Defensive Shield

More than £60M was spent to bring Costa and Fabregas to Stamford Bridge this season and the impact has been nothing short of stunning but it still looks like the best piece of business that the Chelsea board has done in the past year is to bring back Nemanja Matic for £21M from Benfica.
He plays in the Claude Makalele position and for a club from whom that position was coined it's amazing that we've not been able to get a replacement for him since he left about 10 seasons ago despite trying different players in that position till now.
Essien was more of a box-to-box midfielder just like Ramires. Mikel Obi, a converted attacking midfielder, does not have the same effect when the team is playing our expansive game. He thrives more in the park-the-bus games. Oriol Romeu played it differently but was hampered by injuries and was loaned out so Sevilla.
Matic himself was sold as part of the deal to bring David Luiz to Chelsea because he was still not up to the task but after 3 seasons away he's grown into 1 of the best defensive shields in the world and definitely the best in the BPL.
He is stronger and quicker on the ball, very good in the air, and his passing range is outstanding (he completed 97 passes out 102 against Aston Villa).
His partnership with Fabregas has flourished this season with both making effective contributions at both ends of the field on Saturday and his heat map (from Daily Mail) below shows his dominance in the middle of the pitch.
He made sure he fouled the breaking Charlie Austin on halfway as we crept into stoppage time at 2-1. QPR looked dangerous, but the destroyer hauled Austin down to get a crucial break in play and the resulting free-kick came to nothing. He makes the back four comfortable and his calming influence will be a huge welcome in the big games this season.

Frank Lampard moved to Manchester City after making a stop at New York but it seems like he left us a huge parting gift with his number 8 shirt for Oscar. The brazilian has been in a scintillating form this season and scored another wonderful goal on sunday from a another Fabregas assist. With his current scoring rate it feels like our legendary number 8 never left. That is called succession.

I made a suggestion on this blog last week that irrespective of the mutual respect between Mourinho and Louis van Gaal the latter might not really like his former prodigy that much. Other than that how do you explain what happened on Sunday in the Manchester derby?
United were playing to lose until they went behind. Chris Smalling's red card was so pathetic it seemed tactical. Di Maria who has been their best player this season played like he was under orders to get his 1st flop in a United shirt.
Is that how to treat a friend?
Definitely not. You do them big favours like blocking their rivals to help them win leagues when you have no chance. That is friendship.

Big ups to Barcelona who managed to lose again against Celta Vigo at home with their supposed fearsome III all starting. For a team that makes so much long term planning its amazing that they've been playing with this makeshift defence for almost 3 seasons. Its all good as far as I'm concerned. Their loss is always my happiness.