By Raul Escobar
In a day where all the attention was geared towards Manchester United’s newest €75 million dollar man, another one of United’s new signings stole the spotlight but in a more subtle way. Without a doubt, Romelu Lukaku was magnificent, netting two goals in his debut. But Nemanja Matic, who completed a transfer from Chelsea this summer, shined in his United debut. Many critics were wary about how Matic would fit into United’s system and how he could coincide with mega superstar Paul Pogba. But contrary to what those critics said, Matic and Pogba flourished in the center of the park. For the past couple seasons, United lacked a true center defensive midfielder. While Pogba can play that position, he is more effective as a box-to-box midfielder, sparking the attack with his creativity and flare. Michael Carrick (who will go down as a United great) is showing signs of father time and is no longer as effective as he once was. Budding superstar Ander Herrera, (who similarly to Pogba) thrives pushing up the field and creating in the attack, can’t be given the monumental task to hold down the line in front of the back four by himself.
So what do Jose Mourinho and United do? Go out and sign Matic with the intent that he will release Pogba and allow him the become the creative genius that he displayed while at Juventus but also being assured that Matic will protect the back four. In their Premier League debuts with United, both Lukaku and Matic had spots in the starting XI and what they did was a sight to behold. From the opening whistle, it felt that United would dominate, but no one could predict how dominant they would be. Marcus Rashford and Henrikh Mkhitaryan looked dangerous on both wings while Pogba and Lukaku enjoyed the freedom in the middle of the park that they both took full advantage of. By the 33rd minute, Lukaku had opened the scoring and then added another shortly after the break. Anthony Martial entered the game as a substitute and joined the party as he netted his first of the season in the 87th minute. And to top things off, Pogba finished a beautiful sequence with Martial as he calmly finished a shot from about 20 yards out in the 90th minute. As you can see, Matic does not appear on the scoresheet and won’t get the attention that Lukaku or Pogba do, but his dirty-work and sacrifices for his teammates have just as much significance as any other contribution. I think it is safe to say that after week one in the Premier League, Manchester United looked better than they have in recent years and even with all of the money and attention spent on other players, it is Matic’s performance that stole the show this weekend.
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