The guy is 35 with one leg and he is the best player we have. Never afraid to take the ball, plays with head up, not afraid to try a dummy and carry the ball. Jesus Christ.
Matic is the best player we have
- Thread starter PeteManic
- Start date
This should be interesting.
I hated watching Chelsea under Jose cause they were boring so didnt see enough of him but he must have been class then.
You can see how good he could be if he had the legs
You can see how good he could be if he had the legs
Absolutely disgraceful he had to almost take the ball off Pogba and drive forward in the 90th minute.
You know it was a good day when a thread like this appears
Still saddens me we didn't go for Arthur who was literally there for the taking. He offers everything Matic does but can run and play week in, week out. If we'd have signed him, our season wouldn't be over right now.
The fact that I don't immediately dismiss the idea is worrying.
He’s 33 not 35
He isnt but he IS the only player who has the intelligence and positioning and ability to shield tha ball to play in that pivot, even at his age and with legs gone. Thought Fred played well for 60mins higher up, cant play the pivot in fact has been an embarrassment there. McTominay has had some good games but he is so lacking in whats around him to have the intelligence to play there and Pogba has been awful there dawdling on the ball inwrong areas liek Ross Barkley used to who was also a hugely talented player.
OUr midfield is an absolute joke
OUr midfield is an absolute joke
Easily our best player tonight.
Great when he came on. Showed more hunger and desire to drive forward than all the other shameful subs combined.
Definitely one of them anyway
He can actually pass a fecking ball with some pace
He can actually pass a fecking ball with some pace
He’s certainly our best midfielder. Regardless of stamina.
He's the only actual DM we have and that makes his good periods on the pitch stand out.
This.
What is the matter with Pogba, he used to do this the whole time. Not he just stands around waving his arms around like a frickin spoilt idiot.
He is 33, why is he not starting when he is the best defensive midfielder we have? He should have been a starter these 2 season. I'm not his biggest fan but everytime I watch him play I'm baffled how he sits on bench whilst we shoehorn others in his position. Naturally dms do play at the top into their 30s. Think us as a club wrote him off too early and it caused us more problems than solutions.
"PeteManic" yeah right. He is actually Pete Matic, Nemanja's older brother that used to own cybercafe franchise in Serbia. That explains this thread.
While his quality and ability shows in games where opponents sit back and give him space, in a lot of games his lack of legs/Mobility is an issue and the PL is too intense for that. We've also got Bruno who is very attack minded, Ronaldo who won't press and an attack that doesn't do enough defensively in general so for a slow DM who doesn't close space quickly enough or make up ground when heading back to goal, adds to the problem.
So no , I don't think we have managed him badly. It's more that he suits only certain games that allow him to show his quality.
Drugs are bad for you kids.
Different players age differently. Throughout his entire time here he's always struggled badly whenever played too often. Even when we first bought him (when he just turned 29) he only played well for half a season before he ran out of legs. Since then he's been able to play less and less each season before looking physically spent, to the extent that in the last two seasons he's struggled to even finish 90 minutes.
His general lack of mobility also tends to struggle when paired with Pogba against any team that actually presses and plays with aggression (which an increasing amount of teams are doing). He's barely ever played next to Scott so the managers obviously think that's a combination that won't work. In theory he and Fred should be a good combination that would provide a solid base, but in reality they've always struggled badly whenever they've played together. They've actually had a couple of good matches now that Ralf has come in and pushed both of them a bit further forward (Matic into midfield instead of spending half the match sitting in the defence, and Fred into a more aggressive role), but it's early days. I certainly hope we give that combination more of a chance as it is by far our most balanced midfield on paper, but it can't be our main partnership simply because Matic plays like absolute shit when he plays too much. 60 minutes every week or two seems to be his limit.
Matic is class with the ball at his feet and he’s such an intelligent player. I love his tactical fouls and his bravery on the ball. However, once your legs are gone then there’s no coming back from that. Players can just run past him like he’s not even there now and he obviously can’t press.
Excellent player, i have always maintained he was Jose's best signing. The DM representation of composure and ball playing skills which Fred and Scott do not have. I don't see why he can't start every week at only 33 and United managers neglecting him. Modric is 36 and he starts for Madrid every game. Thiago Silva at 37 although a defender starts most of the time at Chelsea too
The closest thing to Carrick we have. We need a proper #6 replacement for him.
Footballing wise, he's our most intelligent player by a long way.
He has some important attributes, ones that are necessary for a good midfielder and are lacking in our other midfielders but to call him our best player because he did alright recently in a couple of games is a ridiculous exaggeration.
Your point might be right. I would have rather seen him starting regular and the natural balance it would have given to the team. As well I'm a firm believer the DM role is to primarily shield the CBs, through positioning and ability to read the game. There might be variations as to how best a players goes about it but he is the best we have at these core duties.
I remember his first season for us, completely changed our dynamic, a master stroke from Jose and a breath of fresh air... my favourite player ever since.
Admittedly his performances have tailed off, mainly because he was (I believe) carrying a back injury when he arrived which is one reason Chelsea let him go, and although he had surgery eventually it has restricted his mobility. I'd love to see just one season with Garner paired alongside Matic, do the youngster a world of good.
Admittedly his performances have tailed off, mainly because he was (I believe) carrying a back injury when he arrived which is one reason Chelsea let him go, and although he had surgery eventually it has restricted his mobility. I'd love to see just one season with Garner paired alongside Matic, do the youngster a world of good.
Mata is, he is joint second with Sancho
We should be looking to sign a younger version of him, I fancy the SP Lisbon player Palhinha
How many million would you give to wind Matic' age back ten years? I'd say 80 million plus
Yea right the Chelsea version when they won the league under Mourinho was class, better than any holding midfielder in the league currently.
P.s: I don't consider Kante a holding midfielder (am sure someone will bring that up).
Me too. We should really go for him.
We could get away with it if we had the legs around him. If we play Maguire behind him and Pogba with Bruno ahead of him then he won't have the mobility to cover for them all.
Watch us break our transfer record for Rice
Watch us break our transfer record for Rice
I seriously don’t get the obsession with Rice. We have so many scouts and yet Rice is the only one we deem good enough? For a massive transfer fee aswel?
But yes, unfortunately I can totally see us buying Rice for 80 mill.
Definitely our best midfielder but that's because our other midfielders are clowns or completely unmotivated in the case of Pogba.
What?! He's been incapable of putting together 90 minutes for the majority of his time with us. We lose more when he plays. He's undoubtedly talented, and therefore looks good in snippets, but he's a central defensive midfielder who can't run, and offers nothing defensively. The fact he can play lovely balls between the lines is somewhat irrelevant - his job in our team is to protect and he's useless at that.
We should have gotten rid 2 years ago and are still paying the price.
We should have gotten rid 2 years ago and are still paying the price.
I wouldn't mind if he was prime Alonso but he isn't, I don't understand why United underrate the technical aspect of the game so much. We have a weird obsession for pace and power.
Even on the Caf as well.