not saying Mourinho is punishing him, I'm saying it looks an awful lot like it, but I can't say for sure, ofc.

Also the same old with the stats... He's had 11 starts plus a few subs (that only in EPL, without considering the cups). That's more than enough matches for him to give us something and he did very, very, very little. Don't give me the right wing crap, first because it's no excuse for him to give us even the minimum, second, he's had many cameos (some matches even stayed more in the center than in the wing) in the middle position. The positioning detracts his performances, but it shouldn't be that much. Or are you people trying to say that Mata is so limited, but so limited, that unless he's a few yards to the left he can't provide an assist or score a goal?

He'll never be able to give us as many goals and assists in the right wing, in this kind of system (especially when he isn't given plenty of freedom to do whatever he wants and no tactical responsibility), but he should be more than capable of giving us more than 2 goals and 1 assist. So I see a difference of not repeating last season's results because of the new system and positioning, but I can't justify only 3 goals created by his feet in 15+ matches on that. For me that's called bad form.

It should have been a middle ground here, such as he's in a position where he doesn't produce as much, but still produces enough. He hasn't produced enough.

[Vybz Kartel 1,613]

Hasnt played since he reacted negatively against Saints, think Mou is being a bit unfare especially after goin 3 up today, he could not hv fucked up a 3 goal margin to be honest, its best he leaves since its clear Mou does not rate him which is sad to be honest

[Korea 734]

I dont think the incident had anything to do with Mata's benching...

I think it was the fact Oscar was injured, therefore Mata got some run.. However, he recovered (that game) and now, Mata doesnt get any run....

The way I see it right now, its

Cam

1. Oscar

2. Willian

3. Hazard

4. Lampard

5. Mata

Left

1. hazard

2. Willian

3. Schurrle

4. Oscar

Right

1. Willian

2. Oscar

3. Schurrle

The bigger question is where is Andre?

[The only place to be 11,313]

If you take the game against Swansea (1-0) for example, twice did Mata play in Samuel Eto'o with 2 brilliant passes. Would he have been substituted and dropped for the next game if those 2 had resulted in goes? I wonder. Would you honestly say that any other AM in our team, apart from the occasional Hazard moment, can produce moments like that? Whilst there may be complaints about Mata's workrate and pressing/defending abilities, surely there is no denying that he is by far the best creative AM player we have, and hence he shouldn't be sidelined to the extent he has been.

Mata plays in passes better than anyone. But Jose's focus is clearly on more than who can play in pretty passes otherwise Josh would probably be a fixture too.

This thread is really boring and predictable now

Pro mata (which i belong to btw) will argue that mata is our most creative player and should be getting more game time etc etc which is then always countered with the argument that he doesn't fit into jose's system and Oscar deserves to be ahead in the pecking order on the basis of his tactical superiority. wash rinse and repeat.

If he has any sense and knows what's best for his own career then he would push really hard for a transfer out of the club.

Pro Mata? So are we about to start printing Team Mata and Team Oscar shirts?

Sorry, the only shirt I need is the Chelsea one.

BTW, you have to admit that not fitting into a system is a pretty fucking good argument, especially when that system seems to be getting results. I'm sure he could push for a move but I can't see him going to a bigger club than us.

Sorry but I'm not going to sit here and accept the fact our player of the season for 2 straight years can't get get a start to the limit that Ramires is ahead of him on the right wing. players like Mata are rare, I'd gladly accept the fact Oscar has earned his place this year, but the lad isn't given a fair shot compared to the other 3. he has 1 game to prove himself and he's played out of position, then he's taken off at the 60'th minute. he played 90 minutes vs Arsenal and got MOTM. if Jose wants his wingers to track back/defend then Oscar should be on that right wing because he's the most hardworking player after Rami.

Why move Oscar to the right wing when we have Willian there? It's almost like there's a desperation to play Mata no matter what it does to the structure of the team. He's a great guy and was POTY two seasons in a row but football is about what is best NOW. You can't live off past glories.

And he was taken off in the 50th minute against Southampton and thank fuck. People like to talk about his reaction to the subbing and that glosses over the fact that we looked shit with him on the pitch and Oscar came on and had a stormer.

I'd accept Mata not tracking back/defending in ratio to the creativity he provides.

Jose won't....and he's better than you.

Hasnt played since he reacted negatively against Saints,

Also hasn't played since he was poor against Southampton.

But I hope he gets a start against Stoke next week, on the right-wing. He's too good a player to give up on and having a leftie on the right could give us a new dimension.

[blu35_army 551]

with Matic as DM,,there's chance for mata to get the spot without worried about track back or deffence again. it's remember me of Ozil (which is shit on deffence) while he play alongside Khedira - Modric in the pivot,,that's why he has given name as "King of Assist"...

[kellzfresh 7,229]

with Matic as DM,,there's chance for mata to get the spot without worried about track back or deffence again. it's remember me of Ozil (which is shit on deffence) while he play alongside Khedira - Modric in the pivot,,that's why he has given name as "King of Assist"...

Madrid had guaranteed 2 goals from every match from ronaldo. So mourinho could sacrifice his tactics and still win when madrid conceded many goals. Here we have eto/torres/ba, we cannot go all out with that system bcos we will lose more than win when we miss all our chances as usual compared to madrid.

Its unfortunate, I love mata's assists but were moving on to a pressing and quick transition system. Which means the slow guys with low energy (KDB, mata) will find it hard to fit in. That is why luiz even plays ahead of mikel in the big games (before matic comes) against manutd and liverpool, because he has more energy than mikel.

I really thought mata will cope because he was naturally a winger for valencia and in his first season with us under AVB.

[Jase 43,479]

when he get a chance, i wonder!

I would imgaine in the next 2 (home) games against Stoke and West Ham especially the former.

[lionsden 4,689]

I posted the same in the oscar thread but here's opposition view of the debate for some much needed balance and unbiased views

pulled straight out of redcafe

ekeke said:

Its good he puts his foot in and tries to win the ball but he also needs to have an impact in the final third

Those are average numbers for a number 10 at Chelsea. An average of 36 passes isnt exactly impressive either, its not like hes the heartbeat of your team. So while he has done a very good job defensively, he's been underwhelming offensively. 36 is a couple more than Kagawa averages and he hasn't been influencial enough either and has played plenty of times on the wing. His end product has been more disappointing as well. The point is that while Mourinho obviously loves the fact he will try and pinch the ball and close people down, you're playing as a number 10 for a top club. You need to be producing more offensively than he has in the league. Interestingly, while Oscar has made double the tackles Mata has, an out of form and unconfident Mata has created almost double the chances Oscar has. At the end of the day its no surprise you're just nicking results and largely playing dour football (other than Hazard) if your number 10 is valued for his closing down and defensive work rather than his attacking. Heskey, Kuyt and Valencia are valued for theirs as well and Oscar should be aiming a lot higher than that.

Gerald g wrote:He was anonymous today. I've thought this all season but Mata should be ahead of him in my opinion

B20: I think Ekeke makes a valid point. Mourinho has sold the world a false dilemma with this Oscar vs Mata thing and Oscar being one of your better players only masks the actual fact that he is not as good as Mata has been for you the past two years.

Robbie boy: Mata is the better player, for me, and his productivity is better than Oscar's

[ephreak 42]

http://blogs.grada360.com/juanmata/en/2014/01/20/el-dia-de-etoo/

Mata updated his blog (does it ever monday).

[zolayes 14,489]

http://blogs.grada360.com/juanmata/en/2014/01/20/el-dia-de-etoo/

Mata updated his blog (does it ever monday).

thanks