With the signing of Eliaquim Mangala confirmed, one man who will be considering his options is Matija Nastasic. The Serb who was signed as a replacement for the failed Stefan Savic has had an interesting two years as a Manchester City player. In his first season he was nominated for Man City’s player of the year and finished third in the voting behind Pablo Zabaleta and Carlos Tevez and he was largely considered the biggest positive of what was ultimately a disappointing season for The Blues. But the arrival of Pellegrini saw a downturn in form from Matija and after a poor performance against Chelsea, Pellegrini decided enough was enough and never played him again. This coupled with niggling injuries meant Matija played little part for the remainder of the year.
Yet there is still a case for sticking with the youngster; one reason for this is that he fits the system. Being good on the ball isn’t always necessary, but for Manchester City it certainly is, the high line and the onrushing full backs means the center back will often not have a short option, meaning he must be comfortable in retaining the ball and then picking an accurate pass. Matija fits this bill perfectly; he is unbelievably composed on the ball for such a young footballer. His debut will be fondly remembered by City fans as he was thrown into the deep end at the Santiago Bernabeu by Roberto Mancini and he produced the calmest performance of the night at just 19 years of age. The importance of composure for our center halves cannot be underestimated, both Joleon Lescott and Javi Garcia struggled at center back for The Blues last year as they were poor on the ball and were often caught out, in comparison Matija is much more composed. Having a calming influence like Matija is essential for playing the controlling game Manuel Pellegrini wants us to play; he simply fits the bill which is a major reason for keeping hold of him.
In addition, it would be unwise to suggest the 2013/2014 season was a fair test for Matija under Manuel Pellegrini. Roberto Mancini preferred a deep line and the offside trap was scarcely used, but Manuel Pellegrini pushed our defensive line up and Matija simply didn’t adapt quickly to this, he needs more time as it is a huge change tactically for a young center back. In addition to this he constantly had his center back partner being changed; he was paired with Javi Garcia, Joleon Lescott and Vincent Kompany at the beginning of the season, the effect here was that especially with the former two he didn’t have a reliable partner, meaning he was often overwhelmed and wasn’t in the best environment to adapt to a whole new way of defending. His best ever City form came when he was paired with Kompany, yet they only managed 4 league games together last year. In addition, many of Nastasic’ games were played during Joe Hart’s nightmare run which simply didn’t help a player already losing confidence. The lack of chemistry was notable between the two in the away defeats at Aston Villa and Chelsea. Overall, Nastasic simply didn’t enjoy the favourable circumstances enjoyed by Martin Demichelis in the City lineup, he was dealing with a horribly off-form goalkeeper and he was constantly having his partner changed, at times even playing with Javi Garcia who isn’t even a center back.
It may be too forward to suggest keeping Nastasic is a no brainer, but in reality it is. He is young, fits the system, and is a great foil to Vincent Kompany thereby creating a very effective partnership between the two. On top of this, he will have a point to prove. Injuries destroyed his season last year and when he did play he was unlucky with the circumstances that were surrounding him. If he were to leave for Arsenal or Juventus, then as far as I am concerned our loss is their gain. He has looked good in pre season, making up for his lack of physical presence by being excellent on the ball and making timely interceptions; he managed 7 interceptions in the game against Liverpool in America. To summarise, it simply would make no sense to part with a player who is not only already a competent defender, but one that has bags of untapped potential.
