Nemanja Matic

[bluesman2610 1,337]

Same Matic heralded as better than Zidane .. I don't hate NM but he's not the guy we need going forward.. he was fantastic when he first came back and in the title season but he's less dynamic and mobile as then, maybe its age, maybe its instructions but there's a reason his game was simplified at Benfica and he was not kept as an CAM he plays far too slow. Don't think he should be sold can be good when closing a game out however we also have Chalobah and Lewis Baker who can be used in same situations if we were to get rid of him for a more complete midfielder

[Pizy 18,323]

He's always going to struggle against sides that move the ball quickly and harass him. He's almost completely incapable of playing the ball quickly as well. Needs like two or three touches to make his mind up which is infuriating.

If he is a starter next season it has to be in a 3 man midfield rather than 2. He gets rings passed around him against teams like Arsenal, City, Liverpool who play quickly.

[-Kaplan- 410]

We should only use him the same way we used Mikel;  hardly ever and when we're 4-0 up. 

[Magic Lamps 11,635]

This game should herald the end for Matic. Not only at Chelsea but in top flight football in general. His performance range goes from average to useless and today when we needed him the most he badly failed us and was by far the worst player on the pitch. They identified him as our weakness and exploited it brutally. When even Arsenal exposes you you should know you are not even close to good enough. Championship level player. His position is vital for protecting the back 3 and he is the worst possible player to play thetre..i am convinced we would have won with even with Chalobah or cesc there. Neither could have offered less protection. Let alone produce any less offensively. Matic got dispossessed at least 6 times simply running into trouble needlessly. He is slow. Takes ages on the ball. Takes it out of space, runs into other players like a headless chicken. Unintelligent. No clue about build up play. Technically horrendous. Right foot completely useless. Even with his left he can barely complete a basic pass with the required accuracy and pace. Please just leave and sabotage ManU or whoever. 

[robsblubot 3,464]

Interesting when the key players vanish, yet again against a tough opponent, it is Matic's thread that gets all attention.

Football is a team sport. When some players have a poor showing, including matic himself, that affects other areas of the pitch. Players will get overwhelmed and areas dominated, for a number of reasons other than the individual weaknesses.

It's all right to improve on a player: every single player in our starting XI can be improved on (perhaps Courtois is the exception).

And no, he's a lot better than Mikel at pretty much every single attribute, especially passing range (which Mikel had none).

[Hybrid Angel 2,130]

Can we take a moment to appreciate the fact that there's someone in this world who believes this lanky slow brainless Serbian is better than Zinedine Zidane? Everyone has an opinion and all but fucking hell.

[TheWiz 109]

6 hours ago, Hybrid Angel said:

Can we take a moment to appreciate the fact that there's someone in this world who believes this lanky slow brainless Serbian is better than Zinedine Zidane? Everyone has an opinion and all but fucking hell.

Zinedine Zidane is the is the most overrated Footballer in History ... The . Most . Overrated ... There is no special artistrty involved in naming you 20+ Players who I would chose over Zidane ... Including Matic, Toure, Iniesta ... and so on.

Everybody can shine .. when they have Lizarazu, Thuram, Henry, Trezeguet, Ronaldo, Figo, (and many other great Footballers) around them.

However, some kind of Artistry it is tough, to be surrounded by Great Players but win the Champions League Final just once and bottling it twice.

Anyway, this is not the Topic here.

[TheWiz 109]

Conte just misused him. Maybe he doesn't want to realize that Matic is a box-to-box Midfielder, rather than a sole DM whose only priority is to shield the Defensive Line.

Yesterdays Performance was poor - Maybe he was injured ore something. I don't know.

But let's not forget, that the whole Team went into lethargic mode, once Arsenal scored that invalid first Goal ... Everyone (except Pedro) played shite.

[mccg 1,528]

Squad rotation next season hopefully with the addition of a new world class cm/dm/am will help Matic.

[Styles 9,790]

Love it. The donkey got exposed once more on the biggest stage just before the summer window.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Dominated by Ramsey and Xhaka - that says a lot, really, doesn't it? Not good enough and I wouldn't lose sleep over selling him to United or another Premier League side. Technically very limited; what does he offer us? Playing two defensive midfielders set the tone for yesterday's first-half debacle, IMO, which is the one criticism that can be levelled at Conte. Fabregas offers so much more - people say he is weak defensively... okay, so tell me where Matic's strengths lie? He's been made to look good because of how good Kante is. 

[TheWiz 109]

I really hope we don't sell and keep him as a first Teamer.

It's Matic's Job to bring his best on the Pitch .. But it's also Conte's job to bring out the best in a Player and to play him in the most productive Position.

 

I don't know what Conte is thinking ... Why shackling a Player to defensive Duties only, if he is capable of scoring such Goals?

 

 

It just makes no Sense.

I really hope Conte manages to see through it, ore he will leave fore United and create a potential Horror Story there fore us, by mauling every opposing Midfield together with Paul Pogba.

B/c I don't believe Matic's gonna stay to warm the Bench fore the Bayokos ore Naingollans of this World.

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

In the words of Claude: "IT'S TIME TO GO!" 

Please Conte, please show us in the transfer window you see how useless this man is. 

[Fernando 6,422]

1 minute ago, Blue-in-me-Veins said:

In the words of Claude: "IT'S TIME TO GO!" 

Please Conte, please show us in the transfer window you see how useless this man is. 

He got rid of Ivan, Mikel and Oscar. 

So he is able to see. 

The problem is that he didn't had backing from the club in the summer. 

He had to work with scraps and did great. 

1 CB, 2 wingsbacks, 1 CM and one strikers. 

Don't think we can do it all in one transfer window because the club is not spending big like City. 

[TheWiz 109]

4 hours ago, Blue-in-me-Veins said:

In the words of Claude: "IT'S TIME TO GO!" 

Please Conte, please show us in the transfer window you see how useless this man is. 

The lack of appreciation for Matic in this Forum is unbelievable on one Hand and is great news for Mourinho or any other Club going fore Matic on the other Hand.

Because It's Players like Matic who are quietly winning you trophies during and at the end of the season.

That's precisely what Arsenal have been lacking since Patrick Vieira left.

And It's precisely why Mourinho snapped him up and why Conte uses him instead of whining and complaining around in Forums.

The Guy won us 2 EPL Trophies ... Yet People still call him an Elephant, Stupid, Unintelligent, Slow and what not.

Can't believe it really ... I fear the worst ... That Conte might listen to the Fans instead of what he sees in Matches/Training ... and sell him to United in order to bring in a Football playing Lumberjack like Naingollan.

[OhForAGreavsie 5,869]

On 28/05/2017 at 11:24 AM, BlueLion. said:

Dominated by Ramsey and Xhaka - that says a lot, really, doesn't it? Not good enough and I wouldn't lose sleep over selling him to United or another Premier League side. Technically very limited; what does he offer us? Playing two defensive midfielders set the tone for yesterday's first-half debacle, IMO, which is the one criticism that can be levelled at Conte. Fabregas offers so much more - people say he is weak defensively... okay, so tell me where Matic's strengths lie? He's been made to look good because of how good Kante is. 

I would have liked this post but I can't agree that Nemanja has looked good defensively, even with the help of Ngolo. He's been on the pitch, so sometimes he's done positive things but no more than I would expect from any professional. I see no superior level contributions from Nemanja. Nothing which ever suggests he deserves a place in a team at this level.

[Amblève. 4,995]

On 28.5.2017 at 0:36 AM, Robguima said:

And no, he's a lot better than Mikel at pretty much every single attribute, especially passing range (which Mikel had none).

Nah, Mikel's passing was one of the finest and most precise passing games I've ever seen. He didn't play many long balls per game but when he did I don't think I ever saw him misplace one.

Mikel should have been used like Kroos is being used at Madrid.

As for Matic, I don't think anything has changed since the beginning of the season. We knew he should be a squad option rather than starter and we also knew that one of Kante/Matic would need to be benched in order for us to compete with the best teams on a regular basis. Only a few of us expected Kante to be this good though, so naturally Matic is the odd man out of the starting-11.

[robsblubot 3,464]

17 hours ago, Amblève. said:

Nah, Mikel's passing was one of the finest and most precise passing games I've ever seen. He didn't play many long balls per game but when he did I don't think I ever saw him misplace one.

Mikel should have been used like Kroos is being used at Madrid.

As for Matic, I don't think anything has changed since the beginning of the season. We knew he should be a squad option rather than starter and we also knew that one of Kante/Matic would need to be benched in order for us to compete with the best teams on a regular basis. Only a few of us expected Kante to be this good though, so naturally Matic is the odd man out of the starting-11.

heh Mikel was one of the worst midfielders I've ever seen play for a top club. I could count in one hand players whom I thought should never be playing at that level and Mikel would certainly be in that list, so don't think we will agree much here. 

Anyway, he's gone and I don't have to watch him "play football" anymore - not that keen on watching the chinese league. So I can be happy about that, I guess.

There was a BBC article a couple of weeks back that called Gary Cahill a "cultured passer' based solely on his pass accuracy, which is a lot higher than David Luiz for example (and Terry as well). If you think, or write, that Gary is a better passer than David Luiz, IMO there is something wrong in your head.

IMO a high pass accuracy can be a really good thing or a very bad thing.

---

Matic switches play well, produces good long balls (occasionally), and makes good forward runs (more often). He's not a fantastic tackler like Kante, but he makes interceptions and does well in tight contested areas, with his power and height. He also has both goals and assists to him. This is a good midfielder in my book.

While I obviously don't agree with the wiz above that Matic is the best thing since sliced bread, nor that Zidane was the most overrated player ever - obviously that was Ronaldinho - he does make valid points as to how come ALL of our recent success, not only takes place after his arrival at the club, but also includes his involvement in the starting XI? 

Of course we can improve on him and if the opportunity presents itself we should go for it, but so many other players could be improved on that I think it is unfair to single Matic out.