Before writing this I had a look at Matip’s report card from this time last year. He was a 6 out of 10 and I ended the review with this:
"The main thing for him is to stop getting injured so we can see what he’s made of. We know his partnership with Lovren isn’t bad but we’ve not seen much of him with Big Virg. Lovren's game went up another level with the Dutchman alongside him, so perhaps Matip's can too?
At the moment Lovren is in possession of the shirt but there’ll be more than enough games to keep them all involved next year. I feel as though next year is make or break for Matip. He's got the ability but he needs to show he has the durability and the consistency."
I’d say he did it, wouldn't you? Are there any Matip doubters still out there after the last six months?
He only played half a season, but he was pretty much flawless when he did play. This wasn’t as surprising a success story as Divock Origi, but back in the opening months of the season no-one could have predicted the vital role Matip would play in a team that picked up 97 points and also became European Champions.
It was hardly his fault he only played half a season, so I couldn’t really factor that into his rating. He had to be judged on the games he did play, not the ones he didn’t. And based on the games he played, he was actually one of our most impressive players. He's much more low profile than virtually everybody else in the squad, so he's never going to get much in the way of hype, but in the closing weeks of the season he was arguably as good as anyone.
He started the season injured and number four in the pecking order but he ended it as the number two behind Van Dijk. He got in the side through injuries to Joe Gomez and Dejan Lovren, but he stayed in there because of his own performances. He was in the team on merit and even when the others were fully fit they couldn’t dislodge him.
I never really understood a lot of the criticism he got prior to this season. I've gone back and forth with this with my Dad too many times to count. He was always on Matip's case, constantly saying he’s not good enough.
It's relative though isn't it? It depends on what you’re looking for. If you're comparing him to Van Dijk then he'll come up short, but then who won't? I've always liked Matip but it wasn’t unreasonable to question whether he was up to being first choice. It was fair to doubt that, but he’s obviously a good player.
My argument was that he’s not first choice and you won’t find a club in England that has a better fourth choice centre back than Matip. I don’t see how that could even be in question. He’d be starting for most teams, including some of the ‘big six’ teams over here. He’s better than anything at United and Arsenal, and would probably get a game at Chelsea too.
And this was how I felt about him before he got into our side and performed so well.
Now I think he’s won everyone over, even my Dad. He has shown he is good enough to be first choice, but so have Gomez and - unpopular opinion alert - so has Lovren. Any one of them could play alongside Van Dijk and we’d still have the best defence in the league.
The problem big Joel has always had is that he couldn’t stay fit. He’d have little run of games and start to look good, but then ‘pop’ would go a thigh muscle and it’s two months on the sidelines. He was unreliable, much like Lovren and (I hate to say it, because I just think it’s bad luck more than anything) Gomez.
Even this year, he got a chance in the team and then picked up a freak injury in the very last second of the win over Napoli when he was disgracefully taken out by a striker as he headed the ball clear. That was an awful, cowardly challenge that went unpunished because the final whistle went immediately (and the ref was absolutely horrendous that night. Thankfully he was better in the final.)
Matip had a brilliant game that night and the injury was desperately unfortunate for him. He might not have gotten another chance had Gomez not suffered complications in his recovery from a leg fracture, or if Lovren hadn’t continued to be struck down by a variety of ailments.
Luckily for Matip there was a path back into the team for him when he recovered and he seized his opportunity with both hands. His partnership with Van Dijk has been great and there have been some games when he has actually been the more impressive of the two, which is no mean feat.
Against Barcelona he was brilliant in both games. It was almost overlooked because there were so many other star performers and storylines to come out of that tie, but Matip was absolutely top class against Suarez and Messi. He’s become something of a cult figure too due to his ambling runs forward when opponents are sitting deep and trying to deny space for our frontmen.
Matip loves a little saunter into the opposition half to try and open things up. I dubbed him ‘Big Bird’ (after the Sesame Street character) because he’s all long legs and big feet and plods around the field. He’s a vastly under-rated passer though. It’s not just about being accurate, it’s the pace of the passes into the front players that is impressive.
The one criticism I have of him is his heading in the opposition box is crap. He’s got a head like a 50p coin. So many times he gets on the end of a corner only to put the ball over the bar. If he could improve on that he’d be getting as many goals as Virgil.
Overall though, it was a great season from the quietly spoken big man, capped by an excellent display in the Champions League Final. There’s talk of a new contract, which is some turnaround from where he was six months ago when it looked like he would have to leave to get regular football.
You know the maddest thing? When it looked like he might be looking to move on, the club most heavily linked with him was Fulham, which is insulting really. He’s much better than that and he’s proved it. If he was to be made available now, there’d be clubs all over Europe clamouring to get him.
Fucking Fulham. That’s offensive that is. How had all those other teams overlooked him? No-one is overlooking him now, not even my Dad.
Big Bird looks like he’s here to stay now though, and I’m delighted for him.
Rating 9/10.
His performance level was so high that we didn’t miss Joe Gomez at all, and prior to getting injured Gomez was so good that he was almost on a par with Virgil. Big Joel just got better and better and by the end of the season he was absolutely killing it.
Best Moment:
Completely bossing it in the second leg against Barca. A truly outstanding performance.
Worst Moment:
He put through his own net away at Bayern but it was pretty much unavoidable, and proved to be immaterial anyway. The injury he picked up against Napoli was a bad moment and could have scuppered his entire Anfield career had Gomez and Lovren not both had fitness problems of their own, but generally there wasn't too many low points for him.
The Future?
Six months ago I’d have said there was a decent chance he’d leave. He was too good to not be playing but his opportunities here appeared to be limited. An opportunity came though and he seized it. He's at a really good age too for a centre back as he can still improve and hasn't hit his prime yet.
Everyone will start from scratch again in pre-season though and he’ll have a battle on his hands keeping Gomez out, but we’ve seen now just how good he is and he won’t give up that shirt lightly.
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