28 minutes ago, comtrend said:

For me his form has dropped alot these last games. Today he was just jogging around at a distance from attacking Hull players and slow to distribute the ball. 

He really frustrates me because we know how good he can be but he just seems lethargic and clumsy on the ball with his wayward passing. Would love an upgrade or at least someone to challenge his place 

Yeah he was making me eat my words not long ago, as I was very much in the 'sell' camp in the Summer. He's dropped off again though, not to the level of last season but right now he offers very little.

Edited January 22, 20179 yr by Blue Exile

I believe even Cesc disrupted more plays than him. He just was jogging around today.

One of the weaker links in our team for me. Needs to be upgraded in the summer. 

Replace him with Niagollan (or however you spell his name) and I think that would be a quality midfield, aside from height.

3 hours ago, Chigzzer said:

Replace him with Niagollan (or however you spell his name) and I think that would be a quality midfield, aside from height.

Well Matic is about as useful in the air as a legless midget. Nainggolan is an incredible player and would really bolster our team

Not a hater boy he was cack today 

I don't think he will ever get that confidence back that he had when first re-signed for us. The Matic that would out-muscle the likes of Yaya Toure, the Matic that would break opposition attacks and quickly set us up on an attack of our own so easily, that Matic is gone i think. It wasn't long ago that he was being rated as the best DM in the world by some.

He's not as bad as last season, nowhere near it, but he's also nowhere near as good as he used to be for us.

I know that Fabregas isn't brilliant defensively, but i would still rather he played over Matic in most games. It's not like Matic is so great defensively himself these days. At least with Fabregas we would have someone who can pick a pass out without needing to think about it for 5 seconds.

5 hours ago, Chigzzer said:

Replace him with Niagollan (or however you spell his name) and I think that would be a quality midfield, aside from height.

Not that height matters in this case since for some reason Matic isn't very good in the air. I cant remember him scoring with his head

give me verratti who plays with half the size and double the intensity

Desperately need someone to come in when Matic plays like this. Even Hull managed to press us high up the field which forced us to either punt the ball upfield or have Hazard/Pedro drop deep and try to tale om 2-3 men to get the ball into the opposition area. The dippers are going to have a field day if we dont sort it out. Id rather play Fabregas or even Chalobah then Matic when we go to Anfield.

Not sure where this is coming from, I thought he was our best player against Leicester.

Even yesterday I was thinking how remarkable it is that he has managed to turn his form around to such a large extent from the shambles of last season.

To be honest, I don't agree with some of the opinions on him. He's one of the reasons of our success until now, he had some bad performances, but in most of his games, he was excellent. He wins balls for us, we always can feel him in the central together with Kante, it's difficult to beat him as an attacker in a 1vs1 situation. He has 6 assists and he always puts his best on the pitch. 

I agree, his passing isn't in Fabregas's level, his speed isn't in Kante's level, but let's not forget how strong he is in the central, how important he is against strong teams. 

I love Fabregas, I think he should play as well. A trio midfield Kante-Fabregas-Matic is perfect, but our system is different and nothing we can do about it. I can understand why Conte is starting with Matic because our system always changes with the temp of the game. If we attack strong, then we must have a strong player in the central which will duels, air balls, tackles. And if we're going to play a little bit defensively, then for sure we will need Matic for a better protection, better defensive football. 

I'm happy with him, he does his best and he is important part of our success. 

1 hour ago, IliyaKrostin said:

I agree, his passing isn't in Fabregas's level, his speed isn't in Kante's level, but let's not forget how strong he is in the central, how important he is against strong teams. 

Thats like saying Moses finishing isnt quite at Costas Level. Nobody is expecting it to be, but theres a massive gap there and theres plenty of room for improvement. Fact is, when we play teams that press high, Matic and Kantè togethter will always put us under a lot of pressure.

You can see in games like yesterday that you don't need two DMs. Matic isn't up to Kantes level so is the weaker one of the two. For me Matic seems really clumsy and takes too long to make a pass which either invites pressure or misplacing his passes. I've been one of his biggest fans and didn't want him dropped last year but his getting more frustrating.

Chelsea only really play with two creative players on the pitch. Costa doesn't create but scores which is his job. Kante does his job. Can Chelsea rely on Willian and Pedro if Hazard has an off day? Fabregas would lose the ball less and give the team an extra dimension (I still think his the best passer in the prem). Im sure Hazard and Costa would enjoy playing with Fabregas more.

I would like us to sign Tiémoué Bakayoko from Monaco in the summer, very complete central midfielder, who is technical, fast, strong and good in the air. It gives us the option to play 3-5-2 more frequently as well against the likes of Tottenham and Liverpool. They would struggle alot more with overpowering the midfield against Kante, Bakayoko and Fabregas.

Edited January 23, 20179 yr by comtrend

I was actually suprised fabregas didnt get the nod yesterday, it wasnt the game for a matic kante midfield, which is why i felt we had to grind a win out. 

I thought matic was motm against Leicester, but its has to be about horses for courses between fabregas and matic. 

Canni win. Folk always f*****g moaning. He didna do this, do that..... We need a change, an upgrade....its no futba manager ffs, you ken.

3 hours ago, abister1 said:

Canni win. Folk always f*****g moaning. He didna do this, do that..... We need a change, an upgrade....its no futba manager ffs, you ken.

What ?

Probably drunk.

Does being drunk make you more Scottish or does being Scottish make you more drunk?

For the record that post was perfectly easy to interpret.

 

Also a fun fact - if you type 'BBC fitba' into Google it comes up with Scottish Football.

The overreaction on here is crazy. Sometimes he is key in the team as he is much better than Kante at keeping hold of the ball and muscling of huger players. He always seems to be a scapegoat like Cahill if things are not up to scratch.

8 hours ago, STATS said:

The overreaction on here is crazy. Sometimes he is key in the team as he is much better than Kante at keeping hold of the ball and muscling of huger players. He always seems to be a scapegoat like Cahill if things are not up to scratch.

Thank you, you voice of sensibility and rationale.

10 hours ago, STATS said:

The overreaction on here is crazy. Sometimes he is key in the team as he is much better than Kante at keeping hold of the ball and muscling of huger players. He always seems to be a scapegoat like Cahill if things are not up to scratch.

IMO it wasn't,t a game for Matic's strengths, everyone knew Hull would sit back and defend in numbers so 2 defensive midfielders wasn't needed.

Matic is good at breaking down play and passing quickly to a more creative player weather it be Hazard,Pedro or Willian etc. Specially playing attack minded teams. When teams defend in numbers there no play to breakdown so someone like Fabragas in the centre is better with Kante.

Yeah you can't underestimate how much confidence if must give the front three knowing they have two players behind them who are not going to be doing anything eye popping.

Still I think either Matic or Kante needs to be more creative to an extent.. or who ever plays instead of them does, in the long run.