Mata: Purity and honesty of English football makes it special

In his five years since leaving Spain for pastures new, Manchester United playmaker Juan Mata has developed and admiration for English football, its roots, its purity and way in which it is tactically executed.
Before La Roja take on England at Wembley Stadium in an international friendly, MARCA sat down with Mata to preview the game, discuss his time at Old Trafford, and more.
What comes to mind when you think of Wembley?
"Without a doubt, it is a special stadium for what it represents in the history of English football and world football. And, individually, I've had great memories in the FA Cup final and Community Shield. It is a pleasure and a privilege to be able to play there."
When you came to England was it slow to understand what Wembley means to the English?
"Not really. It's easy to see the importance that is placed on it by the FA and the national team, but also by the clubs when playing there for finals and semi-finals. Just seeing the stadium is enough to know that it is the most important in England."
Even in a country that has Old Trafford and Anfield?
"Yes. Those are fantastic venues, but they are more significant on a club level. Wembley is for English football in general."
Is Wembley the best stadium you have ever played in?
"One of the best without a doubt. Wembley, the Maracana, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu and the Camp Nou are the most iconic stadiums out there."
If you have to highlight something of the culture of English football, what would it be?
"It's genuine football, to be honest. It's pure football. The fans and players feel it deep inside, and it can work even illogically sometimes. When things go very badly, they encourage you until the end. I would emphasise its purity and the structure that has engulfed the Premier League."
Is that purity contagious to the Spanish player, do they become more rogue, more scrappy?
"You end up soaking in that way of living. But the kind of tactical approaches that suddenly appear in any Premier League game can be insane; that any team, however small, can create problems for you with only a long ball and force you to fight the momentum is what makes English football something very special."
Don't you find games are too crazy at times?
"They may not have that same tactical structure in Spain. Sometimes the games become crazy, first by the passion from the fans every time you commit a foul or take a set piece and they make you feel like it is a clear goalscoring opportunity. Secondly, rivals often play without fear. It is very difficult to play against any team in the Premier League and that is why many big teams are suffering."
Is that complicating the adaptation of Pogba and Ibrahimovic to the Premier League?
"It is true that the pace is very different from that of France or Italy, but we are talking about two superb players without a doubt. Expectations are very high, but I think they are doing very well."
And what is missing from the English team to make them great?
"First, they lack that bit of luck. We can compare it with Portugal winning Euro 2016, with a good team, a solid structure and sometimes luck. Like us when we won the World Cup, we had that point of fortune in specific moments. The generation they have now is young, physically very powerful, and fast. The missing step is playing well when it matters. They had won every game to get into the European Championship and then in France it did not go so well. I cannot say what they lack."
Do they need the English players to leave the Premier League and triumph outside their country?
"It may be the case. If of the 23 players, 15 began to win in major tournaments overseas, we would know the answer. But English people are very English. They are very proud of their culture, their tradition, of their country. It's hard to change that."
What is Wayne Rooney to England?
"A legend, that's what I think he is. As for matches and goals he is at the level of Sir Bobby Charlton and above Gary Lineker. We are talking about the most important people in the history of English football. Wayne has achieved things that very few have succeeded in doing. He's at the highest level in the history of English football. Sometimes I get the impression that it's not fair, that you only look at the present and not at the past, at everything that a player has done for his club or his country. This is Wayne's case."
As a Spanish player, are you highly valued in England?
"Due to the success of the national team, several of us went to England. The bravest had done it before, but after us many followed because we are magnificently valued here. It is because of the quality and competitiveness that makes the Premier League so good."
Do you believe that what happened with Allardyce would have been treated the same way in a country other than England?
"Honestly, I do not quite know what the subject of the hidden camera recording was. It is a delicate affair, but in England they are very honest and that is one thing that is hard to skirt around if you are caught in an illegal or dirty act like that. I do not know what really happened, what was said or what the coach did, but England is characterized by making punitive decisions based on honesty."