Juan Mata

Entertainment

I earn an obscene amount of money – Juan Mata

The general consensus is that footballers earn enormous wages but Spain international has revealed that privilege is available to only few. In a lengthy recent interview, the Manchester United player revealed that soccer stars earn ridiculous amount of money compared to the rest of the society. 
“Football is very well remunerated at this level. It’s like we live in a bubble. With respect to the rest of society, we earn a ridiculous amount. It’s unfathomable. With respect to the world of football, I earn a normal wage.
“But compared to 99.9% of Spain and the rest of the world, I earn an obscene amount. The barometer we use for measuring our salaries is comparing them to those of our team-mates and what other players are earning elsewhere.
“Real life is the one my friends live. They’ve had to look for work, sign on to the dole and emigrate. That’s normal life now. My life as a footballer is not normal.”
He continued, “I don’t enjoy the business side of football. I love the game,” he continued. “I love training and competing. I’d happily take a pay cut if there was less business involvement in the sport. At this level we’re very well paid.
“There are times when too much pressure is put on young players, which is wrong. They’re not prepared properly for failure, and things don’t always go to plan. They need to be taught that only a fortunate few can make it to the top. 99.9% of them won’t make it that far.”
He also offered his thoughts on fans’s dwindling interest in the lucrative venture
“I can understand what they’re talking about. The business side of football makes it seem as though the owners are now more important than the fans.
“It’s not like the football of old; there wasn’t as much press coverage before or as many interested parties looking for their cut.
“My dad is my agent and always acts with my best interests at heart. I’ve had team-mates who have gotten terrible advice.
“When I was younger I used to hear parents tell their children when to pass the ball as well as not to even bother passing it. I’ve had to tell team-mates that they were receiving bad advice. Every player thinks he’s Maradona when he joins a big club.
“That happens to all of us but then you start to notice it in the younger players. You see kids who think they’re rock stars; wearing extravagant clothes and driving fancy cars… and sometimes you have to take them aside and have a word.
“As long as you can keep a cool head though and continue working as hard as before, which after all is what got you to where you are, than you’ll be able to handle yourself.”
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Entertainment

Juan Mata blogs about his sending off at West Brom.

Manchester United star, Juan Mata has addressed his first ever sending off during Manchester United defeat at West Brom. In a new post on his blog, the Spaniard who got two bookings and is suspended for the FA Cup quarter-final clash with West Ham next Sunday admitted being hurt by the experience.
“After almost 500 games as a professional player, this Sunday I was sent off for the first time in my career. As you can imagine, it’s not easy for me to write these lines. The truth is this is a new and strange situation for me, not easy to assimilate, but we learn from everything. I know that, in football, we see things like these every week, but obviously what hurts more is that my team-mates had to fight with ten men for a long time. I have the feeling that both decisions were rigorous; that, in many occasions, we see more serious fouls that are not penalised in such a way, but at the same time I could have avoided them and I take responsibility. It also leaves me with a bad taste for the supporters who travelled to the stadium, and for those who were watching the game from home, but I must carry on as always and from now on I’m already focused on the next game, the derby against Liverpool in the Europa League. In this sport there’s no time for celebrations or moaning, and after last Wednesday’s joy for the win and the goal against Watford, now I have to go through a more bitter experience. That’s the way it is. What matters is to move forward and to always learn from each situation. And so I will.”
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Entertainment

None of Juan Mata's teammates are in his Ultimate United team.

‎No current Manchester United player is on Juan Mata’s ultimate United team.‎ The 27-year-old’s list features some retired and active footballers.‎  The likes of Peter Schmeichel, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic‎, Patrice Evra , Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano  Ronaldo, David Beckham, Eric Cantona, George Best and Bobby Charlton were featured in the list.
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Entertainment

Juan Mata pays tribute to Gerrard, Drogba , Lampard,others in new blog post

Manchester United player and blogger, Juan Mata has paid tribute to Premier League legends, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, some of whom bade farewell to their clubs after their gamed. He titled his blog post, ‘It’s over now… but we’ll be back stronger!’. Read below.

Hi everyone,

This is my last blog’s entry of the season and I say goodbye until the next one. I hope you have enjoyed this weekly encounter as much as I have. You know, in the good times… and in the bad ones too. 

This is the end of a season with mixed feelings. In some stages we played very good football, being very competitive especially against our main rivals, and we enjoyed some important wins; on the other hand, there were periods when we were not consistent enough to fight for the title, or suffered some painful defeats. 

In general terms, we reached the main goal of the club this season: to have the chance to play the Champions League (we still have to earn it in the play-off round), but this team has to fight for trophies, and we will put all our efforts to that after summer. That’s what you deserve.

We finished the season with a draw at Hull that also meant the local team was relegated. It’s not nice to experience something like that on-site, unfortunately this is not the first time I see it. As I said, we approached this game in the most professional way, trying to win. At the end, our draw, plus Newcastle’s victory, leave Hull in the relegation zone. 

My support to their fans, we hope to see you back in the Premier League soon. By the way, Jonás goal for Newcastle tells a lot about life and the way to overcome the real problems.

In our game, my friend Víctor Valdés appeared in United’s starting XI for the first time. It was a great experience for him and also a reward to his good job at the training ground every week. On top of that, he completed a great game with a few big saves.

From a personal point of view, according to the stats I have played 2,420 minutes, scoring 10 goals and giving 4 assists. They are good numbers but, as always, I’ll try to get better year after year ;-). I hope to keep contributing goals and assists to achieve big things with the team.

Being the last week of the Premier League, we have seen a few farewells and some of them very significant. Like Steven Gerrard’s, for instance. I mentioned him a week ago for his relevance and contribution to the history of football. 

The same thing can be said, of course, about Frank Lampard, one of the best team-mates I have ever had and someone I have learnt a lot from. A true legend in both English and world football. I wish him all the best in his new stage in the United States and I thank him for his treatment to me at all times. And I don’t forget another great player and former team-mate, Didier Drogba, one of the best strikers the Premier League has ever seen and a phenomenal guy in every sense. 

With so many legends leaving, a good part of football’s history in England is leaving too.

Since we played on Sunday, I had time on Saturday to watch the games in la Liga, where the last minutes were absolutely thrilling. All of us who have played there followed the end of the championship with a lot of interest. 

At the Camp Nou, Xavi, a fantastic player, said goodbye to la Liga in Spain. He still has to play the Cup final at the same stadium against Athletic, and that will be Iraola’s farewell too. The last game brought joy to Valencia and Granada. 

I’m happy especially for my friends from Valencia –you guys deserve to be in the Champions League always– and for Paco Alcácer in particular, a gem of their football academy, a great striker and a great guy. 

On the other hand, I feel sorry for Eibar’s relegation, a modest club but also an exemplary one. I hope they can enjoy good times soon.

And, of course, I hope Real Oviedo can certify their promotion to the Second Division against Cádiz the next weekend, after a draw in the first leg. 

The atmosphere in the Carlos Tartiere was simply amazing. The stadium was absolutely full of fans committed to make the dream come true. I hope we can make it this year.

I’m starting to say goodbye… Now it’s time to switch off, to rest and get our strength back with a view to the exciting next season. I’ll see you soon in the tour of the United States. We had a fantastic experience there last summer and we hope to repeat in a few months.

 Thank you very much for your support in each and every game, you make this sport big and make us feel very proud. We are looking forward to achieve big things all together. Have a great summer!

Hugs!

Juan

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Entertainment, Sports

Juan Mata commiserates with Ferdinand, congratulates Chelsea in new blog post

Spanish international, Juan Mata has commiserated with QPR defender, Rio Ferdinand over the death of his wife, Rebecca. He also congratulated his former club, Chelsea on winning the Premier League. His blog post was titled, ‘We Need to Change This Streak’.

Hi everyone,

The weekend has not been neither easy nor happy for us…
Obviously, when you lose you are in a bitter mood until the next game, so I hope the week goes by quickly and we can revert this bad streak of results. I said the weekend wasn’t good for several reasons… Obviously the 0-1 at Old Trafford is a tough score for us and we are forced to win as soon as possible: our rivals ahead keep adding points, and also the teams behind are getting closer.
It’s the tendency of the last few weeks: we have more ball possession that our opponent and create chances but we aren’t able to take them. We must focus on being effective because we haven’t scored in the last few games and we can’t afford it any longer.
On Saturday we tried until the end but their goalkeeper was brilliant…There are three finals remaining and, as I said above, I hope we can change this streak as soon as possible. Our next game is in London against Crystal Palace. It would be good to repeat the same score of last season.

Unfortunately, the other reason that makes these days complicated is the passing of Rio Ferdinand’s wife, Rebecca.
Rio and his family left an indelible memory in this club and all of us are deeply saddened by her death… I send all my support to him and to his family at this painful moment, same as our fans did during the game… Rest in peace Rebecca.

Back to football, Chelsea are officially the Premier League champions. I had congratulated my former team-mates already and I do it again: you have been the most consistent team this season. I hope the congratulations are to us the next year 😉 In Spain, on the contrary, the championship is still alive: Real Madrid were able to win in a very tough stadium, in Sevilla, and Barça were ruthless with Córdoba. 
I also want to highlight Andoni Iraola’s announcement that he will leave Athletic Club at the end of the season. We met in the Spanish national team and he is a great player and a great person. I hope he overcomes his injury so he can play one last game with Athletic.

Before signing off I want to dedicate a few lines to Nepal after the earthquake. that hit the country days ago -and still has consequences-, leaving the area devastated. Many people have died and there are thousands still struggling to get food, shelter and medical assistance. 
Any help we can provide is good. For example, through the following Unicef site: http://www.unicef.org.

In such a complicated situation, Nepal needs the world’s help and we must provide it now. Thank you for your support always.
Have a nice week. Hugs,
Juan

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Entertainment

'Outstanding Atmosphere at the Theatre of Dreams'. Juan Mata writes on Man United's derby win

Hi everyone,

As I write this I’m still full of adrenaline after our win in the derby. Beating your Manchester rival and, on top of that, being able to score in front of your crowd is a truly amazing feeling, especially because we stretch our good moment and we keep adding points.
I may sound repetitive but once again I have to say that the best part is the incredible atmosphere that Old Trafford generates. I have to admit that it was arguably the game with the best atmosphere at home since I arrived to United, and I realised that already during the warm-up…
It was a special game, we had had several consecutive defeats against City and both the fans and the players felt it was time to change that streak. It’s not easy to explain with words what you feel on the pitch, but the thrill of a comeback in a derby is something I will never forget.
The result was amazing, although it is true that things were looking bad at the beginning… They had a strong start, played great football in the first few minutes and managed to score first, but our team showed character and soon afterwards we were able to come back, which confirms that this team does not give up easily.

We have plenty of confidence in ourselves, that’s something you can tell in both the good and the bad moments. Ashley was decisive to tie the score and also in our second goal, and after that we could control the game and add up three more points that are very important to reach our goal.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing, once again, was the character and personality shown by the team after a bad start of the game.
From this Monday we are already thinking about our next ‘final’, a visit to the leader of the Premiership. Needless to say that it’s going to be a very special game for me. I already played against Chelsea in the first half of the championship, but going back to Stamford Bridge for the first time will bring me plenty of good memories, for sure.

The day I arrived to this great club I wrote: “Gratitude is the memory of the heart”. And I keep thinking the same. At that time I had the chance to thank everybody who helped me in London during those two and a half years, and next Saturday it will be nice to meet former team-mates, fans and friends.
I keep good memories of them and I wish them the best. Obviously, our intention is to get the three points again and we will try from the kick-off until the final whistle. The best thing is that we get to this game in a very good moment, with confidence, but we are aware that we must perform at our best level if we want to beat Chelsea.

On Saturday, at the pre-match hotel, I watched la Liga games. The Spanish championship gets tight again after Barça’s draw against Sevilla and Real Madrid’s victory versus Eibar. Luis Enrique’s team played very good for the first 30 minutes, but when you are facing such rival as Sevilla you never know.

They have one of the toughest stadiums in Europe, Barça could tell last Saturday. As I said in previous weeks I expect a very close race for the title. Let’s see what happens…

Other than that I have to highlight Chory Castro’s superb goal with Real Sociedad against Deportivo. It reminded me of a very famous one from Van Basten in the Eurocup final….
I also want to congratulate Marc Márquez for his victory in MotoGP, he is a phenomenon!
Hugs to all, and I hope we can keep our good streak in what it’s going to be a special game for me! Have a nice week, my friends!

Juan
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Entertainment

Photos: Manchester United and Manchester City players spread Christmas cheer at children's hospital.

This ‎festive season, few Manchester City and Manchester United players took out time to spread festive cheer with sick children at the Manchester Children’s Hospital.

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They arrived the hospital with mascots, presented them with gifts, played table football, signed autographs and took pictures with them.

Players from the two teams include;  Robin van Persie, Angel Di Maria, Juan Mata, Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, Bacary Sagna, Scott Sinclair,  Ander Herrera, Phil Jones, David de Gea and Marcos Rojo.

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