Nemanja Matic

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Oscar here, Oscar there, Oscar everywhere.

Not for DiCaprio though

[Blue Armour 4,168]

Played with a poor tempo at the start of the match, and it was no surprise to see him give the ball away for their first goal.

Much better in the second half though, with Ramires also brought on to keep up the pace alongside him. Needs to keep it going that way.

[Madmax 9,219]

It's not fair to single him out too much. He hasn't been excellent but today he was a victim of our muddled thought processes and actions on the pitch. The team was set up to be progressive and forward thinking but the front 3 never pressed in the first half hour. With no pressure on the ball, Swansea (who are very good at this anyway) kept running rings around him and Fabregas. You can't hop on to their backs for not doing their jobs when their teammates did nothing to help them out. When we did step it up and closed down early and in numbers, he was back to looking comfortable.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Didn't know how and when to press in the first half and looked terrible. Second half was much much better.

[didierforever 7,349]

is starting games very very slowly!!!

[LAB 1,030]

He wasn't particularly good, but through the second half's balance he executed his part well.

[Kieran. 6,317]

Worried about this one but it's still early days

[Henrique 9,133]

For me Matic is playing at the same level as the last season. But right now he is playing alongside Fabregas, while last season he was playing alongside Luiz, Ramires or Mikel. Its called contrast. Last season I was saying he was no more than a "correct" DM, and many people got angry.

He might get better in the future, but at the moment he is not even close of being as good as pictured in this forum months ago.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

For me Matic is playing at the same level as the last season. But right now he is playing alongside Fabregas, while last season he was playing alongside Luiz, Ramires or Mikel. Its called contrast. Last season I was saying he was no more than a "correct" DM, and many people got angry.

He might get better in the future, but at the moment he is not even close of being as good as pictured in this forum months ago.

I disagree. I think he's clearly been worse than last year. Even in aspects that don't involve anyone else on the pitch.

Risky passes, taking too long on the ball, turning into trouble. All these are individual mistakes which were not nearly as common last year as they have been so far this season.

If we're talking about our midfield getting overrun, not being able to press effectively and looking a little disorganised, those are all team mistakes. If Matic is being asked to defend for 2, that's a problem but that's not what everyone is on about.

He's making individual mistakes.

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Didn't Jose mentioning about Matic name when asked about player of the month for August?

I thought Jose thought Matic has done well in the first 3 matches.

[DavidEU 2,023]

Didn't Jose mentioning about Matic name when asked about player of the month for August?

I thought Jose thought Matic has done well in the first 3 matches.

Jose said Matic and Ivanovic were our best two players in August because they hadn't been away at the WC and 'were the fittest'.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

For me Matic is playing at the same level as the last season. But right now he is playing alongside Fabregas, while last season he was playing alongside Luiz, Ramires or Mikel. Its called contrast. Last season I was saying he was no more than a "correct" DM, and many people got angry.

He might get better in the future, but at the moment he is not even close of being as good as pictured in this forum months ago.

I'm with you that Matic was overrated last season. A surprising number of people were even calling him the best DM in the world. But despite the fact that new role and partners may have well affected his performances, that does not change the fact that he individually has started the season badly. He's making individual mistakes, both on and off the ball, that have nothing to do with his teammates and that he was not doing last season.

He's still by far our best option, though, and (hopefully) he will grow into the season and new role and improve.

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

He might be prone to errors against the lesser teams, but he is a monster when it comes to big games. Another massive performance, a three man midfield of Matic, Cesc and a Vidal-esque type of player (or Pogba) would be fantastic.

[zolayes 14,489]

a much better game today

[Myself 793]

Him and Dave were our best performers today

[killer1257 3,282]

He might be prone to errors against the lesser teams, but he is a monster when it comes to big games. Another massive performance, a three man midfield of Matic, Cesc and a Vidal-esque type of player (or Pogba) would be fantastic.

Or just play like that.

Cesc-Matic

-----Mikel

That would give us more defensive stability in the midfield and because of the fact that we do not have any better box to box player,Matic has to play that role.Ramires was terrible in his defensive role.Did he make any successful tackles?^^

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

He's been good all season, he's just had to cover the errors of some of his teammates. He only looked better today because we refused to cross the halfway line.

[mikeholiday 209]

Think he was excellent. considering he battled against the burly yaya.