Thursday, March 28, 2024

Can Spaniard be the Juan that Mata’s for Chelsea this season?

Valencia star Juan Mata is set to complete his £26million move to Premier League Chelsea.

The deal has been conducted in quite a short period of time and the Spaniard looks set to join the Blues after travelling to London for a medical on Monday.

Creative

Juan Mata is exactly the sort of player that the Chelsea team has been missing. Chelsea in recent months has been missing a creative edge and Mata can provide that creativity.

Mata is full of skill and vision. He was part of the reason why Valencia got over the loss of the brilliant David Silva so quickly.

He has so many good attributes to his game. One of his best is his ability to take players on and get the fans excited. The World Cup winner is also very adaptable, with him being able to play anywhere along the forward line.

Achievement

Juan Mata is still relatively young at 23 and has already achieved so much. Mata was part of Spain’s World Cup winning side last year and then captained his countries under-21 side to victory in this summers European Championship.

Mata also helped Valencia to third place in La Liga last season. Juan Mata is definitely a winner and he brings that mentality with him to the Chelsea squad.

Evolution

New Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas is looking to bring down the age of his squad and help the squad evolve into a winning unit. The likes of Juan Mata and Belgian youngster Romelu Lukaku arriving at the club is a sign that the Portuguese boss is building a squad for the future.

If the Portuguese boss is given enough time then I do believe he will build a squad capable of challenging at the top of the Premier League. Knowing Chelsea though if he doesn’t win the big trophies this season he will lose his job.

Torres

Since Spanish striker Fernando Torres joined Chelsea from Liverpool for a British record fee of £50million he has struggled. One of the reasons pinpointed for his hard time at Stamford Bridge has been a lack of supply line from midfield.

The lack of a player capable of producing a clever through ball or bit of vision to put the Spaniard in on goal. Mata’s presence in the Chelsea team could just kick start the Spaniard’s career in blue.

More

Chelsea boss Villas-Boas is obviously not happy with the midfield options available to him. Reports throughout the summer have suggested that Tottenham midfield playmaker Luka Modric would be making the move to Stamford Bridge.

And it seems the Croatian international is closer to joining the Blues after he was left out of the Tottenham squad that faced Manchester United last night. Should Mata and Modric join the Blues it would give their midfield a completely different look.

Fresh

If Portuguese boss Andre Villas-Boas is to be a success at Chelsea then he has to put his own stamp on the team. A lot of the Chelsea players have been at the club for along time and last season failed to win anything last season.

There needs to be a feeling of renewal at the club for Chelsea to move forward. As I mentioned earlier though, I just hope that Villas-Boas is given enough time to make his mark on the Chelsea squad. It will take the 33 year-old time to get his ideas across to his players. However the big question is will Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich give the Portuguese boss the time he needs to succeed at the Bridge?

Is Juan Mata the key to refreshing the Chelsea attack?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Nugent


David is a freelance football writer with nearly a decade of experience writing about the beautiful game. The experienced writer has written for over a dozen websites and also an international soccer magazine offline.
Arguably his best work has come as an editorial writer for Soccernews, sharing his good, bad and ugly opinions on the world’s favourite sport. During David’s writing career he has written editorials, betting previews, match previews, banter, news and opinion pieces.

SHARE OR COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE

WE RECOMMEND

  • David Nugent

    0 0

    Thanks for your in-depth comment you obviously know your football too.

  • BradtheGreat

    0 0

    typo in my post. Makes Mata the best option*** lol. Sorry about that.

  • BradtheGreat

    0 0

    Great article! I’m glad to actually read someone who knows football not bashing Torres or any other striker for not scoring.. People forget that our game is a team game, and it takes all levels being on a fundamentally sound line to score goals. Chelsea have too many players who are talented at putting the ball in the back of the net. However, with no one creating these playmaking chances.. These players cant find the back of the net. This is where Mata comes in. He has loads of pace and excellent vision to see the pass well before it ever happens. Not only this, but he has the quality and class to put the ball on target to a striker or other player with precision. Most importantly in this matter, he has the willingness to make the precision pass. Spanish national players of late play good solid team football, and he wouldnt be picked for that team if he didnt. Then the addition of having the ice cold quality to stick a ball in the back of the net makes me the best option at winger or attacking mf Chelsea have. Malouda has been the only true winger, but he’s not the playmaker type. Fantastic scorer, but not a creator for his teammates. Chelsea need to consider getting rid of the 4-3-3 and go with more of a 4-2-2 base with it really being offset. I’d call it a 4-2-2-o/s1-1. Drogba floating just behind Torres in front. Mata on the right, because he can play either side effectively. Malouda on left for the sheer quality of his left foot. Lampard and Ramires in the middle(maybe the occasional Mikel in place of Ramires. Well until Essien gets back which may take some time. Then the back four of Ivanovic or Bosingwa at RB, Luiz when healthy and Terry patrolling the CB, and Cole on the left. This is a more attacking style without the CDM on the pitch. Chelsea have a good enough back 4 to not need that. I’d take attacking football anyday, and I think Villas-Boas is an attack first minded manager. The best defense in our game is having the ball at our feet and keeping it. Creating and scoring goals is a must. With Mata, both Torres and Drogba need to be on the pitch together. The only problem is that of the media making a big deal of it. They are footballers who want to win. Nothing more. They are strikers who want to score goals. Every club need strikers who want to score goals. Since when is 2 wanting to a bad thing? IMO though. Good article nonetheless. 😉

  • David Nugent

    0 0

    Apart from the first part of your comment you talk a lot of sense Chelsea FC Fan!

  • Chelsea FC Fan

    0 0

    hahaha…probably the worst article title i’ve read on this website yet – but that in itself deserves some credit – good job with that Dave (lol).

    Anyway, Mata will add another dimension to Chelsea’s game, which is desperately needed.

    It’s nice to have a hungry attacking winger again. Malouda has the talent, but his hunger has disappeared as he seems too comfortable in his seniority wearing a Chelsea jersey…but I love him regardless. Mata has a lot to prove and has to win over the fans and his new teammates, so I see him really going all out to make his mark in the EPL. He brings a lot of good things to the table…talented, aggressive, not exactly a fame-whore (I think) and just looking to play football…we don’t need another ego-maniac – we have enough to keep us entertained for awhile. A talented, fundamentally solid, work-horse type player is what Chelsea need to revive itself and that’s what we’ll be getting with Mata.

  • David Nugent

    0 0

    I’m glad you liked it Sam.

  • Sam

    0 0

    i agree with you on the point of giving AVB time to manage the team. He is doing the right thing by the club by building it for the future like United are also doing. I would be dissappointed if he was to be sacked at the end of the year if he does reasonably well with the side.

    btw i liked your title to the article. very nice 🙂

  • David Nugent

    0 0

    Thanks Kevin!

  • Kevin

    0 0

    I am not a Chelscum fan but I have to say, bravo on the title of your article very creative!

  • Kevin

    0 0

    I am not a Chelscum fan but I have to say, bravo on the title of your article very creative!

  • David Nugent

    0 0

    Thanks Kevin!

  • Sam

    0 0

    i agree with you on the point of giving AVB time to manage the team. He is doing the right thing by the club by building it for the future like United are also doing. I would be dissappointed if he was to be sacked at the end of the year if he does reasonably well with the side.

    btw i liked your title to the article. very nice 🙂

  • David Nugent

    0 0

    I’m glad you liked it Sam.

  • Chelsea FC Fan

    0 0

    hahaha…probably the worst article title i’ve read on this website yet – but that in itself deserves some credit – good job with that Dave (lol).

    Anyway, Mata will add another dimension to Chelsea’s game, which is desperately needed.

    It’s nice to have a hungry attacking winger again. Malouda has the talent, but his hunger has disappeared as he seems too comfortable in his seniority wearing a Chelsea jersey…but I love him regardless. Mata has a lot to prove and has to win over the fans and his new teammates, so I see him really going all out to make his mark in the EPL. He brings a lot of good things to the table…talented, aggressive, not exactly a fame-whore (I think) and just looking to play football…we don’t need another ego-maniac – we have enough to keep us entertained for awhile. A talented, fundamentally solid, work-horse type player is what Chelsea need to revive itself and that’s what we’ll be getting with Mata.

  • David Nugent

    0 0

    Apart from the first part of your comment you talk a lot of sense Chelsea FC Fan!

  • BradtheGreat

    0 0

    Great article! I’m glad to actually read someone who knows football not bashing Torres or any other striker for not scoring.. People forget that our game is a team game, and it takes all levels being on a fundamentally sound line to score goals. Chelsea have too many players who are talented at putting the ball in the back of the net. However, with no one creating these playmaking chances.. These players cant find the back of the net. This is where Mata comes in. He has loads of pace and excellent vision to see the pass well before it ever happens. Not only this, but he has the quality and class to put the ball on target to a striker or other player with precision. Most importantly in this matter, he has the willingness to make the precision pass. Spanish national players of late play good solid team football, and he wouldnt be picked for that team if he didnt. Then the addition of having the ice cold quality to stick a ball in the back of the net makes me the best option at winger or attacking mf Chelsea have. Malouda has been the only true winger, but he’s not the playmaker type. Fantastic scorer, but not a creator for his teammates. Chelsea need to consider getting rid of the 4-3-3 and go with more of a 4-2-2 base with it really being offset. I’d call it a 4-2-2-o/s1-1. Drogba floating just behind Torres in front. Mata on the right, because he can play either side effectively. Malouda on left for the sheer quality of his left foot. Lampard and Ramires in the middle(maybe the occasional Mikel in place of Ramires. Well until Essien gets back which may take some time. Then the back four of Ivanovic or Bosingwa at RB, Luiz when healthy and Terry patrolling the CB, and Cole on the left. This is a more attacking style without the CDM on the pitch. Chelsea have a good enough back 4 to not need that. I’d take attacking football anyday, and I think Villas-Boas is an attack first minded manager. The best defense in our game is having the ball at our feet and keeping it. Creating and scoring goals is a must. With Mata, both Torres and Drogba need to be on the pitch together. The only problem is that of the media making a big deal of it. They are footballers who want to win. Nothing more. They are strikers who want to score goals. Every club need strikers who want to score goals. Since when is 2 wanting to a bad thing? IMO though. Good article nonetheless. 😉

  • BradtheGreat

    0 0

    typo in my post. Makes Mata the best option*** lol. Sorry about that.

  • David Nugent

    0 0

    Thanks for your in-depth comment you obviously know your football too.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This field is required *

Join the conversation!

or Register

Live Scores

advertisement

Betting Guide Advertisement

advertisement

Become a Writer
More More
Top