Nemanja Matic Has Revitalised His Career at Old Trafford

Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic proved a dead man walking just a few months ago. The Serbian had fallen down the pecking order, with Fred and Scott McTominay establishing themselves in the Solskjaer’s midfield. Matic was ultimately deemed surplus to requirements.

How quickly things change in football, the former Chelsea man now finds himself at the centre, both literally and figuratively, of Solskjaer’s team. Injuries to Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay since Christmas has helped his cause, but the Serbian international is grabbing the opportunity to impress with both hands.

It’s no surprise that United’s upturn in form has coincided with Bruno Fernandes’ introduction into the side, but its helped further by the solidity, consistency and authority of both Fred and Matic behind him.

In terms of performance, last year, Matic had never looked lower in a United shirt. Laboured in possession, languid in his movement and tackling, fans started to turn on the Serbian. Used as one of the scapegoats for United’s poor form soon after Solskjaer signed a deal to manage the club permanently. The long list of injuries meant Matic never relinquished his place in the squad, yet he still put in some abysmal performances.

Even during Solskjaer’s ‘honeymoon’ period after he had taken over Mourinho in December 2018, Matic still had no place in the team, seen as the unfortunate outcast, failing to mix it up with his teammates.

He began this campaign with the same role, starting from the bench, barely picking up an appearance apart from the odd Europa League game, then he picked up an injury. Things could only get worse from there. The partnership between Fred and Scott McTominay rose to much prominence, placing themselves as Solskjaer’s trusted midfield pairing.

With his contract situation up in the year, running out this summer, there wasn’t much use for the Serbian. He’d only be confined to the odd game, here and there. Merely a squad player, essentially there to bulk up Solskjaer’s options in a lacklustre midfield but not really one the Norwegian could call upon. Injury to Paul Pogba potentially forced Solskjaer’s hand but he had other ideas. Instead, relying on Andreas Pereira to fulfil a role in midfield that was unfamiliar to him.

Scott McTominay’s sudden injury brought much panic. Pereira certainly wasn’t up to task to fill in, Solskjaer had no choice but to pull out Matic from the rubble. Since then, the Serbian midfielder hasn’t looked back. Proving why Mourinho signed him up from Chelsea in the first place.

What seemed like a weakness in his game, his lackadaisical passing, positioning, and movement has now been reincarnated. Matic now looks sharper, in his passing, tackling and positional understanding. In the Premier League, he averages 2.1 tackles per game, 1.8 in the Europa League, an average of 1.2 interceptions too. Also, his passing is on the up also, with an overall passing success rate of under 90%.

Even the one truly bad moment he’s had since returning to the fold; the red card against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup, was a momentary lapse of judgement that blotted what was an otherwise excellent and commanding performance — where he scored the game-winning goal.

United have certainly seen the best of Nemanja Matic over the past month. He even could have been on the scoresheet twice against Everton at Goodison Park, hitting the bar and forcing a smart save from Jordan Pickford. The reason Mourinho had such high regard for Matic was because of his authoritativeness on the pitch, his commanding presence, striking fear into opposition midfielders and his ruthless streak when it comes to breaking up play. He showed just that in the 2-0 derby win over Manchester City too, both he and Fred’s energy, tenacity and awareness meant City failed to conjure up any inspiration to haul themselves back into the game. It was a masterclass showing from Matic.

Since his return, the Serb has consummately performed those roles and now with the added sprinkle of quality in Bruno Fernandes, he now plays behind a player fully capable of complementing his dirty work in front of the defence. Matic can now quickly find Fernandes in dangerous positions in because of his improved passing and Fernandes’ fantastic positional understanding.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer now holds the luxury of harnessing a blend of skill sets in the middle, and with Paul Pogba still to return in the coming weeks, things are looking up for the Norwegian and his team. With Nemanja Matic in this sort of form, the club are now in a much better position than they were before the turn of the year. The Serbian now looks a much better, revitalised animal.