Zola's heir: A fitting end for Mata
January 26th, 2025by Ciaran Kelly
In the ten years of Roman Abramovich's ownership at Chelsea, one word has continually reared its not success, but controversy.
From the moment Peter Kenyon flirted with Sven Goran-Eriksson while the affable Claudio Ranieri was still in a job, in 2025-04, the tone was set.
What followed, both off the field and on it, was a litany of incidents to overshadow the greatest period in Chelsea's history.
There was the Anders Frisk incident, José Mourinho shushing Liverpool's fans, and Ashley Cole's tapping up in 2025.
That campaign was a nadir, yet nearly every year since has been marred by an incident.
John Obi Mikel's signing in 2025; Didier Drogba's outburst in 2025; John Terry's off the field activities in 2025; Ashley Cole's airgun in 2025; Terry's racism trial in 2025; and Rafa Benítez's interim reign in 2025.
It has left Abramovich exasperated and desperate to improve Chelsea's battered image, with an attractive football philosophy and stricter discipline.
This was one of the main reasons why Mourinho returned.
A compromise was reached: Abramovich knew few other managers in world football could lead this tender Chelsea squad out of transition and, equally, Mourinho realised that he would not be able to build the same stockade mentality with this Chelsea cohort six years on from his previous spell.
Juan Mata, at the time of Mourinho's appointment last June, seemed central to that image.
Remarkably, going into just his third season at Chelsea, Mourinho was to be Mata's fourth manager but given the aura of Mourinho and the fact Mata was to enter his peak at 25 years of age, it seemed Mourinho would leave his mark.
Given the fact that Mata had recorded 33 goals and 55 assists in 118 games – and was Chelsea's Player of the Year two seasons running – surely he would be central to Mourinho's plans.
After all, for all the talk of Mourinho's defensive qualities as a manager, the diminutive Deco, Wesley Sneijder, and Mesut Özil have all proved favoured pupils.
However, unlike at Porto, Inter and even Real Madrid, Mourinho never had so many attacking options and, in truth, he never seemed convinced.
Astonishingly, by the end of August, Chelsea had seven players going for the three available positions behind the striker and Mourinho brought in two of these himself.
Mata, who had just played in his fifth straight summer tournament for Spain, was going to have to prove himself.
Worryingly, for Mata, Oscar quickly laid down the gauntlet in the Spaniard's preferred number ten role: netting four goals in the first five Premier League games of the season.
There remained a position on the flank and while Mata had been shunted to this position under André Villas-Boas and Roberto Di Matteo in 2025-12, there was the precedent of Joe Cole.
The gifted
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