Nemanja Matic

Nemanja Matic
Image from: freelargeimages.com

Nemanja Matic





Current Club: Manchester United.

Previous Clubs: Chelsea, Benfica, Chelsea, MFK Kosice, Kolubara, Jedinstvo Ub.

Loan Clubs: Vitesse Arnhem.





International: Serbia 46 caps 2 goals.

Trophies Won: English Premier League 2010, 2015, 2017. FA Cup 2010. League Cup 2015. Portugese League 2013/14. Portugese Cup 2014. Portugese League Cup 2011/12, 2013/14.





At one time Matic was arguably the best holding midfielder in Europe, but he has always shown a tendency to fade in the latter part of seasons. Over the last few years the fading has become an earlier and earlier trend, which does raise questions about his natural stamina, as he looks leggy and mentally fatigued after just a few weeks of a season now.



When on song, he is still an excellent midfielder with a very good left foot, who specialises in sitting in front of defence, breaking up attacks and playing the ball on to more creative players. Matic is also capable of supporting attacks and breaking up the play high up the pitch when fresh.



Unfortunately his fading shows in a sudden slowing of his play, he is slower to respond to attacks and move into position to break it up, he is slow to get hold of the ball and move it on and he stops getting in and around the edge of the opponent's box to latch onto loose balls out of defence. It is something that should be looked at, as he is not really so old that his legs should go at an early stage of the season.



One thing that can be relied upon is his usefulness in defending a corner using his height, though oddly that has never been exploited at the other end. A player with his height and heading ability should really be getting on the end of a lot of setpieces and be notching 5 or so goals a season from them alone.



Physically, even at his best he does lack pace, but Matic is strong and can often muscle others off the ball when he gets close enough, something which is very useful when protecting the defence. His reading of the game is very good, particularly when he is fresh as Matic is then able to respond in time to the unfolding picture and get himself into place to break up an attack.



Technically he is what we know as a typical Eastern European player, very sound technique, good control, passes the ball well and strikes it cleanly with power on those rare occasions he takes a shot. If some fix can be found for Matic's fading efficiency, when he becomes almost lumbering, then he can still be an extremely useful player.



I do wonder if his diet and lifestyle has been properly overhauled or if he just has a natural lack of fitness due to his build? Maybe Matic just needs to be used more sparingly to allow his body to recover? Whatever it is, if it can be addressed he could still have 5 years at the top with his ability.





Requested by - TrueRedDevil