Player Focus: Mata Motoring Despite Poor Start from Chelsea

Adapting to a new environment can often take time. Whether it be a different style of play, a language barrier or coping with greater expectations on the back of a huge transfer fee, there are a number of reasons as to why the first season at a new club can so often be cited as a nothing more than a “settling in period”.

While Juan Mata’s £23.5m transfer to Chelsea this summer was a huge coup for the London club, the move was also an intriguing one. Typically a side synonymous with sheer power and a direct style of play, Chelsea’s acquisition of Mata represented the first major step in a rebuilding process by new boss Andre Villas-Boas. The Blues are clearly a work in progress and Mata is a stepping stone towards a gameplan based on quick-style possession football, with pressing from the front and a high defensive line key to their success.

Coming from the slower-paced La Liga, the diminutive Spaniard may have been forgiven if he’d taken time to find his feet. As his former Valencia teammate David Silva has proven at Man City, however, the Premier League may be fast and frenetic but there’s plenty of room for intelligent ball-players to thrive. WhoScored takes a look at Mata’s season so far and compares his stats to his final campaign in Spain to highlight just how he’s been settling in at Stamford Bridge:

Progress Report

A look at last season's player stats for Valencia shows Mata played 33 games for the la Liga outfit and was the side’s chief creator, with 12 assists from an average of 2.2 key passes per game. He was also their second main goal threat, averaging 2.1 shots and finding the net on 8 occasions. Never a typical winger, Mata made just 0.7 successful dribbles per game, always looking to produce a killer pass instead, and was dispossessed an average of 1.9 times per game.

To date, Mata has played 11 games for Chelsea, a third of the number of appearances for Valencia, but with 6 assists, he has already picked up half last season’s total and is prospering quickly in the Premier League. This is almost in spite of misfiring strikers such as Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba, who have scored just 2 and 1 goals respectively so far. Crucially, this is down to a substantial boost in key passes; he’s now producing 2.8 per game, the most of any Chelsea player.

Even though his goal attempts have dropped down to 1.5 shots per game, Mata has grabbed 3 goals to date and is finding the net with a similar regularity to his time at Valencia. His successful dribbles (0.6) are almost identical, though he has been dispossessed just a touch more, with an average 2.1 times per game.

In terms of distribution, Mata spends a similar amount of time on the ball; he made 44 passes per game at Valencia, which has slightly increased to 47.8 at Chelsea. He was more involved in Valencia’s overall play, though; those 44 passes were the third highest in the team, with only midfielders Ever Banega (54.7) and Tino Costa (47.3) producing more. At Chelsea, though, he is only the sixth highest for passes- three of the back four have managed more, with defensive midfielder John Obi Mikel (61.5) leading the way, a demonstration of the differing styles of both teams’ play.

A further look at his passing stats shows improvement in every WhoScored category since moving to Stamford Bridge. Mata’s crossing has become more accurate, moving from 1.1 per game in his final season at the Mestalla to 1.5 this time round – the most impressive of any Chelsea player - and although his through balls have just slightly edged up (0.4 to 0.5), there’s a greater variety to his passing, with 2.9 long balls per game significantly higher than his 1.8. His accuracy has also increased from 86% to 88.6%.

Mata’s defensive work seems to have dropped slightly since his summer move, however, perhaps one aspect of his game that reflects his introduction to a more physical league. Slightly built and standing 5’7” tall, he’s never going to be much of a ball-winner for Villas-Boas’ side. His 0.8 tackles and 0.8 interceptions at Valencia have dropped to 0.5 and 0.6 respectively and, while he averaged 0.5 blocks per game last season, he has failed to make a single one as of yet in his new Chelsea career.

Overall, however, while he was Valencia’s stand-out performer in the WhoScored rankings with an average of 7.21 per game, Mata’s seamless adaption to the Premier League has seen a jump to 7.54 at Chelsea, second only to Frank Lampard (7.63). Chelsea may be struggling for any real semblance of form right now but if Villas-Boas is given time and money to restructure the side to his own liking, his purchase of Mata has certainly shown he’s on the right track, in spite of recent results.