Jose Mourinho and Juan Mata finally make peace

Juan Mata

After several weeks of stand-off, it appears that José Mourinho and Juan Mata have finally made peace. The absence of the Spaniard from the first-team has generated several controversial opinions.

Now, Mourinho has confirmed that the player has finally understood what he wanted and he is now ready to pick Mata on a regular basis.

Even though the reasons for Mata not being selected were highly contentious in the early weeks, the situation has been slowly clearing up in recent weeks due to hints from player and Mourinho himself. It now appears that a difference in philosophy and working style was the reason for Mata’s omission.

Speaking ahead of the match, Mourinho said,

I liked the way Juan Mata played against Swindon. His attitude is very good and his effort was good.

When a player makes an effort to come in my direction then I go to him as well. I can imagine from now him working into my way of thinking and I think the natural tendency will for him to be in the team.

Mourinho is known as an incredibly honest manager when it comes to his players. He has earned the praise of ‘the best manager in the world’ from the players themselves for this reason. It appears that he has been very honest with Mata, who has responded with the kind of performance he wanted.

Mourinho accepted that performance against a third division team (with respect) was not going to be the decisive factor, but the attitude and effort were the most important.