Only time will tell whether Jose Mourinho has made the right decision in selling Juan Mata to Manchester United - but one things for sure, the Portuguese boss wont regret it. Mourinho has shown before hes not afraid of being ruthless to big name players - he sidelined Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas when he was at the Bernabeu - and I havent got a problem with that at all. Manchester United have completed the signing of midfielder Juan Mata from Chelsea. Managers are under a lot of pressure and get the sack if things go wrong so they have to do what they feel is the right thing to do. They shouldnt be dictated to by anyone, whether thats the owners, pundits or fans. Mata won the Chelsea Player of the Year award two years running before Mourinho returned to the club but if the manager doesnt feel the Spaniard works diligently enough when they dont have the ball, slows the game down in transition or doesnt fit into the mould Jose likes his players to fit into then he has to act. Hed obviously looked at a lot of videos of Mata and Chelsea and thought no, hes not for me, I have other players that can win me games, and thats his call. It helps when you have the sense of security that Mourinho has at Chelsea and the owner believes in what youre doing when youre making key decisions like that but I think it was a decision he probably made before he got to the club. Thats a shame because if Mourinho had gone in there and put his arm around Mata then he could have made him an even better player. Unfortunately he didnt see that as the case. Most other managers would have gone to Chelsea and built a team around Mata. Hes a fabulous player. Jamie Redknapp Personally, I think Mata is a fabulous little player. His confidence has been beaten down this season so we havent seen the best of him but hes a World Cup winner and a Champions League winner - and you cant say that just because Mourinho doesnt want him then hes not good enough for the top clubs. Most other managers would have gone to Chelsea and built a team around Mata and I think hes Man Uniteds gain. Of course, if Chelsea go on and win the league this year then Ill happily say Mourinho got it spot on. But, if they dont, you cant say they are a better team without him. Time will tell. Replenish The transfer is great news for Manchester United and their fans, though. When United get Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney fit and play them alongside Mata and Adnan Januzaj they will have a quality frontline which will strike fear into anybody. But does one signing fix their problems? No, I dont think it does. Although the £37m spent on Mata - which is a great profit for Chelsea and perhaps £10m more than I thought hed go for - suggests the owners are prepared to pay big money, United need at least five or six new signings to get back to the top of the tree. Mata at Chelsea Apps: 135 Goals: 33 Assists: 58 United need defenders and they need another midfield player. Theyve got a left back out of contract in Patrice Evra, theyve got centre-backs in Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic who may be leaving, full-back Rafael makes a mistake in almost every game and they cant keep relying on Ryan Giggs, either. Two years ago, before they signed Van Persie, they didnt win a trophy so this has been coming and now they need to make a number of signings to replenish the squad. You cant do that all at once, though, it will be a slow change. Moyes first big signing, Marouane Fellaini was a mistake and he needs to get the next ones right. Bringing in Mata is a good start - hes a game changer who will score goals - but Moyes still has plenty of work to do before United can start to challenge at the top of the Premier League again
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 16:00:56 +0000
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