[Adam-Utd]

I like Matic but he's knackered. Played last season, went to Russia, and now he's getting picked every game. He needs a rest but who'll cover? Ander might do the job well enough but doesn't shield the defence anywhere near as well as Matic does when he's playing well. It's too bad we don't have cover for his position. Our midfield has been a shambles for years now.

Well Herrera did that job fine for Mourinho in his first season IMO, he won player of the year for a reason.

He would do a much better job than Matic is now.

I'd personally go with a Pogba/Fred/Herrera midfield, or if he doesn't fancy Fred then try Lingard in there. He did a good job for England as a CM.

 

[Bwuk]

Legs have gone.

 

[izec]

He is finished at the top level.

That was his Gary Neville West Brom moment.

His whole season has been full of games like that to be honest.

 

[GledTheRed]

Pure dogger

 

[Foxbatt]

I would like to see Lindelof play in his position.

 

[Canagel]

I actually despise him now. He's let people run off him in every game . And gets rewarded with more starts whilst Fred and Periera rot on the bench. he's done out 'ere

 

[luke511]

He’s the embodiment of Jose on the pitch: slow, unambitious and past-it.

100% agree

 

[Irrational.]

He's finished as a top level footballer or a starter for us. No idea what it takes for him to be dropped, absolutely awful once again.

Even if Pogba decides to stay, we need to invest in a couple more midfielders in the summer, as it's clear Jose is not promoting Pereira any time soon and he doesn't trust his own £50 million signing Fred.

 

[Patrick08]

Worst def mid i have seen in my life at united.

 

[laughtersassassin]

Worst def mid i have seen in my life at united.

Agreed. And so many fans called that he was past it before he signed. Purple patch at the start of last season was a false dawn. Fitting in with our time under jose.

 

[Terminator]

Herrera was much worse than him. Thought he was ok yesterday, 5/10 performance.

 

[PepsiCola]

Herrera was much worse than him. Thought he was ok yesterday, 5/10 performance.

His "defending" for the third goal makes it a 0/10

 

[SadlerMUFC]

I don't know how a player can do a complete 180 in the course of one year. I thought Matic was great last year. One of our best players. This year he is one of our worst, and it has nothing to do with age. Today on Gundagon's goal (or however he spells it), Matic tracked his run from the midfield and was with him all the way. Then he just stopped and ignored him. He was right there. How can he not just stay tight? It's not like he made some great move and got away from Matic. Matic was litteraly standing right beside him and did nothing. And this isn't the first time Matic has been caught sleeping. The only thing that I can't figure out is how he seems to get a free pass from Mourinho each and every week. I don't even want Matic on our bench anymore, never mind starting...

 

[deafepl]

I am starting to think he is the problem, not our CB, we played with same CBs the like of Bailly, Jones, Lindelof and Smalling last season but we didn't concede a lot of goals, Matic's declining had a huge impact on defending, we conceded many goal because of him this season, if we had Matic form at the start of last season, he would have improved us defensively, perhaps we'd be conceding fewer.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

His whole season has been full of games like that to be honest.

True.

 

[RedDevil@84]

I don't care if his legs are gone or he is just tired and out of form. He clearly needs some time off. Give him some

 

[fallengt]

It's so annoying Matic's playing every matche.
What'd Matic do for Jose to bench him? Gift oppo team 3 goals? beat a little girl senselessly?

 

[Adisa]

Can bet my house, he starts the next game.

 

[Renegade]

Playing how he did when Jose lost his job at Chelsea. Unstoppable despite clearly being a liability just like Ivanovic that season. When will Jose learn?

 

[kouroux]

No worries, he will start and finish the next game. Mediocrity rewarded again, no accountability whatsoever. So unfair on players who get binned after 1 mistake

 

[Adisa]

£40m. He's our second worst signing in the post SAF era.
Doubt we'd get £15m for him.

 

[OzKangarooney]

£40m. He's our second worst signing in the post SAF era.
Doubt we'd get £15m for him.

Last season already takes him out of top 5 for worst buys since SAF left

 

[Robbie Boy]

Last season already takes him out of top 5 for worst buys since SAF left

Why? Because he played well for a sum total of two months?

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

I don't care if his legs are gone or he is just tired and out of form. He clearly needs some time off. Give him some

Indeed, regardless of whether he's completely gone or needs a rest (I'd go with the latter given he was pretty good for us for most of last season) the answer is not to keep playing him for 90 minutes twice every week. I'd be on to the Serbia boss to say under no circumstances should he play in this upcoming break, although actually he hasn't played his country's recent few internationals, and I'd put the bugger in a cryogenic freeze and/or one of those healing pools from that shit bendy bullets movie to try to get him back to some kind of physical level. We have nothing to lose by taking him out for an extended period as he's a liability to the team at this stage.

 

[flappyjay]

See why people don't want players who are in their late 20's or their 30's. Whilst the upside can be amazing the downside is awful. Schweinsteiger now Matic. I think woody has learned hence wants nothing to do with 30 year olds.

 

[Giant Midget]

See why people don't want players who are in their late 20's or their 30's. Whilst the upside can be amazing the downside is awful. Schweinsteiger now Matic. I think woody has learned hence wants nothing to do with 30 year olds.

We got rid of Schweinsteoger and Rooney and replaced them with Matic and Sanchez. Just shows we don’t learn our lessons at all and keep making the sameness mistake again and again.

 

[PaulRich]

See why people don't want players who are in their late 20's or their 30's. Whilst the upside can be amazing the downside is awful. Schweinsteiger now Matic. I think woody has learned hence wants nothing to do with 30 year olds.

and I'd agree with him.

 

[FootyGirl88]

Remember when Jose subbed him on them subbed him off like 5mins later in his last season at Chelsea. Now he doesn't even get benched at all, pure madness.

 

[Rossa]

He's our most consistent player! At least with him, Jose knows what he is getting - utter dross every match!

 

[Robbie Boy]

Remember when Jose subbed him on them subbed him off like 5mins later in his last season at Chelsea. Now he doesn't even get benched at all, pure madness.

And also openly slated him yet made him a priority signing at his next club

 

[FootyGirl88]

And also openly slated him yet made him a priority signing at his next club

I just don't understand...

 

[Rossa]

See why people don't want players who are in their late 20's or their 30's. Whilst the upside can be amazing the downside is awful. Schweinsteiger now Matic. I think woody has learned hence wants nothing to do with 30 year olds.

Juventus have done pretty well goind down that road. It's not about that - it's about buying players that fit into your squad. With Schweinsteiger, it was obvious that he had left his best days behind. With Matic, we got one good season out of him, but even at Chelsea, it was clear that he was no longer at his best, and he was still in his twenties by then. Sanchez just doesn't seem to suit us. We have bought plenty of younger players that didn't pan out - Mikhi, Depay, Darmian, Schneiderlin, Bailly, Lindelöf.

Truth be told, we are just rubbish at finding the right fit, be it older or younger players. Buying an established player at 29 should give you 3-4 years of good service, if a good fit. Matic is too static alongside Pogba and Fellaini. Play either Matic and two runners or Pogba and two runners. Schweinsteiger was just over the top - probably felt he had done enough and came back slightly overweight, which has little to do with age, but more to do with attitude.

As for Matic - he has been rubbish for far too long. Yesterday was actually not his worst game, imo, which says a lot.

 

[BigBebe]

In the cold (and sober) light of day, that third goal looks worse and worse every time you see it.

 

[Sylar]

I thought he looked poor in his last season for Chelsea, but I was hoping it was due to needing a change. He had an initial boost with us, but i think this is is level.

I seriously doubt hes gonna improve on this, even with a rest. But he badly needs a rest / time away from the first team. Him playing 3 in a week or whatever it was without a minutes rest is madness.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

Complete and utter dogshit.

The amount of goals we concede where he's just stood around not bothering to track any runners is embarrassing.

 

[Tibs]

Utter crap.

Pogba is a nailed on starter
Herrera should now be back in
Other spot goes to either Fred or Perreira.

Matic should be nowhere near the bench, let alone starting XI

 

[11101]

He really couldn't have been much worse yesterday.

He was a huge part of their second goal and totally to blame for the third, and he left Herrera completely isolated in midfield. He let Bernado Silva drag him out wide all game like he was some kind of amateur. Fellaini was pushing up and it meant we were effectively left with one central midfielder to combat the best team in the country.

 

[Backrow Singer]

Utter crap.

Pogba is a nailed on starter
Herrera should now be back in
Other spot goes to either Fred or Perreira.

Matic should be nowhere near the bench, let alone starting XI

If Matic is getting stick, Hererra should be getting just as much. He stank the place out again yesterday. Neither are good enough for a team that presumably wants to win the league. Just not good enough. If we’d realise that and see the likes of Rashford, Hererra, Matic, Lingard etc as such, we’d be a hell of a lot better off. It’s killing us just as much as anything else is.

The standards of the support base sum everything up IMO. There’s a number of players in that team you’ll get absolutely nowhere with in your best 11 and I’m being told to “stick with them”. We’ve stuck with some of them for years, under two, three managers and they’re no better and no more consistent than they were years ago.

 

[Adisa]

He's a disgrace.

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[Zoo]

The disgrace (and frustration) is that Mourinho will keep picking him no matter what.