🇷🇸 Nemanja Matic

[nono 791]

Replace him with anyone else with a pulse and his absence wouldn't be noticed.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Poor when we attack. Nainggolan is such an upgrade on him....

[nono 791]

4 minutes ago, kellzfresh said:

Poor when we attack. Nainggolan is such an upgrade on him....

Replacing him and Oscar has to be the biggest priority going forward.

[robsblubot 3,595]

had a good game against Swansea - helped provide the complete domination we had until the mishaps.

Guy is just disliked here for no reason - yes he has to play back because he lacks final third quality but that's hardly a fault, but rather a characteristic. Kante is just as bad going forward if not worse.

[Henrique 9,133]

5 hours ago, Robguima said:

had a good game against Swansea - helped provide the complete domination we had until the mishaps.

Guy is just disliked here for no reason - yes he has to play back because he lacks final third quality but that's hardly a fault, but rather a characteristic. Kante is just as bad going forward if not worse.

Matic should be considered a backup to Kante. I really dont like the idea of a midfield with Matic+Kante, since, as you said, both of them are really limited going forward.

[robsblubot 3,595]

2 hours ago, Henrique said:

Matic should be considered a backup to Kante. I really dont like the idea of a midfield with Matic+Kante, since, as you said, both of them are really limited going forward.

perhaps... but that has nothing to do with matic.

[dimmas 131]

In terms of passing and vision, i am afraid he is becoming like ramires. Very very limited.

 

What i see from matic performance in 4 matches. Beside his height and maybe decent positioning. Matic doesnt have anything to become good midfielder in conte system. Not just his speed is slow his passing also slow, predictable and very mediocre.

 

When the opponent is just completely sit back our build up play is still okay. But just give our midfield some decent pressing. Our build up play become very poor, and it is very concerning.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Where did this lad go...its just sad to see him doing a Mikel these days. He was decent today, that run for goal was lovely, but far from a DM he was two years ago.

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

1 hour ago, BlueLyon said:

Where did this lad go...its just sad to see him doing a Mikel these days. He was decent today, that run for goal was lovely, but far from a DM he was two years ago.

That's the problem - DM should be his role. Kante's back-up and nothing more than that.

[Henrique 9,133]

I'm really shocked. Matic is a DM, a very one dimensional one, that can do great things playing in a very specific role, why in the hell is Conte using Matic as a box to box midfield is beyond me, while Fabregas is sitting on the bench game after game. Matic is not good enough to play in that role.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

3 hours ago, Henrique said:

I'm really shocked. Matic is a DM, a very one dimensional one, that can do great things playing in a very specific role, why in the hell is Conte using Matic as a box to box midfield is beyond me, while Fabregas is sitting on the bench game after game. Matic is not good enough to play in that role.

If Matic was still that great DM, we could play him there with Kante as roaming b2b and Cesc the creator. Sadly Matic cant own DM place anymore, meaning we have to play Kante there. And Cesc cant play either in such case because Matic is too slow for the role he is given now. 

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Reminds me of Peter crouch when he turns. So lanky, slow and clumsy on the ball. He's far better just defending. Box to box is not for him. Play him in kantes position or put fabregas in his place imo.

[Jase 43,479]

To quote what Claude once said of Giroud, Matic is a freaking 'lamp post'! He's cumbersome, slow on the ball, poor intelligence and extremely one footed.

[Rekin 835]

I am honestly curious about what his purpose is. I watch Kante and I see a player who is taking shots (terrible shots but still), disrupting play, collecting the ball deep, running everywhere and then I see Matic. Matic sometimes give a half-hearted attempt to win the ball, makes a simple pass but most of the time manages to be missing where the heart of the action is. Is he supposed to be attacking? Is he supposed to be controlling the middle? Whatever his role, he is clearly failing. 

We are losing so so much from having him and Oscar in the middle. Both are slow players lacking any real creativity, dynamism or flair. Their only purpose seem to be to slow down play and make passes to better players. I might think Willian is as best above average, but he is still far ahead. 

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Brilliant performance tonight. Was shocked at how well he played.

[The Skipper 20,609]

Solid. 

[bababoom 4,478]

Great today, finally passing much faster and looks real comfortable on the ball again. 

[Dazzy_Vance 454]

It's definitely a mental thing with Matic. He has never been the same since that match against Burnley at SB. If you watch the video above he's so much more aggressive and physical. He would use his size to dominate other players. Now he has forgotten how to do that. He doesn't hold players off when he is controlling the ball. He doesn't use his long legs to dispossess opposition. He doesn't run up to players and intimidate them when they have the ball. He needs to start doing this again because that's what made him so good.

[mccg 1,528]

I wonder what he might be like at Cb?

[jernej93 569]

20 minutes ago, mccg said:

I wonder what he might be like at Cb?

I was thinking about it yesterday when Cahill was bad af