First Name: Joël
Surname: Matip
Squad Number: 32
Position: Defender
Height: 1.93m
Weight: 83 kg
D.O.B.: 08.08.1991.
Town of Birth: Bochum
Country of Birth: Germany
Nationality: Cameroonian
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Another one in the No Context Joel Matip collection 
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Stay fit FFS 
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We have to accept that he won’t stay fit but the important thing is that he’s fit right now and that gives Joe more time to get back to full fitness and Konate more time to settle in. Thought both of them looked very good last night.
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One of the best things about Joel is that he doesn’t need match fitness. Comes back from an injury and is always back at 100%.
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Hmm, I think in some moments yesterday you could feel that he’s another one returning from injury. Which is completely natural, of course. He’s not without his weaknesses. But yeah, for a while now, and especially since winter 2019 (when his best period for us started), when they’re all in normal condition and normal form (which wasn’t or isn’t always the case as we know), he’s our partner for Virgil. We’ll see how long he stays fit after 2 difficult seasons.
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When you say ‘winter 2019’ you mean the season we won the CL, right? He was massive during that time.
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Yes, when he took over and then had a good period when he was best for us. Let’s say his tackle on Messi at Anfield being the simbol of that period. Second half of that 18/19 season (the start and first half of that season, Gomez was fantastic and Lovren had a little solid period between Gomez and Matip starting) and then up until he got injured.
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One thing that gets overshadowed is the mental resilience and preparedness of Matip. He is always switched on. He rarely has any period of slump or struggle. He is either injured or in form.
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He’s highly underrated. He’s given better performances than VVD plenty of times IMO. If not for injuries, he would have got way more recognition than he gets now.
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He was very dodgy before VVD arrived but since VVD arrived he has generally been a monster when playing for us, just his injuries getting in the way.
People forget what he was before VVD when commenting at times he was our biggest defensive problem.
Nope.
He was good in his first season. Started the second season poorly along with Lovren. People forget he was poor in that 4-1 Tottenham game because Lovren took all the flak.
But at no point was he our biggest defensive problem when we had Clyne, Moreno, Lovren, Mignolet and Karius around, he has always been a far better player than all of them.
He’s possibly the most underrated player in the league, even within our fanbase. As Zoran said since he returned from his broken collarbone he has been exceptional, albeit not always available. 1 loss in his last 44 games for Joel now.
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It was him who didn’t keep the line and allowed the ball to be played in behind so easily. When VVD arrived that was corrected as he became more a stopper (so kept the line) and his recovery imo is second to none so this change suited him.
No offence Flobs, but that’s just a load of arse gravy.
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It really isn’t. At worst it’s just opinions and there isn’t any need to get upset or offensive over it.
Matip does recover very well even if he’s not as good as I am making out.
From what I remember it was always Lovren dropping too deep that played opponents onside…
Wasn’t he the one making crass challenges, rushing out at players and marking too tightly?
Really! 
I think that was the thing that infuriated me the most about him, the complete lack of discipline. He would drop too far deep, and then compensate too much by being too rash at coming out to challenge for balls…