long-term contracts for over 30s

[Fosu-Mens]

Oh stop whinging. Matic has been great and is our most experienced player. Securing his future for the next few years is a good move.

As long as we do not play him non stop. He needs time to recover if he is to perform like he currently does.

 

[SilentWitness]

I think the Chelsea route of offering one year deals is fairly sensible. Of course not all players over 30 suddenly become terrible but there is a higher risk attached to players of that age in terms of resale value, injury recovery and them declining in general. Yeah, you may have the occasional Willian who isn't too keen on going down that route but they can always be replaced. A 1 + 1 contract would probably be the most sensible if I was in charge of a club.

 

[Mr Smith]

As long as we do not play him non stop. He needs time to recover if he is to perform like he currently does.

Yeah I agree, he needs to be managed. But I see no reason why we shouldn't be able to do that. We did it with Carrick, and Matic doesn't have anywhere near as many injury problems.

For instance, I'd leave him out of the upcoming game against Villa to make sure he's fresh for our last 4 matches.

 

[Fosu-Mens]

Yeah I agree, he needs to be managed. But I see no reason why we shouldn't be able to do that. We did it with Carrick, and Matic doesn't have anywhere near as many injury problems.

For instance, I'd leave him out of the upcoming game against Villa to make sure he's fresh for our last 4 matches.

Or play him first 60 and sub him for the rest of the games, if up by a goal.

 

[Adamsk7]

Very happy with both Matic and Mata still being here. In the case of Matic, this is his best form since he joined.

When looking at players that complete a squad but don’t necessarily always play, there are two types that I like - formally world class players that have lost a bit but will always be quality decision makers and influencers in the dressing room OR young players that have a high ceiling but are just starting out. It’s the players that were never class and will never be class that are pointless having around (I’m sure we can name a few!).

 

[iluvoursolskjær]

Maybe he didn’t prefer 2 years and had other options. Pretty sure he’ll still be able to produce good performances for then next 3 years, we just can’t play him every single game. So we get a player who’ll rotate and allow others to gain more experience. Which is preferable to relying on McTommy & Fred as our only 2 options. Or needing to spend big money on replacing him, so we don’t solve the right wing option...

Yeah end of the day I don't have much to complain about, he's been pretty instrumental since the restart. And even as we begin to phase him out he'll be providing great mentoring to McTominay(&co), the pair have a good relationship supposedly.