Matic was the player on everybody's lips when it came to "who is the first player to be replaced in the summer?". Now that we've signed Tiemoue Bakayoko, Matic has gone to 4th in the pecking order, after Kante, Bakayoko and Cesc.
Matic featured week in, week out last season only because Antonio Conte felt it was right to play with two holding midfielders all the time, with Cesc coming on in the 2nd half. Now that Bakayokos here, there is no future for Matic in the first team. Only on the bench. He does not want to be on the bench and Chelsea does not want him anymore either. Soon to be 29 and two years left on his contract. 40M is a great deal. Matic is definitely on his way out.
United is not an option anymore so Juventus is the only viable option.
So as a Chelsea fan, having watched him for the past three seasons, I can tell you this - decent player against smaller sides, utter wank against top teams. As a comparison, Spurs' Dembele is everything we wanted Matic to be. But better put it this way - Matic is a poor mans Thiago Motta.
For me he is a better fit as a defensive midfielder in a three man midfield where he has to do only the dirty work. Don't make him try fancy passes or build from the back because he is awful at it. Protect the backline and spray some passes left or right, that's what he does best.
Also his passing skills are meh... He's left footed, plays it safely, no long passes, no diagonal passes, just short ones, 85-90% of the time with the left back or the left winger.
He's clearly been found out in the PL mostly because of his pace (never been a speedster, but nowadays he's slow as a boat) and his passing skills. Thrives when there is no pressure, but looks like a deer in the headlights against teams that press high up the pitch and make him into playing one touch passes.
But I think he'll do just fine at Juventus in a slower league and a team that has lots of possession most of the time.
Matic featured week in, week out last season only because Antonio Conte felt it was right to play with two holding midfielders all the time, with Cesc coming on in the 2nd half. Now that Bakayokos here, there is no future for Matic in the first team. Only on the bench. He does not want to be on the bench and Chelsea does not want him anymore either. Soon to be 29 and two years left on his contract. 40M is a great deal. Matic is definitely on his way out.
United is not an option anymore so Juventus is the only viable option.
So as a Chelsea fan, having watched him for the past three seasons, I can tell you this - decent player against smaller sides, utter wank against top teams. As a comparison, Spurs' Dembele is everything we wanted Matic to be. But better put it this way - Matic is a poor mans Thiago Motta.
For me he is a better fit as a defensive midfielder in a three man midfield where he has to do only the dirty work. Don't make him try fancy passes or build from the back because he is awful at it. Protect the backline and spray some passes left or right, that's what he does best.
Also his passing skills are meh... He's left footed, plays it safely, no long passes, no diagonal passes, just short ones, 85-90% of the time with the left back or the left winger.
He's clearly been found out in the PL mostly because of his pace (never been a speedster, but nowadays he's slow as a boat) and his passing skills. Thrives when there is no pressure, but looks like a deer in the headlights against teams that press high up the pitch and make him into playing one touch passes.
But I think he'll do just fine at Juventus in a slower league and a team that has lots of possession most of the time.
