🇷🇸 Nemanja Matic

[The Skipper 20,609]

Contrary to the popular belief here, I actually think a Mikel - Cesc pivot would work well. Obviously JOM won't be able to provide the broad range of dynamics Matic does but I think it would actually work pretty well, even if Oscar still played his auxiliary number 10 role.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

Contrary to the popular belief here, I actually think a Mikel - Cesc pivot would work well. Obviously JOM won't be able to provide the broad range of dynamics Matic does but I think it would actually work pretty well, even if Oscar still played his auxiliary number 10 role.

It would work well in controlling possession, but who is going to win the ball back?

To replace Matic, you'll have to play Mikel and Ramires together lol.

[The Skipper 20,609]

It would work well in controlling possession, but who is going to win the ball back?

To replace Matic, you'll have to play Mikel and Ramires together lol.

Hence why I said different dynamics. Of course Mikel won't replace Matic's functionality in the team.

Edit:

Just to follow up on that, essentially a Mikel - Cesc pivot would give the team a completely different look and feel. Yes, we won't have the complete midfield dominance (especially in winning the ball back) Matic provides, but it's still a pretty solid base. The team dynamics would automatically change into something more akin to what Barcelona ran a few years ago (obviously not as good though). I'm thinking something like Mikel (Busquets), Cesc (Xavi) and Oscar (Iniesta). If we had a possession first game plan, it would work well. Essentially we wouldn't have to win the ball back as much because having the ball is our protection.

[dee25 1,044]

Contrary to the popular belief here, I actually think a Mikel - Cesc pivot would work well. Obviously JOM won't be able to provide the broad range of dynamics Matic does but I think it would actually work pretty well, even if Oscar still played his auxiliary number 10 role.

Well "would work well" is dependent on the style of football we want the team to play. If the plan is to go to St James' Park, keep a low block and stay compact then sure a Mikel & Cesc pivot "would work well". But if the plan to play expansively, high intensity pressing, fluid movement, with Hazard, Oscar etc interchanging positions and Cesc joining in to support the attack then a Cesc and Mikel pivot wouldn't work in my opinion.

When Costa or Hazard or Oscar turnover possession, Matic's first thought is to win the ball back, and get us attacking straight away. Mikel's first thought is to hold his position and make sure there aren't gaps. There're benefits to both styles, but the downside to Mikel's style is that the attacking midfielders have to cover more ground and the team won't be able to pin the opposition back and apply heavy pressure. As it is, Terry and Cahill are not exactly proactive defenders, and we've already seen how that at times limits the team's pressing. With Mikel in front of them, I think the team will lack intensity.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

We won't miss Matic that much since we're going to be playing vs an Alan Pardew Newcastle team. They'll defend deep, let us have the ball and play on the counter. As long as Mikel holds his position and doesn't get involved with our attacks, I'll be fine.

[TheWiz 109]

Now we know who runs the Show.

[Jase 43,479]

Obviously Matic is a key player in the team but considering this is our first defeat of the season, it's too easy and early to say we lost because we didn't have Matic. Sample size too small.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

The result would have been exactly the same with Nemanja today (unless he smashed a 40-yard screamer or something). The issue was not at all in midfield where we completely dominated and long before Newcastle parked the bus.

[the wes 7,212]

Sky Sports pundit Chris Kamara has claimed that Chelsea are not the same team without Nemanja Matic as Jon Obi Mikel isn’t able to produce the same level of performance as the Serbian.

Matic missed his Premier League game of the season on Saturday aginst Newcastle which, coincidently, resulted in Chelsea’s first defeat of the season and had many onlookers pointing the finger at Mikel.

The Nigerian skipper failed to replicate the tactical and technical qualities we’ve become accustomed to with the midfield pairing of Matic and Cesc Fabregas, with the Spaniard also looking out of sorts when not partnered by Chelsea’s powerhouse.

“You look at the changes Jose made on Saturday, with Jon Obi Mikel coming into the centre in place of Nemanja Matic, who sits in front of the back and plays people in. Mikel can’t do that,” Kamara wrote on his Sky Sports column.

“He can sit in front of the back four and defend but he doesn’t have that forward pass in his locker so all of a sudden it becomes very difficult. It’s no different for Liverpool.”

Kamara was also referring to Liverpool’s abject performance without their skipper and highlighting how important the deep-lying midfield positions are for teams who try to dominate possession.

its time for mikel to leave chelsea we need better cover for matic

[the wes 7,212]

Alan Shearer on MOTD: "Chelsea didn't play that well. There is no doubt they missed Nemanja Matic. He has started every game for them this season but John Obi Mikel was in there against Newcastle and didn't do as well. In the build-up to Newcastle's second goal, Mikel dives in, Eden Hazard dives in. There is no-one sitting in front of the back four. That said it was a really committed Newcastle performance. They were really well organised and every player knew what job they had to do. It was a thoroughly-deserved win."

matic was a big loss against newcastle

[ZOS 580]

The result would have been exactly the same with Nemanja today (unless he smashed a 40-yard screamer or something). The issue was not at all in midfield where we completely dominated and long before Newcastle parked the bus.

I believe he would've done something about the goals we conceded. It wouldn't have been that easy for them to counter us.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I believe he would've done something about the goals we conceded. It wouldn't have been that easy for them to counter us.

How? We've been conceding these exact same type of goals all season with Matic there. Counter attack, either Iva is out of position and the opposition exploit that with a cross from his side or someone gets beaten in midfield and we have a player running at our defenders and we're suddenly in big trouble because neither JT not Cahill can step up.

Matic is more dynamic than Mikel and he likes to jump into tackles whereas John likes to contain opposition players by forcing them wide and blocking passing lanes. Matic is also slightly more 'aggressive' passer, but that's about where the differences stop. Both are very similar type of players hence why Jose said that this position is the only one we have a two "replicate" players in and that it is an area where we are very stable in.

[ZOS 580]

How? We've been conceding these exact same type of goals all season with Matic there. Counter attack, either Iva is out of position and the opposition exploit that with a cross from his side or someone gets beaten in midfield and we have a player running at our defenders and we're suddenly in big trouble because neither JT not Cahill can step up.

Matic is more dynamic than Mikel and he likes to jump into tackles whereas John likes to contain opposition players by forcing them wide and blocking passing lanes. Matic is also slightly more 'aggressive' passer, but that's about where the differences stop. Both are very similar type of players hence why Jose said that this position is the only one we have a two "replicate" players in and that it is an area where we are very stable in.

I am not sure which goals you are referring here. We haven't been conceding much to be frank. Mikel should not be blamed for the loss by any means. But, watching cisse's goals over and over, I can't help but feel like Matic would've done better in those situations.

Take the first goal. Both Cisse and Cissoko, the two most dangerous Newcastle men, were left unchecked deep in our half when the ball arrived overhead. Granted Cisse was Garry's responsibility but that makes my case even stronger. Matic has been covering for GC and co up to now. I believe he'd have anticipated the danger better than John Obi.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I am not sure which goals you are referring here. We haven't been conceding much to be frank. Mikel should not be blamed for the loss by any means. But, watching cisse's goals over and over, I can't help but feel like Matic would've done better in those situations.

Take the first goal. Both Cisse and Cissoko, the two most dangerous Newcastle men, were left unchecked deep in our half when the ball arrived overhead. Granted Cisse was Garry's responsibility but that makes my case even stronger. Matic has been covering for GC and co up to now. I believe he'd have anticipated the danger better than John Obi.

I'm talking about practically all the goals we've conceded this season. We haven't been conceding in the last 2-3 weeks but overall we've conceded a lot more than last season's average. We couldn't keep a clean sheet at the first few months of the season.

The reason we have been conceding less this season is because Jose has turned down the the aggressive of our pressing because our CBs were getting caught wrong footed every single game. But at the start of the season we conceded a lot of goals and quite a lot of chances from positional mistakes from the midfield 3, including Matic himself. Nemanja has been nothing short of brilliant in the past few weeks, but go back 10 pages on this very thread and you'll read people calling out his positional errors.

[robsblubot 3,595]

The result would have been exactly the same with Nemanja today (unless he smashed a 40-yard screamer or something). The issue was not at all in midfield where we completely dominated and long before Newcastle parked the bus.

Couldn't disagree more.

This is not American football. It's all interconnected. When we employ defenders (including FBs) who cannot attack, we lose that conduit and have to attack in different ways. Same in the DLP/CM position: Matic can make a seamless and quick transition between defense and attack, while Mikel cannot. Timing is everything in football and Mikel slows the game down too much with his useless and constant short passing.

Perhaps the AMs and Costa ALSO struggled because the delivery was just a bit slower than normal. Matic wasn't there to make the transition on his own, and a different player had to do it, which also slows our attack for that player has to drop back to get the ball.

Matic can do some of what Fabregas does while Mikel can't.

[chelseafc9010 224]

I disagree about Matic not making a difference, even if he doesn't score or make the tackle he adds confidence to the team, is much faster and more creative on the ball than Mikel, also he isn't a tree off the ball. That said it doesn't change the facts, the midfield wasn't the problem, it was the same problem as we had against Sunderland; no width, no attacking fullbacks, no one to finish chances.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Couldn't disagree more.

This is not American football. It's all interconnected. When we employ defenders (including FBs) who cannot attack, we lose that conduit and have to attack in different ways. Same in the DLP/CM position: Matic can make a seamless and quick transition between defense and attack, while Mikel cannot. Timing is everything in football and Mikel slows the game down too much with his useless and constant short passing.

Perhaps the AMs and Costa ALSO struggled because the delivery was just a bit slower than normal. Matic wasn't there to make the transition on his own, and a different player had to do it, which also slows our attack for that player has to drop back to get the ball.

Matic can do some of what Fabregas does while Mikel can't.

Mikel played just fine. In fact much better than just fine. He did not slow the game down and most of the time even played one or two touch passes. The defense made a few mistakes, we got unlucky, we didn't finish the chances we created, they got very lucky in attack, we got beat. It happens in football. The obsession of trying to pin imaginary mistakes on Mikel is unhealthy...

[Viper22 2,418]

Mikel played just fine. In fact much better than just fine. He did not slow the game down and most of the time even played one or two touch passes. The defense made a few mistakes, we got unlucky, we didn't finish the chances we created, they got very lucky in attack, we got beat. It happens in football. The obsession of trying to pin imaginary mistakes on Mikel is unhealthy...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp3bcGs-TWU#t=32

30secs in. Fabregas did the same but he's not a DM.

You can't tell me Matic would've dived in like that. Just sums up how Mikel plays unfortunately, and making it out to be a random witchhunt for the guy isn't going to make it go away. The reason that him, Malouda and Kalou often get blamed is because they have cost us games in the past with their poor play. And not the odd one like some other players do, it's a regular occurrence.

It's not a coincidence that before Matic signed we conceded 20 league goals and after Matic signed we conceded only 7.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp3bcGs-TWU#t=32

30secs in. Fabregas did the same but he's not a DM.

You can't tell me Matic would've dived in like that. Just sums up how Mikel plays unfortunately, and making it out to be a random witchhunt for the guy isn't going to make it go away. The reason that him, Malouda and Kalou often get blamed is because they have cost us games in the past with their poor play. And not the odd one like some other players do, it's a regular occurrence.

It's not a coincidence that before Matic signed we conceded 20 league goals and after Matic signed we conceded only 7.

The way that Mikel plays is that he dives in?! The main criticism for Mikel in the past is that he does NOT tackle enough but instead likes to contain players and block passing lane. Please make up your mind, which is it?

On any account, all of our midfield 3, including Matic, has made that very same mistake of being too agressive in pressing, leading to a lot of conceded chances and several goals especially at the start of the season, so you can't exactly say that Matic would not have made that mistake.

EDIT: Funnily enough, at this very moment Matic was drawn to the ball too easily and got beaten by the Sporting player leading to a (tame) header on our goal.

In that very goal there were much bigger mistakes than Mikel's. Anyway, this does not even deserve this over discussion because Mikel is just a squad player.

[Viper22 2,418]

The way that Mikel plays is that he dives in?! The main criticism for Mikel in the past is that he does NOT tackle enough but instead likes to contain players and block passing lane. Please make up your mind, which is it?

On any account, all of our midfield 3, including Matic, has made that very same mistake of being too agressive in pressing, leading to a lot of conceded chances and several goals especially at the start of the season, so you can't exactly say that Matic would not have made that mistake.

EDIT: Funnily enough, at this very moment Matic was drawn to the ball too easily and got beaten by the Sporting player leading to a (tame) header on our goal.

In that very goal there were much bigger mistakes than Mikel's. Anyway, this does not even deserve this over discussion because Mikel is just a squad player.

I've never said that. My main criticism of him is that he gives the ball away too much through poor passing/dwelling on the ball, he dives into tackles and he only ever passes sideways or backwards. This game being a notable exception.

Matic has been fantastic this season. He's been our best player and i've been saying since last season that he's our most important. Write it off as coincidence that we lost the 1 game he was out if you want, that's your prerogative, but I know what i've seen.

As for him being a squad player, yeah that's true, but if you can't trust your squad players then you're in trouble. We need to replace him, and soon.