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Matic

PloKoon13 said:
Kanté was not one of Leicester's main players going forwards, and this is speaking as someone who attended every Leicester home game last season. Both he and Drinkwater were holding midfielders; just because Kanté covered a lot of ground doesn't mean he was some sort of Robson-esque box-to-box midfielder. He was a pure defensive midfielder who covered a lot of ground off the ball in a team which was built around attacking directly into space vacated by the other side while in possession. Drinkwater was (and still is) the main conduit of possession for Leicester; Kanté's job was merely to stop other teams getting the ball and to stop them doing anything useful with it when they did.

Matic was the defensive midfielder of a two-man partnership in a team which was built to dominate possession. Against big teams away, yes, he basically played a purely holding role, but generally speaking that wasn't the case. No midfielder in a side constructed in the way ours was could play a purely defensive role; they had to have some responsibility in possession, some impetus to provide to the attack. Matic was (and still is) far, far more adventurous in his passing than Kanté has ever been, and while he's not exactly a Frank Lampard, has more attacking instincts.

Leicester's pressing was, for the most part, designed to disrupt the opponent in possession, to lead them towards playing it safe, which would force them to commit more players forward, and in turn vacate more space in their own half into which Leicester could attack. Ours, again for the most part, was designed to win the ball so we can have a spell in possession ourselves, rather than playing it vertically and immediately going for goal. No player in that system, especially a midfielder could have their responsibilities reduced to purely a holding role.
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17 hours ago, Rusty-Man said:

There is no such thing as a pure defensive or holding midfielder in a 4-4-2. Both players have to cover too much ground and offer in all phases of the game compared to a three man midfield. Kante was always giving support in attack, drifting out wide to the left and getting forwards. Just watch these 17 minutes and tell me he was a holding midfielder who was unadventurous going forwards:

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Interesting. Not sure what each player's best position is but I do think they complement each other nicely.

 
Remodez said:
Remember when people thought he was better than Busquets? Good times.
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You can of course point out these posts where people said he was better than busquets. Or was it in reality people highly rating a young player who was fantastic for us at the time, saying he could be better than busquets if he keeps progressing as he is.

Honestly, these kind of posts are just sh*t.

 
In our last title winning season Matic almost single-handedly demoralised Arsenal. He harried, harassed and disrupted their play to such an extent that you could literally see their players' heads dropping before the match was over. Be nice to see some of that this evening.

 
dkw said:
You can of course point out these posts where people said he was better than busquets. Or was it in reality people highly rating a young player who was fantastic for us at the time, saying he could be better than busquets if he keeps progressing as he is.

Honestly, these kind of posts are just sh*t.
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I could have done, if my sole intention was to mock people. The post was more highlighting just how far he's fallen.  

 
PloKoon13 said:
Did you watch Leicester last season?

One of the running jokes among the stewards was "We have Drinkwater in defensive midfeld and Kanté either side".

Next thing I know you'll be claiming he's an asset at set pieces.
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Calling him a pure defensive midfielder is doing him a disservice. Sure, he was a big part of their defence, harrying and winning balls all over the place but when they attacked he was often bombing forwards with them and helping out in attack. He was everywhere, in attack and defence making both offensive and defensive contributions in all phases of play. That's where the joke about water covering two thirds of the earth and Kante covering the rest comes from. In my opinion, the way he is being played at Chelsea is not utilising his full capabilities. He is currently the holding player in a midfield three more akin to Busquets role at Barca. I would much rather he played in Matic's role at the moment which is more  like his role at Leicester. 

 
This is him at his worst, yet arguably more impressive display of his qualities in that terrible season than 8 or 9 seasons put together of certain other defensive midfielders - not mentioning names. :]




 
If somebody recorded me playing for my amateur team all season and then put all the best bits together, even I'd look a player.

using a YouTube video to defend Matic is baffling, he's awful. I actually lost count of how many passes he misplaced today.

if we play him as a DM he still has a role to play but isn't an instant starter, but if we seem intent on playing him further forward we may as well get shot now because his distribution is terrible.

 
EdinburghBlue said:
If somebody recorded me playing for my amateur team all season and then put all the best bits together, even I'd look a player.

using a YouTube video to defend Matic is baffling, he's awful. I actually lost count of how many passes he misplaced today.

if we play him as a DM he still has a role to play but isn't an instant starter, but if we seem intent on playing him further forward we may as well get shot now because his distribution is terrible.
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The point is even at his worst he's able to win tackles, play sharp forward passes, long high passes, etc in a way that his competition rarely does.

This was a point for those who dismiss him as apparently never being very good, and inferior to aforementioned competition.

And the key word in your point is amateur so it doesn't really mean much. We're talking here essentially of a comparison of two players who play in the same position and how the video shows what he is capable of doing, again, in comparison to said competition.

 
For the position he plays and situations he will be in playing there is always going to be difficult when he wont use his right foot even for the basic of passes. If you're having a good game everything goes ok. If it's a difficult game his options are limited because he can't go left and right. He has to turn his body to play the ball, so either he gets tackled or passes the ball quickly and loses possession.

 
he just looks like he doesn't have any energy, he moves so slow and laboured, keeps hold of the ball for too long and seems like he no longer looks to pass forward nowhere near as much as his breakout season here. 

 
I don't understand what's his role in the team, Box to Box, Ball winner, DM? He just doesn't have the skills to pass, dribble past people, or even hold on to the ball. He looked decent against Burnley who's too scared to play football on the day, but completely out of depth against better teams. Even we are a poor team right now, still don't see the point to handicap ourselves by playing 2 ball winners ( or DMs) in Kante and Matic. 

 
Seriously weird comment coming out from Matic after the Arsenal game...

"We have to know we play for a big club and we have to recover as soon as possible and be focused on the next game. I'm sure the coach will see where the problem is."

 
Luca Vialli said:
Seriously weird comment coming out from Matic after the Arsenal game...

"We have to know we play for a big club and we have to recover as soon as possible and be focused on the next game. I'm sure the coach will see where the problem is."
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What's weird about that comment?

 
enigma said:
he just looks like he doesn't have any energy, he moves so slow and laboured, keeps hold of the ball for too long and seems like he no longer looks to pass forward nowhere near as much as his breakout season here. 
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Maybe he likes being at the club a lot, and he's doing his best Mikel impression to stay here as long as Mikel has.
 
He was excellent against Hull City, we will see the best of him soon, I believe in him same as Conte. 

 
Matic and Kante have so few complimentary skills, problem is we dont seem to have any better options. Getting a good box to box CM is one of the higher priorities next season. Or even january if possible

 
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