‘The storm will pass and the sun will rise again,’ those are the words of Juan Mata following Manchester United’s humiliating 3-0 defeat against Liverpool at the weekend.
The lacklustre defeat was one of United’s worst in recent memory, and the first time they have lost at home to Liverpool since 2009.
A poor run of form over the last seven months means they could face the prospect of playing no European football next season for the first time since 1990.
Following the defeat, Mata, 25, reluctantly took to his personal blog to share his disappointment.
“I’ll be very honest,” he posted. “In a day like this it’s not easy to write the blog.
“I even thought it would be better to keep quiet and not to write, for I know many fans are really upset now, and so are us.
“On top of that, however, there is a commitment I made to update the blog every week.
“So far in these two seasons I haven’t failed to do it one single time, and I won’t fail in the future either. No matter how sad things may look.”
Despite clearly being the worst moment of his short United career so far, Mata believes the future still looks bright.
“The storm will pass and the sun will rise again, I have no doubt,” Mata said. “Besides, no one said this would be easy, but this is football.
“Besides, no one said this would be easy, but this is football.
“It gives you fantastic moments but also very hard times you have to cope with, when you have to show pride and professionalism until the end.
“And when all this is gone I’m sure I will be a more mature footballer.”
The Spanish international recently moved to Old Trafford in January for a club record fee of £37.1million from Chelsea and has appeared in seven games for the Reds.
Despite playing in an unpreferred wide role, Mata’s performances have so far been praised, and was voted player of the month for February by United supporters.
After a much needed 3-0 victory over West Brom last weekend, Mata said confidence in the camp was high.
“I have to say that our week at the training ground had been good and we were very hopeful ahead of this derby. However, on the day of the match everything went bad,” Mata siad.
“It was a tough defeat and I want to tell you that we will give everything we have in order to forget about this in the remaining games.”
Mata said his team-mates should now focus on overturning the 2-0 defeat Olympiakos, whom they play this weekend.
Mata will be watching from the stands as the Spanish international is cup-tied due to playing in the competition with former club, Chelsea, earlier in the season.
He added: “As you know, I cannot play in the Champions League anymore this season but I’ll be backing the team at Old Trafford as any other fan.”
“If we score in the first few minutes I think we can make it with your help.
“There are no words to describe your support in the stadium. In games like yesterday it makes me mad not being able to give you what you deserve.
“I know there is nothing I can say right now, but at least I want you to know how I feel.”
Main image courtesy of Jason Cairnduff via Action Images, with thanks.
