-By Hitanshu Samantaray
"As a player, I still have a lot more to give and achieve in my career and to do that with Manchester United will be a huge honour."
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| The Serbian Commander has extended his stay at Manchester United by three years until 2023 |
Let's accept this. We massively criticised Nemanja Matic for his inconsistency, immobility and unexciting style of play, and I'm glad that Matic has proved us all wrong, working on every aspect that he seemed to lack earlier this season.
Let's have a look at his season...
A Woesome Start to the Season
Spending the first three games of the season on the bench, virtue to a really poor finish to the 2018/19 campaign, it was a woeful start for Matic. By the start of October last year, the Serbian had featured barely in two PL games and notched up just 350 minutes of first-team football. Further agonising the issue, he was ruled out for 3 months due to an unknown injury through 20th Oct'19 till 15th Dec'19.
By the start of the New Year, Matic looked ready to admit that his unceremonious departure was imminent as he didn't fit in Ole's dynamic style of play which exposed his ponderous nature and his time spent looking for passes.
Additionally, with the upturn in form and consistency in Fred and McTominay consistently stepping up his game, opportunities were further restricted for the experienced midfielder, getting all but Europa League matches and Cup ties. Matic looked out of sorts in that team going forward and was often criticised for slowing down the pace of the game.
The Catalyst - An Odd One Indeed
Scott McTominay had been enjoying a stellar first full season at Manchester United, becoming a fan-favourite through his full-blooded warrior-like performances and his dedication towards the badge.
But then came the unfortunate injury on Boxing-Day which kept him out for 2 months, forcing Solksjaer to bring Matic in the team, whose last start was a 2-0 loss to West Ham back in September.
While filling the void left by McTominay, Matic was also awarded a one-year extension.
Since getting back to the team, Matic hasn't looked back and has looked so solid that he has become almost undroppable for Solksjaer. So what has changed since then? Why has Matic become so important to us? Well, we forked out some numbers to help you understand.
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| Line-Breaking at it's Best |
The Commander
It's only fair to say that since the arrival of Bruno Fernandes the whole squad seems to be reinvigorated, and Matic has been no exception. The Commander has been consistently putting in commanding performances since making his way back to the squad and leading by example, shielding the back four. Defensively this season, Nemanja Matić’s performances rank him as one of the top performers in the United squad for a number Premier League KPIs per 90 minutes, including interceptions (0.4), tackles (1.8), and blocks (0.4). His intelligence in reading the game and his simply serene line-breaking passing has been on the money and he has been such a calming presence in front of the back four that it has had a massive effect on our season and our performances.
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| Keep Calm, Matic is Playing |
Even at 31, Matic hasn't been regressing and has done a magnificent job at turning around his fortunes and seems to be becoming a mentor for the up and coming and show them the subtle, serene art of being a defensive midfielder and being that calming presence that just helps the team to go all-out attack. When encountering opposition content to let United come at them, Nemanja Matić’s presence just outside the box provides a barrier against the counter. It also offers a useful outlet if the holes aren’t being created, with Nemanja Matić able to switch play and shift the focus of attack.
Summary
To summarise, Matic has been magnificent for us and if he can keep up this form surely no one can dislodge him from the team. Being a fountain of experience, he can surely guide Scott McTominay to play that CDM role and also mentor and overlook the development of exciting academy prospects like James Garner, Dylan Levitt and Ethan Galbraith.
"This is a really exciting team to be part of, we have a good balance of youth and experience within the squad and there is great comradery amongst the group."
~The Commander
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