“Instead, the background to the Mata deal is a case study about how complicated and sensitive these big-money arrangements can be, and an insight into the high influence of agents in the modern business. Without them, both clubs recognise the chances of the deal going through were nonexistent. Seven different agents approached United since August to say they could make it happen. As it turned out, they used Mata's father, Juan senior, and Colin Pomford, a Madrid-based agent who specialises in Spanish business going back to Steve McManaman's time at Liverpool and, later, the Rafael Benítez era.â€.

Daniel Taylor (The Guardian 27 Jan, 2014)

Let me start by saying that Daniel Taylor’s ‘sources’ are usually more likely to satisfy a goose rather than be worthy of a gander and I also have grave suspicions over impartiality whenever he writes articles on his beloved Manchester United. Nevertheless, in this instance it is not hard to take the ex-Manchester Guardian writer’s words as gospel, especially if you are a Chelsea fan and you were as intrigued as I was to see Juan Mata’s father in the directors box at the Emirates for Arsenal’s match against Fenerbahce last August. Trying to make things happen for your son in the future, even before they are far from guaranteed not to in the present, is often the driving force behind many an ambitious father’s actions. And so, it seems, was the case for Mr Mata Senior on that particular night in London, and no doubt on others in Manchester thereafter.

Indeed, the disappointed Chels fan could easily let his imagination run riot on this topic, almost to the point of no return for everyone concerned in the following situation:- Consider, if you will, Mata Jnr [the player] prepared to fight for his place in Jose’s first team and keen to impress, but Mata Snr [the agent] shopping around regardless. As with all those fathers who shout and scream at their kids on touchlines up and down the country, he wants his son to succeed, to be the best - ’c’mon son, you can do it!’ - and Juan, up until the start of this season, had done it, unquestionably. So, once the questioning of status within the squad starts in earnest, it would be no surprise if Mata Snr didn’t take a firm hand on the transfer tiller, perhaps against the true wishes of his son, as later expressed by him so eloquently in a personal letter to us all on his website, the reference to ’personal circumstances’ speaking volumes for me, incidentally.

Taking these two Matas a stage further, for the father it now has to be a bigger stage [as he sees it] and the smack-bang centre of it too, in order to make more money, improve the brand and, dare it be said, cash in big time. Whether this is what the son really wants, well who knows, we can only speculate as Mata Snr accumulates. What is undeniable, though, is that this transfer can never be regarded as the signalling of a new era, for that had already started under Jose, beginning the moment he stepped into Stamford Bridge second time around. And in any event, ‘era’ would be a misnomer when referring to Juan’s period of time with us, as he was never destined to be part of a team that made any sort of challenge for the Premiership title, our sixth and third places hiding a multitude of sinful point failures, heralding a massive gap between us the having-it-all-their-own-way Mancunians.

Moreover, whatever spin United put on it, there is strong evidence to suggest that this transfer is much closer to a panic buy than a perfect fit for a club that was getting desperate to sign, or at the very least get genuine recognition and praise from, a quality player. My thoughts turn to the time when [i think it was] Aston Villa threatened Wenger’s trophy-winning fourth place in the Premiership and, to great acclaim, Andrey Arshavin was signed. Okay, a CL place was salvaged and he performed well for a while, but ultimately there was a petering out, the imperfections appearing inside the first year. Mata may well be a far better player than the equally diminutive Russian, but the frailty in both is physique-deep and long-haul competitions such as the Premiership are in the main won by teams made of sterner stuff, the likes of Hazard, Oscar and William proving that frame-size is no barrier when it comes to getting stuck in, if you are prepared to embrace the concept in the first place.

To be honest [sometimes brutally honest] embracing the concept is what it is all about when you play for Jose Mourinho, often to the exclusion of all influences, including paternal ones, should they be ill-conceived and thereby detrimental to cause. Even to the point of astonishing benefaction and the handing over of talent to a rival, despite the possibility of repercussion. And even when aware of the dangers of possible alienation of a fan base because a favourite leaves for what, at first sight, appears to be for his own good rather than, in any shape or form, ours. Not for Jose the wheeler-dealing transfer of a Rooney for a Mata, not when one didn’t want the move enough and the other didn’t fancy the terms of the stay. And not for him the ludicrous compromise of keeping a player happy and out of the clutches of a rival club by topping-up his bank account to the tune of £300,000 every week.

Let’s not forget who we are dealing with here - Jose is the Special One, not Juan out of the bottle.
 

Well-written as usual Dorset but this time I think we differ in opinion.

 

Unknowingly or not the article suggests parallels between the sales of Mata and Arjen Robben. In both cases, "ambition" was cited as the cause by a vocal father presuming to speak on behalf of his son and client and swiftly and unexpectedly swept away a fan favourite like a thief in the night. Mata's sale has largely left the fanbase disillusioned and distrusting of the hierarchy. Mata Snr may have the right to agitate on behalf of his son but there is a distinct feeling that our adopted son has been lost to us, for good, and as with any tragedy, we are simply looking to the heavens and screaming "why?" in the hope of somehow rationalising the loss.   

 

As pointed out by many in the media, it is merely the cult of Jose Mourinho that stands between the club and open rebellion over this transfer. No other manager would be able to sanction this transfer. It's tempting therefore to draw comparisons, to find justifications and to seek reason in a situation that seems wholly unreasonable and unjustified, but more often than not I find that we're merely clutching at straws.

 

 

These are the 'facts', as Rafa would say. Juan Mata Garcia, unquestionable two-time player of the year and Chelsea hero, is injured and in need of rest rather than a rigorous Mourinho pre-season. All is well until the transfer speculation about Rooney, in which it is leaked that United are supposedly interested in a swap deal. Some sections of the press have suggested that Mata was pre-judged by Mourinho, the conspiracies ranging from his lack of "work rate" to his friendship with Casillas, Ramos and the Barcelona players, to the idea that Mourinho wanted to pull rank and cut down the cult figure of the talismanic playmaker.

 

The niceties that Mourinho and Mata shared after their parting of ways is tinged with more than a little combative tension. Where you see "personal circumstances" referring to nudges and pulls from Juan Snr or other agents, I sense an out-of-character frustration directed at a manager who plainly did not rate him and refused to countenance accommodating him into the team. To borrow an analogy from music; Mata is a supreme conductor, who when in his rhythm is capable of orchestrating the very heartbeat of the music. Not for Mourinho, however, is the patient probing of Mata's style. Mourinho desires the virtuoso soloist, a player who provides brief moments of electric thrill to a solid foundation. Mourinho's teams are designed around efficient counter-attacking and Mata's style of play both defensively and offensively never really appealed to him.

 

The second thought on Mourinho's mind would have also been the potential of Oscar and Hazard, two players I think we can agree have the potential to not just match but exceed Mata's ability. From the way he speaks about both these players, Hazard especially, he envisions a team where they have much greater attacking responsibility. Mata's seniority, talent and style of play insists on him being the conduit of most attacking play, and Mourinho perhaps thought this was stifling Hazard and Oscar. Selling Mata "forces" these two talents to step up and take responsibility and over the course of the season I'm excited to watch them do that.

I find both points of view interesting reading; I accept that they are personal points of view and personal observations rather than the real facts behind this deal, (unless Dorset is indeed a mole) to which we will never really know until such time as a 'close insider' or 'reliable source' comes forward, and even then it might be taken with a 'grain of salt'.  

 

Perhaps the simple reason is that the 'Special Juan' was not so special after all.  Jose' is probably one of the top two Managers in the world of club football, his resume' speaks for itself and therefore 'In Jose' We Trust' is undeniable; his lust for success and adulation drives him forward and challenges him against the best tacticians in the game; a game of 'football chess' if you like among masters, albeit perhaps lacking entertainment, nevertheless is fascinating to watch, remembering that 'Chess is a game of war' and only the very best survive, and to survive you need the right pieces on the board, or in this case a football pitch; playing in unison, attacking and retreating against your opponent as a unit; there cannot be any weak links only sacrifices of pieces to achieve the ultimate aim of destroying your opponent and winning the game.  With the rich abundance of midfielders Jose' could to choose from it appears he made the choice early in the campaign, he needed workhorses, those who would run together tirelessly for the team and their manager while having the technical abilities to execute the 90 minute battle plan.  Juan, while possessing more than enough technical ability IMO did not have the stamina to meet the demands of Jose'.  

 

It was clearly evident in a majority of the games that he did start that he faded as the pace of the game was quickened and sustained for longer periods as Jose' demanded, and rather being the orchestrator, as so eloquently described by Sydney, I believe he found himself becoming part of the orchestra, but playing slightly out of tune and was always struggling to get back into the rhythm.  I think that Juan tried desperately to please the manager but his inner strength and fortitude were severely tested to a point where he realized that despite his best efforts it was clear that he was not going to start every game and only be selected when the manager decided he would be the right piece to have on the board against a specific opponent and their style of play, and that was not good for him, his career and perhaps as Dorset has alluded to, Mata Snr.   

 

When the offer came from Man Utd for once it appears, Roman had taken the handcuffs off of those that ran the footballing side of the business and that his personal interference in transfers, that had been rife in the past, were cast aside and left to those, including Jose to make the right decisions for the overall benefit of the team and moving the club forward.  Although speculation by the many Jose and the transfer team probably did take into account the remaining fixture list and how by planting Mata in the Utd team it could hurt the efforts of direct rivals, although I wonder if this deal would have been done had Utd been 6 points behind and we were sitting 4th place in the table, perhaps not.  However, the offer for a 'bench warmer' and out of sync conductor was too good to be true and the rest as they say is 'history'.   I still feel that had Jose' really wanted to keep Juan Mata he would have done so regardless of the offer, clearly Jose' saw something in Mata that he didn't like or that he was missing in order to meet the demands that are required over the long haul to win the Premier League, whether it was physical or mental, (clearly it wasn't technical ability which we know Mata has an abundance of) perhaps we may never know and I wonder whether he had lost faith in himself and was pushed to his mental and physical limit but even then it wasn't good enough to make a Jose' team.  

 

It will be interesting if we watch Utd for the remainder of the season and they get back to full strength and back to their best and Mata fans take off their rose coloured glasses they just might see what Jose' has identified as Juan's short comings.   They will find that there is only one 'Special One' and that he was right all along and that the memory of Juan Mata will soon fade as we lift the PL trophy as a symbol of the 'second coming'

interesting and incisive views. i was hoping that all the talks of mata going was not going to come to fruition on the pretext that JM was using luiz and acquiring matic to be the more 'mobile' pivots that will allow greater rein for our attackers which will of course suit mata. having so many attacking midfielders has left a conundrum for JM and he had to make decisions which will prove unpopular. i am sure that JM has had enough time to assess everyone and come to his conclusions. like everyone else i am a fan of mata's but i try and not let that blind me to the fact oscar is a mainstay of both club and country. 

I would have been outraged if another manager had sold Mata, but not with Jose. Not out of blind worship either. His track record is very good not just for Chelsea but Europe, the team are playing well and i think we can all see he has a certain version for the club going forward.

Then finally, he is the only Chelsea manager i'm not worried about leaving since he left the first time. If he doesn't fit into Jose's long term plans, he has my trust that he has his valid reasons.

I, too, am of the opinion that if it had been any other manager who countenanced this transfer to a heated rival, we would all be crying bloody murder. But yes, like most, I may have shed a tear to see the departure of a fan favorite, and undoubtedly the shining light of these past two seasons, but I certainly did not bat an eyelid. And the reason? I have never felt more secure over the past few seasons than I do now, safe in the knowledge that we are managed by Jose Mourinho. I see what he is trying to do with the squad - tightening the defense, pressure high up the field, winning possession back quickly and breaking at pace - and it is clear to me that Juan simply was never going to be a good fit. For putting aside attributes others in this thread have already talked about, Juan simply was never blessed with electric pace, certainly not the kind of pace Willian and Hazard have. And yes, I purposely compare him to those two, rather than to Oscar, who many have said was his direct competitor for a starting slot. I don't agree. Jose, when he did play Mata, preferred him in wider areas.

 

Having said all this, I don't and never will understand the vitriol hurled in Mata's direction (mostly on Twitter). Maybe you could say with some naivety that he should have stayed and fought for his place, but things are never every that simple. First, we don't anything about the real relationship between player and manager. We've certainly heard a lot of rumors, again the validity of which is in question, that they weren't really on speaking terms. Certainly, something like that would make you think twice about your position within an organization. Second, this is a World Cup year. Spain is not short of quality, creative attacking players. Mata was on the fringes even when he was regularly playing for Chelsea. You could certainly imagine a scenario where the Splinter-bottomed Juan could miss the squad entirely. These things weigh on a player's mind. Finally, Hazard, Oscar and Willian are all young and improving. It is highly unlikely things are going to get any better any time soon. Couple that with interest from one of the traditional powerhouses, and the likelihood he is going to get a regular start over there, and you can see how his resolve to stay, if there every really was any, could be broken. I don't blame anyone on this issue.

 

From the club's point of view, again, I trust Jose implicitly. If he feels we don't really need to keep Mata, I trust his decision. I have a feeling though, that his hand could have partly been forced. The blooming' FFP is probably weighing on everyone's mind - everyone but Madrid, and particularly Barca, that is - and I know Jose must have plans on strengthening the squad in other areas, one area in particular that traditionally requires quite a bit of cash as these players tend to be at the top end of the price range. Jose and the club are probably already thinking how to do this and still keep within the FFP requirements. To end this point though, I simply can't resist the chance have a dig at the club I despise above all others, Barcelona. How dare the likes of these clubs that spend close to 100 million on one player, and the Bayerns, who buy up all the star players from their closest rivals, call us the enemies of football! And how dare FIFA scrutinize our activities and seemingly allow Barca to carry on doing what they do.

 

Back to Mata, I have nothing but good will and best wishes for him, except when he plays us of course. I can't imagine what the past few seasons would have been like without the man people were beginning to compare to Franco Zola. I remember saying that it may be a bit too early to do that, even though I could see some similarities, and I'm not going to say I'm in any way happy to be proven right on that count.