Nemanja Matic

mufcwarm92 said:
They'd be a terrific partnership. Carrick has been absolutely brilliant for the best part of a decade but at this moment in time Matic is near perfect in his position.
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Perfect is going a bit far. Biscuits in 2010-2012 was closer to perfect.
 
Jaytay said:
Nope instead of Mata, he was available in January, I was hoping we would sign him but then Chelsea did.
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nonsense. we could have bought Matic several months earlier to january, instead of Fellaini. 27M pound would have been enough to get him. Moyes had different plans though.

we were never gonna going to sign Matic 6 months after buying Fellaini...
 
He's a great player no doubt, and would be amazing alongside Carrick, but Carrick is far better as a player, he doesn't have Carrick's passing range, but Carrick doesn't have his ability to take the ball of the players and make crunching tackles, both of them together would be a sight to behold, but overall i think Carrick shades it as a player.
 
Keep seeing people in here saying that he can't pass nearly as well as Carrick does so I watched a whole bunch more of him on YouTube to get an idea. Obviously highlights can make anyone look great but he looks like an excellent passer to me. You'd think just by looking at him that he'd be a lumbering oaf but he's very elegant and seems to glide along the pitch.
 
Matic is good but hes nowhere near prime Busquets. His one touch passing was unrreal. Matic is more of a physical player anyways.
 
Orc said:
Keep seeing people in here saying that he can't pass nearly as well as Carrick does so I watched a whole bunch more of him on YouTube to get an idea. Obviously highlights can make anyone look great but he looks like an excellent passer to me. You'd think just by looking at him that he'd be a lumbering oaf but he's very elegant and seems to glide along the pitch.
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This.

A lot people have the idea that he's the archetypal destroyer. He's actually pretty nimble and quick on the ball. He can work in tight spaces and is not afraid to dribble with ball out of defence. Has a decent passing range as well.

Mourinho's most successful teams has the typical hardworking box-to-box type of player who can play football and are very defensively strong. In the past he had Essien and Cambiasso, now the torch is passed on to Matic.
 
imho, you can't see "prime" Busquets without Xavi and Iniesta at their best. he's been pretty average for almost two years now and even though I'm probably in minority, I'd take Matic before Busquets in current form.
 
I'd say he's a little overrated defensively but his technique is definitely underrated.
 
Bole Top said:
imho, you can't see "prime" Busquets without Xavi and Iniesta at their best. he's been pretty average for almost two years now and even though I'm probably in minority, I'd take Matic before Busquets in current form.
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Prime Busquets facilitated Xavi and Iniesta.
 
What do people think comparing Matic to Javi Martinez in 12/13. Martinez was absolutely brilliant that season too, and still is a top notch defensive midfielder when he's ever fit. In my eyes he's somewhere between Busquets and Matic style wise. Excellent tackler, the best of the 3 in the air, quite mobile and has very good vision (particularly going between the lines, into the strikers feet). He's surely a name to be thrown in the hat for best defensive midfielder around these days?
 
Adam-Utd said:
It's like any good defender. You don't need to go sliding in if you position yourself correctly and read the passes. All the best defenders win tackles cleanly like that (Rio, Hummels etc ). He can definitely way in with a big slide tackle when required though. His physical stature is also very imposing.
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You don't tackle as a result of being out of position and you can't intercept every pass no matter how well positioned you are, sometimes you do need to face your attacker and nick the ball off him. Great defenders like Baresi and Maldini did these to perfection, people like Vieira and Keane were also fantastic in positioning, but they tackled fiercely, it's a special skill that is constantly getting scoffed at these days. It's not always a last resort or last ditch, and doesn't have to be described that way. Tackling is an art, a special skill, as important as positioning [ask Paul Scholes].
 
I'm not a fan of comparing players, but Matic is a very good passer, his ability to start an attack from deep is brilliant, he's very similar to Daley Blind, except he's more mobile and imposing physically.
 
Matic is a very, very good defensive midfielder but I think there is a bit of a flavour of the month aura about all this conversation of "Better than Carrick" and "Best in the league." He can go on to be better, maybe, but I've just heard him on the television being compared to a top form Patrick Viera. He's one of the best in the league and he's in his best form but I think people are getting carried away a bit.
 
legball said:
You don't tackle as a result of being out of position and you can't intercept every pass no matter how well positioned you are, sometimes you do need to face your attacker and nick the ball off him. Great defenders like Baresi and Maldini did these to perfection, people like Vieira and Keane were also fantastic in positioning, but they tackled fiercely, it's a special skill that is constantly getting scoffed at these days. It's not always a last resort or last ditch, and doesn't have to be described that way. Tackling is an art, a special skill, as important as positioning [ask Paul Scholes].
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The average midfielder is only tackles the ball probably only 3 or 4 times in a game. For a center-back it is even lesser. Tackles are really the stuff for the highlight reels, in football, positioning is everything. Funny you'd name Scholes because he showed why positioning will take precedence over tackling any time. If he's the type of player who focused his defensive play on tackling, we wouldn't have got Barcelona in the 07/08 semis or even defeat Chelsea in the final. Thing about Scholes is that is he had a small frame, he knew he would he come out second best in a challenge, but he knew how to cut down passing lanes and angles.

Keane and Vieira are box-to-box midfielders. They solve their problems on the pitch using their stamina and aggressive play. That is why at their pomp they usually play with a midfield holder (ie. Butt, Gilberto)
 
thepolice123 said:
The average midfielder is only tackles the ball probably only 3 or 4 times in a game. For a center-back it is even lesser. Tackles are really the stuff for the highlight reels, in football, positioning is everything. Funny you'd name Scholes because he showed why positioning will take precedence over tackling any time. If he's the type of player who focused his defensive play on tackling, we wouldn't have got Barcelona in the 07/08 semis or even defeat Chelsea in the final. Thing about Scholes is that is he had a small frame, he knew he would he come out second best in a challenge, but he knew how to cut down passing lanes and angles.

Keane and Vieira are box-to-box midfielders. They solve their problems on the pitch using their stamina and aggressive play. That is why at their pomp they usually play with a midfield holder (ie. Butt, Gilberto)
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You don't get the point I'm trying to make, so, let's leave it. I didn't say tackling is more important or any statement like that.
And there's no way you can make statement in bold, you don't know if it could have happened or not. Just your idea, being passed off as fact and certainty.
 
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In all fairness the standard of central midfielders in the premier league isn't all that great. So matic must look imperious given the competition.
 
thepolice123 said:
The average midfielder is only tackles the ball probably only 3 or 4 times in a game. For a center-back it is even lesser. Tackles are really the stuff for the highlight reels, in football, positioning is everything. Funny you'd name Scholes because he showed why positioning will take precedence over tackling any time. If he's the type of player who focused his defensive play on tackling, we wouldn't have got Barcelona in the 07/08 semis or even defeat Chelsea in the final. Thing about Scholes is that is he had a small frame, he knew he would he come out second best in a challenge, but he knew how to cut down passing lanes and angles.
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Great positioning and reading of the game means you will be able to get in the situations to win the ball back. Scholes himself averaged a lot of tackles(3 per game) while very few interceptions (slightly more than one per game).

He wasn't fast, but he'd still read the game well enough to always be tight on his opponents when they received the ball anyhow and if their first touch or the pass to them wasn't perfect he'd be close enough to win the ball back.

Carrick in his peak had an awful lots of interceptions and tackles as well, against popular belief it seems. It is incredibly important to do the work in the silence that Gary Neville broke down well, cutting of passing lanes and so forth - but that is hardly all Carrick in his peak did.

He averaged more tackles than interceptions usually as well.
 
He's defensively on another level altogether to carrick and there's no reasoning needed to see it. Fabregas just walks around and leaves it to him.
 
What the hell was he thinking today? Cost Chelsea 2 points most likely. Burnley were lucky to be only losing by a single goal and then he attacks Ashley Barnes. Ran after him and attacked him from behind. Ridiculous.
 
Snow said:
What the hell was he thinking today? Cost Chelsea 2 points most likely. Burnley were lucky to be only losing by a single goal and then he attacks Ashley Barnes. Ran after him and attacked him from behind. Ridiculous.
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"Attacked him from behind"? You've not seen the incident I take it. He shoved him over.
 
That was a hideous tackle from the Burnley player, to be fair. I'd have been pissed.
 
A disgrace of a tackle by the Burnley player. Almost knee high
 
He won't get his red rescinded, but the Burnley player should be given a retrospective red for that. Disgraceful challenge, quite easily could have broken his leg. If I was on the receiving end of that tackle I'd go crazy too.
 
kouroux said:
He's having a big dip in terms of form.
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No he isn't. At all.

Career threatening tackle today. Could've snapped his leg in half. He now gets a 3 game ban for his reaction and Barnes goes completely unpunished.
 
Barnes should have been sent off and should be banned retrospectively. Matić deserved red and his ban should be upheld if appealed.

Simple.
 
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