^ you are absolutely right about the passing. I think Matic is a quality passer(short and midrange) but he needs some time to adapt to the pace of the league. And I do think it is a question of adaptation and not core skill.

Ballack, Makelele and Essien at their prime were able to give those perfect passes. Passes that don't stop the attack but make things happen. We still have Lampard but due to his new position and his lack of pace or quickness of any kind he misplaces a lot of passes.

Mikel is a good passer but we all know what his passes are.

Mikel is a good passer but we all know what his passes are.

 

Clearly we don't.

Sideway...

Of course theres a line, but i think it is something that should be addressed. Maybe not even with new players, but with spending more time on the training ground. I think theres a distinct lack of quality passers in the center of our formation. Ramires, Luiz, Matic and Oscar are all prone to misplacing simple passes. Oscar is particularly frustrating as i feel he has the ability to be a better passer if he would focus more.

 

Of course, every team has weaknesses, and this will probably be ours. I dont see any team in the premier league (apart from maybe arsenal) exposing it though.

 

 

Could you argue with the Tempo we play at the easy passes are more likely to go astray. That said I don't really have a problem with the odd pass going array.

 

I am probably one of Rami's bigger critics on here. I love his effort and endevor and he's clearly an asset but I just wish we could add some compshure to his game. Probably the most guilty player in terms of misplaced passes and getting pushed of the ball at the worst time.

 

But that said, he's been a key contributor to a team that are top of the league at the moment and if you handed me 50 million for any one player right now it wouldn't be going on a center mid

Could you argue with the Tempo we play at the easy passes are more likely to go astray. That said I don't really have a problem with the odd pass going array.

 

I am probably one of Rami's bigger critics on here. I love his effort and endevor and he's clearly an asset but I just wish we could add some compshure to his game. Probably the most guilty player in terms of misplaced passes and getting pushed of the ball at the worst time.

 

But that said, he's been a key contributor to a team that are top of the league at the moment and if you handed me 50 million for any one player right now it wouldn't be going on a center mid

 

Agree to an extent with what you say (and tbh I'm probably one of Ramires' biggest critic here too)

 

If we had 50m it would go to multiple areas tbh not just one. 

Edited February 10, 201412 yr by MANoWAR

Agree to an extent with what you say (and tbh I'm probably one of Ramires' biggest critic here too)

 

If we had 50m it would go to multiple areas tbh not just one. 

 

£20 million on Shaw and £30 million on Costa, most likely.

The improvement over Mikel that this guy offers is astonishing.

I know its unfair on Matic to say this but pretty much anyone who can pass forward is an improvement on Mikel.

Kinky

I'm more impressed about his defensive works. He seems to be everywhere, wins us back so many balls.

In top 20 for february by opta:

 

He has the same rating as Kevin Nolan so we should be careful about how much we read into WhoScored's statistical system...

No Ronaldo anywhere, lol

He has the same rating as Kevin Nolan so we should be careful about how much we read into WhoScored's statistical system...

 

Statistics do you no good if you're unable to properly analyse them and find the key numbers which actually do matter. Gathering data and understanding data are two quite distinct things, yet some people who do not realise even this basic truth have started blogging about statistics, trying to interpret them and feeling very hip, but in the end they just dump some random stats with a few irrelevant graphs built on them spiced with hollow banalities or incoherent ramblings (if you, unlike them, do speak at least a little maths). Ok, rant off :)

Anyone see him tonight against Ireland? he completely ran the show, truly world class. He and Ivan both played 90 minutes so that's a bit annoying but if he puts in another performance like that on Saturday, he will control the midfield by himself.

Anyone see him tonight against Ireland? he completely ran the show, truly world class. He and Ivan both played 90 minutes so that's a bit annoying but if he puts in another performance like that on Saturday, he will control the midfield by himself.

Absolutely fantastic signing this boy. He is what I hoped Mikel would become oh so many years ago. Superb defensively and keeps the side ticking under most circumstances.

Absolutely fantastic signing this boy. He is what I hoped Mikel would become oh so many years ago. Superb defensively and keeps the side ticking under most circumstances.

I hoped Mikel would become a silky Number 10 like he was supposed to be when we brought him

I hoped Mikel would become a silky Number 10 like he was supposed to be when we brought him

You hoped for too much.

Since Matic came into the squad, weve conceded 3 in 8 league matches

 

Before that, we conceded 19 in 14 matches

He's transformed our midifeld.  I can see why Benfica fans called him "the spider".  If we can get a playmaker next to him we'll be set.  We're really terrible at keeping the ball.

Modric and Matic has a nice ring to it

Modric and Matic has a nice ring to it

 

There certainly wouldnt be any language barriers between them

 

But its a pipe dream. Modric has been playing well at Real and they wont be letting him go

Edited March 9, 201412 yr by Lane

There certainly wouldnt be any language barriers between them

 

But its a pipe dream. Modric has been playing well at Real and they wont be letting him go

 

You can never say never with Madrid, a manager change and everything is up in the air. I wouldn't have believed Ozil would be sold last year.

 

But here is an idea. I agree that we need a rolls royce of a player next to Matic. Personally I think we have a few options we could try out there, Josh being one of them (cue the fifa/Football Manager JCL)

 

But if we really don't have any one at home and Bayarn are hell bent on getting hold of Luiz, we should maybe consider strong arming and asking for Kroos in return

Modric and Matic has a nice ring to it

 

A Croat and Serb partnership, what could possibly go wrong