According to various reports, Manchester United and Jose Mourinho are in hot pursuit of Nemanja Matic right now. As per the news, United have already reached an agreement with Chelsea and the deal is said to be announced by next week.
A signing that is up for debate:
Ever since the news of United’s interest in Matic has come up it’s been a point of some heated arguments. The United faithful as of now are largely divided into two parts. One, who feel that Nemanja Matic will be a wasteful signing and will not add anything to the team. And then there’s the other half who feel that Matic is the final piece in Mourinho’s defensive jigsaw puzzle.
While the first group of people do have a few points to state their case. But the second group might also just be right you know. Matic might just be the player United were looking for. He might be the player who helps unleash Paul Pogba to the world.
The Pogba problem:
If we look back at the past season, Paul Pogba has largely looked a shadow of his own self at Juventus. A man who promised much but delivered mostly mediocracy. Well, atleast for his price tag.
And this was largely due to the fact that in Juventus, Pogba was playing much further upfield. He was playing most of the matches in and around the opponents final half. And from such a place, the Frenchman was able to dictate attacks much better. But unfortunately, that was not the case when he arrived at United. Under Jose Mourinho, Pogba was given a much more centralised role. While he would venture forward at times but that would mostly happen against smaller teams that posed no attacking threats.
And to add to that, United lacked a deep lying midfielder who could start an attack from the back. Yes, they had Micheal Carrick but the Englishman’s age just did not allow him to play week in week out. So it was left to Pogba to pull all the strings. The Frenchman would come down to the back just to receive the ball and hopefully find a penetrating pass.
While United fans just loved and adored those long diagonals and cheeky one touches, it just wasn’t helping Pogba’s game.
How will Matic’s signing help Paul Pogba?
But now if Matic arrives, things could be a whole lot different. Well, for starters, Matic is a player who rarely ventures forward. He likes to sit back and screen his defensive line. So with Matic, Mourinho will more or less be safe against quick counter attacks.
And Matic sitting back in his position and guarding the back line would mean that Pogba will have the license to venture forward. It would mean that Pogba will not have to come down in order to start a move. Matic who himself has a good eye for a forward pass can easily move the ball forward. This will eventually help Pogba as he can then receive the ball where he likes it best. Just before the attacking third.
It would mean that Pogba will not only get to see much more of the ball, but he will also add another dimension to United’s attack.
