Manchester United’s Juan Mata has hit back at criticism he received from his former manager at Chelsea, Jose Mourinho.
Despite being a key player before Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge and much loved by Chelsea fans, Mata was dropped in favour of Oscar by the Portuguese coach, who later agreed to sell him to United.
Ahead of his departure to Manchester, Mourinho explained his reasons for not picking the Spaniard.
“It is one thing to play with Ramires and Oscar closing down opponents on each side, and Mata as a No10 behind a striker with his clever assists, clever passes and fantastic actions because he has great talent.
Now Mata has responded to the comments in a an interview with The Times.
“If a luxury player is a player who scores and assists and has good stats, then I’m happy to be a luxury player.
“I want luxury players in my team. I like creative players and players who do different things. It’s easy to say certain players are luxuries, especially when you’ve lost a game.
“When you lose a certain kind of player – the creative players – always get the blame.
“I’ve scored as many goals for Manchester United in the Premier League as for Chelsea, but in something like 30 games less.
“In terms of scoring and assisting and I’m quite happy with the states, and stats don’t lie. They are facts.”
Maybe he’s got a point, but we’re sure Jose won’t agree.
