🇷🇸 Nemanja Matic

[iseah100 5,612]

Not every poster who likes Mourinho 'bum-licks' him or 'worships' him. The majority of the people are glad he's our coach and feel an affinity with the man which is why he's not just like every other coach out there. We might have won trophies without him being the coach but I don't know if we'd have won as much as we have if he hadn't been our coach up to 2007.

As for Mata, the move made sense.

no it didn't ... I was against the deal that saw a great player move to our fiercest rivals of the last decade, and I will never be ashamed of it.. I hate MUFC with almost equal passion as I love Jose

ps: I reckon English fans don't match the level of passion with which the more recent international fans hate the manures

How did the deal not make sense? They received a ridiculous amount of money for a player they weren't using! It's not like by buying Mata, Man U has fixed all they're problems and are ready to make a run. They're not.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Don't be short-sighted. We almost single handedly rejuvenated Liverpool with the sale of Sturridge, Utd will bounce back like we did when we finished 6th.

Anyway, this is a thread about Matic. Let's stay on topic.

[robsblubot 3,595]

Surprisingly agile for a guy of his build.

It's early days for him, but he does look like the real deal as a CDM or CM. Very rounded player with excellent technique. He's truly a good passer because his rage of passing is wide, even when under pressure.

Exciting player to watch and I don't think we are still in the position to complain about our CM options. Esp once MvG is available.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Don't be short-sighted. We almost single handedly rejuvenated Liverpool with the sale of Sturridge, Utd will bounce back like we did when we finished 6th.

Anyway, this is a thread about Matic. Let's stay on topic.

Nothing to do with Suarez or the hiring of a young manager with a vision of playing good football then?

We sold them a number 10 when they already had a productive one in Rooney and needed proper midfielders. Already some of the more open-minded United fans are realising that Mata's workrate without the ball is somewhat lacking.

[petr.breu 1,618]

[Badboy 1,526]

Superb player and to be honest he was a player i discounted the last time we had him as being too sluggish but he was brilliant against city.

[Yeboii 1,844]

lolololol

What's he dressing up for?

[Alabama 1,992]

I must swallow my pride and admit Jose proved me absolutely wrong on this buy...what a bloody fantastic all round midfielder...he brought out the better side Luiz and this is what u derive when u play alongside world class players...it also makes the of Matic-Luiz another fantastic combo or pivot combination...glory days ahead cos he is going to get more beta...Luiz known for reckless and shit passes stood calm composed and surged passes forward...intelligent and better understanding between the two will be a great combo...with world class goal scoring striker a left back and a playmaker/centre-midfield in the mould of Gundogan...we ll b a dynasty...we ll crush teams both in epl and europe...cheers!!!

[gary gordon 1,777]

Would love to see Matic get the number 5 now that Essien is gone.

[Peppen 934]

lolololol

What's he dressing up for?

He was getting dressed for our sponsors Hackett Taking pictures in their clothes for commercial purposes

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Last season I used to look at Javi Martinez absolutely dominate midfields on his own in the Champions League and I used to think what would I give to have a player of similar qualities.Now thanks to Jose and Emenalo I no longer envy any defensive midfielder in the world :blue scalf: .

[Azpinator 2,325]

Would love to see Matic get the number 5 now that Essien is gone.

I would like 6 on him, but he seems to like 21. After all it's still another legend's number:

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Last season I used to look at Javi Martinez absolutely dominate midfields on his own in the Champions League and I used to think what would I give to have a player of similar qualities.Now thanks to Jose and Emenalo I no longer envy any defensive midfielder in the world :blue scalf: .

Exactly. He seems exactly the same type of player as javi martinez. Now we need a schweinstiger, alaba and mandzukic, and we are the bayern munich of last season.

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Exactly. He seems exactly the same type of player as javi martinez. Now we need a schweinstiger, alaba and mandzukic, and we are the bayern munich of last season.

Kovacic,Shaw,Costa

[Wolfe_21 21]

Would love to see Matic get the number 5 now that Essien is gone.

He likes 21, and it's a great number and perfect for him.

[Jase 43,479]

[Jusek 2,031]

Like a boss.

[José Mateus 46]

I hope he helps proving that portuguese football is filled with great players that could play in any team in the world

Miss you already Nemanja

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Article on matic

Nemanja Matić was known as The Spider in Benfica. His extraordinary frame and defensive acumen appeared to give him eight limbs as he broke up play with ease and became a dominant figure in Benfica’s midfield. Matić was starting his first game for Chelsea in arguably the toughest location in the country against the media’s darling Yaya Touré. There is no doubt that since Chelsea’s decline in power Touré’s form against us has been a telling factor in each match. We have seen him run over our midfield and outmuscle us frequently. On Monday night Nemanja Matić changed that.

Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher were almost in disbelief as they viewed clip after clip of Matić bullying Touré. Yes, Touré still triumphed in a few battles but the war was unequivocally won by the Serbian. His power, reading of the game, tackling and drive with the ball rendered City’s powerhouse almost obsolete after an early settling in period. Matić showed he is capable of quickly regaining possession and pinging passes forward quickly and it was a welcome change of pace to both Ramires and Obi Mikel.

The fact that Matić played this well in such a competitive fixture so early into this return at the club is encouraging. Perhaps even more pleasing is that he has dispelled this myth that he is purely a holding midfielder with one performance. Matić is part of a new breed of central midfielders who are equally capable of defending and attacking, whilst playing an integral part in tactical shape. At £21m he represents an absolute steal and could prove pivotal in our title run-in. He was not content to sit and simply screen his back four – instead he decided to drive with the ball and press high into City’s half when the opportunity arose.

What impressed me most about his performance was his decision making. It is such an underrated facet of play and when combined with someone as physically imposing at Matić is hard to deal with. His decisions regarding when to press, when to hold, when to dribble, when to pass and when to simply clear were almost always right. They are such simple concepts that so many footballers overcomplicate regularly. He already appears to provide that technically excellent physical edge that we have missed since Ballack’s departure.

A few examples of Matić’s decision making:

Matic makes a perfect attacking choice to step into the space before unleashing a hellish strike.

These next clips come from @cfc_92’s Matić compilation, which is an excellent view of his performance:

Matic expertly powers past Touré to drive Chelsea forward.

[pinela_SLB 39]

Let me just get back to the beginning of my first post at talkchelsea!

I'm new around here, and just want to let you know that YOUR TEAM STOLE US! As a Benfica fan i'm felling raped after this deal! xD (...)

I guess now there are much more people convinced that i wasn't kidding! Matic was really a bargain and he his just proving at a higher level what i always knew, he's top-3 in the world in his position for the last 1,5 years.

Anyway, i don't think you've seen the best Matic yet, the game against City was good but not the best for him. Playing side by side with David Luiz doesn't uses his best characteristics, which you'll see when he plays alone in front of the defense and Ramires-Oscar in front of him. Maybe today we can see Chelsea playing like that, which i believe is the best tactic for the team.