Michael Ballack Predicted Nemanja Matic’s Rise To Stardom
A teaser trailer on Chelsea TV for a special on Chelsea FC‘s star midfielder, Nemanja Matic, exposed something very interesting. The minute long video features an interview with comedian and Chelsea fan Omid Djalili who is having a conversation with former Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack.
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This part of the interview that we see shows Omid and Ballack at a dinner and they are speaking about what Ballack thinks about a young Nemanja Matic. Ballack without a doubt responds that he believes that in a few years Matic will be 10 times the player he ever was. This conversation took place way back in 2010 when Matic was just an afterthought as a Chelsea player.
Back then, this statement would sound absurd considering Matic’s shaky first spell with the Blues. Sinc being sold off to Benfica, Matic began to fill the shoes Ballack left behind, and continues to grow and strengthen as a key player. It will still be a tough task becoming 10 times the player Ballack was considering how much the German has achieved, but it is certainly something for Nemanja Matic to strive for. Already a major part of Chelsea’s midfield, The Serbian tank could see himself passing Ballack.
The importance of Matic has been demonstrated in the reaction to his two match suspension. Even when Diego Costa was suspended for three games Chelsea fans thought that it would be tough without him but that he could be somewhat replaced by the other strikers. Didier Drogba and Loic Remy played admirably in Costa’s absence but the same can not be said of Matic’s replacements in previous matches.
Other than perhaps Eden Hazard, there is no player more important to the Chelsea team than Nemanja Matic. The Serbian controls the flow of the match with his passing and ability to break up play and when he has an off day so does the rest of the team. His ability to shield the back four has hidden some of Chelsea’s defensive frailties this season and on the rare occasions he has been exposed the defense has looked lost and confused.
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It shows rare foresight that Michael Ballack could make such a prediction but the man knows what to look for in a great box to box midfielder. Matic has been compared to Claude Makelele in the past but perhaps the comparison to Ballack is more apt considering they both have a goalscoring touch and a cannon attached to their hips. The Serb is a bit more physically imposing than Ballack and has quite a bit of catching up to do in the goals department but he is well on his way to becoming the same caliber of player as the German legend.