Nemanja Matic

[Liquidator 5,176]

He'll be a huge miss for us in the Champions League

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

A great performance after a week rest. Maybe it was fatigue behind his last two poor performances after all.

Which two poor performances? He hasn't played a poor game since he joined us. If you're thinking about Man City FA cup, the team as a whole looked tired and he was one of the best of a bad bunch. He's been nothing short of brilliant in almost every game thus far.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Which two poor performances? He hasn't played a poor game since he joined us. If you're thinking about Man City FA cup, the team as a whole looked tired and he was one of the best of a bad bunch. He's been nothing short of brilliant in almost every game thus far.

I'm excited about having Matic back here as much as the next Chelsea fan, I think he's exactly what we needed, but there is no point in denying that his performances against WBA, especially in the second half where he went missing, and against City where he left many gaps and was often ball watching, were below par.

I'm not criticzing him for them. He's just arrived here and inconsistency till he settles in with the team is only normal. I'm just saying that he was back with a great performance after a week rest so maybe we do need to work on his stamina and not over play him.

[dee25 1,044]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t3VFYR2y04

This was such an excellent game by him, especially in the 2nd half when Ramires came on.

Wish we would have our attacking players be more dynamic and imaginative with their runs especially since Matic is quite good at playing passes between the lines, but Hazard and Willian are just so static in their movement. They rarely make any attempts to get in behind defenders a la Lampard.

[Special Juan 27,439]

Absolute love how this lad has come in and fitted in.

[duo11bluecl 207]

Best professional player for us atm along with Cech, Terry, Cahill, Hazard, Dave, Ivan. The rests are off form or just not bothered.

[The Chels 2,502]

Yes we missed opportunities to kill the game - and potentially the tie - in the first 30 minutes, but it's really simple: the more opportunities you create the more likely you are to score. And I feel we really missed Matic (and Luiz in midfield) because they'd have been much better at playing passes through the ridiculously large gaps between and beyond the Galatasaray defence than the woeful Ramires-Lampard pivot even if it's not their speciality.

[Barbara 15,149]

https://twitter.com/BabiLira_/status/441206740797763584

and after he does all that, he can pick a pass, he can start a counter, he can make a smooth transition and he can have a screamer out of the box. Because what's the point of recovering possession if we give it away with a pass, if we kill a counter or if we do nothing from that?

Seriously, this guys is invaluable for us. One of our best signings in the last five years.

edit: FIXED

[Special Juan 27,439]

and after he does all that, he can pick a pass, he can start a counter, he can make a smooth transition and he can have a screamer out of the box. Because what's the point of recovering possession if we give it away with a pass, if we kill a counter or if we do nothing from that?

Seriously, this guys is invaluable for us. One of our best signings in the last five years.

That says Vidic.

[Barbara 15,149]

That says Vidic.

ahuhuahuahuahuahuahuahuahuahua

I just woke up!

but here you go:

http://www.whoscored.com/Players/38128

he has an average of 10,2 defensive actions per match between clearances, tackles, interceptions and shots blocked. Still a legend defending and making profit from it. And those numbers include two matches as a sub, not full matches like all those defenders normally have, otherwise he'd have more. I'll back in a few minutes with the average of only matches he's played 90 minutes, to make it fair.

It's still more JT actions in a match - which is insane, because I'd expect a defender to have more defensive actions, especially because there are matches they have 12390432094 clearances in the box.

edit:

Just did the calculations, here's the breakdown of them

tackles - total: 17; average 3,4

clearances - total: 23; average 4,6

interceptions - total: 20; average 4.

blocks: I couldn't find

His total average is 12 actions (without counting blocks, as the others have) when he plays 90 minutes like those guys. So he recovers possessions for us a lot, more than all those defenders except Vidic , and he does something useful from it instead of wasting it or killing our counter-attacks.

[Barbara 15,149]

That says Vidic.

now read that post again

but thanks, I really had just woke up

[Special Juan 27,439]

now read that post again

but thanks, I really had just woke up

I don't do stats, I leave that to the people who care about them

[Jase 43,479]

now read that post again

but thanks, I really had just woke up

Clearly you are in need of a cat massage.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Apparently just played fantastically for Serbia. Too bad he played the full 90 though.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Fantastic player. I can't believe he was this good. He just needs a more technical partner by his side to see his full qualities.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Fantastic player. I can't believe he was this good. He just needs a more technical and mobile partner by his side to see his full qualities.

[Pizy 18,419]

Fantastic player. I can't believe he was this good. He just needs a more technical and mobile partner by his side to see his full qualities.

Just imagine how utterly dominant a side we'd be with just two additions to the squad. A Kroos/Modric/Gündogan type next to Matic and a top class striker. We'd be right there with Bayern, Madrid, and Barca then.

[The Mak 4,459]

Apparently just played fantastically for Serbia. Too bad he played the full 90 though.

Not that hard against us to be honest! Especially when he has the likes of the midfield maestro Glen Whelan to contend with!

Trust me when I say, he didn't have to work very hard...especially when we put the ball in our own net!