Juan Mata – What this deal means for Man United

37M£. That was how much Man Utd agreed to pay for Juan Mata. Juan Mata was the best midfielder in the Prem before Jose returned. That’s to say, Juan Mata, who is only 25 years old right now, was the best midfielder last year. And this year, mysteriously relegated to the bench.

By most accounts, Mata was relegated as a message to the rest of the team. Similar to the prison scenario of taking down the biggest inmate, Jose entered the gulag, owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, and he took down Mata, who was not really the biggest player, but a player who was the future of the team. Mourinho basically said “no.” Funny that Mata was a Real Madrid youth product. Typical Mourinho.

Juan Mata was one of the last great Valencia players sold off from the great mistake. Not too long ago, Valencia decided to make a new stadium, in order to keep up with the rest of the top teams. In fairness, this is a normal and right decision to make for any major club, and Valencia’s fan could still remember playing in the Champions League finals. And Valencia started this endeavor right before the economic collapse that crippled every corner of the map. So Valencia tried hard to stay afloat. Results were difficult under Koeman, so they brought in Unai Emery. Emery was great, and delivered results, but the team couldn’t balance books. David Silva had to be sold. Then David Villa. Jaoquin left. And Mata as well. Somewhere in there Vicente left, but he was as injured as he was talented. Mata was a cornerstone of a Valencia that, despite being strapped for cash, still pushed for the 3rd place on the Liga table. Even when Silva and Villa left, Mata guided them to wins.

As a Chelsea player, his only real failure was that he did not convert Fernando Torres back into a goal scoring threat. Mata scored where Torres would not. Manchester United may expect a different Mata. They may expect the Mata that played behind David Villa in Valencia, as Mata would be providing service for Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie. If that turns out the case, then the £37m would be well spent.

Best Premier League Season in Years?

As 2013 began, the Premier League was a one horse race. In retrospect, a complete fluke, Manchester United had the title in their grasp. And as the season neared the end, and no team could mathematically overtake them, they enjoyed their honor guard at the Emirates Stadium, with the Arsenal players at their heel. Embarrassing, really. But this season, what a difference.

Halfway through the season the race is extremely tight. Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool and even Everton are in close contention. Liverpool, with Suarez, are in great form. Man City has a great home record and are mercilessly scoring on oppositions. Chelsea and Arsenal sport the best workhorse midfields in the PL, and don’t need forwards to score. Everton, with Romelu Lukaku up front and Leighton Bains and Seamus Coleman from long distance are keeping up with the pack.

The rest of the PL is unpredictable. Man City did not deserve the win against Newcastle today, as Tiote’s goal was unfairly ruled out. But otherwise, Newcastle has the talent at key positions to be dangerously midtable. Sunderland has shown flashes, after a long run of poor form. Southampton, formerly in the top 5, have slipped, as expected. Tottenham, post AVB, are still lacking in creativity and strategy. These underachievers could very well be the stumbling blocks that create gaps in the race. And mind you, Sunderland are probably going to be relegated, but they have the talent to cause problems.

Upset for next week: Chelsea vs Man Utd – Moyes has no support from the board, but he’s facing a crocked Mourinho. Mourinho isn’t the manager of old. Since leaving Madrid, he has become inconsistent.

Jan 28: Liverpool vs. Everton – huge game. Expect many sloppy fouls from Skrtel. Expect a big performance from Suarez against swashbuckling defenders Baines and Coleman.

Jan 29: Tottenham vs. Man City – Man City are not that good away from home. Tottenham could very well take points from this.

Anyhow, so about the season being so good compared to the past few years. Well, it’s probably because Alex Fergusson retired. But it could also be due to Arsenal’s board finally spending in the transfer period, along with the return of Jose Mourinho, the investment into Southampton, the signing of Martinez to Everton, and Luis Suarez’s display of maturity (not being reckless) on the pitch.