Congratulations to Juan Mata (Chelsea London), who was named the Barclays Premier League Player of the Month for October after a series of stunning performances.A month that began with two assists against Norwich City was followed by two goals and an assist to help see off Tottenham Hotspur, before culminating with a sublime free-kick against Manchester United which is a contender for Goal of the Month.
Former Blues hero Mickey Thomas certainly thinks it was a deserved award for Mata, as he told us: “I’m a big fan of his, especially as a fellow left-footed player – although I think his is a little bit better than mine was! He’s such a clever footballer and his quality on the ball is unbelievable; at his best he is almost unstoppable.”
The little maestro, who you chose as your Player of the Year for 2011/12, is the first Chelsea man to take home the award since David Luiz in March 2011. The first Blues star to be named Player of the Month, unsurprisingly, was Gianfranco Zola in December 1996.
Mata wasn’t the only Spaniard to pick up an award this week as Fernando Torres was presented with the Golden Boot for Euro 2012 – and you can hear more from Fernando next week.
