Do we need to talk about Matic?

[padzilla]

Is it fair to say that it would be pretty unfair on McTominay if he was dropped to make way for Matic when he comes back?
Our midfield last night - well two of them anyway - looked a lot livelier and effective than it has for a little while, I can't help but feel this was down to the absence of Matic slowing everything down.

 

[Amar__]

He shouldn't be an automatic starter, that's for sure. Been more poor than good for majority of this season.

 

[SSSSnake]

Not an automatic starter anymore. Doesn't get about the pitch like he use to. He's squad player now and eventually to be phased out.

 

[noodlehair]

I think Mctominay and Fred were both very good and I don't think there's any real justification to drop either. Matic is still a good player but you play people on merit. He's had a couple of poor games, lacking match fitness and other players have come in and not only played well but to a good level in terms of quality.

Matic will get back in the team as someone else will pick up an injury or play themselves into poor form, and then it's up to him to keep himself there.

 

[Raw]

I hope Ole doesn't go back to playing Matic again. It was seriously annoying when we started Matic after he came back from injury, the game after McTominay was absolute gold against PSG. We inevitably lost the game and Matic was shite.

 

[Sandikan]

Definitely has to earn his way back in, and it should be like with other players, based on form.

 

[dannyrhinos89]

He’s terrible, very slow and negative. Should be sold and replaced in the summer.

Rather mctominay stay in than him but of course he will be back in the first team in no time.

 

[Ekeke]

Is it fair to say that it would be pretty unfair on McTominay if he was dropped to make way for Matic when he comes back?
Our midfield last night - well two of them anyway - looked a lot livelier and effective than it has for a little while, I can't help but feel this was down to the absence of Matic slowing everything down.

We do but it has nothing to do with McTominay

Fred replaced him

 

[bosnian_red]

His contract expires next summer (2020), option to extend but he shouldnt stay beyond summer 2020. Should be max a rotation option next season.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

Sadly there might be two big errors that might cost us this season. Dropping Mctominay against Arsenal for Matic and dropping both mctominay and Fred against Wolves in the cup too after they had played really well against PSG and in the other games around that time.
Playing Young far too much recently after his poor form.

Against Arsenal even with Matic we played well enough to win it though, but Matic was still one of our weaker players in that game.

 

[el3mel]

For now Scott should be ahead of him in picking order. That's what I care about regarding him currently.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

He’s terrible, very slow and negative. Should be sold and replaced in the summer.

Rather mctominay stay in than him but of course he will be back in the first team in no time.

I never understand this criticism. When I watch him, he always seems to move the play forward (usually from a deep position) and rarely takes the easy sideways pass option.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Based on last night Fred is the Matic replacement, not McT. And I'll be damned if Fred didn't put in as good of a performance at that position as anything I have seen Matic do since he arrived here given the circumstances. If he kicks on that's one less position we have to worry about.

 

[GloryHunter07]

Scott is still relatively inexperienced, his form will fluctuate so theres no need to rush to crown him just yet.

 

[Patrick08]

Scott is still relatively inexperienced, his form will fluctuate so theres no need to rush to crown him just yet.

But we will get in his replacement this summer, which I hope. Nobody will buy him before his contract runs out. It's probably the best time to sell him this summer and may be bring rabiot in for free or keep Herrera .

 

[Irwin99]

Hasn't been a great signing if we're being honest, though not a terrible one either. 40 million wasted.

 

[Schmeichel=God]

For me, people fail to recognise what Matic offers us despite the go to criticisms; they fail to realise where his skillset is beneficial.

Everything in football is a balancing act. We can say there is something wrong with our attack; we know the balance and creativity isn't right; we shouldn't have to rely on countering all the time as our only goal scoring hope. With those things said, do we get rid of Rashford? Martial?

Likewise Matic requires the right balance around him. Hey, perhaps fix the frontline and maybe Matic will look better playing up to them. Yes, solely in midfield Matic requires a certain type of partner, but his game is very much put in the spotlight by the lack of cohesion and creativity the rest of the setup has, back to front.

I'm not even going to go into Matic's skillset and what he's good at. It's been said before and I'm too tired to flesh this out any further! But claiming Matic is negative and slow is missing the point. Writing him off by categorically stating that he shouldn't have his contract renewed in 2020, is also premature.

I do agree however with those saying he needs to fight his way back in. McTominay embodied what Ole asked for against Barcelona. The spirit of teams past. The fight, drive, pride, and...he often did it with panache. Fred made confident forward passes, playing through the lines regularly. He made a lot of calm first time passes. Carried it well when required. He looks like he's settling. So until such time that one of them goes through a bad patch of form, or injury or rotation dictates then they should keep their place.

 

[chromepaxos]

For me, people fail to recognise what Matic offers us despite the go to criticisms; they fail to realise where his skillset is beneficial... his game is very much put in the spotlight by the lack of cohesion and creativity the rest of the setup has, back to front.
But claiming Matic is negative and slow is missing the point. Writing him off by categorically stating that he shouldn't have his contract renewed in 2020, is also premature.

Nope, none of the criticisms are premature. He is slow. He isn't going to get better. He can still do enough of a job for a few games a season but he's not great so why on Earth should we let his contract run down until he leaves on a free?

The only reason not to sell him this summer is that we have so much other dead wood to ship out first. Matic is probably sixth in line (after, let's see, Valencia, Rojo, Young, Sanchez, Mata) so for that reason alone he will probably survive.

 

[Reddy Rederson]

Fred and McT should be starting against West Ham. Matic can fight his way back into the team, which is how it should be. Nobody should be Walking back into the team ahead of anyone based on anything but their last performance. Matic has been mostly poor. So let’s see what Fred and McT can do with a run of games.

 

[Negan]

Needs replacing. He reminds me of when Schweinsteiger was here now.... Slow, immobile and never plays the ball forward.

I want McTominay to start till the end of the season. Then in the summer, I want us to actually use common sense for once and not let any of our rivals get Neves. Because he is a superstar.

 

[WR10]

The quickness with which Scott takes his first touch and positions himself for the next pass makes it look like we have 3 players playing in place of Matic. He's literally 3x the player Matic is right now. There's NOTHING matic can do that Scott can't do better.

However you can still make the argument that there are a few things that Matic can do that Fred can't. He will be fighting for a spot with Fred but Scott is now simply untouchable.

 

[Water Melon]

Scott was immense vs Barca. More mobile than Matic, very proactive thus winning several duels, quick decision making due to a decent vision and ability to read the game, and quick passes that Matic deprived us of lately. He is a first team player now and I am looking forward to seeing him develop further.

 

[VivaObertan]

I actually think

McTominay - Matic - Fred

should be our midfield for the game vs West Ham.

 

[Ekeke]

I actually think

McTominay - Matic - Fred

should be our midfield for the game vs West Ham.

Why would Matic get a kick?

 

[Ballache]

Scott replaced Ander, Fred replaced Matic. Inwould like to see both Fred and McT in the starting lineup now as they both deserve their spots on the first team.
Matic still has a role to play IMO, we just need to rotate him more.

 

[Raw]

Hasn't been a great signing if we're being honest, though not a terrible one either. 40 million wasted.

He's been 10% excellent, 15% alright, 40% average, 20% below par and 15% shite (yes I definitely calculated his performances mathematically). Should really be used for depth next season.

 

[roonster09]

Scott was immense vs Barca. More mobile than Matic, very proactive thus winning several duels, quick decision making due to a decent vision and ability to read the game, and quick passes that Matic deprived us of lately. He is a first team player now and I am looking forward to seeing him develop further.

That's a very good point and one of the most important attribute for a midfielder. Releasing the ball quickly if you are not creating chances. McTominay's first time pass to Martial was a very good example of this. It was simple but caught the team off guard.

Matic is decent player but even for simple pass, he takes lot of touches and delays the pass which kills the tempo.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Mctominay in this form offers everything Matic does, but more.

 

[Carl]

For a senior player he's incredibly inconsistent. He displayed this same inconsistency at Chelsea too.

Really hope we get shut this Summer. We already have Fred and McTominay who play that position (or can certainly play it no worse than Matic does) and we should be recruiting this position in the Summer too.

 

[.Rossi]

Not really no

 

[settembrini]

We should never have bought him, he's been a waste of time and money, and we should sell him in the summer.

The major issue is that he plays in a defensive midfield position but isn't an especially good defensive player so we are always forced to have another defensive player alongside him to cover, which hurts our attacking play.

Compounding that he's just as slow mentally as he is physically. As a passer he's one of our most prone players to going backwards or sideways but he always takes a long time to decide which defender to pass to. This again hurts our attacking play and also leads to him getting dispossessed in dangerous areas by players who press him.

We need to accept it was yet another terrible signing by United in the post Ferguson era and move him on.

 

[Adisa]

I don't mind Matic but we need players that can run.

 

[arthurka]

His contract expires next summer (2020), option to extend but he shouldnt stay beyond summer 2020. Should be max a rotation option next season.

He should be replaced this summer. We need to get rid of these static Mourinho players Lukaku included. We need players who can pass and run, plus could hold their own v good teams. If the last couple of months has shown us anything Matic isnt that player

 

[arnie_ni]

I never understand this criticism. When I watch him, he always seems to move the play forward (usually from a deep position) and rarely takes the easy sideways pass option.

That he does. He just normally takes about 10 touches in the build up and slows it all down. He definitely looks forward though

 

[Siorac]

I think Mctominay and Fred were both very good and I don't think there's any real justification to drop either. Matic is still a good player but you play people on merit. He's had a couple of poor games, lacking match fitness and other players have come in and not only played well but to a good level in terms of quality.

Matic will get back in the team as someone else will pick up an injury or play themselves into poor form, and then it's up to him to keep himself there.

Yeah, this. He's not an exceptional player who has to play when available - if his competitors are playing well, he should sit on the bench.

 

[AgentP]

It's going to be between Matic and Fred for the DM spot till the end of the season. I hope Fred has done enough to keep out Matic and will make the spot his own by the end of the season.

 

[AgentP]

He should be replaced this summer. We need to get rid of these static Mourinho players Lukaku included. We need players who can pass and run, plus could hold their own v good teams. If the last couple of months has shown us anything Matic isnt that player

Agree with the sentiment. But how much are we willing to invest in this position. Can't we just keep him as a bench option and play Fred as our starting DM. We just spent 50m on Fred. Maybe we can even promote Garner if Ole feels he is ready to step up.

We have McT and Pereira in the RCM role. Pogba in the LCM role. I think we should just get Bruno Fernandes as a direct competition for Pogba. Invest the rest of our budget on RW, RB and CB.

 

[willhse456]

I think Matic is actually quite good against smaller teams at home. It's when we're up against a quality, nimble midfield that he has problems because he can't move around quickly enough.

 

[harms]

We do but it has nothing to do with McTominay

Fred replaced him

A bit of both - Ole also seems to prefer to have 2 big players in midfield, hence why he never (or very rarely, haven't checked) played both Herrera and Fred with Pogba.

 

[TRUERED89]

Too slow, cant pass, cant dribble, cant score! Can barely put a tackle in these days, time's up. He can be a rotation option, but Fred & McT look far for competent currently! I'm sure Ole agrees. Would be surprised to see him start against West Ham! We owe the hammers a hammering! Still pissed over the 3-1 loss!