Juan Mata is clearly loving life at Chelsea and according to the Spanish playmaker there is no better person to manage the Blues than Roberto Di Matteo.
The Italian has made a heady start to his managing career at Stamford Bridge after taking over from Andre Villas-Boas - leading Chelsea to Champions League and FA Cup success at the end of last season. He has now established his style of play with the Blues and Chelsea are reaping the rewards having made a flying start to their campaign in the English Premier League.
Mata is a big fan of the former Chelsea midfielder and believes he is the perfect man for the job. "Robbie knows very well the team, Robbie knows very well the club as well," Mata said. "He is a legend here.
"And now, as a manager, he connects very well with the team, in every meeting, in every speech, he does deep inside every one of us, talking about every game. I think it's very important to be ready for every competition, for the Premier League and now for the Champions League.
"He knows how important it is for the club to play these kinds of games, to win again the Champions League like last season.
"So, I think for us, he's the perfect manager."
Chelsea take on Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League Tuesday, and if Mata puts in anything like the performance he did in the 4-2 victory against Spurs, the Ukrainian side are in for a difficult night.
"I think it is going to be a fight for the ball," the Spaniard said. "They are a team with quality players, quality in the midfield area and in their league they always have the ball and a lot of chances to score.
"So tomorrow we will try to play our football as we did in the last two months, enjoy ourselves and the level we are playing at. We expect a rival team always wanting the ball."
Mata added he wants to be remembered as a Chelsea legend like Frank Lampard and John Terry. "We have three or four players who are very, very important for us," he said. "They are legends now at the club because of what they did during eight, nine, 10 years.
"And they are our captains as well, so they are the present and still the future of Chelsea.
"On the other hand, we have young players, for example like me, who want to be as good as them in the history of Chelsea.
"I wish I will be like Frank Lampard or like John Terry in the next years. This is my second year at Chelsea. I really enjoyed the first one. It was one of the best in the history of Chelsea.
"But I think the best is still to come, hopefully.
"We are now enjoying with young and with experienced players and I think there is a balance that we have in the dressing room."
