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Nemanja Matic Serbia flag

2021-22 Performances


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5.3 Season Average Rating
Appearances
32
Goals
0
Assists
4
Yellow cards
5
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Was he injured? No clue why he didn't come on 10 minutes into the second half when it was clear we were getting pummelled...or just at all in fact.
 
Baffled why he wasn’t brought on and Fred removed yesterday. Ralf didn’t get the subs right yesterday.
 
Always felt we either over play him or under play him. Never really found the right balance for him.

I'd start him against Madrid.
 
He was okay today, nothing special, but his mere presence and the position he takes up gives so much more freedom to Fred who had a belter.
 
Not great but necessary. Scott just can't screen a defense. Matic can and can also pass forward.

His problem is that a couple times a game he will get dispossessed or give it away due to being slow.

He's earned the start against Athletico.
 
We need a replacement for him. Scott isn't that and will never be.
I agree. Mctominay has been tried in a more defensive position, and to be fair he doesn't have the knack of a DM type of player, spotting danger, watching runners, having a general awareness in the defensive third, similar to Fred. I think both would benefit from playing alongside a genuine defensive type of player, they could be more involved in the attacking part of the game, which is their strength. Matic gives them that little bit of protection, but he doesn't have the legs to play 90 minutes every game.
 
Not great but necessary. Scott just can't screen a defense. Matic can and can also pass forward.

His problem is that a couple times a game he will get dispossessed or give it away due to being slow.

He's earned the start against Athletico.
A start?? Are McTom and Bruno injured? I hope, we don't have to deploy him against Atletico to be honest. Atletico will play just the same way as they did in the last match. If anything, they will be even more combatitive. I would be worried knowing that Matic is in there. At least as long as we are NOT trying to play a low block all game.
 
We completely conceded the midfield. It's very tough with Matic in there, he doesn't have the legs to get anywhere near his opposite number. He has this inclination to drop incredibly deep when we're in possession as well, to no tangible benefit as Varane and Maguire are capable of doing that job. It's a shame because he's still very tidy on the ball, he's definitely our most reliable over short and mid range passing and has a good touch but time has caught up with him.

Whether he's better than McTominay in this role is kind of hard to identify. You certainly gain something but it's not as if Matic has ever been this stout defensive force, he's always been more of a deep passer, and someone who could carry it forward in his younger days. Now you're left with some passing, yes, but losing McT's energy etc isn't nothing.
 
Struggled in there today, looked like he was running in mud, Fred had to drop behind him at times to try and plug the gaps.
 
We completely conceded the midfield. It's very tough with Matic in there, he doesn't have the legs to get anywhere near his opposite number. He has this inclination to drop incredibly deep when we're in possession as well, to no tangible benefit as Varane and Maguire are capable of doing that job. It's a shame because he's still very tidy on the ball, he's definitely our most reliable over short and mid range passing and has a good touch but time has caught up with him.

Whether he's better than McTominay in this role is kind of hard to identify. You certainly gain something but it's not as if Matic has ever been this stout defensive force, he's always been more of a deep passer, and someone who could carry it forward in his younger days. Now you're left with some passing, yes, but losing McT's energy etc isn't nothing.
We didn't concede the midfield. We played on the counter attack because we're a counterattacking team. We piss possession away and we drop back a lot instead of pressing.

Our midfield was the most organized it's been this season due to the fact that we played the midfielders in their best position.
 
He had something like two missed passes today or something his stats were really good. We just function a lot better as a team with Matic.
 
Wish we had him now in his prime. Great through ball for 2nd goal. He’s a class player just sadly passed his prime.
 
He's a template for the type of DM we should be looking for (but much faster).
 
We didn't concede the midfield. We played on the counter attack because we're a counterattacking team. We piss possession away and we drop back a lot instead of pressing.

Our midfield was the most organized it's been this season due to the fact that we played the midfielders in their best position.
We played on the counterattack, mainly because we had none of the ball so what else are we going to do? If you can't keep the ball or win it you're left with countering once the opposition feck things up.

To me dropping back and dropping off opposition players is conceding the midfield, it is saying we can't be arsed or are incapable of competing to win the ball back. Whether it was all part of the strategy or not is neither here nor there, we conceded the midfield. Which I guess is inevitable with Matic and Pogba.
 
Struggled in there today, looked like he was running in mud, Fred had to drop behind him at times to try and plug the gaps.

The midfield consisted of Fred and Matic, with some help from Sancho. Rashford and Pogba were nowhere to be seen. I think he did brilliantly when you consider that
 
Shame he couldn't muster enough longevity as he really was world class at his peak as he has many attributes that others simply don't have or not to his extent.

I'll be really glad if we found someone half good as peak matic this summer, what a player.
 
We played on the counterattack, mainly because we had none of the ball so what else are we going to do? If you can't keep the ball or win it you're left with countering once the opposition feck things up.

To me dropping back and dropping off opposition players is conceding the midfield, it is saying we can't be arsed or are incapable of competing to win the ball back. Whether it was all part of the strategy or not is neither here nor there, we conceded the midfield. Which I guess is inevitable with Matic and Pogba.
Yeah I fully agree on that. Stating that "dropping deep was the plan all along and look how great it turned out" is a legitimate reasoning but for me too not the most convincing one. If dropping deep was the plan, why didn't we play AWB for example. He is great in defending most of the time, why risk it with Dalot if the intention all along was stay deep and hit on the counter.
I think, the initial lineup was prepared to take the game on positively and it worked from my point of view for the 1st half very well. It was back and forth which is to be expected when two teams with about the same form trend meet each other.

Lets not forget we won because of a wonderstrike and set piece. These do not need some sort of pre-meditated game plan. And having seen that xG from understat indicated that Tottenhams was higher than ours, then our supposedly "dropping deep" plan didn't even work in terms of chance prevention.
 
His passing and assuredness on the ball really sets him apart


Yep, like when he lost the possession three times in dangerous areas to set up a counter. One great pass won't save his screaming deficiencies and that is zero defensive contribution, not tracking back, careless passing, plus the forever waiting on the ball to release it to slow our game down massively.

He shouldn't be playing in the premier league let alone for us, yet some people come up with how good his passing is when he's so far away from being good enough in other parts important to play football, sums up football forum really.
 
His passing and assuredness on the ball really sets him apart

From the rest of our midfielders for sure. It’s funny because when I watch other top midfielders, like Modrić in midweek, I always have to readjust my brain for how quickly they are able to pass through the lines instead of just going sideways to the full back. Like “oh yeah, that’s what a midfielder is supposed to do”.

United posted a video of Berba’s goal against Spurs, which featured a first time ball from Carrick. And to think he used to get shit for passing sideways until his last few years.
 
Yep, like when he lost the possession three times in dangerous areas to set up a counter. One great pass won't save his screaming deficiencies and that is zero defensive contribution, not tracking back, careless passing, plus the forever waiting on the ball to release it to slow our game down massively.

He shouldn't be playing in the premier league let alone for us, yet some people come up with how good his passing is when he's so far away from being good enough in other parts important to play football, sums up football forum really.

3 times? I can remember one...He also had 95% pass accuracy, and helped to create the second goal.

Was also one of our best players vs Watford and helped changed the game when he came on vs. Madrid.... So clearly he should still be playing for us with our current squad options.

From the rest of our midfielders for sure. It’s funny because when I watch other top midfielders, like Modrić in midweek, I always have to readjust my brain for how quickly they are able to pass through the lines instead of just going sideways to the full back. Like “oh yeah, that’s what a midfielder is supposed to do”.

United posted a video of Berba’s goal against Spurs, which featured a first time ball from Carrick. And to think he used to get shit for passing sideways until his last few years.

Aye, that's what I meant
 


I always thought this. It’s such a widely projected idea that he can only play once per week or once every 2 weeks that you’d think he’s 50 years old or something.
 


I always thought this. It’s such a widely projected idea that he can only play once per week or once every 2 weeks that you’d think he’s 50 years old or something.



Different league may be the crucial factor here. Premier League is more physical demanding, and the quality gap between us to the weaker teams in the league is closer which also means no easy routine games.

Then style of play, and the players around our DM. Our squad building under Ole leaves us an imbalanced squad. Our DM would have to do more work.

RM fans are not very happy with Kroos, Casemiro right now. Camavinga sub changed the game against PSG. Arguably Casemiro missing the return leg through suspension is a blessing in disguise too. Gave RM enough dynamism to have a go at PSG when having nothing to lose. Modric is the best out of that aging midfield, and he does have more quiet games now, and getting subbed too.

Why Muller is listed here?
 


I always thought this. It’s such a widely projected idea that he can only play once per week or once every 2 weeks that you’d think he’s 50 years old or something.


I always wondered this myself but the reality is that both Ole and Ralf avoided using him every game not because he is 33 or because fans think he's too old, but because he can't play at this level every 3-4 days.

Players age differently. Some of the players on that list play in a 3 man midfield, Matic doesn't and when he plays alongside Pogba he has to run and cover twice as much.

After the display against Spurs I would love to see Matic and Fred play more together because they seem to complement each other very well.
 


I always thought this. It’s such a widely projected idea that he can only play once per week or once every 2 weeks that you’d think he’s 50 years old or something.

It's nothing to do with him being a slow player, it's the fact that his impact on the game completely dies if he's on the pitch longer than an hour and his recovery time is nowhere near other players - last time he played twice in 3/4 days was Burnley/Wolves and he was bypassed time and time again in that Wolves game.
 
It's almost like... players age differently, and that certain systems bring the best or worst out of players. Crazy, I know.
 


I always thought this. It’s such a widely projected idea that he can only play once per week or once every 2 weeks that you’d think he’s 50 years old or something.

It's not due to his age in itself. It's about Matic in particular.

He joined us when he turned 29. Even that first season he ran out of gas after half the season (although to be fair Jose did play him for 90 minutes basically every match), and each season since then he's been able to play less and less games in a row before he obviously starts struggling. These last two seasons he's struggled to even play a full match, let alone a few games in a row.
 
After the display against Spurs I would love to see Matic and Fred play more together because they seem to complement each other very well.
It's actually quite strange. In theory they have always been our most balanced midfield pairing, but in reality they've always struggled when paired together (I expect it probably has the worst win rate out of all our midfield pairings). They've had a couple of good appearances more recently though, so maybe it just needed Rangnick to tweek things with the pairing. In the past Matic would just fall back into the defence and Fred would then be in midfield by himself, whereas now Matic seems to be staying in the midfield more while Fred looks to push a bit further forward.
 
Man Utd 0:1 Atletico Madrid
He’s the guy we should be bringing on 60 mins week in week out. He’s a calmer presence but can also make things tick.
 
Should’ve started probably. Even though McFred did alright for 45 minutes.
 
Man Utd 1:1 Leicester
We looked better when he came in today. He gets the front foot aggressive style. Shame he’s not younger.
 
Matic could be in a fecking wheelchair and he would still put in better performances than McTominay who is fecking dreadful.

fecking ridiculous he's not starting more games when our options are this shite.
 
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