#4 Juan Mata – Chelsea
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When Juan Mata arrived at Chelsea, he reinvigorated the midfield that only had Frank Lampard to lean on when the going got tough. Taking on the no.10 jersey, the Spaniard went on to win two Player of the Year awards at the club. Everything seemed to be going right until Mourinho returned for a second stint.
Tasked with bringing the Blues back to the top of the league following a few years of mediocre finishes, Mourinho went back to basics, switched tactics and Mata suffered as a result.
“I don't like the way Chelsea were playing the last couple of years,” Mourinho had said. “The club doesn't like it and we want to change. We want to play a different style. The past is history.
Mourinho expected his players, especially his midfielders, to put in a hard shift. And Mata’s slight build became his weakness while his technical quality was overlooked. In the end, he lost his spot in the starting XI to Brazilian midfielder Oscar who was willing to track back and harry the opponents to win the ball back.
“Juan has to work and adapt to a certain style of play because I’m not ready to change Oscar’s position,” Mourinho explained. “Juan has to learn to play the way I want to play, to be more consistent.”
Mata would soon be sold to Manchester United for £37.1m but he now finds himself under the scanner again after Mourinho took over from Louis van Gaal this summer. He has been benched again in favour of other players in midfield and struggles to find game time.
