He hasn’t performed this season. So I think he does deserve more scrutiny than he’s had
Jon Champion on Man Utd star Nemanja Matic
Champion says Matic is not as high profile as the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial at Manchester United.
But he admits the 30-year-old has not been at his best.
“I don’t think he’s been very good has he,” Champion said of Matic.
“And maybe we need to say that.
Man Utd news: Champion says Nemanja Matic has not been very good this season (Image: ESPN)
Man Utd news: Nemanja Matic has made 14 appearances for United this season (Image: GETTY)
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“If you carry the profile of Pogba, Martial, Sanchez, big-price tags, big expectations, big profiles that they seek themselves, you need to perform.
“Matic doesn’t go around looking for the profile in the same way.
“But he hasn’t performed this season.
“So I think he does deserve more scrutiny than he’s had.”
Man Utd news: Nemanja Matic was on the losing side in the Manchester derby on Sunday (Image: GETTY)
But Champion’s ESPN colleague Steve Nicol disagrees and says Matic’s team-mates have impacted his form.
“Matic, I think, doesn’t do a bad job considering the players he’s been playing with I don’t think help him out,” Nicol said.
“He ends up half the time being caught too deep because the defenders want him in front of him and sometimes he ends up too high because the others are trying to push him further up.
“He ends up not doing the job that he’s best at and that is finding a good position right in the middle so that if the ball is knocked out when they’re attacking, he gets it deep enough - but not too deep - so that when they defend they win it back at a decent position on the field.”