Victory relishing Juan Mata’s resurgence on and off the field
There are some things Juan Mata will probably never get used to Down Under - such as training in 39 degree heat. But in year two of his time in the A-League, Victory are relishing his surge in form.
As much as he tries to, Juan Mata will probably never quite get used to training in 39-degree weather. Nor is he likely to have had many coaches over the journey tell him to ‘suck it up’ when confronted with similar situations. Aside from that, however, Melbourne Victory boss Arthur Diles feels the Spanish superstar has settled into life in the A-League Men and that this comfort level has helped him tap into a rich vein of form.
Mata had arguably his best performance since arriving Down Under in Victory’s win over Adelaide last week, providing the assist for Nikos Vergos’ second of the game and helping to pull the strings in the midfield as his side secured a much-needed, pressure-relieving win over the Reds.
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Crossing over Western Sydney this past offseason after a not-all-that-auspicious year at Wanderland, the former World Cup winner has looked a vastly improved player at AAMI Park: making five starts and seeming a much better fit for what Diles wants to accomplish.
“Last week just showed the class that he still possesses,” Nishan Velupillay said. “And the more we can, I guess, get the ball to him, the more he can create chances. We know he’s a special player, and he’s going to help the team.”
And while Mata wasn’t spared training in the stifling heat alongside his teammates on Thursday – “I pretty much told them yesterday, suck it up. Enjoy [rare warm-weather game prep], because we don’t get this very often,” his coach joked – he now seems well acclimated to Melbourne.
“The A-League is difficult for foreigners in general,” said Diles. “Last year, you could look at it [as] a year for him to see what the level was like and understand the game.
“Irrespective of the club he was at, the football they played, whether he fits or he doesn’t fit -- that’s not a discussion for me. The second season for him, he’s aware of weather, pitches, mentality, transition, all the beautiful things about the A-League. He’s a year better for that.
“From my discussions with him, from day one, it was always that he had a hunger to keep playing. We know that’s the style of player that we need in our football club to play the way we want to play.
“He’s just scraping the surface, too. He’s just getting slowly better each week. And yeah, I think he’ll continue to get a lot better than that.”
Something that has carried over from Wanderland, however, is the impact that Mata has had on Victory off the pitch, with Diles praising the veteran’s presence and the effect that this has had on the playing group during his short tenure at AAMI Park.
“He gives us a lift on a daily basis,” said Diles. “There’s a part of Juan Mata that I’m sure people have heard of but don’t really know. And that’s the human being. His presence in a change room, his positivity, his energy -- it’s contagious to the rest of the group.
“He’s a guy who turns up every single day with a smile on his face and goes home every day with a smile on his face. That is contagious. And that’s how it should be. It’s not always the case, because a lot of players aren’t that way inclined. He is. That’s a big part of who he is and what he brings as well.
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“It’s not just what he does on the field, but the person he is off the field and in the change room. And we’re very lucky to have a human being like that part of our change room.”
Mata shapes as a likely starter for Victory’s traditional Yuletide Derby against crosstown foes Melbourne City this Saturday, albeit his coach did acknowledge that he was now having some welcome headaches at the selection table with Denis Genreau also eligible to return after a two-match ban.
“We’ll see how that pans out,” said the coach. “Denny’s done a fantastic job for us. Unfortunately, he missed the last couple of games through suspension. But it’s a beautiful headache. It’s a headache that I actually enjoy having.
“We’ll see what happens, whether [Genreau] starts or if he comes off the bench. Either way, he’ll be playing tomorrow and in what capacity, we’ll soon see. And I’m sure, whether he’s on for 90 or he’s not on for 90, he’ll have a major impact in the match.”
Victory will bring a mostly clean bill of health into the derby, with both long-term injured Reno Piscopo and Franco Lino getting back into full training. Defender Brendan Hamill, meanwhile, underwent his final check-up in his recovery from an ACL rupture suffered in May on Friday morning, and Diles anticipated that he’ll soon receive clearance to resume full training.