Nemanja Matic

[didierforever 7,349]

None of our players have been awful in every single game even Ivanovic who done well against Arsenal, but overall this season Matic has been awful.

answer the question. i am giving you 3 matches where among the outfield players matic was our MOTM. and you are saying he has been AWFUL, which could not possibly be further than the truth.

[Rhino's Skin 972]

Consistancy in selection with the right combination of players is whats required here in my humble opinion.

Managers, coaches, ex players and pundits always go on about how partnerships are one of the most vital ingredients to achieving a good performance week in week out.

What I have seen towards the back end of last season and the beginning of this one is not one player ( including Matic ) or duo stamping their authority on the 2 centre midfield spots and claim them as their own so the other protagonists have to fight to win them back.

Now if someone as humble as me has spotted that from the terraces then I am sure that the head coach and his staff would have most definately spotted it.

At this very moment in time, I would like to see us start with Matic and either RLC or Mikel and keep that for a run of matches so as to develop that partnership in real match situations. We need a calmness infront of the back 4...not headless chickens.

I believe this would have a knock on effect with the back 4 and players like Ivanovic would pick up form on the back of it.

Of course subs can be made in the 2nd half and/or tweaks to formation to say 433 to accomodate the other players.

I know posters will say what about player x,y and z.....where are you going to play them?

Not interested....we need good partnerships throughout the team which develop into overall team performances and in my opinion, I believe the hub of the team and what gets it to start to function properly is the centre midfield.

So to recap....stick with Matic. Use one other solid lump RLC/Mikel with him and see how it pans out. It might not work 100% for a game or 2 but it needs to be stuck at

[Clockwork 1,794]

City would be better off targeting Pogba. Matic wouldn't be able to replace Yaya's qualities

Yaya is quality, but he is also City achilles heel. He represents why they struggle in Europe. Teams that take the game to city will find that Yaya is huge liability defensively, and cannot influence a midfield against quality midfield opposition. PL is different story since barely any team has the quality to play proactive against them, and the quality of midfield is not there. Or is controlling the midfield in the game plan of most managers in the PL.

[Pacquiao 1,834]

answer the question. i am giving you 3 matches where among the outfield players matic was our MOTM. and you are saying he has been AWFUL, which could not possibly be further than the truth.

i just did enswer the question and no Matic wasnt MOTM in all of those games

[King11Didier 916]

LOL what on earth at you talking about? Hazard was the best dribbler in the league last season this season he ha been no where near the best, it's called being in bad form! I can't believe you needed that to be explained to you.

And no Matic wouldn't suddenly start playing better if you put Verratti next to him, as an individual he has been very poor! Matic needs to simply work to get back to his best, no matter who is beside him as long as he can't do the basics well he will continue to play bad

There is big difference between playng as a winger and as a DM. There is difference in dribbling past some players and pass, and to be the connection between the defence and the attack. F8ck sake, it's like trying to explain the positions in football to my girlfriend...

I can agree with you for that he is in bad form, so are and many other players in our team who still play every week,despite this fact...

[didierforever 7,349]

i just did enswer the question and no Matic wasnt MOTM in all of those games

http://www.goal.com/en/match/manchester-city-vs-chelsea/2043057/ratings

"Did not play badly on an individual level but was let down by those around him in the middle as City came by time and again."

http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/959776/Live/England-Premier-League-2015-2016-Everton-Chelsea

8.6 rating in a game where we lost 3-1.

http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/959762/Live/England-Premier-League-2015-2016-Chelsea-Crystal-Palace

2nd highest rating in the team.

so exactly when was he awful?

60minutes of newcastle? 17 against porto or 20 against soton? a total of 100 poor minutes of football has made him AWFUL?

i am sorry, but the fact that most on here can see that matic is nowhere near the problem should be a good enough indicator.

[Rhino's Skin 972]

http://www.goal.com/en/match/manchester-city-vs-chelsea/2043057/ratings

"Did not play badly on an individual level but was let down by those around him in the middle as City came by time and again."

http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/959776/Live/England-Premier-League-2015-2016-Everton-Chelsea

8.6 rating in a game where we lost 3-1.

http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/959762/Live/England-Premier-League-2015-2016-Chelsea-Crystal-Palace

2nd highest rating in the team.

so exactly when was he awful?

60minutes of newcastle? 17 against porto or 20 against soton? a total of 100 poor minutes of football has made him AWFUL?

i am sorry, but the fact that most on here can see that matic is nowhere near the problem should be a good enough indicator.

Matic hasnt been awful this season but he also hasnt been anywhere near his best either.

Now before you start saying that is because he is covering for others etc etc.... that whilst might be a small element in one or two games is not why.

His timing on tackles seems to be slightly out and he also seems to be getting out muscled by a few opponents. Whether this down to confidence....who knows?

His overall game management which is not always picked up on camera seems to be down a level as well. When on top form he was always on the move and his anticipation of developing situations was great plus the understanding he had with JT and Azpillcueta on the left worked brilliantly at times......all of that has gone missing at times.

I know posters want players x y and z to come in but Matic needs to have players around him that he can trust and they trust him

[Tomo 21,733]

spot on!!! one of the worst instances of man-management i have seen.

as for his "form", when u have to control the whole mid yourself, any player in the history of football would struggle. we can clone makelele, and he would get owned playing alongside cesc as a DM.

cant blame matic one bit. he will be out next summer. probably to city to replace yaya or maybe we sell him to arsenal and complete their squad (world class Gk and DM, something they had been clamouring for the last 10 years).

Now, I'm not saying he isn't handicapped by having Cesc next to him, but that isn't an excuse for his poor form this season, and that is coming from a massive fan of his.

Against Everton he had Mikel next to him and still had a shocker despite the wonder goal, Matic snapping out of this lull with go a long way to sorting the defense issues.

[didierforever 7,349]

Now, I'm not saying he isn't handicapped by having Cesc next to him, but that isn't an excuse for his poor form this season, and that is coming from a massive fan of his.

Against Everton he had Mikel next to him and still had a shocker despite the wonder goal, Matic snapping out of this lull with go a long way to sorting the defense issues.

8 tackles won, 4 interceptions made, 1 goal.

http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/959776/LiveStatistics/England-Premier-League-2015-2016-Everton-Chelsea

if that was a shocker, i would take a shocker every week.

http://forum.talkchelsea.net/topic/20594-everton-3-1-chelsea/page-9

he was probably the only player who could have walked with his head held up high.

yes, he played alongside mikel, but mikel was poor in the game. the first 2 goals were avoidable if we had aina instead of iva as a RB.

i am actually surprised by you saying that matic had a shocker.

[Tomo 21,733]

8 tackles won, 4 interceptions made, 1 goal.

http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/959776/LiveStatistics/England-Premier-League-2015-2016-Everton-Chelsea

if that was a shocker, i would take a shocker every week.

http://forum.talkchelsea.net/topic/20594-everton-3-1-chelsea/page-9

he was probably the only player who could have walked with his head held up high.

yes, he played alongside mikel, but mikel was poor in the game. the first 2 goals were avoidable if we had aina instead of iva as a RB.

i am actually surprised by you saying that matic had a shocker.

Gary Neville done some analysis on Matic in that game, he had a good game stats wise but his positioning was all over the place at times, including for Evertons opening goal.

I remember when Luiz had games were he stormed it statiscally but made a few mistakes which rendered his impressive stats meaningless, I'm not trying to compare the two, just putting some perspective on it.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Why are people pretending his poor form came out of the blue? He wasn't that good last season at all. In fact his best form came in his debut season when he was paired with Luiz, he's been incredibly inconsistent ever since.

Was him getting dominated by Fellaini at Old Trafford an illusion? Did him getting thoroughly outclassed by Motta in the CL despite PSG being down to 10 men never happen? Jose never paired Mikel/Zouma to hold his hand in tough away games?

Everything is blamed on Cesc yet he actually covers more distance than the majority of midfielders. Arsenal can get away with Cazorla in CM because of Coquelin. City can afford to play Yaya in CM because of Fernandinho but the supposed best DM in the World can't protect Cesc?

His passing is woeful, he takes too long on the ball. You watch Kroos, Busquets, Carrick, Fernandinho play and they only need 1/2 touches to release the ball while Matic thinks he's Messi out there. And he always gets dragged wide and is easy to play through in between the lines.

While our fans are boasting about tackles which matter little for a defensive midfielder (like seriously? his job his to shut down passing lanes, tackles are a last resort) here's Naismith. Freaking Naismith destroying Matic in that 3-1 but but but Cesc as if Mikel isn't pairing him. Even Neville who's a big fan acknowledged his poor performance.

He might be the most overrated Chelsea player I've seen in my lifetime. Next Makelele my arse.

[DYC. 7,542]

I personally thought Matic was brilliant in 2014. A great year overall. But his form has been waning since the start of the year. His partner isn't ideal but it's an excuse for the most part. A mitigating factor, sure, but you simply can't shift complete blame like that. Like the poster above says, he's not the first or only one playing alongside a lightweight or a defensively flawed partner. That's why Busquets impresses me so much, as a lone DM. Barca are far more dominant, yes, but there's a far greater margin for error when the ball is lost.

I don't know if he's going through a rut, which would not be uncommon at all. In fact, the very same Busquets went through that in in 2013 and the first half of 2014. But it's possible he was riding on a cloud that year and won't ever reach a level like that again. I'm sure he'll improve his current form, but he might not be capable of being as commanding as first.

But I don't blame individuals in this current form of the team. As a team, Chelsea is simply all over the place defensively.

I do think the midfield (and attack) isn't played to it's strength. I think a lot of power and dynamism is asked of them but that's not where there strength lies. Chelsea have just felt unbalanced and unstable the entire year and the tape, chewing gum and spit that was holding the foundation together have dried up.

[lucio 5,418]

I'm not accepting this , he is a magnificent player. Our boneheaded manager needs to give us 433, a formation that benefits everyone , but we linger with the detestable 4231 for whatever reason.

[didierforever 7,349]

Gary Neville done some analysis on Matic in that game, he had a good game stats wise but his positioning was all over the place at times, including for Evertons opening goal.

I remember when Luiz had games were he stormed it statiscally but made a few mistakes which rendered his impressive stats meaningless, I'm not trying to compare the two, just putting some perspective on it.

everton's first goal. yes. but overall he had a brilliant game.

i remember the GN's analysis. but to be fair, i can point out a fault in every player for every goal that any team in the world concedes.

plus, i remember GN talking about a midfield 4. hell, the point of playing cesc as a CAM is to make it a midfield 5. none of the clips that he showed even once had a midfield 5, courtesy cesc. and not once did GN talk about that. matic might not be the same player as last year, but he has been no where near to "awful".

but unfortunately, in football, u are only as good as your last game. and matic has had 3 shockers on the trot (newcastle, porto sub and soton sub). so people are wrongly accusing him of being a problem, he is far from it. the problem lies with 2 players or rather 3 people, IVANOVIC, CESC and JOSE. have been saying this since the WBA line up came up.

i remember u telling me "not to jump the ship so early", but i was not. if a manager cant drop 2 players after the way they performed against city, he was never going to drop them. the problem was evident and glaring at us since that early. right now, people are literally scapegoating each and every player to take the blame off the 3 main culprits.

ps - just read the post below yours. "the most overrated player in the history of chelsea" and this guy is an oscar fan!!! :lol:

[Muzchap 8,966]

Whatever the Reason - I think we are all agreed 4-2-3-1 is no longer a viable formation

I would move to 4-4-1-1 with Willian/Cesc sitting in behind Costa

Matic and RLC in the middle and Hazard / Pedro out wide

That would be a little better IMHO and wouldn't leave us exposed in the middle between defence and midfield.

Matic could effectively play in the Makalele role and RLC with his athleticism could be the runner (box to box)

I doubt we would ever see this formation though - especially as I would have Azpi on the right and Baba on the left

[didierforever 7,349]

Whatever the Reason - I think we are all agreed 4-2-3-1 is no longer a viable formation

I would move to 4-4-1-1 with Willian/Cesc sitting in behind Costa

Matic and RLC in the middle and Hazard / Pedro out wide

That would be a little better IMHO and wouldn't leave us exposed in the middle between defence and midfield.

Matic could effectively play in the Makalele role and RLC with his athleticism could be the runner (box to box)

I doubt we would ever see this formation though - especially as I would have Azpi on the right and Baba on the left

4-4-1-1 with hazard and pedro is essentially a 4-2-3-1.or rather it would eventually end up as a 4-2-3-1 itself. but i would not mind giving it a try as long as mr. no balls is out of the team.

or the best possible thing is to simply turn to 4-3-3.

[The Mak 4,459]

Matic has to cover for both Ivanovic and Cesc, talk about a stressful job. It doesn't really leave much room for even a small dip in form. I feel sorry for him in many ways.

Replace them with Baba and Ruben and I think he would improve instantly.

[lucio 5,418]

Best option next game imo is: mikel sitting , matic and rlc marauding. Proper fullbacks. Reintroduce cesc eventually.