MOU PLAYED A MATA MASTERSTROKE!!!!!! If Juan Mata were to pick up the phone and call Cristiano Ronaldo, he would probably receive some reassurance. He would be told that Ronaldo, too, was asked to adapt his game by Jose Mourinho when the Portuguese took over at Real Madrid - but the coach’s demands turned the forward into a better player. Much has been made of Mata’s absence from the Chelsea team in the early part of the season - and quite rightly given his stunning performances since joining the club in 2011. But six league titles and two Champions League winners’ medals suggests Mourinho knows what he is doing in the dugout and he may have pulled off a masterstroke with his treatment of Mata. The 50-year-old was derided for leaving the Spaniard out of his starting XI and publicly calling on the former Valencia playmaker to work harder defensively, while making it clear that Oscar was his first choice for the No.10 role. Mourinho, though, has always used psychology to motivate even his best players. On Saturday, he got the response he was looking for as Mata came on at half-time against Tottenham with a point to prove and turned the game and helped earn his side a draw. After a listless first-half performance in which Chelsea were overrun and fortunate to be trailing only by a single goal, Mata inspired a complete turnaround. All of Chelsea’s best moves were orchestrated by him and it was no surprise it was he who put John Terry’s equalising goal on a plate from one of his trademark free kicks. Mata will now start in Tuesday’s crucial Champions League game at Steaua Bucharest with a spring in his step and determined to keep his place in the team. But while Mourinho may have played a masterstroke with Mata, there was more than a touch of hypocrisy in the Portuguese’s accusations of Jan Vertonghen cheating to get Fernando Torres sent-off. Mourinho blasted Vertonghen for making the most of his aerial clash with the striker. Of course, no Mourinho player - say Didier Drogba, or Pepe - has ever behaved in such a manner, have they? And just as bad was his refusal to condemn Torres’ ugly face scratch on Vertonghen earlier in the game, for which he should have been sent-off and could yet receive retrospective punishment.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 10:04:10 +0000
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