Still got the brain and the feet, but the legs are really too slow for PL football now. Great guy to have on the bench, but for me McTominay is more than reliable enough to replace him as first choice DM. He can still learn a lot from Matic in training though - the way he pins a pressing opponent then works the ball round him like a pivot before striding away is so classy.
31
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 34
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 4
- Red cards
- 1
- Status
He was fine.
We might have been 4-2-3-1 on paper, but it was actually more like a 4-1-4-1 on the pitch.
Matic wasn't exactly progressive, but that wasn't his job. He was there to be a spare centreback and definitely not there to get involved in the high press. That would have been suicidal.
Inter created nothing through the middle. All there chances came from setpieces. He did his job.
Could he have done a bit more creatively? Sure. But the players ahead of him could also have done more defensively. That's the segreagtion of duty Ole evidently wanted.
We might have been 4-2-3-1 on paper, but it was actually more like a 4-1-4-1 on the pitch.
Matic wasn't exactly progressive, but that wasn't his job. He was there to be a spare centreback and definitely not there to get involved in the high press. That would have been suicidal.
Inter created nothing through the middle. All there chances came from setpieces. He did his job.
Could he have done a bit more creatively? Sure. But the players ahead of him could also have done more defensively. That's the segreagtion of duty Ole evidently wanted.
Doesnt' have the mobility or the legs to work in a system like Ole seems to be enforcing – in the long-term, anyway. I can see him as nothing more than a squad player by Christmas, and we'll probably be selling him next summer I reckon. We'll be lucky to get £20m for him.
His style is more suited to Serie A, Imo where tempo is slower
He was never outrun, never caught out of position and never gave away a chance from his part of the pitch. Other than that, he was shit.
He’s looking a bit too leggy for my liking. He’s certainly not the ideal partner for Pogba in a pairing.
I'd like to see him in a three with Mctominnay and Pogba in front.
He can be our Thaigo Motta, the PSG years.
He can be our Thaigo Motta, the PSG years.
Slows the tempo down too much.
The way he plays is like the total opposite on how OGS wants to play when we win the ball back.
The way he plays is like the total opposite on how OGS wants to play when we win the ball back.
He should be replaced even in this season.
Thiago Motta was made fun of because he was too slow despite being a good player and that is playing in the Ligue 1.
I just don't get what people are seeing to say his performances have been fine. He's such a liability. He takes too many touches, despite having more options available to him he still gets caught on the ball, and his inability to press or recover if he does press means he leaves a gaping hole in midfield. It was jarring to see the team press so well, only for Matic to be half a yard behind everyone else. Mctominay was an enormous improvement on him the moment he stepped on the pitch, and I certainly don't Mctominay is the answer.
I agree he looks slow and laboured, and whilst he occasionally displays an eye for a forward pass it feels to me like he actually plays backwards and sideways quite often in what could be key moments in the build up.
I think an upgrade on him and his energy would do wonders for our team at large.
I think an upgrade on him and his energy would do wonders for our team at large.
That’s literally his job.
His job is to be half a yard behind where he should be?
If you choose to press, you press as a team.@Alabaster Codify7 you're going to have to try again there. What point you trying to make?
His job is to be half a yard behind where he should be?
Nope. Incorrect. The whole team doesn’t have to press. Matic’s job was to sit a little deeper to help screen the defence if the opposition beat our press. This also helped him intercept misplaced passes from opposition defenders that were being pressed by the players ahead of him. Something he did noticeably well.
Of course it does. The whole team steps forward, compressing the space and denying the oppositions defenders and midfielders options. He doesn't have to be up there with the rest of the team, but he absolutely has to step forward. If he doesn't, he leaves a gaping hole in between himself and the rest of our midfield, giving the opposition an easy way to bypass our press, which is what continuously happens. His complete lack of athleticism means he sits when he should step forward and that's we see time and time again opposition teams given the opportunity to pick up the ball in midfield, turn, and stroll past him.
If people are content with Matic and how he performed through all of last season then I just don't know what to say to them. He is as big a problem as the centre half position.
Agree
Matic is reason why we will probably finish 6th again. Maguire won't make a difference if he has Matic sitting in front of him.
Utd should forget about Maguire. Give £80M to Atletico Madrid instead for Thomas Partey.
Utd should forget about Maguire. Give £80M to Atletico Madrid instead for Thomas Partey.
"There’s a €50m (£43.5m) release clause in his contract, a figure that’s cheap for a player like Thomas." according to his agent.
Have to agree at least that he was pretty good against Inter. Remains to be seen whether he can keep it up through the season of course but it was encouraging that he could play at that tempo.
I have a soft spot for Matic and i’m not a Serbian. I have always like cultured midfielders like Carrick and Matic who don’t depend on pace to play the game but their heads and i think he still has a lot to offer. Play him in the big games or one game per week. He’s only 30/31 ffs
Matic is absolutely nothing like Carrick the latter was much better on the ball and reader of the game coupled by better positional sense, typical Regista like a Xabi Alonso
Matic's "destroyer DM" style relies heavily on physical attributes which are declining rapidly
Hopefully he will go when his contract expires at the end of the season, although I would initially have liked to see him move on this summer.
Yeah I don't get the Carrick reference, in that he has nowhere near the passing ability
Matic is no where near like Carrick. Carrick is also quicker than Matic. He needs to be replaced ASAP. To he is as big a problem as the CB issues.
Matic, if used efficiently, will still have plenty of use this season. He absolutely should not be starting every game though, he should be a squad option to bring off the bench or to start against slower opposition etc. He clearly can't handle starting all the time anymore, we just need to be mindful of that and not run him in to the ground.
Better on the ball? Don't agree at all. Matic has much quicker feet and carries the ball well and also has a better shot on him IMO. Carrick was a better passer though, and also very good off both feet. But I wouldn't say that qualifies him as better on the ball. They've both been excellent players at their peaks but Carrick relied less on his physique defensively than Matic as he was excellent at intercepting the ball so Matic needs to adapt as he loses his pace.
If he's going to play, then I would play him right in the centre of midfield, he is too slow now to cover players in a more defensive mode, but he can be a focal point in the centre, as long as he plays more forward passes. If we do get Longstaff (not for me though), or someone similar, then I would try to sell him.
He's a lot more agile than Motta and covers more ground but I made the comparison due to his ball playing ability, being press resistant and game management.
Hopefully under Ole, we see a team that wants to dominate the ball against all oppositionw, which will mean less pitch coverage for Matic. Then he can concentrate on recycling possession, keeping it ticking and let Mctomminay/Pogba wreak havoc further up field. I just don't trust a two man midfield of any combination from our players.
Matic shields the ball and can shift it in tighter positions better than Fred and McTominay. He also has much better passing range than McTominay.
His pace isn't good and I don't think it's been a strength of his anyways, but he's got a high IQ and understands what is needed of him. In a three man midfield, he was always first choice (when fit) during Ole's first couple of months in charge when United were rampant.
He does need to play less and needs to be flanked by McTominay or Herrera type player. To bin him off would be complete suicide by United.
His pace isn't good and I don't think it's been a strength of his anyways, but he's got a high IQ and understands what is needed of him. In a three man midfield, he was always first choice (when fit) during Ole's first couple of months in charge when United were rampant.
He does need to play less and needs to be flanked by McTominay or Herrera type player. To bin him off would be complete suicide by United.
Zlatan disagrees.
Matic and Lukaku spelled the end of Jose.
2 good players. But only good and no room to get better.
Both too big and too slow. Matic has an amazing touch but needs way too much time to make a pass. Also, his positioning was much worse than I thought.
Like Lukaku, a physical beast that couldn't even exert his strength to his advantage.
Get rid of both. You cant have players like this in the premier league. It's all about mobility, tenacity, and teamwork as Liverpool, Spurs and City showed.
2 good players. But only good and no room to get better.
Both too big and too slow. Matic has an amazing touch but needs way too much time to make a pass. Also, his positioning was much worse than I thought.
Like Lukaku, a physical beast that couldn't even exert his strength to his advantage.
Get rid of both. You cant have players like this in the premier league. It's all about mobility, tenacity, and teamwork as Liverpool, Spurs and City showed.
His passing range is not good. His short passing not good either.
Hanging back just ahead of the back 4 does not mean he is good positionally.
He is a good midfielder but his excellent technique for a big man fools people into thinking he is a great midfielder.
His passing range is slightly above average at best and his "positioning" mostly relies on just sticking to his position in front of the defence and he does this cause he doesn't have the stamina to cover large ground anymore he's too slow, takes too many touches on the ball and takes too long to release a pass
He can be a brick wall that covers our whole box for all I care. What I can’t see anymore is his 12 point turns
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