Closed AFC Wimbledon 2-3 Chelsea

[Styles 9,790]

Didn't watch the game but sloppy was he on the ball?

Trying to force passes that aren't really on and turning the ball over, it happened several times in the first half yesterday.

Obviously that's the risk that comes with playing progressive passes so we can't complain too much, it's just sometimes there are some passes that are CLEARLY not on and he'll still try to make the pass which is something he needs to cut out.

[Jase 43,479]

Trying to force passes that aren't really on and turning the ball over, it happened several times in the first half yesterday.

Obviously that's the risk that comes with playing progressive passes so we can't complain too much, it's just sometimes there are some passes that are CLEARLY not on and he'll still try to make the pass which is something he needs to cut out.

Practice makes perfect you know.

[dee25 1,044]

Trying to force passes that aren't really on and turning the ball over, it happened several times in the first half yesterday.

Obviously that's the risk that comes with playing progressive passes so we can't complain too much, it's just sometimes there are some passes that are CLEARLY not on and he'll still try to make the pass which is something he needs to cut out.

Yeah his game is definitely not about discipline the way it is with traditional holding midfielders. It's not just that he tries to force passes that are clearly not possible but sometimes he'll move up to press the opponent, completely abandoning his position and leaving this big gap of space behind him.

I think with Matic (from what I've seen of him here and at Benfica) he'll flourish in a true pivot system where there's another central midfielder, with the same skill set as him, and both take turns attacking and defending. So when Matic turnovers possession or leaves his position, there's someone there covering for him and vise versa. I think that's why he worked so well with Luiz.

[Styles 9,790]

Yeah his game is definitely not about discipline the way it is with traditional holding midfielders. It's not just that he tries to force passes that are clearly not possible but sometimes he'll move up to press the opponent, completely abandoning his position and leaving this big gap of space behind him.

I think with Matic (from what I've seen of him here and at Benfica) he'll flourish in a true pivot system where there's another central midfielder, with the same skill set as him, and both take turns attacking and defending. So when Matic turnovers possession or leaves his position, there's someone there covering for him and vise versa. I think that's why he worked so well with Luiz.

He does that a lot and it's very high risk/high reward. When he does win the ball he immediately puts us in position to counter, but when the opponents bypass him there is acres of space in-front of the two CBs. And Terry/Cahill prefer to defend deep so they don't move forward into the space Matic vacates.

Matic's style requires a lot of stamina and I've noticed he tends to tire quite a bit. Even when he wasn't playing midweek Champions League games he looked gassed after 60 minutes which was worrying.

I really don't see how a Matic-Fabregas pivot (which is what a lot of people want) is going to work against competent opponents, let alone the top sides. The Tiago rumour makes a lot of sense the more I think about our midfield.