After spending the last couple few weeks tearing him down, then building him back up — yes, we have the technology! — Jose Mourinho was absolutely elated with Nemanja Matic's performance on Tuesday night against Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League. While the manager was happy with the solid effort overall, if not necessarily the final score, he singled out our embattled midfield key man for special praise.
"Matic was tremendous. He was phenomenal. His work with Ramires in the centre of the pitch was really impressive."
"I see progress clearly. I see players who are playing more to their level. I see progress individually and collectively. The concentration was phenomenal."
-Jose Mourinho; source: West London Sport
A quick shout-out to Ramires, doing his thing quietly and a bit under the radar for the second straight match in a row. That international break of no actual international involvement seems to have done him well.
Meanwhile, Matic played the full 90 minutes, the first time he's done that for Chelsea since our 2-0 win over Arsenal.
Mourinho: "Matic was tremendous. He was man of the match and his work rate in the middle of the pitch was terrific." #cfc
— Mourinholic (@Mourinholic) October 20, 2015
Besides the defensive work, he even flashed a bit of attacking flair, including this tremendous touch early on.
Dirty skills from Matic https://t.co/bZ1EXaqT8k
— SOCCER.COM (@soccerdotcom) October 20, 2015
It's just too bad that his finsihing let him down at the most crucial moment at the end of the first half. Still, it was lovely to see Matic back operating on his spiderbeasty level.
Matic: Step-by-step we're getting better[Video] #CFC #Matic: Step-by-step we're getting better
Posted by Chelsea FC Global on Tuesday, October 20, 2015
As usual, Matic is the cool, calm center of this universe. No smile for you, interview man.