The player agent who brought Juan Mata to the Western Sydney Wanderers has taken aim at coach Alen Stajcic for failing to build his team around the former Premier League star, saying it was “insane” and “disrespectful” to leave the marquee man languishing on the bench.
Mata, 36, arrived at the Wanderers amid great fanfare this season despite fears over his record since leaving Manchester United two years ago, having played just 19 games for his two previous clubs – Turkey’s Galatasaray and Japan’s Vissel Kobe – at an average of just 27 minutes per appearance.
The veteran midfielder, who won the World Cup with Spain in 2010, dismissed any concerns about his fitness and physicality upon his arrival – as did Stajcic, who described Mata as a “wonderful addition” to his squad, and said his capacity to show his quality on the pitch was a “given”.
But just four rounds into the new A-League Men season, there are hints of tension between Mata and the club – at least if the words of his Australian representative, the outspoken ex-Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar star Fahid Ben Khalfallah, are anything to go by.
Mata was brought on as a substitute in the 84th minute of the Wanderers’ 4-1 win over the Newcastle Jets on Friday night, touching the ball seven times and completing five of his six attempted passes as a defensive midfielder. Stajcic said the decision to not start him was made in the best interests of the “balance of the team”, and that he was still assessing which players fitted in which positions, praising Mata for his display once he came on.
Last week, after bringing Mata off at half-time of the Wanderers’ 4-3 defeat to Adelaide United, Stajcic had suggested the “intensity” of the A-League may have caught him by surprise, as it has done for many foreigners.
Juan Mata has started only two of the Wanderers’ four matches so far this season.Credit: Getty Images
Speaking on the A-League Off Air podcast, Khalfallah said he believed Mata would be easily the best player in the competition if Stajcic made him the focal point of the Wanderers’ system – and that he was “really, really upset” that he hadn’t.
“I think it’s just insane … I don’t understand,” he said. “When you bring someone like him, you have to play him in a system that suits him. I couldn’t believe he only came on for eight minutes or whatever. I think it’s disrespectful. I hate it. I really, really hate it because it makes no sense to me.
Former Melbourne Victory star turned player agent Fahid Ben Khalfallah.Credit: Getty
“And I’m so sick, so sick of those coaches saying, ‘Oh yeah, but the intensity.’ OK, we will talk about someone who won the World Cup, won the Euro, Champions League, played in England for 10 years – he’s always been one of the most intelligent and most technical players of his generation. He wasn’t quick, he wasn’t the strongest. So despite that, he was one of the best players in the world.
“And we’re talking about A-League intensity. You must be kidding. Put horses on the pitch, they will be running – but they can’t kick a ball, and they can’t play. They can’t pass the ball. Seriously, I’m disgusted to hear that kind of stuff.”
Khalfallah said the A-League’s capacity to sign big-name players in future could be damaged if Mata was to leave Western Sydney after a negative experience, and that coaches and other players around the competition had expressed their bewilderment about the situation to him.
“Coaches, they do whatever they want. But I’m very disappointed,” he said. “Juan, we speak every day. Obviously what we say, it stays between us. He’s the most professional player. He goes there, he works.
“When you see him on the bench, he’s celebrating with everyone. He’s happy. He would never say anything because that’s the way he is. It is insane, his kindness. He’s so humble. And when I see the way we do things toward him … no, I don’t like it. But it’s me talking, not him.
“They have to find a way to make it work with him. And then if it didn’t work, OK, we can say things.
“Maybe with him, you would have won six or 7-1 [against Newcastle]. If you’re telling me that wasn’t the kind of game where he could have been amazing with the space …
“If we brought Messi, maybe we can say, ‘Oh, Messi, there’s no intensity. He doesn’t run any more.’ So now maybe we’re not interested by Messi.”
Stajcic declined to respond to Khalfallah’s comments.
The Wanderers return to action next Saturday night at Allianz Stadium against Sydney FC, the centrepiece match of the A-Leagues’ Unite Round in Sydney.
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