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Nemanja Matic Serbia flag

2020-21 Performances

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5.5 Season Average Rating
Appearances
36
Goals
0
Assists
1
Yellow cards
4
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Thought he looked a lot more comfortable with Axel, good second half, in the first he seemed unsure of Fred's positioning.
 
Sylar said:
Because there are games where it looks like it and players bypass him
Saying that for me it's mostly when he plays back to back games

I agree that we don't need him to play every game like Jose used to use him. We're using matic well and he looks fresh when he does play
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Players bypass him for the same reason as they go past Fred, he's not stopping every dribble attempt. He's much better at this aspect than Fred but still not perfect, and it has nothing to do with his mobility IMO.

He's the only DM we have, to me it seems strange he was never a core of this team.
 
He's a brilliant player. So good on the ball and always plays with his head up. And he's even starting to make runs into the opposition penalty box. Should start against Chelsea if he's still fresh as he didn't play much the past month
 
Borys said:
Players bypass him for the same reason as they go past Fred, he's not stopping every dribble attempt. He's much better at this aspect than Fred but still not perfect, and it has nothing to do with his mobility IMO.

He's the only DM we have, to me it seems strange he was never a core of this team.
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Nah I get what you're saying, but there have been games (again before today) where it wouldn't just be a few dribbles, it would be quite a bit and that's where the whole we need to replace him or get somebody who can play every game

There was a time especially end of last season where he was playing every game. Now ole is using Scott Fred and him and rotating which helps all of them
 
During his time here he's regularly been good when he's started playing after a break, but the longer he keeps playing the worse he gets and it definitely looks like he gets overplayed. The issue is that each run of good form over the years has gotten shorter and short, from 6 months in his first season to a few months, to only a month or so. I hope one of our other midfielders get back soon otherwise I expect Matic will start dropping away soon and it won't be pretty.

I felt the Matic-Fred combo did better in the first half than they did in a couple of those other games, they didn't seem to be getting in each others way this time. Although there was one time where they swapped sides while we were defending and then Matic also came sprinting over to the left and left a lot of space for a runner on the right. Felt he should have held his position a bit better there.
 
Borys said:
No midfielder in our squad plays every game. Fred and especially McTominay get rest every 2nd game usually.


Yeah it was a dreadful second half, but he still was one of the best players (if not the best overall) and lasted 90' without looking particularly exhausted.
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well he plays in his own tempo, that´s Matic and occasional good play forward masks his defensive liabilities. I think he could still have some great years if he played for Inter (Are you listening Antonio?) and fight for the first few places in a much slower paced league. Obviously in 3 men midfield next to a defensive palyer who run a lot.

The biggest problem with Matic I have is that he´s the last player we need to move forward with our pattern of play. He´s class on the ball even though, it also take him ages to release it and slows the gamedonw but mobility/defensively wise, he can be as bad as it gets, not closing the space properly, easily bypassed by a little dribble, terrible marking at times and that is something I am not sure why Ole didn´t identify and feels like he still relies on Matic too much defensively.
 
Poborsky's hair said:
well he plays in his own tempo, that´s Matic and occasional good play forward masks his defensive liabilities. I think he could still have some great years if he played for Inter (Are you listening Antonio?) and fight for the first few places in a much slower paced league. Obviously in 3 men midfield next to a defensive palyer who run a lot.

The biggest problem with Matic I have is that he´s the last player we need to move forward with our pattern of play. He´s class on the ball even though, it also take him ages to release it and slows the gamedonw but mobility/defensively wise, he can be as bad as it gets, not closing the space properly, easily bypassed by a little dribble, terrible marking at times and that is something I am not sure why Ole didn´t identify and feels like he still relies on Matic too much defensively.
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I disagree with every single point you made but let's just stick to our opinions because they are as contradictory as it gets.
 
Borys said:
Players bypass him for the same reason as they go past Fred, he's not stopping every dribble attempt. He's much better at this aspect than Fred but still not perfect, and it has nothing to do with his mobility IMO.

He's the only DM we have, to me it seems strange he was never a core of this team.
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I have been his biggest critic when Jose was here. It looked like his heart was not in it. Now he plays a lot better. He seems to be aware of what is going around him. He can play the long pass too.
To me Fred doesn't know how to play when we have the ball.
This puts extra pressure on everyone. Then we have Martial up front who has no movement at all. Matic has no options to pass. He is a player who can shoot from long range too but never is able to get into that position.
 
Crystal Palace 0:0 Man Utd
Looks laboured at times but was always looking for a forward pass, the only problem was his radar was off.
 
Snails pace, bad passing. United desperately need a cdm.

Is Van de beek really that shaky defensively that he can't be in the starting 11?
 
Pointless footballer, seen scarecrows with more creativity and movement,

Static Matic
 
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Other than being involved in one decent attacking move in the first half, he did nothing all night. Sat in the defence in the first half which gave him plenty of time to make basic passes, moved further forward in the second half and struggled to do do anything since the opposition players were closer to him.
 
I don’t think I can stomach watching Matic play for us ever again. I have no idea what he’s doing, but he has seemingly reinvented the DM role by playing in central defence. Fred was in midfield often alone. Been saying for ages, a central midfielder shouldn’t only have a passing option 20 yards away everytime they get the ball. Where is the fellow CM to bounce a one-two off and progress? If you play every pass 20 yards, a high percentage will be wayward or intercepted.

I spent years watching this man play DM for Chelsea - and he was an enormous midfield presence. He would go and engage opposition, he’ll be right in the heart of the midfield pressure cooker, shuffling away from opponents etc. Now he’s hiding from the play.
 
He was okay I suppose. Him and Fred are a horrible combination it never looks good.
 
Difficult to find the stats, but he must have been involved in a seriously over-indexed percentage of matches in which we've dropped points. Just slows down everything, and offers extraordinarily little for a 'defensive' midfielder in you know, defending.

I still think getting in an actual DMF is more important than CF/RWF or CB in the summer.
 
I thought he had a decent game. Brought out the best save from their keeper.
 
Man City 0:2 Man Utd
His hairstyle alone was worth MOTM today.
 
Man Utd 1:1 AC Milan
Showing his age out there tonight
 
He seems to do nothing but occupy spaces where Maguire should be in the buildup, I don’t get it.
 
He was absolutely terrible tonight. Forget losing his man for the goal, he was so slow to react to everything and slowed our game to a snail's pace in midfield. Almost looked like he couldn't be arsed.
 
The club gave Matic a new four year length deal instead of investing in a proper replacement. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
 
It's ok. He'll have a 6/10 performance against some no marks again soon and we'll get to hear about how great he is. It doesn't matter who they pair him with, this always end up struggling, and that's largely because they're on their own in there.
 
Absolute stinker summed up by him dangling a leg out after a cross into the box which he completely missed.

why oh why do we keep him here?
 
I have no idea what he offers anymore. I supposed he got his frame in the way of a few things late in the match.

The number of times he gets too close to a midfielder, then fails to take the ball and is therefore left in his wake is staggering. And he's too slow to even hope to get back.

Even his passing is gone now, not to mention that he requires at least 3 touches before he considers looking up.

We are terrible in almost every match he plays.
 
He was shit and still better than McTominay. Who is supposed to be our future.
 
Awful tonight. He needs to be replaced ASAP as he can not play against anyone semi decent.
 
acnumber9 said:
He was shit and still better than McTominay. Who is supposed to be our future.
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Everyone is shit when they play with Matic. He leaves his midfield partner out to dry because he no longer has it in him to take any degree or responsibility.
 
11101 said:
He was absolutely terrible tonight. Forget losing his man for the goal, he was so slow to react to everything and slowed our game to a snail's pace in midfield. Almost looked like he couldn't be arsed.
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Hes done. His legs are done, hes done as a top player

He still knows how to position himself and hes a clever player but he moves like hes in a bog, both on and off the ball
 
I didnt think he was that bad, no worse than anyone else. Played some tidy football at times, better than Scott and Fred on the night. Still has something to offer the team in certain games. He rarely misses a pass unlike Fred but perhaps cant run around as much As Fred now hes knocking on A bit.
 
Worst player on the pitch. First half was awful, always one second too late.
 
I cringe whenever I see Matic is starting nowadays...I can’t remember the last time we played well with him! We have massive issues in central midfield that need addressing!
 
He plays testimonial football. I don’t understand how a 31 year old with few injury problems throughout his career can be like this. The whole team just falls back with him and his midfield partner looks lost.
 
Him and Mctominay were really poor tonight, they just couldn’t cope. Contract he signed looks two years too long now.
 
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