Former Chelsea star Pat Nevin reckons losing Juan isn’t the heart of the Mata for Mourinho

The debate over whether or not Jose Mourinho should have sold Juan Mata continues to rage.

It was fuelled in midweek when Chelsea toiled to a goalless draw at home to West Ham while Manchester City were putting Tottenham to the sword.

City’s David Silva was again pulling the strings, but Mourinho’s men couldn’t prise open a stubborn defence, having just offloaded another Spanish magician to Manchester United.

Mata never seemed to fit into Mourinho’s plans, despite being Chelsea’s Player of the Year for the previous two seasons.

So former Chelsea winger turned pundit, Pat Nevin, believes the Stamford Bridge faithful should stop mourning his £37.1m sale to Old Trafford.

“Jose Mourinho was always honest about Mata not fitting into his style of play,” he states. “I said after three or four games that my advice to Mata was: ‘Get out and get out quick’.

“I adore Mata and think he’s a brilliant player. But he was only ever going to be a bit-part player under Mourinho, and he’s far too good for that.

“So when a huge offer came in, it was a total no-brainer on Chelsea’s part to take the money and use it to strengthen the team.”

It’s highly unlikely that Mata would have been involved in tomorrow night’s game between City and Chelsea if he had stayed at Stamford Bridge.

But in his absence, the Londoners have only managed one goal a free-kick from Oscar in 180 minutes of football.

However, while goals may appear to be drying up, they have become frugal at the back. Just two goals conceded in the last nine games suggests that Mourinho is creating the sort of defensive platform on which he has always built his winning teams.

They are only three points behind City ahead of the game at the Etihad, and Nevin is convinced that the Portuguese’s second coming is progressing nicely.

“Mourinho knew that he was inheriting a good, entertaining team, but one that was a long way from being Premier League champions,” he argues.

“Now they have a chance of winning the title and that is massive progress in a short space of time.

“Maybe they won’t be as exciting as they have been in recent years, but Jose is there to build a side that is successful and capable of winning trophies. It’s still a transitional period and the manager won’t feel like it’s his team yet.”

But the former Scotland international who famously fluffed a penalty for Chelsea against City at Stamford Bridge in 1984 reckons that a positive result for the Pensioners is crucial to keep the Premier League title race alive.

“It would be good for the League race if they get something,” Nevin adds.

“City could stride out and take some stopping if they win. Look at some of the absolute batterings they have handed out at home. If they did something similar to Chelsea, it could demoralise the rest of the League.

“If Chelsea come away with a 0-0 like they did at Manchester United and Arsenal they’ll be happy. That would be four points off City this season.

“I fully expect Jose to set up with three sitting midfielders and make it as hard as possible for City to play through them.”