Have to say we got him back on the cheap, maybe he did have a buy-back clause when he let him go. We lost the physical power since the departure of Ballack and decline of Essien, nice to bring a bit of 'beef' into our midfield.

Welcome home Nemanja! It's good to have him back and he's definitely going to help our midfield.

 

Looking forward to seeing him help boss the midfield for years to come.

Happy to have him back at The Bridge! Him and Rami and going to make a robust partnership - he adds more height to the squad; our set plays are impressive already but he'll be up there with his compatriot Ivan as well as Terry, Cahill and Torres!

 

Looking forward to those two gelling quickly... and in the spirit of 'gelling' our players names together...

 

I bring you Chelsea Central Defending Midfield pair of .... ** Drum roll pls**

 

RaMatic!

Edited January 16, 201412 yr by ButchersHook

Great to have him back and I think he will be the answer to many of our midfield and defensive issues. However, I don't think our midfield is entirely set. I think we will need an additional player to come in to properly replace Lamps. Can't wait to see him play again in Blue!

Matic might play against ManU. Would be a pretty special comeback game for him. I think he will come off the bench at least.

Player of the year in Portugal last season. That is not very easy to achieve knowing there is always 2-3 very good teams in Portugal.

Year of comebacks! May it be succesful.

Year of comebacks! May it be successful.

 

Ain't that the truth!!!

Very good signing, a bit of muscle is needed in that position. Jose slowly putting together his vision of a team that can go toe to toe with City

Hope he is up and running in the 1st team soon. Gonna be a great summer with a few leaving and the loanees back and a couple in (CF & CH)

See there's a managerial meltdown at Soton so maybe we might see Shaw arrive in the window ?

Fantastic piece of business. Absolutely rapt with this.

 

Yes we let him go as part of the Luiz deal but lets be honest, there is no way he would have turned into the player that he did today kicking around our reserves or getting sent on loan all over Europe.

 

We used him to sweeten a deal to bring in one of the most outrageously talented centre backs around, who went on to give an absolutely immense display in the CL final not to mention countless moments of jaw dropping athleticism, skill and audacity (as well as a fair few heart attacks I guess with the odd defensive lapse). Matic went the other way and turned into one of the worlds leading midfielders and had all of Europe's elite sniffing around, he has now turned into a player with all the attirbutes that we so desperately need in our team, he is coming into the prime age of his career and let's be honest he is a very Jose Mourinho type of player. The potential partnership with Ramires in a 4-2-3-1 should excite all Chelsea fans.

 

I rated him highly when he was in our youth team and stoked to say welcome home Nemanja! As someone said above it's the year of comebacks and if this one works out half as well as the other comeback we are in for a real treat!

Happy to have him back at The Bridge! Him and Rami and going to make a robust partnership - he adds more height to the squad; our set plays are impressive already but he'll be up there with his compatriot Ivan as well as Terry, Cahill and Torres!

 

Looking forward to those two gelling quickly... and in the spirit of 'gelling' our players names together...

 

I bring you Chelsea Central Defending Midfield pair of .... ** Drum roll pls**

 

RaMatic!

 

Want to get excited about this signing but will hold back for awhile-------we all thought the same of KDB and look whats happened there....pretty good player from what I've seen the few times we have played them but he didn't stand out against our midfield, he didn't dominate that area against us, maybe he will now he has 'better' players with him....

 

Also that bit about helping our 'pretty impressive set plays so far' bit I'd like to question also------------I cannot agree with this, we must have had near 50 odd corner kicks and countless free kicks into the box from around the penalty area in the last 10 games alone---yet Mikels goal against Derby is the only one I can recall......(must have had 10 or 12 corners on boxing day game alone)

I keep asking do we not practice set pieces at training cos every other team seems to score from these positions (and pretty regularily against us until recent) 

I think looking at the relative ages and transfer fees of KDB and Matic, that there will be a far higher expectation on Matic to hit the ground running and stake a place in the team immediately.

 

I'd be surprised if he starts against United, but wouldn't be surprised if we throw him on late if we're winning to help us see it out.

So.... When do we go to City!!!

So.... When do we go to City!!!

3rd Feb, not long now...

I think looking at the relative ages and transfer fees of KDB and Matic, that there will be a far higher expectation on Matic to hit the ground running and stake a place in the team immediately.

 

I'd be surprised if he starts against United, but wouldn't be surprised if we throw him on late if we're winning to help us see it out.

 

I doubt he will feature at all on sunday, but he will probably start against stoke in the fa cup

We dont need him to be the next Frank

I meant more for dominating longevity in and around the midfield than a precise one for one swap. But thanks for pointing out my mistake.

 

Also that bit about helping our 'pretty impressive set plays so far' bit I'd like to question also------------I cannot agree with this, we must have had near 50 odd corner kicks and countless free kicks into the box from around the penalty area in the last 10 games alone---yet Mikels goal against Derby is the only one I can recall......(must have had 10 or 12 corners on boxing day game alone)

I keep asking do we not practice set pieces at training cos every other team seems to score from these positions (and pretty regularily against us until recent) 

 

Looking back on 2013, we actually scored from 6 set pieces...  so perhaps i was over zealous using 'impressive'! Regardless, Matic brings height and aerial prowess! That will benfit the squad up and down the park...

 

P.S. We'll ALL remember Mikels goal against Derby for YEARS to come ;)

P.S. We'll ALL remember Mikels goal against Derby for YEARS to come ;)

 

More than you think.

 

4th foreign player in history to reach the 300 game landmark whilst captaining the side and scoring.

 

It's a pretty significant goal for himself and the club all things considered.

Edited January 16, 201412 yr by Stim

So, will he have to sing an initiation song or he doesn't have to since he's a former Blue coming back home?

Decent Article on what Matic brings to the team:

 

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2892/transfer-zone/2014/01/15/4546929/strong-tireless-technically-brilliant-meet-chelsea-new-boy?ICID=SP

I wouldn't mind seeing a middle 3 of Ramires/Matic/Lampard in a return to 2005 tactics, with Matic as Makelele, Ramires as Thiago and Lampard as himself. Gives Lamps free reign to attack without having to track back as much. The only issue is that one of the AM trio would have to be dropped but its nice to have the options.

I wouldn't mind seeing a middle 3 of Ramires/Matic/Lampard in a return to 2005 tactics, with Matic as Makelele, Ramires as Thiago and Lampard as himself. Gives Lamps free reign to attack without having to track back as much. The only issue is that one of the AM trio would have to be dropped but its nice to have the options.

Would you not rather have Oscar? I mean I love Lamps, but Oscar is the man for that position now

I wouldn't mind seeing a middle 3 of Ramires/Matic/Lampard in a return to 2005 tactics, with Matic as Makelele, Ramires as Thiago and Lampard as himself. Gives Lamps free reign to attack without having to track back as much. The only issue is that one of the AM trio would have to be dropped but its nice to have the options.

Could even have Mata in there in place of Lampard. Sure he'll be better off without as much defensive responsibilities.

From what I've heard he's an excellent signing. 

 

He looks massive!