Right from the kickoff, it was apparent that United were missing Nemanja Matic. Scot McTominay failed to replicate the same impact from the middle of the field and even though he grew in confidence as the game progressed, there were several instances where everyone was reminded of how important Matic is to this team.
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The Serbian shields the back four and picks up the pieces in front of the box. He is extremely important in implementing the discipline that holds the team together when they are chasing the ball. And when he has the ball, he dictates the tempo from the deep and can pick out glorious balls that unleash the forward players. With him in the team, Pogba and Herrera play without fear and with the knowledge that the Serbian has their back.
Without Matic, United looked vulnerable and Herrera and Pogba had to be wary all the time. It is clear that United do not have a back up for Matic in their team and that is something that Solskjaer should be worried about.
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About the author
Deepungsu Pandit
Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written close to 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.
Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.
Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.
Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.
Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.
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