Despite a brace from Romelu Lukaku, stat sheet stuffing from Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, not to mention a clean sheet from David de Gea, the man of the match in Sunday’s Manchester United 4-0 win over West Ham was Nemanja Matic.
Most pundits described him as the best player on the pitch, and one tv talking head called him “the baby-sitter,” because he makes sure everything is in place to prevent problems and open up the opportunities for everyone to play and get their treats.
Other commentary emerging from the Premier League opening rout over the Hammers maintained that Matic was a major steal for United, and it’s very questionable why Chelsea let him go in the first place. United entered the season as a consensus league title contender, with the Red Devils receiving odds at places just like Spinzwin Casino that are the second most favorable in the entire league; behind only Manchester City. With that huge performance this past weekend, look for United’s title odds to only get more favorable.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte described the 29-year-old’s departure as a “great loss,” and when he did so, conveyed that the decision was not up to him. Conte seemingly sought to keep Matic, but Chelsea owner, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich stepped in sanctioned the sale. Mkhitaryan feels that the Blues loss is the Red Devils gain.
“Actually I am [surprised],” Mkhitaryan responded when asked why Chelsea let him go. “But at the same time I am very happy that we have got him.
“It was not only Matic. I want to mention as well the other two new signings, [Victor] Lindelof and Lukaku. They are very good players. They are, I think, Manchester United players.”
“Matic does a big job on the pitch. He tries to recover all the balls. He defensively does a big job. Lukaku scored his goals and Lindelof is still going to have time to show himself. So I want to say all the players are good signings and they are going to help us a lot.”
With United aggressively pursuing, but not landing Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic, it was thought that Mourinho didn’t have the highest of faith in some of his attacking players, Mkhitaryan included. However, Mourinho now seems set to go for it with what he has, and the result against West Ham showed that he probably has enough to get the job done right now.
Mkhitaryan started the season opener in the No. 10 role supporting Lukaku, and it’s a gig that the Armenian truly enjoys.
“I prefer to play as a No. 10 but if the manager thinks I’m helpful for the team playing on the wings I am happy to play on the wings. It doesn’t matter,” he said.
United travel to Swansea City on Saturday for their next league fixture.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV.
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