Chelsea: 5 Reasons Selling Juan Mata To Man Utd Is A Terrible Deal

2. Chelsea's Tactical Options Are Further Reduced

Chelsea's attacking midfield options were the envy of the league at the beginning of the season. Not only for the pure talent on offer, but the different types of player Mourinho had to choose from. Eden Hazard's pace and trickery; Oscar's raw attacking energy; Juan Mata's subtle playmaking; Willian's versatility and non-stop running; Kevin De Bruyne's precision passing, shooting and crossing; Andre Schurrle's strength and powerful shooting. Since then, Mourinho's intransigence has caused the departure of his two most natural playmakers. Kevin De Bruyne left the club earlier this month to Wolfsburg for around £17m, a bargain for anyone who saw him tear up the Bundesliga during his 2012/13 loan to Werder Bremen, and now Juan Mata's bags are en route to Manchester. There's nothing wrong with a manager selling players who don't fit into his style of play, but it becomes rather more concerning when the remaining players all look so similar to each another. Hazard, Willian and Schurrle play in much the same fashion, cutting inside with the ball at their feet and preferring to go for goal rather than crossing or trying a killer ball. True, there are differences between them: Schurrle is physically stronger, Willian can play more centrally and Hazard is the best dribbler, but all three make the same kinds of movements and place the same sorts of demands on opposition defenders. If Chelsea need someone who put consistently accurate crosses into the area, De Bruyne is gone. If they need someone to play balls through the opposition defence from between the opposition lines, Mata won't be there to provide them. Oscar is the only one of Chelsea's attacking midfield choices offering a different style of play from the outside forward/inverted winger, but is still struggling to match his ability with consistency. De Bruyne and Mourinho may not have seen eye to eye, but by all accounts Mata was working hard to adapt his game to his new manager's demands. Even if he wasn't seen as a viable long term option for Chelsea (sigh), it's baffling why Mourinho wouldn't keep him around if only for an extra tactical option until the summer, when he could have been sold to a less dangerous club and without losing a popular figure with the fans and players at such a delicate time.