Mourinho: Mata 'made a big effort to come in my direction'

If you were wondering whether Juan Mata's hard work against Swindon was enough to make the rather exacting figure of Jose Mourinho happy, I think we have an answer. When asked about the 25-year-old, the manager was very positive:

He has a professional attitude. He made a big effort to come in my direction. So now I come to his direction.

-Source: Daily Mail.

So that's nice. Whether that means he'll be in the squad to face Tottenham Hotspur, I have no idea, but no matter what it's clear that this is a technical issue rather than a personal one (i.e. Mourinho doesn't hate Mata's guts for no reason). Personally, I think Juan Mata attempting to defend is kind of pointless unless someone's figured out how to convert adorableness into ball recovery, but if we end up with a more versatile player out of all of this, so much the better.

And no, I am in no way surprised that Mata handled all of this professionally. It's what he does.