robsblubot

"because that's his role " that was also your conclusion. Point taken that you feel Matic was always a headless chicken - I disagree. I think his positioning is indeed his weaknesses - all players have weaknesses) however, the team's overall poor form is exposing matic's (and other players) deficiencies. Concerning Mikel, I find it pretty incredible that people do not see that Mikel affects Matic directly as Mikel sits - not very mobile anyway. 3 variables this season/lately: a Mikel starting next to Matic - changing Matic's role a bit. b team's overall poor form. c matic's poor form And yet you and others here focus exclusively on Matic's poor form - even though football is a team game. So, agreeing to disagree again here.

That is true, but he is very young and as he matures he will learn better positioning and reading of the game. Natuaral evolution.

Feel awful for him and the club. this sort of injury takes a heavy toll short term and sometimes another one long term. Hope for his career that the latter isn't as heavy. on one hand he's a CB so not entirely reliant on pace; on the other hand pace is his virtue as a CB.

agreed. but only if they provide a direct link for us who don't give a shit about what you've just said to like it too. Where the post so I can like it?

I disagree with (almost) every point you made in this post. We'd need take it to another thread not to derail this one. BTW, Mata and Ramires are still looking for their position. Also, when you wrote Matic is not dynamic, who are you disagreeing with here? I for one did not say he was. However, a wide gulf separates "Not Dynamic" from "incredibly slow." I'd call Mikel incredibly slow, as Alexis would attest. Matic is slow just like Yaya is. They are both pretty tall and heavy. It's all really relative. DMs in general are more one dimensional players - it's a called a defensive specialist for a reason. Some are more than others... stats would help see that. A quite obvious way to go would be: Defense stats + Attacking stats / 2 = roundedness... hardly rocket science. I remember you going on an on about Matic missing that open goal chance in the counter HE PULLED! Am I the crazy one who wants the guy who had 6 MotM in the PL last season!!! back? 2015/2016 Chelsea EPL 19(4) 1653 1 - 4 1 1.2 88.7 1.3 - 6.96 2014/2015 Chelsea EPL 35(1) 3124 1 3 10 1 0.8 86.4 2.1 6 7.50 2013/2014 Chelsea EPL 15(2) 1364 - 4 3 - 0.8 84.8 2.8 1 7.63 https://www.whoscored.com/Players/38128/History/Nemanja-Matic BTW, Matic's worse form at Chelsea gets him a rounded 7 this season. That's the equivalent of Mikel's best PL in 10 years... hint: it's not this one. We just have to agree to disagree on this one. I am not going to change your mind and you are not going to change mine.

Mikel is that odd case we just accept - our mascot. On the rest of the squad we have to adapt to the new reality where Oscar is actually a good player for our squad - because we just cannot afford better.

Oscar is going nowhere.... In a squad where Mikel starts, Oscar is a fucking god!

You guys are missing the real story: the club cannot force the player to accept the offer. He prob has no interest in moving there and saying bye-bye to his international career. what the official note says is irrelevant.

Difficult to discuss your disagreement with a point I did not make. Did I say Hiddink told Matic to run around like a headless chicken? What do you suppose would happen if you asked Mikel to be a box-to-box CM? Or if you asked Fabregas to play DM? Or even Thibo to play winger? Get the point? He was obviously asked to do something he is not capable of doing; only to accommodate a DM whose role has to be explained over an over again: please check Mikel's *defensive* numbers in context of his "role" in the team. Or go ahead and check his attacking numbers then... Now if are telling me that Matic is incapable of playing DM I'd point you to tons of evidence showing otherwise. I know we don't like those around here as they come against colorful ideas and analogies. Of course Matic is slow, as is Mikel. However, the evidence, both market value as well as stats, tell the story I choose to buy. If you buy something different, then so be it.

You've just described Mikel to me. Check the stats - Matic in the worst form of his career has very similar stats to Mikel at his best? And yet this thread is very busy after each match. now that Mikel starts, the "does a job" does not fly anymore. He and Matic are starters and should be judged equally - actually Matic has played, consistently, at a level Mikel only dreams of... And not long ago. Consider we are pretty much playing for nothing. I feel the criticism on players in bad form have been inconsistent and unfair. My personal take is to look into the future. I know that Matic can play at a high level as I know Mikel (in 10 years) can't. All that's left this season is to keep the good players and get rid of the bad ones. Losing a player like Matic over bad form in a lost season (when multiple players were in bad form) makes no sense to me. i've seen youngsters struggle before - it ain't pretty. When they struggle, they do so catastrophically. You can lose or at least delay development of these promising players - baba may be a diff case btw. yes they may do ok, but they may not. Sometimes it's a feeling in practice or their attitude towards adversity.. That's why we pay the coaches.

true, but with a focus on building value through patient development of young players - not silverware. Wenger wouldn't last long at Chelsea or City.

Unfair IMO - people must know he's playing out of position, right? He's not the paciest of guys and is roaming around like a headless chicken because that's his role when sitting next to Mikel. Concerning our lack of creativity and attacking, that's on the manager - no other. He starts both DMs against Watford which invites the draw. He's playing safe. Stand by the obvious: Matic has played at a very high level before and very consistently at that. Ignore the evidence all you like, but for me you'd be dissing one of the the few excellent players we got in the squad.

and cooking his tv set too!

Comfortable win for me. Despite some limitations in the squad, Watform is hardly a challenge and with the key players (Diego and Eden) returning to form, we've become dangerous. These squad/team limitations will certainly hold us against the top dogs, but reckon not against Watford. Obviously anything can happen in football - e.g. a red card early on changes everything as it did against Arsenal.

Perhaps you noticed his low work rate... consider this though: if you saw him before the injuries, you saw him at 18... (Milan signed him at 17). If you saw him later, then you saw him after some injuries already... he never really left the "potential" zone. His development was cut short by the numerous injuries he suffered.

That was indeed really good! Thanks! I've grown up supporting gremio, blues from the south of Brazil . A cold (er than the rest of Brazil) region and a club which historically plays a more pragmatic style - prob from German influence. Ah yeah Pato is originally from gremio's arch rivals internacional. with that out of that out of the way, as soon as I laid eyes on Pato I thought he was a Romario, a Ronaldo9 something like. At that moment I began rooting for him to truly achieve his potential, because frankly I just wanted to see what he would do on the pitch. Then the injuries came and the rest is history. I no longer believe that he has that same high ceiling From a Chelsea POV it may still be a win-win situation. But that potential genius is gone. It may be difficult for someone like me, who has glimpsed greatness in Pato, to aim lower and expect him to potentially become "only" a good player. Perhaps my expectations remain too high and I should just accept that that ship has sailed.

Great not only another insufficient player, but an unhappy one at that...

Kinda puzzling comment to be honest.... Is there anyone here who wants Pato do fail?! I truly hope people can tell the difference between what one wants versus what he believes will take place. Because all comments have pretty much only shown what the reality is - exclusively based on his recent, and not so recent, poor performances. BTW, I for one did not know that being happy, and wanting to join chelsea, were the only requirements really... If so, we might as well widen the rage of players we consider in a very dangerous way... pub players here we come! Just be happy! Hey the tens of thousands of dollars you gonna earn weekly might do the trick anyway...

The only, and perhaps subtle, source of confidence must be focus. We will be the only big club with 100% focus on this cup while others are certainly aiming higher... not a warm feeling mind you, but real. City have a much superior team at the moment. Not even sure using their starting XI is a good or bad thing: first team players might be a bit tired, while their quality subs may be pretty hungry.

Mikel has been tutoring him...

well they are both legendary players...

We will find out whether it's baseless or not for sure in the summer. this is one of the time one can actually find out whether shes been right or wrong... Come summer

Hand him another 5-year deal after this performance! One-match wonders is what we like!

Dp

It's a big chance for him - he won't get many more in his career. I expect him to give everything and hope that will be enough.