Matija Nastasic

[Chi-town blues]

For controlling the situation and heading the ball back to where his keeper should have been?

Nasty's got his eyes on the ball so once Hart comes, not that he should have ever decided to rush 25 yeards out of his goal, he should be yelling for Nastasic to leave it, which either didn't happen or Nastasic is unbelievably stupid.

Hart's fault entirely.

Hart messed up and there is no denying .Maybe Hart lost confidence with Nasty after the first goal .As a last defender he should've cleared the ball to row Z without any second thought.

Except we're not Stoke and we don't give the ball away when there's another option. Why would he give Chelsea a throw in our half, allowing them to possibly create a chance, when he could nod the ball back to his keeper so we retain possession and at worst, allow a big kick upfield which gives Chelsea possession in their own half?

SO what you are saying is ,there was more rick factory if he had kicked the ball out for throw in then what he did yesterday?

 

[JoeMercer'sWay]

He's another player we have just overhyped. Still a good young player learning the ropes but far too much hyperbole that has got us to this point.

I'd turn that on its head and say it's people who are expecting him to put in Kompany-esque performances every week and then saying how overrated he is and how he'll only ever be decent are the ones that are causing more of an issue.

With Vinnie getting crocked far too frequently people have put a dependency on him to fill the captain's shoes and no young CB is going to be able to do that.

It's the people who criticize him but seemingly on the basis that he's not Vinnie level yet that's causing the issue.

 

[daztrueblue91]

Hart messed up and there is no denying .Maybe Hart lost confidence with Nasty after the first goal .As a last defender he should've cleared the ball to row Z without any second thought.

Except we're not Stoke and we don't give the ball away when there's another option. Why would he give Chelsea a throw in our half, allowing them to possibly create a chance, when he could nod the ball back to his keeper so we retain possession and at worst, allow a big kick upfield which gives Chelsea possession in their own half?

SO what you are saying is ,there was more rick factory if he had kicked the ball out for throw in then what he did yesterday?

It would be a bit rich for Hart to lose confidence in another player based on the way he's played this season.

And of course knocking the ball out for a throw is less risk but it should only be encouraged if in doubt. If Hart stayed where he should have been then it was a simple back pass.

 

[stonerblue]

Shit defending for Chelseas 2nd. Schoolboy stuff.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Shit defending for Chelseas 2nd. Schoolboy stuff.

As soon as Kompany is fit I would give him some time out of the first 11. He over performed last season and that blinkered the money men in the summer into thinking we didn't really need to spend big money on a CB. That was a mistake for me and Nastasic should currently be someone who plays 20 games a season, not the almost full season he gets. He has huge potential but that should be managed accordingly. Over use is not doing him or the team any favours.

 

[stonerblue]

Shit defending for Chelseas 2nd. Schoolboy stuff.

As soon as Kompany is fit I would give him some time out of the first 11. He over performed last season and that blinkered the money men in the summer into thinking we didn't really need to spend big money on a CB. That was a mistake for me and Nastasic should currently be someone who plays 20 games a season, not the almost full season he gets. He has huge potential but that should be managed accordingly. Over use is not doing him or the team any favours.

I like Nasty but think he is running before he's learned to walk properly so to speak.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Shit defending for Chelseas 2nd. Schoolboy stuff.

As soon as Kompany is fit I would give him some time out of the first 11. He over performed last season and that blinkered the money men in the summer into thinking we didn't really need to spend big money on a CB. That was a mistake for me and Nastasic should currently be someone who plays 20 games a season, not the almost full season he gets. He has huge potential but that should be managed accordingly. Over use is not doing him or the team any favours.

I like Nasty but think he is running before he's learned to walk properly so to speak.

He is and to be fair to him, that's not really his fault is it? It needs better management. Lescott is no world beater but he should have played a few more especially away from home.

This Jan/summer we must buy a top CB and a new left back. These are problem areas for us.

 

[Blue2112]

90% Hart's fault. Nasty for his part should at some point of checked on his keeper's position or shout out get back and at the very least by using his arm point out to where he's gonna put the ball. He did neither of the options available to him and that could have also included putting the ball into row z. I don't buy this he's too young stuff, he's played enough games throughout his career whilst reaching this level from a schoolboy. Where I will accept he's too young is for week after week of Premiership football including Champions League. This is football at it's highest level and arguably more intense than International football and he needs to adapt and be taken out of the firing line on occasions. The exact can be said of Hart who has played almost non stop from coming through as a kid.

 

[celticfc482]

Wasnt nastys faults, fact is its the 2nd time hart has run out all gung ho and cost goals. If he just stays in his box then its a simple header back but he always has to run out, youd of thought hed learn form last time.

 

[FromPollockToSilva]

Lescott is needed to settle the defence. Nastasic should play only when kompany does

Tackles per game:

Nastasic 1.7
Lescott 1.5
Kompany 1.5

Interceptions per game:

Lescott 1.5
Kompany 1.3
Nastasic 0.7

Fouls per game:

Nastasic 2
Lescott 0.5
Kompany 0.5

Clearances per game:

Nastasic 6.6
Lescott 5.3
Kompany 4.8

Players Dribbled past per game:

Lescott 1
Kompany 0.5
Nastasic 0.4

Blocked shots per game:

Nastasic 0.6
Lescott 0.5
Kompany 0.5

Average passes per game:

Lescott 58.8
Nastasic 46.9
Kompany 32.3

Pass completion per game:

Kompany 93.8%
Nastasic 91.5%
Lescott 89.4%

Accurate long passes per game:

Kompany 4.3
Nastasic 2.7
Lescott 2.3

So actually Lescott comes out better than Nastasic so far this season, though he has played 3 games less. So I guess you can really either say it's down to the perceived nervyness of Lescott on the ball (in other words his lack of conviction with the ball, as seen in the Everton game, as well as his lack of confidence due to lack of regular playing time) as the stats show he's doing well, but obviously they don't reflect game moments such as Nastasic at Chelsea and Villa and Lescott v Everton, or we can look at last season and see if that has had a noticeable bearing on this season's selections:

Apps

Kompany 26
Nastasic 21
Lescott 17(9)

Tackles per game

Kompany 2.1
Nastasic 1.5
Lescott 0.8

Interceptions per game

Kompany 1.7
Nastasic 1.2
Lescott 1

Fouls per game

Kompany 1.3
Nastasic 1.1
Lescott 0.3

Clearances per game

Kompany 6.8
Nastasic 6.1
Lescott 4.8

Players dribbled past per game

Nastasic 0.4
Lescott 0.3
Kompany 0.2

Blocked shots per game

Lescott 0.8
Nastasic 0.5
Kompany 0.5

Dispossessed per game

Kompany 0.1
Lescott 0.1
Nastasic 0.4

Average passes per game

Kompany 49.9
Nastasic 46.1
Lescott 31.7

Pass completion rate

Lescott 89.6%
Kompany 89.2%
Nastasic 86.9%

Successful long passes per game

Kompany 5
Nastasic 4
Lescott 1.1

So I think we can see that it was Nastasic's tendency to get stuck in a bit more and his passing range that gave him the edge last season, Noticeably however Nastasic's percentage of successful long balls has dropped while Lescott's has improved, and Nastasic's foul count has gone up, whilst Lescott is getting stuck in more. So they're actually a lot closer in terms of performance this season, but there are also mitigating factors like in the Everton game Everton set up so that Lescott kept being given the ball as they perceived being weaker with it, so he obviously made a higher amount of passes than normal. Up against Kompany though they're clearly secondary. Obviously Kompany's stats are weakened this season through his spells on the sideline but you can still tell his influence.

Ultimately I think to play Lescott you need 3 in midfield so he has enough short range options available to suit his passing range. With the move to 2 it's meant Pelle hasn't felt confident enough in playing him, especially when he makes a mistake like v Everton. Yesterday he could have done a fair job I think but he's now in the mind of the manager second fiddle to Nasty, who's underperforming but still has that greater range Lescott doesn't.

I think it would require the formation from yesterday on a regular basis for Lescott to feature more regularly in the side.

Not sure why no one has commented on this excellent post. The stats make for very interesting reading but I think the key to Pellegrini's preference for not playing Lescott is highlighted perfectly in your last paragraph. And I also agree that Lescott would probably have been a good choice yesterday with Garcia occupying the anchorman role and (theoretically at least) providing an easy pass for Lescott.

The gap between defence and midfield when we line up 4-2-2-2, especially if we lose the ball in the opposition's half with men committed forward, requires defenders more comfortable with the ball at their feet than Lescott, and he has really suffered because of his perceived lack of technical ability this season.