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Since 'tis the season to read (too much?) into Nemanja Matic's actions, now it's time to read (not quite as much?) into his words. Actions can speak louder than words, but at least when talking about John Terry, Matic's words are loud and clear enough.
"Of course, he [Terry] is not happy we lost. But we know what he has done for this club and what he has won. All of us in the team wish him all the best for the future and of course this is not a good way to finish in a club but we don't forget what he won and what he has already done."
-Nemanja Matic; source: Telegraph
If Matic were a judge, he'd slam his gavel down at this point, having ruled in favor of Chelsea in the case of Chelsea vs. John Terry's future. There's still time to give Terry a new contract of course, but the rest of the squad seem to be expecting the outcome that's been obvious for a while.
But while Matic speaks with a palpable sense of finality about Terry's career, there remains a sense of 'we' as far as his own Chelsea future is concerned. Maybe that's why he celebrated the way he did, defiantly, in a sort of "in your face, I told you so" gesture towards whoever said he couldn't do it anymore?
"Yeah, it was a great goal, but I decided not to celebrate. I have my reasons."
Maybe those reasons will disappear in the next few months, with a new coach and a fresh start?
"This is football. Sometimes you win, other times not. As you know, last season we were champions, and this season we were not even close. But we will see in the future what we can do."
"This season was not good for us as you know already, but I believe in our quality, I believe in myself, I know what I can do and we showed that we can play very well, we can do something when we want to be champions and we will see next season what we can do - every season is a different story."
-Nemanja Matic; source: London 24
Matic has looked poor and disinterested and disheartened for most of the season, and perhaps stretching back even further, to that infamous Ashley Barnes tackle. It's been over a year since then, maybe it's time to finally put that all behind him and get back to being great as he was in 2014? Having that Matic back to anchor Antonio Conte's midfield could be a wonderful proposition...