CHELSEA FC Chelsea hero: I never thought theyd make £21m move, but hes perfect written by Dan Coombs 4 hours ago 8 2 6 0 Former Chelsea star Michael Ballack was quizzed on his memories of Nemanja Matic at the weekend. £25 free bet with WINNER: Bet on Chelsea to win After a disappointing display at Selhurst Park, Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic was back to his best during the weekend victory over Stoke City. article continues below Matic made a team-high 88 touches during the 3-0 win, completing 92 per cent of his passes and winning five tackles. He was a driving force throughout, and made a superb run to distract the Stoke defenders to allow Willian space to curl in Chelseas third goal. Watching his performance in the SkySports studio was former Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack, who can just about remember Matic from his own spell at Stamford Bridge. Back then Matic was a youth prospect who made just a couple of substitute appearances for Chelsea under Carlo Ancelotti. The midfielder was judged as expendable and sold as a makeweight in the deal to sign David Luiz, only for the club to re-sign him for £21 million this January. Ballack was asked during his punditry role at the weekend whether he ever expected the club to re-sign the Serbian for such a figure. Never, never. It sounds strange but sometimes players develop differently. They thought at this time he wasnt ready for Chelsea. He wasnt, but now it seems like he is the perfect player for that position so thats why they spent so much money. Elaborating further on why Matic is so special, Ballack added: Hes like a playmaker, hes different to Mikel and other players. You see the players next to him, they trust him, they give him the ball, particularly in the second half. Matic created three goalscoring opportunities in the contest with Stoke, backing Ballacks description of him as like a playmaker, but this still was not his most creative game this season, that coming in the 6-0 demolition of Arsenal. Player Match Matchday Key Passes Mins Nemanja Matic Chelsea vs Arsenal 31 4 90 Nemanja Matic Chelsea vs Stoke 33 3 90 Nemanja Matic Aston Villa vs Chelsea 30 2 90 Nemanja Matic West Brom vs Chelsea 26 1 90 Nemanja Matic Crystal Palace vs Chelsea 32 1 90 Nemanja Matic Chelsea vs Everton 27 1 90 Nemanja Matic Chelsea vs West Ham 23 1 27 How different would the game against PSG have been if Matic was eligible?
Posted on: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 07:24:32 +0000
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