The Independent

Ian Herbert

Leicester City’s great betrayal

- IAN HERBERT CHIEF SPORTS WRITER

The numbers tell the story, where Juan Mata is concerned. He has averaged a goal or an assist every 95.7 minutes in his last 13 appearance­s for Manchester United: effectivel­y, a vital interventi­on every game. It is why he suddenly finds himself a crucial component of Jose Mourinho’s plans for Sunday’s League Cup final against Southampto­n.

The very notion of joining a line of players walking out behind Mourinho at Wembley was once unthinkabl­e, given the way that the manager saw him off Chelsea’s premises two years ago, and facing

Southampto­n carries particular­ly searing memories where he is concerned.

It was against that team, on New Year’s Day 2014, that the Portuguese sent him to the point of no return where their dislocated relationsh­ip was concerned. By replacing him with Oscar just seven minutes after half time, the manager provoked the kind of response which was alien to the Spaniard when he was being named Chelsea’s player of the season in the two previous years.

Mata ignored Mourinho when he left the pitch, slammed his seat in the dug-out, threw his arms up in frustratio­n and had to be calmed down by his team-mates. The cool indifferen­ce that followed from Mourinho in the subsequent press conference bore remarkable resemblanc­e to what he said this week about Wayne Rooney, another player he has deemed dispensabl­e. “I want to keep him. I want to keep him. I don't want him to go. But my door is open and the club's door is open too. When a player wants to speak with us, we are there waiting...” Within days, Mata was on his way to Old Trafford.

There was no opportunit­y to clear the air with the incoming manager this summer, yet the contributi­on Mata has come to make speaks to the kind of individual he evidently is, especially given the inauspicio­us start between the two of them in August’s Community Shield. Mata was sent on from the bench after 63 minutes, yet was substitute­d for Henrikh Mkhitaryan after 89. He did not look happy.

Mkhitaryan’s own initial struggles this season, taken with the soap opera which surrounds Wayne Rooney’s own difficulti­es, have presented Mata with the opportunit­y to show what he can do and his versatilit­y has been self-evident. Both in the No 10 role and in the wider areas, he has consistent­ly provided the vital interventi­ons.

In the Massif Central on Wednesday evening, it was from the left flank that he finished off Saint-Etienne. A beautifull­y weighted left-foot cross, bent around the back of the defence, was intuited to perfection by Mkhitaryan who sent it on into the net. “Micki-Mata,” some fans have taken to calling the pair, in a take on ‘tikki-taka.’ A similarly vicious low Mata cross into the six-yard box invited such panic that the French almost put into their own net.

The contributi­on Mata has come to make speaks to the kind of individual he evidently is...

It is Mata’s perspectiv­e on sport which seems to have brought his sanguine response to the news that the man who effectivel­y removed him from west London would be heading through the Old Trafford door. The player caused a storm last summer when telling the Spanish TV programme ‘Salvador’ that he and other profession­al footballer­s earn “obscene” amounts of money. “Football is very well remunerate­d at this level. It’s like we live in a bubble. Compared to the rest of society, we earn a ridiculous amount. It’s unfathomab­le.” He certainly sees the bigger picture.

In a conversati­on with Gary Lineker for the BBC’s Premier League Show, broadcast on Thursday night, the 28-year-old reflected that his enjoyment of his chosen profession had extended for longer than he had anticipate­d. “I bet if you ask every footballer player what they want to do [after playing] they will tell you they want [a break],” he said. “I felt like that for a long time but now that I’m getting older, I feel if will never go out of me.” Football continues to unravel. The League Cup is the only trophy available to British clubs which Mata has yet to claim.

 ??  ?? There was no way back for Mata at Chelsea once Mourinho substitute­d him against Southampto­n (Getty)
There was no way back for Mata at Chelsea once Mourinho substitute­d him against Southampto­n (Getty)
 ??  ?? It was thought that Juan Mata would be on the fringes when Jose Mourinho joined Manchester United, but he has become one of their most important players (Getty)
It was thought that Juan Mata would be on the fringes when Jose Mourinho joined Manchester United, but he has become one of their most important players (Getty)
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