A controversy filled draw to Burnley this past Saturday at Stamford Bridge saw Chelsea’s lead atop the Premier League cut down from seven points to five points over defending champions Manchester City. Even worse for the Blues than the bad result, however, was the loss of defensive midfielder Nemanja Matić to a straight red card for retaliation against Burnley’s Ashley Barnes following a horrific tackle on the Serbian. While Matić was fortunate to walk away from the awful challenge without sustaining injury, he will now miss Chelsea’s Capital One Cup Final on Sunday against Tottenham and their Premier League fixture against West Ham.
Since rejoining Chelsea in January of 2014, Matić has become the cornerstone of the Blues’ midfield. The Serb possesses a combination of size, passing ability, technical skill and physicality that is not found in many other players in world football, and these traits have made him virtually irreplaceable in the double pivot for José Mourinho’s side.
The blues have only lost three matches this season out of 40 in all competitions, and it’s no surprise that they were without Matić in two of those contests. Chelsea saw their 21-game unbeaten streak come to an end at Newcastle on Dec. 6, a match which Matić missed due to accumulation of yellow cards. Newcastle’s Moussa Sissoko ran roughshod through the midfield in his absence, driving forward and helping to power Papiss Cissé to a pair of goals and a 2-1 victory for the Magpies. Likewise, Matić did not take part in Chelsea’s embarrassing FA Cup defeat at the hands of Bradford City, but it’s hard to imagine the Blues would have conceded four unanswered goals after going up 2-0 if the dynamic holding mid was on the pitch.
Perhaps the most telling statistic to illustrate Matić’s value is how many goals Chelsea concede with him on the pitch versus without him. In the Serbian’s 37 appearances this season, Chelsea allow an average of 0.8 goals per match versus an even 2.0 goals per match in three games without his services.
Matić’s importance stems from his ability to aid in defence, effectively shielding a back line that features two centre backs not renowned for their pace in John Terry and Gary Cahill. Matić reads the game well and possesses very strong tackling ability to take the ball off opposing players and thwart attacking opportunities before they ever materialise. His abilities extend far beyond his rock solid defence, however, as he possesses vision and passing ability to help spark Chelsea in attack from a deep-lying position. While Matić provides a reliable ball-winner in the double pivot next to the more offensively inclined Cesc Fàbregas, he is strong on the ball and equally adept at quarterbacking and making incisive forward passes to stimulate attacking sequences for Chelsea’s creative midfielders and strikers.
When Matić and his Spanish counterpart are paired in the central midfield Chelsea have two players capable of seeing the field and connecting with the Blues’ attacking play-makers such as Eden Hazard, Oscar, Willian and Diego Costa without compromising the security blanket in front of the defence thanks to Matić’s versatility. Matić’s offensive prowess is evidenced in part by his three goals and three assists this season, but his influence is far greater than those numbers can quantify. In fact, he’s so effective in his holding midfield role that he has invoked comparisons to Chelsea legend Claude Makélélé, the man credited with redefining the position – “The Makélélé Role” – in the mid 2000s during Mourinho’s first spell with the club.
Matić’s suspension comes at an inconvenient time for Chelsea, as the West Londoners look to stave off Manchester City for the final 12 games of the Premier League season and, more immediately, look to secure their first silverware of the campaign at Wembley Stadium against Spurs on Sunday. Without the dynamism of Matić in the midfield, Mourinho must use his trademark pragmatism to contrive a solution, which could prove especially challenging due to the injured status of John Obi Mikel. Even if the Nigerian were healthy, the dynamic of the CFC midfield changes drastically when he is on in place of Matić. Mikel can be relied upon to provide solid defensive cover in the midfield, but he is much less proficient going forward than Matić, preferring safer side-to-side passes rather than vertical outlet passes. Mikel’s propensity to sit back as a defensive anchor does not facilitate offensive production, which is why Mourinho mainly utilizes him as a substitute when Chelsea are protecting a lead late in matches.
With Mikel likely being unavailable for Sunday’s League Cup Final, however, Mourinho may turn to the young Nathan Aké as a replacement or opt for a tactical change. While Fàbregas has been a revelation this season upon his return to the Premiership, he cannot be relied upon to shield the back four with the aplomb of Matić and is dependent on the Serbian to provide defensive stability. Similarly, Ramires provides a high work rate and a fearless mentality, but he has mostly been effective in a 4-3-3 formation or in the double pivot next to Matić, where Nemanja provides a reliable safety net to mask mistakes and allow the sometimes undisciplined Brazilian more leeway to rampage through the midfield.
While the circumstances surrounding Matić’s sending off last weekend were dubious – Barnes’ challenge was dangerous and potentially leg-breaking, and it should have undoubtedly warranted a red card of its own – the fact is that Chelsea will have to make due without their main man in the midfield at a crucial juncture in the season. The last time Chelsea met Tottenham was on New Year’s Day, and the 5-3 defeat for the Blues was their worst league outing of the season. A trip across London to West Ham provides another challenging fixture.
How The Special One goes about compensating for the absence of one of the world’s elite holding midfielders remains to be seen, but it is a tall task and one that Chelsea must accomplish to secure silverware at Wembley and hold their ground ahead of the Citizens until Matić returns. The lone piece of good news for the Blues is that the suspension does not apply to their Champions League second leg tie against Paris Saint-Germain on March 11, so Matić will be available as Chelsea look to advance with a positive result against the Parisians.
