Nemanja Matic

[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 3,502]

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.

[robsblubot 3,502]

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...

"Mikel played just fine." Agreed and still not good enough for Chelsea.

"In fact much better than just fine." completely disagree

Mikel offers nothing going forward, so he IS the defense. When we concede two goals, esp when away from home, perhaps he did not protect the defense as well as he should've.

I'm one who does not see Mikel mistakes, because he doesn't even try anything other than the absolutely basic short and boring passing game we've seen from him over the years. Don't think he's that great defending either because of the lack of pace to cover. Yup that's how much I rate him.

Once again, there is a reason we spent 21M on Matic and that he is the starter. There is also a reason Mikel doesn't play often.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

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 forwards or backwards. This game being a notable exception.

That's just beyond incredible. For several season, Mikel was the player who played the most passes in the league at the highest accuracy for non-defenders! And arguably his best attribute is his ball retention: meaning his ability to keep the ball under immense pressure. Which Mikel are you talking about?!

Mikel has his obvious limitations: He is slow and lacks dynamism which makes him unfit to be our starting DM for the kind of pressing we usually do. But as far squad players go, it's very hard to find a better and more experienced player to come off the bench.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

"Mikel played just fine." Agreed and still not good enough for Chelsea.

"In fact much better than just fine." completely disagree

Mikel offers nothing going forward, so he IS the defense. When we concede two goals, esp when away from home, perhaps he did not protect the defense as well as he should've.

I'm one who does not see Mikel mistakes, because he doesn't even try anything other than the absolutely basic short and boring passing game we've seen from him over the years. Don't think he's that great defending either because of the lack of pace to cover. Yup that's how much I rate him.

Once again, there is a reason we spent 21M on Matic and that he is the starter. There is also a reason Mikel doesn't play often.

Your opinion and I completely disagree, but like I said above, there is no point to over analyze and discuss because he is just a squad player and Jose knows that Mikel gives us "great stability in that position" to quote his exact words.

[Viper22 2,418]

That's just beyond incredible. For several season, Mikel was the player who played the most passes in the league at the highest accuracy for non-defenders! And arguably his best attribute is his ball retention: meaning his ability to keep the ball under immense pressure. Which Mikel are you talking about?!

Mikel has his obvious limitations: He is slow and lacks dynamism which makes him unfit to be our starting DM for the kind of pressing we usually do. But as far squad players go, it's very hard to find a better and more experienced player to come off the bench.

I find that hard to believe. So he had the most passes in the league AND the highest accuracy? You'll have to back that up with stats i'm afraid. But even if that's nearly true it'll be because he only ever passes sideways or backwards.

I know that in my life watching Chelsea there have been 3 players who I have had little to no faith in to be solid over a course of games. And Mikel even less than the other two because so damn often he'd make a mistake that would lead to us conceding.

You obviously have your opinion of him but everyone else has theirs too. Just don't be crying witch-hunt when people criticise him because it's not a minority of Chelsea fans that don't rate him, it's the majority.