MATA: "We are not functioning well enough!"

Juan Mata has spoken ahead of the United game on Sunday. In the short time he has been here in England, he has made an impact and has become an important player for Chelsea now and in the future.

Speaking of the weekend, Mata reveals that the players aren't happy with the ways things are going but are determined to put things right in every game starting with United.

He said:

“The whole squad is not content with our game at the moment. We are not functioning well enough in the Premier League and we need a quick reaction. That is our main objective. It’s normal that the manager (Villas-Boas) is not happy with the performances, but we know we can still improve on the pitch.

You can never say anything is impossible in football. But at the moment the gap is too big between us and the Manchester clubs. There’s too many points. We need to reduce the gap on Spurs but to do that we need to keep winning - just win, win and win.

That’s why the match with United is so important to us in terms of belief and morale - to beat the champions is very important and that’s the challenge for the whole squad. We are all very focused on this game.

I don’t know why or the reasons, but Chelsea suffer more against teams who, in theory, are supposed to be inferior but in this league they are not inferior. But we do well in the bigger games.

United are also missing players and it is very important that we improve and show our best level on the pitch.

Villas-Boas says it is a question of mentality and we can develop a superior game, We need to rediscover our best level because we are entering a very important time now with the Champions League and Premier League.

For a forward like Fernando not to score is agony because he is such a great player. But he can end that at any time and Sunday could be the perfect day. His belief is good. I know he believes in himself and that is important.

We need the force and power of Michael Essien in the squad and I believe we are now in a good way to challenge and compete.

Now we need to set our objectives and for now we must obtain third position and improve from there.”

(Source)

We simply cannot afford to drop any points on Sunday but saying that with the way we have been playing lately, I am not exactly confident. Are you?

KTBFFH