[Janson]

Hope the new manager drops him for perreria or Fred, he's not been playing that badly lately but he still needs to be dropped regardless

That will never happen.

 

[MadDogg]

He (and Lukaku) needs to be dropped for 3-4 weeks. Tell them to go on a holiday somewhere for a couple of weeks and recharge their batteries and sort themselves out.

 

[RedCurry]

These players are not crap, I have never overrated Matic like most of the caf did last season but he isn't as poor as he has looked recently.

Problem is that when a player is under-performing, he should be taken away from the squad for his and team's benefit. Give him some rest while Fred and Pereira are raring to go.

He had a surgery at the start of the season and he jumped straight into the starting lineup. The guy needs time off!

 

[RedDevil@84]

Phew!! Finally Matic might get the break he deserves. He has been playing almost full matches on weekends and mid-weeks. He just needs some rest and a break so that he could find some feet and form.

 

[Scorpy]

Hopefully the next manager is sensible enough to drop Matic. It's long overdue ffs

 

[NotQuiteManc]

I dont think Matic is that bad, and I am pretty sure his skillsets would be needed by the next manager. Problem was that Jose employed almost same defensive tactics, every game against every opponent he played. Hence, Matic didn't get enough rest and there were no efficient squad rotations, and player management.

 

[yfoFC]

That will never happen.

Well, one can hope can't he?

 

[izec]

Jose completely run him into the ground.

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

Nothing to dislike about him, not his fault he was a teachers pet, if he can get in on merit then fair enough.

 

[R'hllor]

Jose completely run him into the ground.

Funny thing, its not even first time

 

[ash_86]

The surgery he had during the summer, i feel he never had proper time to recover. Last season he was never this bad and shielded the ball quite well. A month or two out of action would do a lot for him.

 

[Based Adnan]

Played a massive amount of games last season followed by a world cup. He then had an ankle operation which he recovered from in record time (in other words he was rushed back) and then played 90 mins every single game after that. Let him rest and recover properly and I'm confident he'll come back a much better player.

 

[Isotope]

I'm not giving up on him. He's not world best, but a very good player, imho. I expect him to be back to his best, and take a major role under new manager.

 

[In Rainbows]

I'm not giving up on him. He's not world best, but a very good player, imho. I expect him to be back to his best, and take a major role under new manager.

I just don't think he compliments Pogba and it's Pogba who should be complimented, not Matic. Matic isn't great at what he does even when he's at his best.

 

[Isotope]

I just don't think he compliments Pogba and it's Pogba who should be complimented, not Matic. Matic isn't great at what he does even when he's at his best.

When he started with us, people lavishing praise on his skill and passing, and couldn't believe how stupid Chelsea was on selling him to us. It's with Mou tactic, expecting him as Makelele, was he suffer. I see Matic similar to Carrick in a way: positioning, good tackler, and good passer.

Carrick played with 300 y.o. Scholes and they were fine in a way. Pogba is obviously physically better than Scholes, so I don't see why a midfield three of Pogba - Matic - Herrera wouldn't work. I think that combo is our best. Although Fred instead of Matic is a very decent combo also.

 

[deafepl]

When he started with us, people lavishing praise on his skill and passing, and couldn't believe how stupid Chelsea was on selling him to us. It's with Mou tactic, expecting him as Makelele, was he suffer. I see Matic similar to Carrick in a way: positioning, good tackler, and good passer.

Carrick played with 300 y.o. Scholes and they were fine in a way. Pogba is obviously physically better than Scholes, so I don't see why a midfield three of Pogba - Matic - Herrera wouldn't work. I think that combo is our best.

To be honest, Matic's passing is not as good as Carrick, even Herrera and Fred seems to be better at passing than Matic. That's why he can't play as DLP.

 

[Isotope]

To be honest, Matic's passing is not as good as Carrick, even Herrera and Fred seems to be better at passing than Matic. That's why he can't play as DLP.

That's true. Few player have Carrick passing range. I'd argue though, that when with Scholes, Carrick role was a lot more passive than his later years. Carrick was more into recycling the ball, and let Scholes took the main seat on playmaking.

 

[kouroux]

The whole WC+ surgery+ no preseason+ early come back vs Spurs to lose 0-3 says it all really about Mourinho destroyed him completely

 

[ErranMorad]

Hope we rotate him with Herrera more now. His experience in the CL can be valuable. Needs to get back the form he showed last season.

 

[K2K]

He is not as bad as he has showed this season. Mourinho did the same to him like he did to Ivanovic. Play him to the ground

Would give him a rest and play him in selected games throughout the season.

 

[Escobar]

Needs to be benched to regain his form imo. Let's anyway play a bit more positive with Pereira or Fred

 

[MadDogg]

That's true. Few player have Carrick passing range. I'd argue though, that when with Scholes, Carrick role was a lot more passive than his later years. Carrick was more into recycling the ball, and let Scholes took the main seat on playmaking.

Even though Carrick did allow Scholes to be the more dominant one, Carrick still moved the ball around much better than Matic is capable of. Matic isn't able to do much more than just recycle the ball around. He'll slip in some nice balls out to the wide players to run onto, but that's about it. Carrick and Scholes worked together to control us around (and we also had Rooney and Giggs who were both better in that regard than anyone else we currently have), whereas Pogba has basically had to do it all himself since he got here (with a little help from Mata when he plays).

Pogba and Herrera should probably be two of our three midfielders, but the third really needs to be a better passer and creator than Matic is. But he also needs to be defensively solid. Not sure if we really have anyone in the squad who's suitable for that role, but I'd like to see Pereira given a proper shot at it as he's probably the one with the potential.

 

[Bobski]

To be honest, Matic's passing is not as good as Carrick, even Herrera and Fred seems to be better at passing than Matic. That's why he can't play as DLP.

Matic should not even be mentioned in the same breath as Carrick as passer, or player imo. Carrick was understated but he moved the ball quickly off both feet, could find strikers through gaps, fabulous weight of pass.

 

[SteveW]

I'm not his biggest fan but I expect him to start against Cardiff.

 

[Foxbatt]

It is his lack of defending that is the issue. Not about his passing. I think his passing is decent. It is the covering of the two CBs that is his huge minus point. A good interview by Stam who mentioned that in defending we are just jogging back and not sprinting. To me Matic is the leading culprit in this. He always jogs.

 

[Based Adnan]

I think he's still got a lot left in the tank

50 odd games last season followed by a world cup followed by an ankle operation/no pre season followed by then being rushed back from that ankle op has ruined him this season. Just needs a period away from the team to recover and come back fresh.

 

[In Rainbows]

It is his lack of defending that is the issue. Not about his passing. I think his passing is decent. It is the covering of the two CBs that is his huge minus point. A good interview by Stam who mentioned that in defending we are just jogging back and not sprinting. To me Matic is the leading culprit in this. He always jogs.

That's the thing, he's not all that mobile. He's a poor fit next to Pogba.

 

[Stadjer]

He played well and he didnt play the full 90 minutes... Mourinho era has trully ended.

 

[acnumber9]

He was my man of the match. I thought he was excellent. Plenty of good performers today though.

 

[el3mel]

His best game for ages. Hopefully he keeps on with this.

 

[AltiUn]

Outstanding today, one of his best performances in a United shirt. That midfield three has so much potential, hope we stick with it.

 

[FrantikChicken]

Very happy for him right now. He's a very good footballer and I hope that he can be a key part for us for the rest of the season.

 

[mewnew11]

Hated him last few weeks but was outstanding today. Didn't jog with the ball and kept playing the ball forward . Just looked a new player.

 

[Irwin99]

Much much better.

 

[MadDogg]

Very good in the first half, probably our best player.

Seemed to drift right out of it in the second half but it was a good starting point.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

In the words of Andy Townsend:

BETTER.

 

[In Rainbows]

Was better this match. His passing had more verticality to it which helped our attack.

 

[K2K]

He is one you can't accuse of downing tools as Mourinho played him at every chance. Yet he played so much better today.

It's almost like tactics do play a role in players doing better.

 

[Adisa]

Top...top performance.

 

[meamth]

Seems like the instructions are for him to sit back and to do lesser running. Let Lindelof do that, you just protect the back four with clever positioning and simple passes.

He never looked like an old guy today compared to the usual when Mourinho was here.

Simply to say, he played the Carrick role.