Juan Mata

[Eidur the Spider 4,515]

Browsing redcafe during this whole charade and apparently sky sports news are starting to backtrack:

Sky's back tracking was hilarious 'eh, we can confirm that Mata WAS at the training ground, but, eh, whether he trained or not isn't confirmed'... she actually said 'we wouldn't like to mislead anyone' - perish the thought.

[bushman 2,043]

Are we though? Or has Abramovich spotted an opportunity to cash in on a player that the manager clearly doesn't favour? Lets face it, Roman makes the final call when it comes to ££ and you don't earn billions without being smart with money.

Well, in Russia you do not need to be smart with money. All you need is to become the satrap of Kamchatka as he had. Money keeps flowing into your accounts freely, then.

[The only place to be 11,313]

so we are going to drop a perfectly fit and fine system and change our game from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 cos we dont have what? thats right depth in the region. which makes perfect sense to me cos why do u need consistency when u can simply toy and change the system every game. right? and rambo on the wings seems delicious to me. we should definitely play him there against palace and stoke cos who needs flair players to break down defences when u can have makeshift AMs.

Using Mata changes the system as well though. Haven't you noticed that?

And we've already used 433 with Rami in the middle interchanging with Oscar on the right and the pressing and counter system STILL worked. With Mata is simply doesn't.

so we are going to drop a perfectly fit and fine system and change our game from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 cos we dont have what? thats right depth in the region. which makes perfect sense to me cos why do u need consistency when u can simply toy and change the system every game. right? and rambo on the wings seems delicious to me. we should definitely play him there against palace and stoke cos who needs flair players to break down defences when u can have makeshift AMs.

8 defenders. so that would mean kalas and ake have played a role in our season so far which would be???? oh wait!!!!

or we can simply sell an asset who by the way might be just the thing to revive the dying embers of the most successful team in the PL history rather than using him for us, cos as far as i see it, the business end of the season is still pretty much left. add to that the fact that he would go for the same amount in the summer or probably 5mil less which could actually be used to buy a striker who would be available rather than

a.simply depleting our own squad

b. giving united a lifeline

c.what can we do with this money right now? buy players we dont need!!!

seems like a very good deal to me.

8 defenders. so that would mean kalas and ake have played a role in our season so far which would be???? oh wait!!!!

64 minutes in the league less than Bertrand. Fabulous point there dear.

or we can simply sell an asset who by the way might be just the thing to revive the dying embers of the most successful team in the PL history rather than using him for us, cos as far as i see it, the business end of the season is still pretty much left. add to that the fact that he would go for the same amount in the summer or probably 5mil less which could actually be used to buy a striker who would be available rather than

a.simply depleting our own squad

b. giving united a lifeline

c.what can we do with this money right now? buy players we dont need!!!

seems like a very good deal to me.

Can't say I'm happy about selling him to United, but you (specifically you) have no way of knowing that his value will remain the same in the summer. United are panic buying at the moment and normally panic buys are more pricey.

Ultimately this comes down to the reality of using Mata this season.

[Jase 43,479]

Browsing redcafe during this whole charade and apparently sky sports news are starting to backtrack:

Sky's back tracking was hilarious 'eh, we can confirm that Mata WAS at the training ground, but, eh, whether he trained or not isn't confirmed'... she actually said 'we wouldn't like to mislead anyone' - perish the thought.

Training ground as in Cobham, I would imagine?

[Kieran. 6,317]

I hope we sell him to Utd, they still fail to qualify for CL and they have to sell him at a cut-price deal somewhere abroad this summer.

[Melanicus 5,208]

I hope we sell him to Utd, they still fail to qualify for CL and they have to sell him at a cut-price deal somewhere abroad this summer back to us.

[bushman 2,043]

Wouldn´t it be hilarious if all this humbug was just a UK media science fiction again ? LOL.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

How many debuts has Jose handed to youth players this season? Which players have developed/improved under him? Have we improved stylistically under Mourinho after he claimed we played defensive and negative football under Rafa/RDM?

This new dawn, RIP player power nonsense is utterly delusional.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

I won't believe this until it happens and if we do sell him to United, I don't know how I'm going to handle it.

Surely, we can't be this stupid. Surely, there must be someone else in Europe that would want Mata as well. Accept a little less if needed, just don't sell him within the PL.

If we do sell him, we need an AM to replace him. Just 4 for 3 positions isn't good enough. Maybe recall someone from loan.

[lucio 5,395]

I won't believe this until it happens and if we do sell him to United, I don't know how I'm going to handle it.

Surely, we can't be this stupid. Surely, there must be someone else in Europe that would want Mata as well. Accept a little less if needed, just don't sell him within the PL.

If we do sell him, we need an AM to replace him. Just 4 for 3 positions isn't good enough. Maybe recall someone from loan.

piazon. he is a mourinho style player

[didierforever 7,349]

Using Mata changes the system as well though. Haven't you noticed that?

And we've already used 433 with Rami in the middle interchanging with Oscar on the right and the pressing and counter system STILL worked. With Mata is simply doesn't.

64 minutes in the league less than Bertrand. Fabulous point there dear.

Can't say I'm happy about selling him to United, but you (specifically you) have no way of knowing that his value will remain the same in the summer. United are panic buying at the moment and normally panic buys are more pricey.

Ultimately this comes down to the reality of using Mata this season.

how does it change with mata? we played a perfectly fine 4-2-3-1 against soton away. it was still 0-0 and far less effective than with oscar but the system was the same. plus with a good CDM like matic, we can become far more flexible with our system and to be honest i have not seen a single team who can play the same way with its first 11 and with its squad players. thats what we have with mata and get with mata. and i am sure i dont need to tell u about the QUALITY he brings to the team.

i thought the squad players specially the ones like bertrand are kept for cup games. which he played really well!!! but u know what keep deluding yourself with 64minutes!!! somehow it makes u happy, i see.

as far as i remember mata was rumored to be subject to a bid of 35mil in the summer (psg). i would even take a 30mil bid from psg than 40mil from united.

the reality is that mata has started 11 PL games this season and has been a substitute for 2 of them in 22 games (also one of those substitution was against tottenham in which we played a massive part in turning the game around). so the reality is that mata has started half of our PL games, would be starting more regularly when we have CL nights, FA cup matches, replays and normal fixture congestion.

[11Drogba 2,000]

Wouldn´t it be hilarious if all this humbug was just a UK media science fiction again ? LOL.

Possible. Skynews feeds Skybet with such rumors.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

piazon. he is a mourinho style player

I don't know if he is. He has decent workrate and can get stuck in, but he's pretty weak physically similar to Mata. Gets pushed off the ball very easily.

[The only place to be 11,313]

How many debuts has Jose handed to youth players this season? Which players have developed/improved under him? Have we improved stylistically under Mourinho after he claimed we played defensive and negative football under Rafa/RDM?

This new dawn, RIP player power nonsense is utterly delusional.

I'll agree that we haven't seen enough progress with the young players but we at least seem to be trying to develop a cohesive system that every age group team will play, thus easing their transition.

Oscar has developed, as has Hazard arguably.

I'd say we play very exciting football now which seems to be getting results.

But people like you seem to just moan all the fucking time so who really gives a fuck. The mood around this club is 180 degrees from where it was last season. People like you seem so far removed from what the crowds actually think that it's almost laughable, but this club was at the lowest ebb I've ever experienced just a year ago. Now we're challenging for the title and still in the CL with a manager that the fans on the terraces love.

But because we're selling a substitute to a rival then everything is shit. Grow Up!

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Still haven't forgiven Jose for the Robben debacle. This seems like déjà vu.

[TacticalBlues 2,817]

A lot of conjecture being thrown around about this deal but I still can't allign myself with the camp that feels this will benifit Chelsea.

40 mill will help with FFP but for a club like Chelsea I doubt we will ever fail to meet these regulations. I think the consensus since the inception of these regulations were that they were more bravado than substance and that they will essentially end up hurting smaller clubs rather than Chelsea. Mata's also a player who has ridiculousley low wages and all this said, it's laughable to assume that a club like Chelsea need this money.

Mata was the catalyst in our rejuvination 2 years ago and who's to say he won't do the same at the sleeping giants in Manchester. Even if his impact isn't tangible he could, like Ozil to Arsenal, become a poster-boy for enthusiasm at a club that is devoid of anything to cheer for.

I think most agree selling Mata to United is undesirable but those who acquiese to this happening and are even pushing (so it seems) are IMO wrong.

By giving Mata to United we're not only playing with the tempted luck by hoping it doesn't reawaken a sleeping giant, but are handing David Moyes and United a lifeline. Moyes, the man who failed to persuade the likes of Baines to join him at United, can become the man who brought Juan Mata to the club. United with RVP, Rooney, Mata and Januzaj also go from looking a fallen force to one that has the potential to again challenge next season.

There is a plausible inferance that can be taken from this deal coming to fruition: that Mourinho has finally broken the board power and commands full control of the happenings of Chelsea, but again this is an inferance. As @We Hate Scouse, pointed out it could indeed be the board bowing their heads to a tantilising 40 million pounds rather than handing Mourinho a vote of confidence. Maybe that's the case maybe it's not, we can't know for sure.

That all said, In the short-term, long-term, any term IMHO selling Mata to United is not a deal that will realistically benifit Chelsea as a football club. I hope that this is another media fiction that we can all laugh about in two weeks. The hardest part of this all right now is not knowing anything!

[Barbara 15,149]

@Barbara, how is it that you always seem to write a post that looks like an essay?

It's a blessing and a curse

But hey, take a look at my latest posts, there are a lot of them with at most 3 paragraphs. Gimme some credit.

Also I'm a writer, I write articles and books, so yeah... getting carried away is way too easy.

[Korea 734]

Still haven't forgiven Jose for the Robben debacle. This seems like déjà vu.

Robben a knucklehead.

Who gifted us the 2012 Champs League.