Looked strong and composed. Yes lost ball once or twice but won it back too. Looks classy in a in a midfield of headless chickens. Haters will hate...hes doing great since he came back in and thank feck we had him to fill in With McT and pogba crocked.
31
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 34
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 4
- Red cards
- 1
- Status
Pogba isn't a defensive midfielder. Sorry mate but the bolded is absolute horseshit. He gets caught on the ball far too frequently.
At the moment he has to play because we have no other option. A few good games against teams who offer very little through the midfield either side of getting absolutely annihilated by a very average Arsenal, doesn't change what's been happening for the past 2 years.
I thought he was pretty shite to be honest.
Was a fairly brutal game to watch and he needs to take his share of responsibility.
Was a fairly brutal game to watch and he needs to take his share of responsibility.
I edited my post because I wanted to add more. You can cling to that if you like though.
Oh so no elaboration on that stat? No discussion about the individual instances highlighted to you? You've ignored it three times now, I wonder why...
Oh and
Fred and McTominay lose the ball in midfield regularly. They have their positive traits but composure certainly doesn’t rank among them. Matic is a lot better in this regard.
I think you’re so far off the mark here. Bizarre.
Bore off man, McTom and Fred got absolutely annihilated by Watford. Green smilie time here, yey, it's great fun to laugh at our own players, especially after we win. (insert houllier here)
Concentrating on one match is another part of your confirmation bias bullshit. Appreciate he's a United player who's come in, done a good job (we have fecking Andreas in there stinking the place out before) and given us some stability rather than bitching at every opportunity about the guy when he's just played a decent game again, helped with another clean sheet and we've won.
They take the ball in tighter areas than Matic. Watch where he is willing to receive it. There's nothing more infuriating than a defensive midfielder that isn't willing to take the ball under a degree of pressure.
I don't. It's clear as day simply watching the game. We will agree to disagree though.
It's not the player I'm laughing at mate.
Yeah we did. Is that your barometer of what makes a good midfielder is it? Explains a lot. He's come in and done OK in a couple of games against bottom of the league who were missing their only out ball, and a Wolves side that are intent on counter attacking. He's also partook in the worst game of football we've played in a year and a half where we made Xhaka look like a freaking superstar.
It would be nice if you concentrated on individual matches. Whenever I try to drill down into this you flatly ignore it. You're desperate for him to do well, and so you will put your fingers in your ears and close your eyes whenever anyone looks to move past your vague statements. How many times have I asked you to elaborate or asked you about something specific and you've just ignored it? It's laughable.
Obligatory
No, that's me taking the piss out of you for using the Arsenal match as a stick to beat him with, when our first choice got absolutely humiliated by Watford of all teams.
Our second choice midfield was Andreas and Fred, that got embarrassed by Sheffield United and Aston Villa.
If you think Arsenal was worse than Watford or Sheff United you're living in a different reality to most people.
I'm just pleased we have a guy who has stepped in from the cold actually helped us to look stabil and composed. But hey, can't please everyone, if you despise a player, you despise a player.
Aaaand he doesn't reply to the rest of the post. I suppose we've moved on from ignoring it to just flagrantly deleting it. Progress?
There's two years worth of horrid games to use a stick to beat him with. Using a few decent performances as a big FU to anyone who dares doubt his contribution is far more worse.
He's not doing us a favour. He's being paid £120k a week. I know you're desperate for him to do well after stoically defending him all these years in the face of horrendous football but blatantly refusing to discuss any of his very obvious flaws doesn't do you any favours.
Glad Matic is showing his capabilities. Never understood the hate for him. We actually keep clean sheets when he plays, which is important.
Credit where credit is due , he’s playing a lot better than he was last season.
Solid tonight. We look so much better defensively when he plays, which isn't all that weird since he's our only real DM
The break and being dropped has done him a world of good. It seemed he was just getting played no matter what before.
The time away from the team Seems to have been good
The time away from the team Seems to have been good
Overplayed in previous seasons. Now he's had a rest he looks decent again. Just hope this doesn't mean we won't be bringing in reinforcements.
It's no surprise to me that, since bringing him back into the first team, we're now doing better in the games where we have the majority of the possession.
His composure is on another level to every other CM we have bar Pogba, and that goes a long way in being able to keep the pressure on opposition and eventually breaking them down.
His composure is on another level to every other CM we have bar Pogba, and that goes a long way in being able to keep the pressure on opposition and eventually breaking them down.
Bizzare that you'd say this. Matic's passing and ball control in tight situations are arguably his best attributes right now. He is excellent at receiving the ball under pressure and shielding it with his body.
Past his best, but let's be straight here, he's nowhere near the deadwood category.
Obviously shouldn't be first choice, but as a squad player he's definitely valuable.
Plenty other players we should be looking to ship before him, but the question is, do we extend his contract?
All depends on who we bring in.
Obviously shouldn't be first choice, but as a squad player he's definitely valuable.
Plenty other players we should be looking to ship before him, but the question is, do we extend his contract?
All depends on who we bring in.
Was only about after 3 games this season I was saying I’d even take him back in the team. Obviously not a long term solution, but as I said at the time, a central midfielder who is comfortable and composed on the ball is a standard requirement. McTominay edges him at the moment because Matic simply doesn’t have the legs. For that reason, I’d still play Scott, but Matic does have qualities he doesn’t too.
I'll agree with that. Get better, more creative attacking players and what he did with the ball would matter a lot less.
I don't like him in this current team though tbh. With the lack of creativity in midfield and our forwards being drastically more suited to quick countering football I just dont value patience and composure in midfield that much. I want us to get the ball forward fast and give our forwards a bit of space to play in.
I'm ok with taking risky forward passes and losing the ball sometimes (it depends on the situation obviously). I'd rather that than endlessly recycling the ball until the opposition have 10 players on the edge of their own box with no space to play in. We dont really have that many creative players who can pick a pass out. If we try and play some one touch football and move them around a bit the ball reaches Matic and he takes 5 touches and kills any kind of momentum. Slowing things down and calming the game down every time you touch the ball when your drawing in a replay with Wolves just isn't that helpful.
Its hard to argue with his stats defensively - he probably provides a good counterbalance to the more mobile players. I presume he helps with defending set pieces too, which we're pretty terrible at normally. I kind of feel our pressing game suffers a fair bit with his inclusion, playing with Mata most times probably doesn't help though.
Why do CDM's not get a clean sheet tracking record here? Its not their job to score or assist, confirmed by Matic as well in interviews.
9/11 clean sheets, you can include City in there. I think majority of the fans are waking up and can see through the agenda.
9/11 clean sheets, you can include City in there. I think majority of the fans are waking up and can see through the agenda.
Sometimes that's better than the alternative which is pointlessly giving the ball away by forcing a through pass.
Caid has already admitted he prefers a player to just try and force it.
Strange really considering how poor we have been this season when we try to force things and have zero composure, but each to their own.
He still makes ridiculous mistakes from time to time but we need his experience right now.
I was pretty harsh on him before, but I think he has been very very decent in the past matches. I even prefer him to Fred if it comes to which one should play alongside McTominay.
The turn arround of this thread is both funny and concerning, because we realize that football make us behave like someone with a severe bipolar disorder 
The turn arround of this thread is both funny and concerning, because we realize that football make us behave like someone with a severe bipolar disorder
I prefer the bipolar fans over the "I've decided this is how it is and won't change my mind no matter how much evidence is right in front of my eyes" fans.
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Totally agree. The ideal would be a balance between, but club football is all about personal passion and it's quite natural that people enter the make-or-break type of judgement.
It's because those fans that have decided he is an asset, irrespective of what hes been doing here for the past few years, have started posting in here again after a couple of decent games. They'll disappear again soon, and return again with their 'told you so' posts when he has his next 6/10 game.The turn arround of this thread is both funny and concerning, because we realize that football make us behave like someone with a severe bipolar disorder
It depends where you turn around to. I don't think Matic coming in when we're decimated in midfield and playing well against Burnley, Norwich and Wolves in the cup suddenly makes him a viable starter for us in even the near future. As soon as McTominay is back I expect Matic to drop out and surely we'll look to bring in at least one starting midfielder in the summer. For me Matic has proven himself to be worth a damn this season during an injury crisis, nothing more, but actually that's an achievement in itself considering I thought he was done at this level.
Quality post.
He played in our PL wins vs. Leicester and a tricky away win to Burnley too. So yeah, he's proven very useful. No-one is saying anything more.
You can dislike Matic and want him replaced asap but still hold your hands up and say he's done well for us in most games he's played this year. Well you can, but people like ivaldo never will.
First 8 player ratings from news outlets when you search player ratings on google.
MEN: 5
Evening standard: 4
Mirror: 4
Independent: 6
SB Nation: 5
Squawka: 4
The Busby Babe: 4
The onto outlet go give him higher was the Express, who gave him an 7.
Just us delusional fans right @Regulus Arcturus Black
MEN: 5
Evening standard: 4
Mirror: 4
Independent: 6
SB Nation: 5
Squawka: 4
The Busby Babe: 4
The onto outlet go give him higher was the Express, who gave him an 7.
Just us delusional fans right @Regulus Arcturus Black
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Quality post.
He's been excellent since coming back from injury. We look much more stable with him in the team, it's a shame that he can't run anymore and thus gets pressed too easily.
Cool I've no argument with that. It will be interesting to see what we and Matic decide to do this summer.
Aren't SB Nation and Busby Babe the same thing? Can you pop up links to both ratings?
First 8 player ratings from news outlets when you search player ratings on google.
MEN: 5
Evening standard: 4
Mirror: 4
Independent: 6
SB Nation: 5
Squawka: 4
The Busby Babe: 4
The onto outlet go give him higher was the Express, who gave him an 7.
Just us delusional fans right @Regulus Arcturus Black
At half time these ratings (MEN @DomesticTadpole ? I know you're a fan
) surprised me with 5s and 6s other than a big fat 2 for Matic:Not what I saw at all, I thought we was pretty much on par with everyone in a fairly listless display, then he got a better in the second half.
Oh, yes they are. One was showing under SBNation on AMP and Busby Babe on normal search, my bad. Just the 7 then. So many assertion that he was 'decent' seems a little overstated. Whoops.
It's probably because he got robbed on the ball twice in our own half that lead to half chances.At half time these ratings (MEN @DomesticTadpole ? I know you're a fan
Not what I saw at all, I thought we was pretty much on par with everyone in a fairly listless display, then he got a better in the second half.
- Status