Juan Mata

[ephreak 42]

To be honest. I just can´t see Mata stay in Chelsea past next summer transfer.

It feels like Mourinho decided before he took over Chelsea job who his nr 10 player is going to be. Now you may be asking why we didn´t sell Mata this summer, and I think that is because it would destroy all the good feeling that Mourinhos great comeback as manager for Chelsea would bring. And to actually sell our best player the last two years would make every fan go crazy.

I suspect that the board decided to ride out this bullshit about him, that he suddenly isn´t good enough to play as nr 10 role, until next summer.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Manure fans could say the same thing about Jose and Mata...

Except we have players similar to Mata who can cover for him, while Kagawa is their only genuine attacking midfielder.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

Gabriele Marcotti's take on the Mata situation.

http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/mondaymusings/id/566

I tend to agree with this. Mata simply doesn't have the attributes that Mourinho wants from a winger. If you want Mata on your team, you need to largely build an attack around him. This is true of a almost any top offensive player. To me, this whole thing seems disingenuous and a way to isolate Mata without seeming like the bad guy. Mourinho is not going to make him a better player. We've seen the best of Mata which is pretty fantastic and know what he can and can't do. Take any player and say "you have to play at a position and role you're clearly not suited for and compete with 4 other players for it" and what do you expect to happen? If Mourinho didn't like the way Chelsea played with Mata on the team, then why the hell is he still here? Mata as the centrepiece of your offense is incredibly valuable. Mata as a squad player, playing a system and position that doesn't fit him is not worth a fraction of what Chelsea could get for him. I would have been fine if Chelsea had sold him, that would have made sense to me, but this treatment is much worse.

[Barbara 15,149]

When Mourinho keeps saying he's not ready to move Oscar from position doesn't it imply he may be able to move him later? I'm still not 100% sure as you guys are that he wants to use Mata in the wing. He could have said he won't ever move Oscar from the position or that the position's is Oscar's and will continue to be while he'll welcome Mata elsewhere. But what he really said is that when Mata shows him he'll play and that now he isn't ready to move Oscar.

So I'd hold the assumption that Mata will play in the wing because that's contradictory and stupid. As I said in some other match Mourinho may be counting on Mata to become the kind of #10 he needs and use Oscar's versatility to play him either in the wing or in the pivot. I'd hate to see Oscar on either, but if that's what's best for the team, so be it. There are no doubts offensively and creatively Mata is the best #10. If he can work on his shortcomings and the liabilities he offers to the whole system, of course he should be the #10. The defensive demands in the middle are lesser than in the wings. I'd reserve judgment about that for now because since that comment (prior to Willian's signing) back in the pre-season where he said he likes his wingers to play with the wrong foot, he has never once ever since repeated he wants Mata to play in the wing (not that I recall).

[remains of the day 564]

If Mourinho didn't like the way Chelsea played with Mata on the team, then why the hell is he still here? Mata as the centrepiece of your offense is incredibly valuable. Mata as a squad player, playing a system and position that doesn't fit him is not worth a fraction of what Chelsea could get for him. I would have been fine if Chelsea had sold him, that would have made sense to me, but this treatment is much worse.

Absolutely. Besides the unfair treatment - business wise, it makes no sense. I would think that the longer Mata spends on the bench, the lower his value will drop. If he isn't going to be part of Jose's plans, then I would have just preferred him to be sold rather than him being a squad player. But I think there's probably more to this than we know, it's entirely possible that Mourinho would have preferred to move him on, but perhaps the club weren't prepared to risk losing their investment. Say Mourinho tells the club that Mata is surplus to him and sanctions a transfer, the club backs him and sells Mata. After one season, it doesn't work out with Jose and both parties part ways. Then the club basically would have let go of an excellent, young player because (at the time) he didn't fit into the manager's plans, a manager who is now gone. This might explain why (according to some rumours) the club were considering a loan option rather than a permanent transfer.

[Jase 43,479]

I tend to agree with this. Mata simply doesn't have the attributes that Mourinho wants from a winger. If you want Mata on your team, you need to largely build an attack around him. This is true of a almost any top offensive player. To me, this whole thing seems disingenuous and a way to isolate Mata without seeming like the bad guy. Mourinho is not going to make him a better player. We've seen the best of Mata which is pretty fantastic and know what he can and can't do. Take any player and say "you have to play at a position and role you're clearly not suited for and compete with 4 other players for it" and what do you expect to happen? If Mourinho didn't like the way Chelsea played with Mata on the team, then why the hell is he still here? Mata as the centrepiece of your offense is incredibly valuable. Mata as a squad player, playing a system and position that doesn't fit him is not worth a fraction of what Chelsea could get for him. I would have been fine if Chelsea had sold him, that would have made sense to me, but this treatment is much worse.

Think the reason we did not sell him was because of this, as ephreak has mentioned here.

It feels like Mourinho decided before he took over Chelsea job who his nr 10 player is going to be. Now you may be asking why we didn´t sell Mata this summer, and I think that is because it would destroy all the good feeling that Mourinhos great comeback as manager for Chelsea would bring. And to actually sell our best player the last two years would make every fan go crazy.

If anything, it seems that Mourinho is looking for a reason to sell Mata so that it doesn't piss off the fans that much as opposed to him just doing so when he came in. Either that or he did want to sell him but the club prevented him from doing so.

[ChelseasMessiah 304]

The lad is gonna wreak havoc tonight.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Think the reason we did not sell him was because of this, as ephreak has mentioned here.

If anything, it seems that Mourinho is looking for a reason to sell Mata so that it doesn't piss off the fans that much as opposed to him just doing so when he came in. Either that or he did want to sell him but the club prevented him from doing so.

How about we drop the conspiracy theories for once? I think the simple reason why we said no PSG and didn't sell him is because Jose wants to give him a chance to change his game and prove that he can fit in the current system.

[bushman 2,043]

How about we drop the conspiracy theories for once? I think the simple reason why we said no PSG and didn't sell him is because Jose wants to give him a chance to change his game and prove that he can fit in the current system.

Somehow, you keep posting here about some Jose´s system.

Could you let us know, what that system is ?

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Somehow, you keep posting here about some Jose´s system.

Could you let us know, what that system is ?

http://forum.talkchelsea.net/topic/16825-what-will-jose-mourinhos-chelsea-look-like/

[bushman 2,043]

http://forum.talkchelsea.net/topic/16825-what-will-jose-mourinhos-chelsea-look-like/

That´s all theories, so far.

Do you see any of it on the pitch ?

[zolayes 14,489]

Somehow, you keep posting here about some Jose´s system.

Could you let us know, what that system is ?

not putting all his eggs in one basket

and not counting his chickens before they are hatched...

[bushman 2,043]

not putting all his eggs in one basket

and not counting his chickens before they are hatched...

Do you think, Jose sits on those eggs, just to warm them up, so they hatch properly ?

Certainly, none of us want to see any wind-eggs, then.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

That´s all theories, so far.

Do you see any of it on the pitch ?

Of course, it's theories, but it is supported with what Jose has said several times in the media. He really has been trying to explain what he's doing. Basically what we're trying to do is play possession football high up the pitch with ball on the ground while still defending in numbers at the back.

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

But what gets me is what happened after the Basel game. Instead of highlighting the general poor perfromance of the whole team (and that was before Mata came on) and other players that were responsibile for the two goals for the goals (Cahill and Eto'o poor defending during the corner kick that led to the second goal), he just pretty much highlights Mata defensive contribution and styling as if it was the sole reason we lost the match and dropped him even from the bench. Yet other players who have performed poorly for the last few games (Hazard) get exempt from public criticsm from him and never seemed to be dropped.

So I do think this idea that Mourinho is trying to isolate Mata becuase he does not want him has grounds in reality and to me gives Mourinho a scapegoat so he can make excuses and shiftthe blame to others for his failings. Which seems to be his modus operandi this season when things don't go his way.