“I knew it since the beginning he would be an important player and I think he feels that confidence in me and he feels that confidence in the game we want to try to play, so he’s happy and he’s happy on the pitch and you can see that the way he plays.”
Jose Mourinho’s words (via the Manchester Evening News) seemed a million miles from being anywhere near the truth during the summer transfer window when he arrived at Manchester United.
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Famously, the Portuguese boss sold the Spaniard to the Red Devils during the winter of 2014, even though the playmaker had been the Blues’ Player of the Year two times in a row and was widely hailed as one of the best creative midfielders in Europe. Naturally, when ‘Mou’ rocked up at Man United, it was suggested that the same fate was on the cards for Mata, with this report from the Daily Mail one of just many to have circulated.
Alas, the now 28-year-old stayed and has been, as Mourinho himself alluded to, excellent – and the stats really back that up…
Mata is known to be a player whose game reflects well through numbers, but his 32 chances created from 773 passes (90% pass success, too, by the way) averages out at a chance made every 24.2 passes – some going, that. The Iberian ace has also netted six goals and made two assists, while also working in a defensive sense with 14 tackles won.
Looks like Mourinho was right to keep him…
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