Following a string of fines and touchline bans for Jose Mourinho, after protesting about stonewall penalties not being awarded and kicking bottles of water, Juan Mata has defended his manager.

Passion is needed in life, let alone as a footballer or a manager. He has always been like this. That is what I believe. It is very important for me to have passion in what you do. Me as a player, if one day I lose that passion I wouldn’t be happy because I couldn’t play at my best level. Passion is something you need to perform at your highest level and to push your limits even more.

The fact that Mourinho sold Mata when the pair were both at Chelsea has been spoken about a lot. Mata is playing brilliant football under Mourinho at United this season though and has discussed the differences.

I think the manager has explained it. The teams are different, the club is different, the squad is different. I just try to play the best I can every single game. That is what I tried at Chelsea and that is what I am trying now. I am happy to be fair with the football that I am playing right now. I am enjoying it on the pitch. You know that’s important if you want to perform good football. For myself, I am doing the same and trying the same as when we were at Chelsea, but obviously this is a different circumstance.

I think we have a great squad that is at the level of other teams. We have great players in every position, we have players who sometimes don’t get a game but would if they were playing in different teams. I don’t see that the squad of United has less quality or is worse than any of the other top clubs. I believe we will be in the top four by the end of the season. Luckily we are in a league that changes a lot.