Matija Nastasic has started 17 of Manchester City’s 28 league games this season. In these starts, Manchester City have kept 13 clean sheets (meaning that if Nastasic plays, 75% of the time, City will keep a clean sheet). He has a 96% tackle completion rate, has made zero mistakes leading to goals in the entire season, as well as having an 86% pass completion rate. Since the new year, Manchester City have kept ten clean sheets in 12 games, largely without their captain and defensive juggernaut Vincent Kompany. It’s worth mentioning that Nastasic is currently in his first season in the Premier League this season, and is but 19 years of age. He has displaced England international Joleon Lescott entirely on merit.
Not to mention that Nastasic doesn’t seem to show an iota of nervousness and has no obvious weaknesses to his game. He plays with an aura of confidence and intelligence that reminds me of an in-his-prime Fabio Cannavaro. A very different player to his Serbian counterpart across Manchester Nemanja Vidic, a Porsche to his tank, Nastasic’s positional awareness is outstanding. So why aren’t we talking about him? He seems to be awfully under the radar for a player in a top four side doing this well in his first season. Remember all the fuss about Kyle Walker last season? Of course you have to factor in that Nastasic is not English, and that inevitably means he’ll get a little less hype than English players, but still, what’s going on exactly?
Well, when Nastasic first broke through, the media didn’t seem to be particularly thrilled about the ousting of Joleon Lescott, an English international who had just won the league and had an excellent Euro 2012. Lescott’s ousting has thrown England’s defence into somewhat of a crisis too, with no real up-and-coming alternatives, and so, many journalists turned on Roberto Mancini and subsequently Nastasic for the mistreatment of a player they felt hadn’t deserved it. And while I understand that, Nastasic’s performances have transcended any criticism to the point where it’s increasingly legitimate to ask if there’s been anyone better than him this season; after all, he’s the statistically strongest defender in the strongest defence in the league.
Statistically, the answer may be no, but we all know statistics can be misleading. By and large, the defending in the Premier League has been particularly poor this season, with even runaway leaders Manchester United having spells of conceding goals. Granted their defence has tightened up in the second half of the season, and Rio Ferdinand has come on strong in the last couple of months, but weaknesses earlier in the season prevent him, or anyone else at United for that matter, from being part of the conversation. Chelsea have stayed tight at the back this season for the most part, but regularly-featuring centre backs Gary Cahill and David Luiz have been error-prone.
I’ve been very impressed with Swansea’s defence this season, which feels drastically improved upon last year, with centre-half and captain Ashley Williams leading a very solid defence alongside Chico Flores. Williams has been good enough this year to attract interest from likes of Arsenal, and whether he stays or goes, I think Swansea’s solidity at the back is a large reason for their probable top-half finish. I think you could make the case for him, if you so desired. And while Stoke’s defence, and in particular Ryan Shawcross, started the season extremely well, they too have found themselves facing more difficulties as the season has progressed.
I think Nastasic probably wins on account of how little right he has to be this good right now; a player brought in as a replacement for the nervy Stefan Savic, who was at best cover last season. Mancini, not settling on a fixed back four this season, has rotated centre-backs on a regular basis, meaning Nastasic has had to deal with coming in and out of the side and playing with different partners, but Nastasic has adapted without fault. The extended absence of Kompany in the latter half of the season could have lead to a fairly cataclysmic situation for City, but the 19-year old his risen to the occasion. I’d expect him and Kompany to become a regular pair next season, and if it wasn’t already, this will become a very hard team to score against.
Written by: Louis Baxter on March 15, 2013
