He hasn't.

 

We haven't properly replaced Mata though.

 

What concerns me is that having spent big on Cuadrado, do we now have room for another attacking midfielder? Jose's never going to have an overly large squad, he doesn't like it. 

 

So is there space to sign a Bale or Pogba (to allow Fabregas to play in the #10 role)? 

 

I just worry that the Cuadrado signing was made too early. 

What concerns me is that having spent big on Cuadrado, do we now have room for another attacking midfielder? Jose's never going to have an overly large squad, he doesn't like it. 

 

So is there space to sign a Bale or Pogba (to allow Fabregas to play in the #10 role)? 

 

I just worry that the Cuadrado signing was made too early. 

 

We should be more concerned about holding onto Hazard. Real Madrid want their next expensive toy and if they sell Bale then they'll certainly have the funds to launch another world record bid.

 

If we need to move one of our AM's then certainly Oscar would receive some good offers but nobody would pay to us what we paid for Willian, he's nowhere near worth that much.

Hazard is not going anywhere imo. Chelsea can't afford to lose him ANYHOW.

Edited March 16, 201511 yr by CFCBlue12

When he was here we finished 25 points behind the champions (5 points behind Spurs and 1 point behind Newcastle) one year and then 14 points behind the champions the next. 

 

My view about Mata has always been the same. Great player whom you need to build the team around to get the best out of, but he's not a good enough player to win you the league if you do that. He's a great option for a third or fourth place team which is why I could see him going back to Valencia for about £20 million.

I see what you're saying but he's considerably better than Oscar/Willian/Cuadrado and we're still top of the league despite them not setting the bar too high, imagine how good we would be if he was here playing behind an excellent striker and actually trying to put the ball forward. Think how good he was with Torres and Ba in front of him and how good he would have been with Costa

Edited March 16, 201511 yr by BenCFC19

What concerns me is that having spent big on Cuadrado, do we now have room for another attacking midfielder? Jose's never going to have an overly large squad, he doesn't like it. 

 

So is there space to sign a Bale or Pogba (to allow Fabregas to play in the #10 role)? 

 

I just worry that the Cuadrado signing was made too early.

Jose has mentioned before that he likes to work with a 22 man squad and I imagine he's talking about senior players. We are well short of that number right now. Just take Ramires out of the squad and we look incredibly thin in all midfield positions. Definitely room there for one or possibly two signings imo.

I know you have concerns about Cuadrado but once he settles down and starts playing, I believe he will prove to be a good signing. I'm not sure if it was the right move for January looking at how few minutes he's been getting but I have no doubt that he offers something that we've lacked. 

Cherry-picking is such an easy thing to do.

 

 

2011-12 was a creaking squad in need of quality and poor tactics by AVB.

 

As for 2012-13 you should remember that we were playing with a dysfunctional striker in Torres, and Lampard-Ramires played in the pivot for many games, and that Hazard and Oscar were in their debut season in English football. These were the reasons why we finished 14 pts behind Utd in the league and not because, as you say, "he's not a good enough player to win you the league".

Yes we were shipping silly goals that season and throwing away leads but as this season has shown, Mata was not to blame for that.

Tell me, with a world class DM in Matic and the defensive work rate of our AM's why we've been throwing away leads this season ?

And how many times have we needed Courtois to bail us out ?

 

Mata's the kind of player who can win you the league, in fact, he's the type of player that can make the difference between winning or drawing a game.

 

We should be happy that Fergie has retired now because had he been there at Utd they would've surely punished us for our slack form in the 2nd half of the league this season.

 

I disagree.

I disagree.

 

No problem. We can agree to disagree.

Can't see why the Surrey day trippers don't play him often instead sticking to their long ball to fellaini, Mata is world class when on the ball we all know that but off the ball he doesn't contribute. If only we could take his attacking talent and merge it with Oscar....

I think the selling of Mata affects him more than us. You could argue that he ruined his career to join a team that is in transition--he doesn't even start for United because it seems like they have a hard time fitting him in. While if had waited for his chance here, he would've eventually gotten it. It just seems like modern football and patience don't mix. 

 

The replacements Salah and Cuadrado,so far Cuadrado looks really average. I think we should have gone for Draxler or waited until summer to replace Schurrle. 

Why is this even a thread, this is never happening.

Why is this even a thread, this is never happening.

I agree totally pointless discussion never gonna happen! 

He picked a poor time to join Man Utd really - a team in total flux and without a central midfield pairing (Carrick + ???) which are solid enough to be able to justify playing him in the position in which he excels. Add that to the fact that there are plenty of other high-quality players whose best position is the same as Mata's (including the team captain...) and you have the makings of a very unhappy player, especially considering his abilities mean that he should be starting somewhere, and also considering he left Chelsea because he wasn't getting into the first team consistently.

 

I wouldn't be at all surprised if he left Man Utd in the summer, although I would imagine he will leave the Premier League entirely. There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that he will come back to Chelsea, as much as he is loved; Mourinho has made it perfectly clear that he does not believe his style would fit into the current Chelsea setup. There is more chance of us signing Juan Pablo Angel than Juan Mata.

 

Edit: I wouldn't be surprised if Mata were to go back to Valencia to be honest, they are building a very impressive team and Mata might just be the final piece of the puzzle. He would have a decent chance of Champions League football next season too: 7 wins out of their last 9 games in La Liga, plus they overtook Atletico to go into third at the weekend.

Edited March 17, 201511 yr by PloKoon13

World cup year makes players do all sorts of crazy things. I can't even remember if he was picked for Spain or not but I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't, he just doesn't fit into their system. 

 

Had he stayed I do think Jose would have made some allowances to make up for his defensive abilities, similar to the way Dave stays back and covers Hazard. I thought Matic would be the one to allow Mata the same freedom Hazard had but by the time he was signed I think Mata had already made his mind up. 

 

I think he might stay at United for another year, whether he stays or goes really depends on how long Van Gaal is going to be there for though. I recall reading something about him only being there for 3/4 years or something and then retiring. There have been strong rumors that Atletico Madrid are interested though. Valencia is a great shout, very rich now after their takeover so they can actually afford him. 

Edited March 17, 201511 yr by Remodez

Why is this even a thread, this is never happening.

 

Look at the first page of the Fabregas thread. 

World cup year makes players do all sorts of crazy things. I can't even remember if he was picked for Spain or not but I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't, he just doesn't fit into their system.

He didn't play until Spain's final, meaningless group match. Surely he'll be back in La Liga sooner than later at this point.