Transfer Story:
Michael Carrick has officially announced his retirement from professional football at the end of the current season. The former Spurs man has been a dutiful player for Manchester United and the team is very likely to feel his absence at the centre of the park.
Along with this, there are serious doubts over Marouane Fellaini’s contract extension. Expectedly, United are going to end up with two midfielders less and will have to look for certain replacements in the summer. Jose would want to add up the numbers in the midfield department and Blaise Matuidi is one of the players being linked to a move to Old Trafford now.
Matuidi and his qualities:
The French international is quite a renowned midfielder in European football and has been involved in many top European clashes over the course of years. Matuidi is a central midfielder by trait and can rotate between the centre and left according to the demands of the manager. He tends to stay deep and breaks down opposition attacks before playing a couple of passes to initiate a counter. Matuidi has a good balance and that helps him with his close control too as the French international is able to get the ball out of tight spaces with relative ease. He can play through the centre but generally likes to play from deep inside one of the wings as it allows him to cut in and make better use of his pace and acceleration.
Deceptive numbers:
Despite his qualities and talent, Blaise Matuidi’s numbers are quite mediocre. He has scored just twice and assisted once in his 22 appearances in the Serie A. He has won a mere 39% of his duels and approximately makes two defensive actions per game. He has created 13 goal-scoring chances in those 22 games and 53.8% of those chances came through the centre.
The other 46.2% chances were created inside the box and from the extreme left corner of the pitch. Certain impressive facts are that he has a passing accuracy of almost 92% this season. For a midfielder playing in a tactically astute league such as Serie A, it is an interesting stat. He hardly seems to give the ball away and tends to pick the right man around the box.
Matuidi is the man if you want to build your attack from the back and the man is defensively well positioned too. He is a disciplined player and never cheats on his defensive duties; something that Jose would really admire.
Right Man for United?
Now, this is a really tricky question. Blaise Matuidi is already 30 years old and might take time to adapt to life in the Premier League. Though his presence, experience, and skills would be useful, it is difficult to suggest how he would help the team in the longer run.