UK Edition
What does Nemanja Matic bring to Man Utd and where will he play?
Manchester United really want to win things this season and the £40million-plus signing of Nemanja Matic is a massive statement of intent, taking United's summer spend to over £141.75million and adding to already high expectations.
Jose Mourinho knows how to get the very best out of Matic, having won the Premier League with him in the 2014/15 season and he now has an abundance of options in midfield, but with several big names all vying for two central midfield slots, just where does Matic fit it in?
Getting the most out of Paul Pogba
During his most successful years at Juventus, Paul Pogba was always part of a three man midfield, with two cautious, sensible midfielders - usually two of Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio and Sami Khedira - alongside him, providing a stable platform from which Pogba was allowed to go roaming in search of goals, and other goal-related fun.
In a two, it is a lot more difficult to afford such freedom to an attack-minded player like Pogba, and he got a hard time by many for perceived under-performances last season, something which seemed inevitable for such a hugely expensive player, even at the time. In reality, Pogba was excellent; (re)adjusting to Premier League football has proven difficult for many an international superstar and Pogba did so within a team that wasn't quite sure of itself.
Mourinho's midfield changed throughout the season until it became clear that the first choice was either Pogba, Michael Carrick and Ander Herrera in a 4-3-3 or Pogba and Herrera in a 4-2-3-1. Matic is a big upgrade for both systems.
In a three man midfield, Carrick controls the tempo of the game and starts attacks from deep while Herrera buzzes around the pitch winning the ball and shuttling back-and-forth making passes. Herrera is the worker, Carrick the calm influence and Pogba the creator.
What Matic brings to the team is a little of both Herrera and Carrick. A more powerful version of the Spaniard and infinitely more mobile version of veteran Carrick, he can play either as a box-to-box midfielder or a defensive holding player, doing the work of both when asked. It is likely he will be preferred to Herrera alongside Pogba in a two man midfield, freeing up room further up the pitch for another forward and making Mourinho's preferred 4-2-3-1 the first choice tactical set up.
Matic also represents a long-term replacement for Carrick, whose tugboat-on-land pace makes it difficult for the midfielder to move anywhere quickly, and though Carrick gives United real balance when he plays, Mourinho likes to win games in transition, stealing the ball at the half-way line and counter-attacking at high speed - something Matic is superb at.
The numbers back up the idea that Matic can do both roles. In Chelsea's title-winning 2014/15 season, Matic made 72 interceptions and 129 tackles in the Premier League, covering 407km and recording three assists from 24 chances created. In that role he was able to free up Cesc Fabregas to make the 18 assists which were integral in bringing the trophy back to Stamford Bridge.
Last season, in a midfield two alongside the far more defensively minded N'Golo Kante, Matic was able to move from box-to-box, producing seven assists from 26 chances created, often finding himself in the final third linking passes together in attacking moves.
More players, more options
Another option is for Mourinho to start Matic alongside one of Herrera, Carrick or Fellaini and move Pogba into a number 10 position - Matic gives Mourinho more room to experiment tactically.
We saw the manager go off-road last season as he deployed a 3-5-2 in the occasional Europa League game and in a 2-0 victory over Chelsea.
In that game, Fellaini acted as a holding midfield player, Pogba broke forward in attack and Herrera was made to man-mark Eden Hazard for the entire match, completely nullifying Chelsea's key creative influence as a result. It worked perfectly and Mourinho appears to like it as an option.
"It's something we have to keep working on in case during the season we decide to play three at the back," he said after beating LA Galaxy 5-2 in a friendly. "We did it twice against Rostov and maybe we want to do it more times."
This shape allows Mourinho to play two strikers and therefore keep Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford in central positions without shunting one (Rashford) out wide. This also means United can field two attacking wingers and provide Old Trafford with something similar to the old "United Way" style of play without compromising Mourinho's more careful, pragmatic ideals.
As the better all-round player, Matic would almost certainly replace Fellaini in this team. Equally, he could do Herrera's job, and if Pogba goes missing for a spell, Juan Mata could be brought into central midfield and turned into a Fabregas type, pulling the strings alongside the dynamic Matic in an entirely hypothetical tactical setup.
Fellaini offers a different option entirely and has often been utilised in a fairly innovative number 10 destroyer role, tasked with disrupting play close to the opposition box as opposed to creating it, as he did in the Europa League final against Ajax. He won't cut a defence open with a killer pass, nor will he provide the assured control in midfield that Matic brings, but his physical presence, aerial power and ability to control the ball on his chest from almost any trajectory or height makes him a real nuisance to defenders and an asset to Mourinho.
What is certain is that with Matic on board, Mourinho has the positional flexibility and talent at hand to adapt to his opponents and have confidence that doing so won't compromise the strength of his team.
A bigger squad for a bigger season
Quite simply, Man Utd needed more midfield options. This season they should be competing on several fronts and to do so will require a squad full of match winners and players capable of maintaining concentration when a certain bus is relocated to particular bits of a certain pitch.
It sounds rather obvious but Mourinho needs the strongest possible team he can get in every single match this season. If he wants to play a 4-3-3 for a particular game and Carrick is too tired, Herrera suspended and Fellaini... is Fellaini, what other current options does/did he have?
In times of injury and suspension, often Mourinho has looked to his squad for answers and while Daley Blind's adaptability is incredibly useful, he hasn't proven to be anything above average in a key midfield role. If United are to return to the summit of elite football, they need better options than that. In Matic they have it.
Furthermore, Matic is a league title winner. Some of United's first team stars have never come close - Herrera, Fellaini, Lukaku and Rashford are just a few examples - and bringing in players with this experience can only help inspire and breed that mentality in a club which desperately wants to go back to winning ways.
Questions will, and should, be asked about Matic's post-title-winning 2015/16 season in which he was a big disappointment and whether Mourinho might have been made to bring through one or two of Man Utd's youth prospects. The issue, as ever, is that Mourinho needs results immediately and if those youngsters aren't ready, United's season could suffer.
The bar has been set higher this season. On one hand, youth is being denied a pathway to the first team with £40m signings but on the other, circumstances, pressure and the need to win means United cannot afford to wait and hope they make the grade. That development process can come later.
Mourinho knows how to win trophies and the club has bought well this summer. Matic might not be the answer to all of Man Utd's problems but he is an astute, if expensive, signing who could just make the rest of the stars at the club align.