COMMENTARY
As performances go, there was not a lot for Manchester United regular Nemanja Matic to celebrate about his against Arsenal – and the fans’ reactions on Twitter says it all. He was brought back into the side after his recent layoff to provide experience and quality in the middle of the pitch but he looked miles of the pace as the likes of Granit Xhaka ran all over him. He just could not keep up with the Arsenal stars and even when his side were in possession he slowed the game down to within an inch of its life. It was quite clear that he had not recovered fully from his injury setback and that is a mistake that both the midfielder as well as manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have to take responsibility for. Hopefully for the fuming Manchester United faithful it is something that he learns from and that he will avoid throwing players back into the deep end in games of such magnitude in the future. A touch of managerial naivety, perhaps.
This is Futbol has gathered a selection of the supporters’ tweets:
In hindsight this is a good result. (I’m gutted though) how can we carry on with Fred and Matic in midfield (they would struggle to hold a spot in championship sides) And it corrects our attitude, thought we were world beaters and we are far from it. Need players #mufc
— R Corps# (@RayCorps) March 10, 2019
I just can't understand the criticism on Fred. I think he's done alright today. Pogba and Matic are much worse.
— Velasco (@FzR_11) March 10, 2019
Pogba and Matic are the biggest disappointment for me today. Zero excuse to be so average
— Olufemi Adebayo (@blessed_04) March 10, 2019
We played better with McTominay at the back, Matic is anti-football minded, just like his boss
— Shahirul (@shhrlaimn) March 10, 2019
https://twitter.com/CameronLaws92/status/1104809078725971969
Fred was our best midfielder today Matic and Pogba look out of there depths.
— Dyl (@UtdDyl) March 10, 2019
https://twitter.com/lukeeasty/status/1104803280146886657
Matic was pathetic today. Fred needs to be sold immediately.
— Pir Qasim (@pirqasim) March 10, 2019
Not clinical at all today, as for Matic, he needs putting in the bin ?????
— Luke (@LukeParkyJenks) March 10, 2019