I was sceptical enough when we signed him but my God, he is making me look like a clueless idiot so far. Long may it continue !
31
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 49
- Goals
- 2
- Assists
- 4
- Yellow cards
- 6
- Status
Fantastic start to the season, best player on the pitch yesterday and easily our best player v Madrid. Comfortable in a 2 or 3. Amazing.
How good is he when put under pressure? Assuming he plays in a 3 v (for example) Liverpool, they will obviously be all over him like a rash.
How good is he when put under pressure? Assuming he plays in a 3 v (for example) Liverpool, they will obviously be all over him like a rash.
Matic played further up the pitch in his earlier days. Many likened him to Ballack. In fact, when he first played at Benfica, he was playing like a number 10. He is very comfortable with the ball and has a unique combination of creativity and physicality.
It was the legendary Benfica coach, Jorge Jesus, that converted him to a DM. I prefer to describe Matic as a playmaking DM.
You have mine too
I thought he was supposed to be an upgrade on Carrick.
Thanks mate. Excellent point. People like you make the caf the fun it is.
Yeah I don't understand the revisionism regarding Kante's past 2 seasons, trying to underplay his contribution in 2 title winning sides.
Raises hand here.
He had 2 underwhelming seasons in Chelsea prior to his move here. He was brilliant yesterday and long may that continue, but if you saw that then fair fecks, I could have sworn a good chunk of the Caf was against the transfer for the same reasons I was a bit reluctant about the move.
Beautiful footballer; during City's progress towards success from 2009 onwards, Gareth Barry was one of the key elements, but very few outside the club acknowledged it.
His tactical awareness and ability to keep the ball circulating without fuss literally carried Toure, to the point where it was only when he was exiled to Everton that people began to perceive Yaya as lazy; in reality he was doing nothing different to before, it's just that the solid positional platform that Barry provided was taken away.
Matic can be that player for United and especially Pogba; he's everything PP isn't. Superb simplicity to balance out the mercurial chaos.
This team suddenly looks like a trademark Mourinho league-winning machine, and the acquisition of Matic is probably the single biggest factor in that.
His tactical awareness and ability to keep the ball circulating without fuss literally carried Toure, to the point where it was only when he was exiled to Everton that people began to perceive Yaya as lazy; in reality he was doing nothing different to before, it's just that the solid positional platform that Barry provided was taken away.
Matic can be that player for United and especially Pogba; he's everything PP isn't. Superb simplicity to balance out the mercurial chaos.
This team suddenly looks like a trademark Mourinho league-winning machine, and the acquisition of Matic is probably the single biggest factor in that.
I was sceptical enough when we signed him but my God, he is making me look like a clueless idiot so far. Long may it continue !
I was also less than excited about this transfer. Thought, eh... he adds depth.
He's looked nothing short of fantastic.
I think the attention Kante got last season might have unsettled Matic a bit, he did seem to get all the credit for the defensive duties from midfield.
And the season before?
I think all the 'I told you so' I've seen aimed at some in here is a bit unhealthy. All it will do is create two sides. How do you think those on the receiving end will react if and when his form dips? It will almost be as if they have been waiting for it in order to vindicate themselves.
We are all on the same side and want the same thing, and many posters seem to be more keen on creating camps over every topic. I agree that some probably went too far in their criticism of Matic, but ultimately - his success is what we all want.
We are all on the same side and want the same thing, and many posters seem to be more keen on creating camps over every topic. I agree that some probably went too far in their criticism of Matic, but ultimately - his success is what we all want.
I thought I knew him pretty well as a player but has he always been that fast? I appreciate Rashford was running with the ball for the first goal but he covered so much ground and got round him on the overlap in seconds
Agreed. Just as bad are the Matic vs Kante brigade. Surely everyone who watches any amount of football understands that just because 2 players play in the same area of the pitch doesn't mean their job is identical.
Very impressed with him yesterday. Looked like he had a point to prove as well. A culmination of being turfed out of Chelsea, signed by someone who has always shown faith in it, seeing Chelsea crumble on Saturday.
I had a feeling your reply would offer no more humility and no less arrogance than your previous ones. You really don't appreciate the concepts of arrogance, humility and irony though, do you?
Some people are just not worth attempting to reason with, they learn nothing from the errors they have made, or subsequently, why they have made them. Without some form of objective self analysis they are surely doomed to repeat their mistakes for exactly the same reasons further on down the line.
You jumped to conclusions about Matic and created a biased narrative to support your stance, with little attention being paid to opposing views. Had the proof of the situation not slapped you out of your delusion and back into some semblance of reality, then undoubtedly you would still be spouting such unfounded presumptions. That is arrogance im afraid. You were that convinced you were right you didn't listen to views that opposed your own objectively, and that is why you have made such a glaring error in your reasoning right from the off.
Your reaction to being proven wrong and your refusal to accept your reasoning was flawed shows your lack of humility. You pulling me for arrogance and a lack of humility is truly ironic indeed. It is exactly those traits that have led to you being in this position in the first place. I bear you no ill will, but i won't respond to you again. I have met more than enough people who think as you do to know a lost cause when i see one.
I honestly did not realize he was that good with the ball at his feet. Not having to take the easy ball option every time will mean we can sustain pressure more often.
Long way to go but, could be signing of the season ... and it's been said a 1000 times but, have to say it - what the feck were Chelsea doing selling him to us?
Long way to go but, could be signing of the season ... and it's been said a 1000 times but, have to say it - what the feck were Chelsea doing selling him to us?
Same, kept finding the same cropped video where he wasn't even on the screen. Absent from his own highlights video.
It's Matic, you knooooww
Better than Bakayoko
Better than Bakayoko
How would you describe it? He was playing nearly every game for them, vital part of the team and the owners just said "your off, we've signed someone younger"
Would appreciate it if someone with subscription post this article.
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@apotheosis Sorry but your posts are making my eyes bleed dude. Best of luck to you. Going forward I hope you can work on some humility in your posts because boy-oh-boy do you lack any
They didn't want him to go at all, they sold him because he wanted out.
Yeah pretty clear now that's the case as Conte has said as much. Wasn't very clear at the time, though.
I note Graeme Souness and Gary Neville citing Matic's performance as perhaps his 'best' and 'they never saw him to do this at Chelsea'.
Pitiful punditry really. He has always been a fine player and was a key component in their two title wins alongside, of course, more eye-catching performers like Hazard and Costa.
Let's hope he carry on like this in what's sure to be a long, gruelling season.
Pitiful punditry really. He has always been a fine player and was a key component in their two title wins alongside, of course, more eye-catching performers like Hazard and Costa.
Let's hope he carry on like this in what's sure to be a long, gruelling season.
Just shows how a move can rejuvenate and galvanise a player. I'm not as up on tactics as some on here but Matic certainly didn't look nearly as good in Conte's system as he did during Chelsea's previous title win under Mou. The season before that was obviously a write off for most Chelsea players, Matic included.
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Players don't tend to be regular first team players if a club wants to sell them. But even if they did want to sell him it doesn't mean he's not their best midfielder.
in any case, people should stop basing their opinions of players on what they think Chelsea's management may or may not think of them.
There's no if's or but's about it, Conte wanted to keep him. It makes it so much sweeter really.
One real [the only?] criticism or flaw I've seen in his game so far is that he's very one-footed. I can't really recall any passes he made with his right foot. He's surprisingly nippy and showed great technique in confined areas to get it onto his left, but it was something that did stick out a little to me.
Imo Matic was playing a more reserved/restricted role last season to maintain balance as a shield for the back 4 as Kante was given the license to employ his all-action approach and get further forward. I too thought he had regressed from his peak levels of 14/15, but was a fan of the signing, because I felt he showed last year that he could still play a significant role on a title winning team. Even then I didn't expect him to have this type of impact on our overall play and certainly not right off the bat. Hope it continues moving forward.
I think quite a few should learn that stats can be dangerous if one dont fully understand the context of the numbers. I also think quite a few should learn that their own perception can play them a trick. Cause even if you did not like his contribution to Chelsea last year terms as "slow", "not mobile" or "not atletic" is obviously false.
Maybe a few could be more careful in their assesments.
Maybe a few could be more careful in their assesments.
It happens with every single player and every single transfer so I don't see the sudden big deal about it. I'm sure you've made plenty of predictions, comments etc on here that would make you look silly now, to say otherwise wouldn't be honest.
I didn't want Schweinsteiger and thought he was completely past his best. That turned out to be true but he could have turned out to be brilliant. People make predictions, comments etc on potential signings and no matter who the player is, there'll always be for and against camps. Ultimately one will be right, the other wrong. Conversely, I thought Schneiderlin was going to be a top player for us, look how that turned out.
Shit happens, people are wrong, they either admit it or carry on a crusade to the contrary. The latter would be pechalant and ridiculous and most have done the former. Let's all just enjoy him and move forward.
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Think we are not supposed to post any article content from Telegraph here. We can only provide links.
Correct me if I am wrong.
You're right.
Please post a NSFW warning next time, missus almost caught me watching that then. Pure porn!
Why doesn't Ambramovic just rename the telegraph to the chelseagraph already?
Is anyone else excited to to see how we fare against the bigger (top 6) teams now that we have Matic in midfield? With Pogba, Matic and Herrera we seem to have enough to match if not dominate any midfield in the league, atleast on paper. Matic brings experience, descipline, composure and excellent game reading ability, all of which we lacked last season. I think he'll go a long way in helping us have a bit more possession and be more positive in the way we play should Jose allow him to.
It's all academic unless Jose changes his attitude to the big games. He was the perfect manager for putting his first-spell Chelsea side up against big rivals, because they were at their best when they were pragmatic and punchy. Likewise Inter.
But with more expansive teams, he typifies the maxim that playing it safe is the most dangerous thing you can do. If we want to do better in the big games this season, we need to back ourselves and play our usual game. Players like Pogba, Rashford and Lukaku aren't going to play well if you give them some pragmatic, defensive game plan. They'll just lose their confidence and rhythm and end up all over the place.
On paper, we should be able to win against any team in the PL by simply playing our own game with confidence. The only exception to that is City, who possibly shade it, but we'd still stand a much better chance taking the game to them and treating it like any other than cowering away and letting them do what they want to do until they inevitably break us down.
Matic could mean one of two things to Jose. He might think 'good, I'm closer to having a Chelsea-esque side who can do the defensive thing.' Which would be wrong - one DM isn't going to change the fact that we're at our best on the front foot. He might think 'now that I have this reliable defensive presence in midfield, I'm more comfortable letting the team play their normal game, freely, against the big sides. Matic will provide the pragmatism so the others don't have to.'
Hopefully the latter!
In big Ucl games against biggest opponents i think we wil need to pair both matic and carrick together to have a better control of the midfeild and Posession.
Matic and Herrera is enough for me. And Fellaini will probably be picked in such circumstances before Carrick.
Question: I've just noticed he only has 32 caps for Serbia. What's the deal there? Seems like he should have a few more.
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