Nemanja Matic

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

Matic is definitely a lot more dynamic than what he has shown so far with us. In the double pivot, partnered with Cesc he just can't afford to go forward. But if we play a 3 man midfield, he can join the attack. He's very very good with ball at his feet and can make excellent runs through the heart of the midfield. He has shown glimpses of this when he was paired with Mikel and had the license to go forward for the few games.

A midfield 3 of Matic, Radja and Cesc is very good. Just one flaw, maybe not enough goals there assuming Cesc plays deeper. If Cesc will be a 10, then he can probably get a decent chunk of goals but then the build-up from the deep will suffer. Cesc's role is up to Conte, but as far as the personnel goes, I think the midfield is getting there. CB next, please.

[manpe 10,857]

Hmmm wonder what this means for him now that Nainggolan is here.

Both would fit in the same line-up nicely. At the moment Nainggolan is closest to actually replacing Ramires, anybody remember him? We never replaced him, now we have. Matic's replacement, if any, is yet to arrive. Have we even been linked with a DM yet?

[Beigl 1,387]

Matic is definitely a lot more dynamic than what he has shown so far with us. In the double pivot, partnered with Cesc he just can't afford to go forward. But if we play a 3 man midfield, he can join the attack. He's very very good with ball at his feet and can make excellent runs through the heart of the midfield. He has shown glimpses of this when he was paired with Mikel and had the license to go forward for the few games.

A midfield 3 of Matic, Radja and Cesc is very good. Just one flaw, maybe not enough goals there assuming Cesc plays deeper. If Cesc will be a 10, then he can probably get a decent chunk of goals but then the build-up from the deep will suffer. Cesc's role is up to Conte, but as far as the personnel goes, I think the midfield is getting there. CB next, please.

I have to say I don't think he is that good going forward. Matic can't even use his right foot to save his life which makes him extremely one dimensional and predictable. His lack of stamina is also limiting him big time. Not to mention that his shooting isn't that good in my opinion.

[robsblubot 3,237]

4 hours ago, Beigl said:

 

 

I have to say I don't think he is that good going forward. Matic can't even use his right foot to save his life which makes him extremely one dimensional and predictable. His lack of stamina is also limiting him big time. Not to mention that his shooting isn't that good in my opinion.

 

Fair critique, which makes him a Mourinho player all right - cover less ground. Compared to Mikel, your criticisms seem harsh though - especially the shooting and being predictable.

As a joke, Maradona couldn't use his right foot either...

[chelseafan26 293]

14 hours ago, manpe said:

Both would fit in the same line-up nicely. At the moment Nainggolan is closest to actually replacing Ramires, anybody remember him? We never replaced him, now we have. Matic's replacement, if any, is yet to arrive. Have we even been linked with a DM yet?

Kante.....

Totally agree that Radja is Ramires' replacement. Albeit a much better footballer. 

[manpe 10,857]

13 minutes ago, chelseafan26 said:

Kante.....

Totally agree that Radja is Ramires' replacement. Albeit a much better footballer. 

Kante yes, but I always thought we are linked with him because every top club is linked with Leicester's top players, especially us because of our situation. It's "easy rumours" for newspapers, very plausible, but not necessarily true or even realistic. Haven't heard of any alternatives to Kante or I simply can't remember. There is still plenty of time for things to change of course.

[chelseafan26 293]

23 minutes ago, manpe said:

Kante yes, but I always thought we are linked with him because every top club is linked with Leicester's top players, especially us because of our situation. It's "easy rumours" for newspapers, very plausible, but not necessarily true or even realistic. Haven't heard of any alternatives to Kante or I simply can't remember. There is still plenty of time for things to change of course.

Seems about right.  

Would love it if we buy Kante with a midfield of Kante-Matic-Radja. Feels Kante has a ceiling as high as prime essien's. Hopefully we can make it happen. We might even be able to keep Cahill/JT for a year along with Zouma as the 1st CB in that case. While our defence does need some revamping, still think its actually are midfield and our utter lack of identity as a team that makes it look worse than it is. On the other hand, Jose's tactics last season made it look 10 times better than what it was. 

[manpe 10,857]

1 minute ago, chelseafan26 said:

Seems about right.  

Would love it if we buy Kante with a midfield of Kante-Matic-Radja. Feels Kante has a ceiling as high as prime essien's. Hopefully we can make it happen. We might even be able to keep Cahill/JT for a year along with Zouma as the 1st CB in that case. While our defence does need some revamping, still think its actually are midfield and our utter lack of identity as a team that makes it look worse than it is. On the other hand, Jose's tactics last season made it look 10 times better than what it was. 

That midfield you named lacks offensive power and is solely focused on destroying, not creating. Mourinho would love it of course. Throw Fabregas or Pjanic next to Kante and Radja and we're golden. Matic and RLC would still get good minutes as direct backups.

Regarding defence, it's clear that JT is not good enough anymore if we want to play a high(er) line, which we need to start doing eventually. Cahill and Ivanovic are not good enough full stop. One or two of them can stay as backups, but nothing more. Zouma needs a proper ball-playing partner, a Carvalho to his Terry if you will.  If we fix our midfield and central defence, then we could even go another season with Ivanovic and Azpi as full-backs, but eventually we'd need to move away from such archaic pairing as well.

[chelseafan26 293]

1 hour ago, manpe said:

That midfield you named lacks offensive power and is solely focused on destroying, not creating. Mourinho would love it of course. Throw Fabregas or Pjanic next to Kante and Radja and we're golden. Matic and RLC would still get good minutes as direct backups.

Regarding defence, it's clear that JT is not good enough anymore if we want to play a high(er) line, which we need to start doing eventually. Cahill and Ivanovic are not good enough full stop. One or two of them can stay as backups, but nothing more. Zouma needs a proper ball-playing partner, a Carvalho to his Terry if you will.  If we fix our midfield and central defence, then we could even go another season with Ivanovic and Azpi as full-backs, but eventually we'd need to move away from such archaic pairing as well.

In all fairness, I never thought Lampard-makelele-essien was a very creative midfield 3. Infact bayern have lined up several times with vidal-alonso-lahm (mostly since thiago was injured for a spell). 

Regarding cesc, I seem to have a mental block now (and not without cause). some want him  to play the "pirlo role" with matic and radja acting as bodyguards. I think I had a converstation with you regarding my doubts about cesc's ability to play the role. Pjanic is not much different to cesc, i feel. Koke would be the absolute ultimate buy but the probablity of that happening is 0. While radja and Kante are not "creative', i think each of them have a very good passing range. radja has a mean shot with him and we have the likes of hazard, willian to do the creative work. One thing I would be worried about is the runs into the box from the midfield. I dont think any of these 3 is good at that. So maybe, yes, it is overkill. But I just dont want cesc here next season. 

PS - This just makes me appreciate exactly how great a player Lampard truly was. All round midfielder with 20 goals a season. What a player. No doubt we miss such a player. 

[manpe 10,857]

1 minute ago, chelseafan26 said:

In all fairness, I never thought Lampard-makelele-essien was a very creative midfield 3.

They didn't have to be, we weren't a creative team, we were a battering ram with incredibly all-round players with specific world class traits (no jacks of all trades but master of none bullshit). The partnership between Lampsy-Drogba and Lampard's consistent 20 goals per season meant we didn't need anymore goal providers in our midfield. Essien provided his fair share of goals as well. None of the three you mentioned will be able to reach such heights in terms of offensive contribution I'm afraid.

[chelseafan26 293]

1 minute ago, manpe said:

They didn't have to be, we weren't a creative team, we were a battering ram with incredibly all-round players with specific world class traits (no jacks of all trades but master of none bullshit). The partnership between Lampsy-Drogba and Lampard's consistent 20 goals per season meant we didn't need anymore goal providers in our midfield. Essien provided his fair share of goals as well. None of the three you mentioned will be able to reach such heights in terms of offensive contribution I'm afraid.

True. Cant disagree with that even if i wanted to.

[manpe 10,857]

12 minutes ago, chelseafan26 said:

True. Cant disagree with that even if i wanted to.

On the subject of Fabregas and Lampard (I know it is rudely off-topic and may offend Nemanja if he ever reads this thread), but I remember how Frank used to completely bully Cesc every time we played Arsenal or Barca. It was like they had something personal between them.

Btw, look at these  This is what I mean by us being a battering ram, and Franky was one of the softer guys.

       

 

 

 

[chelseafan26 293]

51 minutes ago, manpe said:

On the subject of Fabregas and Lampard (I know it is rudely off-topic and may offend Nemanja if he ever reads this thread), but I remember how Frank used to completely bully Cesc every time we played Arsenal or Barca. It was like they had something personal between them.

Btw, look at these  This is what I mean by us being a battering ram, and Franky was one of the softer guys.

 

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Ah good old Chels.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

14 hours ago, manpe said:

On the subject of Fabregas and Lampard (I know it is rudely off-topic and may offend Nemanja if he ever reads this thread), but I remember how Frank used to completely bully Cesc every time we played Arsenal or Barca. It was like they had something personal between them.

Btw, look at these  This is what I mean by us being a battering ram, and Franky was one of the softer guys

Well there was that fun conspiracy around here Lampard was let go to accommodate Cesc 

[Blue_Fox_ 2,086]

17 minutes ago, LDN Blue said:

Well there was that fun conspiracy around here Lampard was let go to accommodate Cesc 

Shame. Imagine them in the same team 

[Essien19 1,415]

On the subject of Fabregas and Lampard (I know it is rudely off-topic and may offend Nemanja if he ever reads this thread), but I remember how Frank used to completely bully Cesc every time we played Arsenal or Barca. It was like they had something personal between them.

Now we have Cescy and because of that are reaping the benefits.

'A bitter jest when it comes too near the truth, leaves a sharp sting behind it.'

[emoji19]

[the wes 7,212]

Conte is a type of a manager who could get matic back to his best I got a feeling he's going to keep matic next season Mikel is a must go in the summer 

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,745]

Absolutely Awful!

 

The most gutless coward of a defensive mid I have ever seen. Just young and slow.

 

He isn't trustworthy at all anymore.