[Adisa]

Never seen a more careless DM. Gives the ball away for fun.

 

[LingiBW]

Ole said everyone would get a fair chance with him. I thought he meant throughout his reign, but now it's clear he too has had some of that Matic magic portion.

 

[Kostov]

He’s done, we should move him in the summer and buy a proper DMF. We won’t though, we will probably play him at CB untill 2038 first.

 

[breakout67]

Matic has made himself undroppable for 4 different teams, twice under Mourinho. All the while being poor for large spells. He must be really good at following instructions.

 

[All 3 United]

I hope we move him on in the summer.

 

[Ekeke]

In my honest opinion he's more of a deep lying playmaker than a DM at this point. His contribution defensively is next to nothing, but when he plays well he gets on the ball a lot and makes lots of passes at least. He didnt do that part either today... And I'm not saying he's a good deep lying playmaker, just that he doesnt actually do a defensive midfield job. He's more about his passing at this point.

 

[BlahRules]

In my honest opinion he's more of a deep lying playmaker than a DM at this point. His contribution defensively is next to nothing, but when he plays well he gets on the ball a lot and makes lots of passes at least. He didnt do that part either today... And I'm not saying he's a good deep lying playmaker, just that he doesnt actually do a defensive midfield job. He's more about his passing at this point.

He takes too many touches to be the deep lying playmaker. The sole reason why we play laborious football is because of him.

 

[ash_86]

At this point we don't lose anything by starting SMT over Matic

 

[Ekeke]

He takes too many chances to be the deep lying playmaker. The sole reason why we play laborious football is because of him.

Too many chances? He usually makes our most passes (18 ahead of Pogba) with an 87% success rate.

I'm not saying its not true that we play slowly because of him, but I think he's better keeping the tempo on the ball than he is helping the defense.

Because he doesnt do that. Ander does that. Imagine him without Ander winning the ball next to him.

 

[PlayerOne]

It's bit worrying that Ole seems to making the same mistakes as Mourinho did with Matic. Brought him back into the team as soon as he was considered to be fit, thrown back in, didn't look ready and doesn't get taken off even if he's stinking out the place like today. I really hope Ole is planning on replacing him this summer, we won't go far with him as a DM.

 

[Red00012]

He was back to his Mourinho performances today , really poor. He also looks worse when Herrera alongside him plays rubbish and keeps losing possession.

 

[laughtersassassin]

Offers nothing.

 

[NoPace]

Appears to have made DM a position that must be addressed this summer along with RB and a RW/10, nudging ahead of center back with Smalling and Lindelof playing well and Jones and Bailly at least being 27 and 25 and easier to see having a strong year at this point though obviously neither can be trusted to do so.

Even if we don't want to spend 60 on N'Dombele, Rice or Neves, we're probably at the point now where we have to think about Matic going to Italy and signing a 2nd tier guy like Doucore, Ascasibar, Diawara, Zakaria or Lobotka who at least have more mobility and bite. Or just commit to moving Herrera back to being a 6 and sign a CM and suddenly we'd have plus mobility at all 3 CM spots, which would be nice.

 

[Robbie Boy]

I hope we move him on in the summer.

Doubt it. Should never have signed him but hey. I wouldn’t mind keeping him as a squad option but he should be replaced as a starter.

 

[Canagel]

Matic has made himself undroppable for 4 different teams, twice under Mourinho. All the while being poor for large spells. He must be really good at following instructions.

He has a name. That's it. Riding off a reputation. People look at his CV and see 2 PL titles. Got carried by Fabregas and Kante and a passenger here for the majority of time.

 

[VP89]

He has a name. That's it. Riding off a reputation. People look at his CV and see 2 PL titles. Got carried by Fabregas and Kante and a passenger here for the majority of time.

Matic was carried by Fabregas and Kante during his time at Chelsea.

feck me

 

[breakout67]

He has a name. That's it. Riding off a reputation. People look at his CV and see 2 PL titles. Got carried by Fabregas and Kante and a passenger here for the majority of time.

Matic was fantastic January to January when he came back to Chelsea. Despite him not being as effective under Conte, he still wanted him to be a starter when he was sold. I suspect Matic's attitude and intelligence gets him on the pitch so often, managers can trust him to follow orders to a good level.

Ole could have easily subbed off Matic, yet he took off Herrera. Matic is a player that almost never gets substituted. I can say with confidence that something that fans cannot see leads to Matic being selected the way he does.

 

[Ekeke]

Matic was fantastic January to January when he came back to Chelsea. Despite him not being as effective under Conte, he still wanted him to be a starter when he was sold. I suspect Matic's attitude and intelligence gets him on the pitch so often, managers can trust him to follow orders to a good level.

Ole could have easily subbed off Matic, yet he took off Herrera. Matic is a player that almost never gets substituted. I can say with confidence that something that fans cannot see leads to Matic being selected the way he does.

More likely because Ander put in some hard work while Matic coasted, with lots more in reserve

 

[Sylar]

Thought he started well under Ole, but been poor since his return from injury (was it too soon?)

 

[Who's Kissing Cameras?]

One of the worst performances I’ve ever seen.

Need him back to pre-injury form.

 

[MadDogg]

Matic was fantastic January to January when he came back to Chelsea.

It's a bit of a recurring theme with Matic . He did very well when he first came back to Chelsea, then his form dropped. He did very well when he joined us, then his form dropped. He did very well when Ole took over, and now his form appears to be dropping again.

 

[zenith]

We need to look for a new DM, alongside a RW and a RB. Surely it has to be a priority, as matic is likely to fall off the proverbial cliff by the time next season begins..

 

[RedDevil5]

Why do we buy aging players like him? Total waste of money, as he's been poor most of his time here outside the first season.

Really need to replace him in the summer.

 

[kouroux]

It's bit worrying that Ole seems to making the same mistakes as Mourinho did with Matic. Brought him back into the team as soon as he was considered to be fit, thrown back in, didn't look ready and doesn't get taken off even if he's stinking out the place like today. I really hope Ole is planning on replacing him this summer, we won't go far with him as a DM.

It's very worrying to me. I thought we were done with this shit.

 

[Treble]

Matic is being played to help him regain some form. We'll need him in the big games next month. Same with the other players who were injured recently. There isn't much time till the first leg with Barca and we'll need our best players to hit some form again.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

When did he last play well? Chelsea in the cup? He's got to be better in this harsh run-in

 

[Patrick08]

If he plays vs Barcelona we are doomed.

 

[Canagel]

Matic is being played to help him regain some form. We'll need him in the big games next month. Same with the other players who were injured recently. There isn't much time till the first leg with Barca and we'll need our best players to hit some form again.

Why should we hurt ourselves by playing Matic? That's 2 defeat and 1 terrible game since his return to the team. Players on form should play not on reputations. He should be far away from the team presently.

 

[kouroux]

Matic is being played to help him regain some form. We'll need him in the big games next month. Same with the other players who were injured recently. There isn't much time till the first leg with Barca and we'll need our best players to hit some form again.

And with all of that, it won't be a surprise if he's one of our worst players in those games.

 

[AndyJ1985]

If he plays vs Barcelona we are doomed.

Tbf we're doomed no matter who we start against Barcelona

 

[haram]

If he plays vs Barcelona we are doomed.

Matic is now being made the scapegoat. This whole team is not good enough.

 

[Patrick08]

Tbf we're doomed no matter who we start against Barcelona

That second leg vs psg defensively presented another story, I doubt we would have stopped them from scoring more if matic and pogba had played.

 

[Patrick08]

Matic is now being made the scapegoat. This whole team is not good enough.

Scape goat? Nah he alongside pogba is responsible for poor midfield play and control. We are so bad at second balls and mobility and energy with them since many games now.

 

[haram]

Scape goat? Nah he alongside pogba is responsible for poor midfield play and control. We are so bad at second balls and mobility and energy with them since many games now.

The whole team is not good enough. There are major holes in this team in every department.

 

[Patrick08]

The whole team is not good enough. There are major holes in this team in every department.

The midfield shambles can not be blamed on whole team though. Midfeild is the heart and engine room of a football team, other areas doesn't affect so much as much as midfield does.

 

[haram]

The midfield shambles can not be blamed on whole team though. Midfeild is the heart and engine room of a football team, other areas doesn't affect so much as much as midfield does.

Build up, transitions and creativity falls on the whole team. Apart from Pogba who else does these things in our team? We have ZERO wingers, forwards playing out on the left, number 10's playing on the right, no width, cannot build play from defence, poor delivery, poor ball retention, poor transitions, poor build up. How much longer do we have to go before people accept this? There is no tactical fix for this which will allow us to compete at the top. We need different players.

People think we just need to attack more, throw more bodies forward and press more. They are WRONG.

 

[ivaldo]

The whole team is not good enough. There are major holes in this team in every department.

He's not a scapegoat. When we play well, he has an OK game at best, when we are poor, like we were yesterday, he is horrendous. The bloke adds nothing to the team and yet some relentlessly defend him. Blaming his dire performances on past injuries or tiredness has almost become a meme now.

 

[OldTrevil]

In my opinion his is the first position we need to find a replacement, I really hope the coaching team have seen that. It's very difficult to win the midfield battle when a player in such a key position cannot keep up physically, positionally gets caught in no mans land particularly during transitions, and when with the ball takes forever to get it forward. I would rather see a midfield double pivot of Herrera and Fred, with Pogba ahead of them than any combination involving Matic as CDM.

 

[Raven]

Shouldn't start again this season. I feel McTominay currently offers more.

 

[Foxbatt]

He doesn't tackle, he losses possession in dangerous areas and yes his passing maybe above average but we need him to be replaced asap.
We need a defensive midfield player who can defend and help protect the cbs.