Chrislain Matsima: France’s most underrated centre-back
A few weeks ago, I was watching England vs France U21’s. First of all, the quality on that pitch was an absolute joke and I think both of those sides would do a good job of beating most countries’ senior teams due to the sheer abundance of talent each of them had.
But, when I was watching the first half, something very weird happened. I saw Liam Delap get completely out-muscled and outpaced by one of France’s centre-backs. He was made to look like he was in fact a youth player and that’s strange because if you’ve watched Delap at all in the Premier League this season, you’d know he’s been ragdolling the league’s best defences on his own. A one man transition army who’s tenacity leads him to chasing down and winning balls that he shouldn’t be winning - often leaving some of the best defenders in England on their backside in the process.
So, as you can imagine I was left quite astounded at what I just watched. It was the first time this season I’d seen Liam dealt with like that and so I instantly had to know who this centre-back was. It turns out, it was Ausburg’s 23 year old defender Chrislain Matsima who is still technically on loan at Monaco, where he graduated from. Instantly I did some digging and I began to realise that Matsima is regarded as one of the best young defenders in Germany and it’s clear why…
The Frenchman stands at a tall 6 ft 3 and is in the top 2% of defenders for aerial win rate percentage. He’s so physically imposing that attackers really struggle to really compete with him on that front, he’s also very front-footed which sees him rank very highly amongst defenders across Europe for interceptions, blocks and ball recoveries. But, this in turn sometimes leaves him liable to committing too quickly where he will foul an attacker or just get dribbled around instead. But, as I said before - his sheer pace and strength will often alleviate these mistakes as he’s able to sprint back to catch up and cover for his blunders.
What Matsima isn’t, is a passer. Whether that’s because he can’t do it or Ausburg’s manager doesn’t want him to, is beyond me. He completes less than 40 passes per game which is extremely low for a centre-back but Mainz have the 3rd worst average possession for any side in the Bundesliga, so take this with a pinch of salt.
Maybe this rules out a move to one of Europe’s elite teams because they all love centre-backs who are well-versed in being able to pass but there’s plenty of teams that will not be swayed by this potential weakness. To stand out as a centre-back in the Bundesliga, I think means a lot because that league is the best in Europe at producing them.
Matsima is physically outstanding and aggressive, he knows how to defend for an Augsburg team that faces a lot of traffic yet their defensive record isn’t half bad. It’s only a matter of time before a bigger team goes in for him and I think that he will flourish wherever he goes next.
