Mourinho: Mata has to learn to play my way at Chelsea

Sep 21, 2013 11:40:00 PM
The Blues boss has explained why he left the
Spain international out of the squad to face
Fulham and was delighted with his side's 2-0
victory at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says Juan Mata must
learn to play how he wants and become more
consistent, if he is to regain his place in the first team.
The Portuguese left Mata out of the squad for the Blues’
Premier League match against Fulham, with Oscar and
John Obi Mikel scoring in a 2-0 win.
Mourinho reiterated his desire for the Spain
international to adapt his game and explained why he
had not been included in the match-day squad.
"As a number 10 he [Oscar] gives us creativity and he
gives us ability to press up and defend," he told Sky
Sports.
"Juan has to learn to play the way I want to play. He has
to be more consistent, he has to be more participative
when the team lose possession.
"I think it is not his fault, just the way he has played in
recent years."
The result sees Mourinho’s men bounce back from a
disappointing seven days, which included defeats to
Everton and Basel and he was happy to return to
winning ways.
"Against Everton we went home very, very sad and
today we go home very, very happy,” he added.
"The result was better than the result against Everton. I
still think that we played much better against Everton
than we did today but points are also important.
"After a bad start, a start that everybody kept telling me
is the worst start for about a decade [for Chelsea]…
today I looked at the table, nobody is in front of us.
"The beauty of the Premier League is that everybody
loses matches and everybody drops points. The top six
teams have already had a defeat, so no dramas.
"I am aware we are not playing very well but we will
work, we are top professionals and everybody is
working hard."