Mata returns to Chelsea on Saturday but will he start?
Friday 19 October 2018 14:55, UK
Juan Mata played an important role in Manchester United's turnaround against Newcastle before the international break, but will he ever be truly trusted by Jose Mourinho in the big games?
There was some surprise when Jose Mourinho made his first substitution after just 19 minutes of last weekend's encounter with Newcastle. Manchester United were two goals down and the pressure on the manager was mounting, but the decision to sacrifice Eric Bailly with more than three-quarters of the game to play still felt ruthless.
In hindsight, though, the substitution will go down as an important factor in the subsequent comeback. Amid the panic which had gripped United at Old Trafford, it was Juan Mata, Bailly's replacement, who provided some much needed quality and composure, completing 43 of his 47 passes and scoring the free-kick which sparked the turnaround.
Mata has been a peripheral figure this season but his performance in that game was a reminder of his considerable talent. In the two weeks since, there have been newspaper stories suggesting Mourinho is eager to extend his contract, while Mata himself has discussed United's "exciting month ahead" in an interview with Sky Sports.
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The temptation is to interpret this as a turning point for Mata but the reality is that regardless of his form, he is unlikely to feature prominently when the big games roll around. Mourinho may want to extend his contract but there is little reason to believe he will trust him with a starting spot in those "exciting" games against Chelsea, Juventus and Manchester City.
It was Mourinho, of course, who controversially dropped Mata from the Chelsea team before selling him to United in January 2014, and while there has been a reconciliation since their reunion at Old Trafford, the Spaniard has never recaptured the status he enjoyed in his early seasons at Chelsea - or in the years before that at Valencia.
That is not to say that Mata has been completely starved of playing time, of course. The Spaniard made 33 starts in all competitions in each of Mourinho's first two seasons in charge. What is notable, however, is how few of those starts came against top opposition.
Indeed, in 12 meetings against United's top-six rivals last season, Mata only started once - in the 2-1 win over Liverpool in March. He fared better in the season before that, starting four out of 12, but two of those came in Premier League meetings with Arsenal and Tottenham in which Mourinho was resting key players for the Europa League.
The pattern has continued this season. Mata was not even in the squad when United faced Tottenham at Old Trafford in August. He was left on the bench for their first two Champions League group games, too. On the biggest occasions, Mourinho consistently deems Mata's creative strengths to be outweighed by his physical and defensive weaknesses.
Back in those early years at Chelsea, Mata's current plight would have been unthinkable. Before Mourinho's return to the club, the Spaniard was a World Cup and European Championship-winner who had just scooped his second consecutive Chelsea player of the year award, scoring 18 goals and providing 24 assists in 69 Premier League appearances and establishing himself as one of the division's outstanding players.
He had a knack for thriving in the big games, too.
In the 2011/12 season, he was named man-of-the-match in Chelsea's FA Cup final win over Liverpool and started every knockout game in their triumphant Champions League campaign. It was his corner which allowed Didier Drogba to score the crucial equaliser in the final against Bayern Munich. A year later, he set up both goals in Chelsea's Europa League final win over Benfica.
Everything pointed to a long, illustrious future at Chelsea, but it all changed that summer. Mata was not a typically 'Mourinho' player. The newly-recruited Willian offered far more of the speed and industry Mourinho demands from his wide players on the right, and with Eden Hazard on the left and Oscar favoured at No 10, Mata was sidelined. "Juan has to learn to play the way I want to play," sniped Mourinho at the time.
It paved the way for Mata's move to Manchester United, and it is to his great credit that he has remained fully committed since being reunited with the Portuguese two-and-a-half years later at Old Trafford. Mata's talents could surely be better harnessed elsewhere, but he has worked hard to earn a place in Mourinho's plans. He was even rewarded with a one-year contract extension in January.
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But while Mourinho hailed Mata as "very important" at the time, his role on the pitch remains a bit-part one. He only made it off the bench for the last three minutes of their FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea in May. This season, he has only made one start since August and that came in United's Carabao Cup meeting with Derby County.
It is all a far cry from those early seasons at Chelsea. Saturday's return to west London is the kind of occasion the younger Mata would have relished. But when the referee sounds his whistle for kick-off at Stamford Bridge, the scene of so many happy memories for him in the past, the likelihood is that Mata will be watching on from the substitutes' bench once again.
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