Im glad we bought him and not City.Him and Yaya together would be ridiculous.

surely im not the only one who saw that semi erection inducing shot that had hart in a world of trouble? Terrific players and an absolute steal at 20 mill

Seeing Matic push him around was just wonderful, probably the highlight of the game for me.

 

Yep totally agree with that.

 

To be fair I thought it was a very good dual with both players having their moments.

 

It was painful to watch Toure run a train through our midfield in the FA Cup last year at Wembley and to see Matic so happy to go toe to toe with him and more than hold his own was a breath of fresh air.

 

Matic, Luiz and William  all got stuck into him at every possible oppertunity and he looked uncomfortable as a result of the constant pressing I thought.

Impressive!

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2551508/Running-man-Ramires-managed-7-6-miles-Chelseas-win-against-Manchester-City-ran-more.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Wow that pass at 1:23 in the above video was impressive.

Edited February 4, 201412 yr by Ramigoal7

I think a lot of people here are overlooking Luiz's performance last night. He was a very aggressive force in the midfield.

Impressive!

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2551508/Running-man-Ramires-managed-7-6-miles-Chelseas-win-against-Manchester-City-ran-more.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

Its strange, he never looks like he's really busting a gut, but he's always moving and probably covers about 2 meters in one stride.

Such a shame hes cup tied for CL

He is so calm and collected against the best squad in the league in the toughest place to play.

Matic is a good example of how our loaning out system could work at its best. Matic wasn't loaned out but you get the point. We have Lukaku and Courtois out loaned in team you can compare Benfica to.

Anyway looks great. Bossed Toure. Actually put him in his pocket.

haha that gif! where was that from? Serbia's next top model lol

They don't make suits that big so they had to film him in two halves.

Love how responsible he is when defending as hes always tracking the runners from midfield.

 

While he can spring the attacks, hes mainly a destroyer for us. We are still lacking a quality passer in center midfield. Rami, Luiz and Matic are as physical as they come but we will struggle to hold onto the ball against the worlds best midfields

 

I really wouldnt mind someone like Kroos

Edited February 10, 201412 yr by Lane

I thought matic's passing was excellent in the games he's played, he doesnt play massive incisive long passes, but he plays quick short passes to the likes of Willian, Oscar and Hazard to get counters started. He's decent at making some driving runs through midfield though. He'll only get better. 

Not that i'd be against Kroos beside him, Kroos-Matic would be a powerful midfield duo

I thought matic's passing was excellent in the games he's played, he doesnt play massive incisive long passes, but he plays quick short passes to the likes of Willian, Oscar and Hazard to get counters started. He's decent at making some driving runs through midfield though. He'll only get better. 

Not that i'd be against Kroos beside him, Kroos-Matic would be a powerful midfield duo

 

He can still misplace some easy ones. He also appears to be one footed (that pass against man city was a mis hit). Against newcastle his passing % was 81.

 

Im not using it as a stick to beat him with, its just a bit of a concern that we dont have a good partner for him against quality midfields.

Yeah Matic is certainly the most complete central midfielder we have but it would be a mistake to rest on our laurels at that. As Lane said he is capable of playing attacking passes but imagine how much better the team would be if he was paired with someone who excels at those passes?

My ideal for the role next to him would be Luka Modric who would be unavailable. Pogba is apparently the top target. Bayern however will likely let one of Kroos or Martinez leave, who would be perfect.

Lets see if he plays well against relegation battler on a cold Tuesday night in a small stadium 

 

I think it's a bit early to judge him, but he has certainly added something we have been lacking for few years.

Matic is a glorious signing for us.

I don't know what you guys are on about. He's just came in and already he bested the best(beat Toure). He is a versatile CM and I'm pretty sure Wenger, Pellegrini, Moyes and Rodgers would have all taken him in with open arms. Probably Pep and Carlo as well.

It is a bit early to really assess him but so far he's singlehandedly upped the level of our midfield. He needs time to get used to the blistering speed of Prem, he is still wasting passes but he'll get there.

I don't know what you guys are on about. He's just came in and already he bested the best(beat Toure). He is a versatile CM and I'm pretty sure Wenger, Pellegrini, Moyes and Rodgers would have all taken him in with open arms. Probably Pep and Carlo as well.

 

 

Jesus. All Lane said was that he was mainly a destroyer and missed a few easy passes. Are we not allowed to point out where players or the team can improve?. 

sure, but speaking generally it does seem some people are never satisfied on this forum...there are lots of opportunities to be negative during the season, now is not one of them...shouldn't we all be feeling on top of the world (league) and just enjoy it for five minutes? Even Salah was criticised for missing a couple of chances on debut, when we were 3-0 up

Even Salah was criticised for missing a couple of chances on debut, when we were 3-0 up

 

And rightly so. We were told he was the Egyptian Messi.

 

 

 

Not the Egyptian Torres.

 

 

 

 

 

In all seriousness, I didn't see any criticism apart from "he missed a good chance, probably should've done better". That's not harsh it's pointing out the obvious. We don't all need to be blind cheerleaders, that's why we here on The Shed End and not CFCNet.

Jesus. All Lane said was that he was mainly a destroyer and missed a few easy passes. Are we not allowed to point out where players or the team can improve?.

Of course we are and we should. The man's been great so far and he just came and you go into small details which really don't matter. He was the best player in the park at the Etihad!

Jesus. All Lane said was that he was mainly a destroyer and missed a few easy passes. Are we not allowed to point out where players or the team can improve?. 

 

 

There's a line though, I mean we could continually improve until we have Messi and Ronaldo playing for us in behind Zlatan and Aguero.

 

I see the point people are making in terms of wanting a foil for Matic but I would say between Luiz and Rami with MVG coming back it's not something we need to be worrying about if you consider that the one position we are really considerably week in is up front.

 

We could for ever point out were we need to improve but some times we do so at the cost of recognizing what we actually have

There's a line though, I mean we could continually improve until we have Messi and Ronaldo playing for us in behind Zlatan and Aguero.

 

I see the point people are making in terms of wanting a foil for Matic but I would say between Luiz and Rami with MVG coming back it's not something we need to be worrying about if you consider that the one position we are really considerably week in is up front.

 

We could for ever point out were we need to improve but some times we do so at the cost of recognizing what we actually have

 

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.