Chelsea would be foolish to drop Juan Mata again

Juan Mata

Juan Mata’s career at Stamford Bridge has been on the back burner since Jose Mourinho’s return to Chelsea. The pair have not yet seen eye-to-eye since the beginning of the season and consequently the Spaniard has been given limited playing time.

The 25-year-old made his return to first team action on Sunday afternoon as he led a Chelsea comeback against a resilient Southampton. In his first start in the Premier League since November 2nd, and only his sixth all season, Mata simply ran the show as the Blues came from behind to register a crucial 3-1 win, establishing themselves in second place behind Arsenal.

After seeing less than 180 minutes of competitive action in the last month, 90 of which came with Spain in a friendly, Chelsea’s back-to-back player of the year made his return on the right side of the Blues attacking-midfield trio.

Following the match, Mourinho praised Mata for his performance. “It was good, in the second half he gave us what we needed, I needed him to come inside and be a bit of a winger and come inside and connect with the attacking players, he did that well,” the Portuguese told Chelsea’s official website.

“We also needed him to control Luke Shaw because the kid goes forward, and he was also a big support to [Branislav] Ivanovic, so his performance was good.”

Mata impressed having been recalled to the starting line-up and despite only being credited with one assist (he now has two assists in the league, Oscar has none), he was ever-present in trying to create goalscoring opportunities for his team-mates. Having made two key passes, he was statistically superior to anyone else on the pitch in this aspect.

The Spaniard was involved in two of Chelsea’s three goals against the Saints. In the second half his in-swinging corner was headed towards goal by Ivanovic. It fell to Ba who hit the post and luckily Gary Cahill was close by to follow in as the ball was somehow scrambled into the back of the net.

In the 62nd minute, Mata received a pass from Frank Lampard, and whipped in a trademark left-footed cross. Captain John Terry was on hand to mark his 400thPremier League game for Chelsea with a lovely header, which safely nestled into the far corner of the goal.

Mata spent the majority of his time on the ball in the direct centre of the pitch. From this position he was able to dictate the tempo and retain possession for his side. With 40 successful passes to his name, he recorded an average accuracy of 77%. Whilst this is not the most impressive of totals, we have to consider this match was his first start for a long, long time and Southampton are by no means pushovers.

On top of his attacking threat, his willingness to help Ivanovic deal with the forward runs of Southampton’s highly-rated full-back Luke Shaw, was duly noted. He made two tackles and an interception from inside his own half.

With the spotlight firmly on the Spaniard during this match, Mata failed to disappoint the Chelsea fans who have been supportive throughout his difficult start to the season. Hopefully his performance has made a noticeable impression on Jose Mourinho, if so, I am sure he will feature on a more regular basis in the club’s future fixtures.