He's not a CB and it showed, looked terrified when they were running at us and his passing disintegrated as the game went on.
31
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 32
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 4
- Yellow cards
- 5
- Status
You would have thought the one thing he could do as a CB is pass the football nicely. With the whole game ahead of him and extra time, he has more than enough ability to do that. Almost criminal how sloppy he was.
Being a bit out of his depth against pace and strength was absolutely expected, he's not a defender and he's old, but the passing was very annoying.
Being a bit out of his depth against pace and strength was absolutely expected, he's not a defender and he's old, but the passing was very annoying.
Thought he'd be gone in June 2022, but 6 million a year until June 2023, no one else will be willing to match that.
He's got no legs so any misplaced pass or wrong reading of the game and he's off. Can't trust him really, shouldn't play unless is in a three man midfield.
I thought he had some nice passes early, but much like everything else in that game after about 25-30 minutes it just kind of fell flat
Himself and Mata were the wrong signings for the guts of 100 million. Chelsea aren’t just going to let their best players come to us unless it’s clear they’ve gone past or fast approaching their point of usefulness to them. You won’t see them going for Martial Lingard or Pogba anytime soon… the fact we’ve gladly picked up two of their players and paid more for them they did while they were on the way down almost says more about the standard of their recruitment than ours.
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He did his best to lose the game for his team. Pathetic.
Even though nowadays top footballers usually keep a very decent level until late 30's, Matic is clearly not one of them. Some players just get older sooner than others. He cannot cover the same ground anymore, which was his biggest asset.
Matic did well at the start of the game, before his legs went. Same old. Him having to fill in at CB means his career is over here. If RR seriously considered him, he would've wanted to see him in midfield.
There was a moment where he didn't know what to do so he just smashed the ball into the air and then had to run and try and get his head on it because it went backwards.
Another one who needs to leave in the summer. His legs are gone
It was stupid but honestly hilarious.
Man Utd 3:1 Burnley
if I could rate him -1 I would.
Absolutely cannot stand watching him play.
If he actually tried a little bit harder he could have easily stopped lennon or even blocked the shot. Instead he’s happy to just bluff it and jog along.
We desperately need to get another CM in.
Absolutely cannot stand watching him play.
If he actually tried a little bit harder he could have easily stopped lennon or even blocked the shot. Instead he’s happy to just bluff it and jog along.
We desperately need to get another CM in.
very good today. Worked hard (mostly off the ball). Positioning is near perfect. The team can position from him. Key to let other players play their game (McT needs someone like him next to him).
always surprises me that so many people are unable to see it just because he is not the one making the key passes or scoring the goals.
always surprises me that so many people are unable to see it just because he is not the one making the key passes or scoring the goals.
He's crucial to having a balanced midfield at the moment
His introduction allowed McTominay to be MOTM and gave United a strong base to drive forward through McTominay and Shaw. Solid performance but his positions on the pitch were great. Need an orthodox central defensive midfielder to replace him.
Did feck all until you realize he unlocks Scott McBoxtoBox by just existing as a DM.
Thought he was decent.
By simply doing things like receiving the ball off the back four and passing to a red shirt. I know what craziness is that.
By simply doing things like receiving the ball off the back four and passing to a red shirt. I know what craziness is that.
Quietly effective, nothing spectacular just did his job and went unnoticed.
Have always loved that 2 man midfield to be a deep lying one and then a box to box one next to them. Think it gets the best of both.
Matic is the only player we have who can sit effectively and I think he’s a necessity
Matic is the only player we have who can sit effectively and I think he’s a necessity
-1
As others have said here, he provided much needed balance. He's past it, but he's the only proper holding midfielder at the club. Plus, it's Burnley and we needed his height and physicality.
There is no way we're not signing a DM in January. Hopefully the club is more proactive than usually and does it early in the month.
He's tall I will give you that.-1
As others have said here, he provided much needed balance. He's past it, but he's the only proper holding midfielder at the club. Plus, it's Burnley and we needed his height and physicality.
There is no way we're not signing a DM in January. Hopefully the club is more proactive than usually and does it early in the month.
Not sure what balance you are talking about since we looked wide open in midfield all game long.
As others pointed out, he enabled McTominay to burst forward during our breaks, making our attack more purposeful, not just playing the ball to marked attackers or isolated forwards. He can also take the ball past people in for stretches to open up play and he's a very decent passer. Ten years younger and we'd all be quite happy.
Rangnick said after the match that they've not talked about the January window, but I'd be surprised if he's not given them a list some time ago.
Not sure what his contribution was today. Some matches he gets us on the front foot quite well, this wasnt one of them.
Sure it allowed Mctominay more freedom, but Matic's performance was very poor IMO.
It isn't enough to just say he's playing as a defensive midfielder, when he barely actually does any defending.
Go back and watch the Burnley goal and tell me he did his best there.
Agree. Thought he was way off.
I get those saying just by him being there he allowed Scott to get forward a bit more but as an individual his time has gone at this level.
The guy in that position has to get to Lennon for the goal.
He looked massively off the pace and sluggish on the ball, sitting deeper than McTominay is only useful if he can track opposition runners, which he struggled to do tonight.
Standard 6 out of 10 performance which has been pretty much his entire career here, but hey, if it helps the midfielder next to him shine then that's fine.
did well and suited the game since we mostly abandoned trying to press. the midfield vs newcastle had so many holes in it, adding a holder made a decent difference
I agree. Brian Kerr (ex Ireland manager) was saying on my commentary we were wide open and 15 of the 19 midfields in the PL would have bettered us today. Praising Matic for letting McT get forward and jogging around is praise for doing the absolute minimum in his position. Hate watching him play for us. Zero dynamism. Can’t wait to see someone as good on the ball but actually mobile confident creative and aggressive in the squad instead of him. Can’t believe we keep wheeling this guy out in the place of making signings (progressing) It’s midfield by numbers. Same thing as sticking Mata in the team. He keeps it tidy but is physically useless.
Was really poor, there was when he gave us good control in the middle and a calm head, but recently in addition to his slowing aging legs, he seems to have added an uncharacteristic rashness to his game.
However, him being there and sitting allowed McTom to shine. Needs improving
However, him being there and sitting allowed McTom to shine. Needs improving
Glad to see, there are others who see it like that. I probably wouldn't go as far as -1 but how he gets something above 4 or 5 is beyond me. We are talking about professional footballers here, don't we, he did the bare minimum and had quite a few blunders in there as well. I get it, he was at the right spot a couple of times but shouldn't the good things get evened out by the bad ones? Burnley didn't fight today at all. And still McNeil had me on the edge of my seat a few times because no way is Matic catching up to anything these days. The second half was the typical Ole-ball performance. Thankfully, we sat on three goals and we have a tight schedule but that second half was as lacklustre as it gets.
But he isn't 10 years younger, isn't he? To be honest, there were quite a few players who played these stupid passes into players who had nowhere to go. McTom as per usual, AWB and Matic as well. I get it, he has a reputation to be a consistent passer but he is just as much part of the problem as everybody else.
@NZT-One
obviously i’m exaggerating SLIGHTLY, but he’s somebody who frustrates me greatly.
The thing that bothers me the most is when we have possession in defence he completely vacates midfield and stands in the LB position.
I know people will say “it’s to cover for shaw pushing forwards” but it’s a complete waste. Instead of giving us a proper out ball into midfield, he leaves his midfield partner alone. They then receive the ball and we immediately get pressed and forced to lump it.
Maybe with people who can carry the ball from defence it works ok, but not in our team.
He’s just far too slow for the league now.
obviously i’m exaggerating SLIGHTLY, but he’s somebody who frustrates me greatly.
The thing that bothers me the most is when we have possession in defence he completely vacates midfield and stands in the LB position.
I know people will say “it’s to cover for shaw pushing forwards” but it’s a complete waste. Instead of giving us a proper out ball into midfield, he leaves his midfield partner alone. They then receive the ball and we immediately get pressed and forced to lump it.
Maybe with people who can carry the ball from defence it works ok, but not in our team.
He’s just far too slow for the league now.
Completely agree. I was crazy mad at Ole for letting this happen. Not because this dropping back thing is wrong per se, but dropping back indicates that the player returns to his midfield position eventually which Matic takes ages to do. Add that to McTominay habit of placing himself in the cover shadow of more than one opponent if possible and there are no chances to play out from the back. With our so called "wingers" who are just waiting to go for "attacking the space".
I'm not disagreeing with us needing to replace him. As is, there are a few options all of which are insufficient or leave a lot to be desired, and the midfield tonight against their 442 formation wasn't more negative than positive.
You have a few posters who are just confirmation bias, then there's everyone else, even the analysts stateside in Tim Howard and Higginbotham saying he had a good game.
What's the point of a goalkeeper if their positioning around the goal is poor?
Matic did a fine job today and was professional in his performance. How that is a bad thing amazes me.
What's the point of a goalkeeper if their positioning around the goal is poor?
Matic did a fine job today and was professional in his performance. How that is a bad thing amazes me.
I agree with the observation. But I'd argue, that Newcastle would have taken us to the cleaners with that midfield. But yeah, that is speculation. I hope to see the back of him as soon as possible as he, for me, is one of the icons of what went wrong at our club. Buying him when he was on the decline wasn't very progressive and not getting him an understudy to this day is borderline negligence. I would have have even prefered Garner instead of him a year ago. His minutes are just wasted. Had they been given to Garner, at least we would know now, if the player has it in him and is worth the time to invest...
You won't get average performance from him, it's either very good (usually when he comes on as a sub) or poor.
He was poor, too many touches, poor passes and wasn't good defensively.
He was poor, too many touches, poor passes and wasn't good defensively.
He does come off as TurtleMatic at times but he is a mile ahead of what we have in terms of football brains on that position, some of his passes and plays are so good it's like he time machines now and then. We need these specialist qualities in a younger envelope. For games like this where he isn't pressed or when he does a late cameo he really brings balance to that MF. He is what he is, an ageing physically imposing former world class DM. A reminder of how our MF can play given same qualities in a highly press resistant player.
I understand your opinion and would agree, IF all there was to football was what meets the eye. Passing, shooting, dribbling, running. They are the easy things to pick up on. McT managed these things very well yesterday and is therefor praised by the majority (simply because its easy to spot).
BUT (arguable) the most important position is the holding midfielder. The player who can be there a whole game and people scratch their heads after the game wondering what he’s done all game. He has simply held the team together with 100% positioning. Matic managed it against Burnley.Would maybe not manage it against city. But take away this position and it all collapses.
I would also suggest this is exactly whats happened on and off the past 6-18 months.
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