18 Apr 2015 23:07:49
First off, credit where its due Chelsea defended today very well and showed why this season they will be title winners.
I was very much looking forward to see what Mourinho would do to deal with the Fellani threat and by placing Zouma on him really did stop him by and large, he made it 10 vs 10 first and then picked his team.
Second, credit has to be to our lads, injuries considering they played well and the replacements seemed to settle in with our new found form well.
Shaw was great today and looks destined to be our long term LB even though Blind has done brilliantly in that role.
Smalling again had another very good game albeit with very little defending to do but his intercepting of the ball and reading of the game was very good allowing us to keep winning back a ball Chelsea seemingly set up to not have.
Paddy McNair really could be a great little squad player for us at least. He is versatile and actually a very good user of the ball.
I was worried about the Hazard effect on Valencia or when he started running from deep from behind the ball and we dealt with that except once! And that's all these world class players need, 1 chance and they will punish you and he did.
Mata was very much nullified attacking wise with Herrera being forced to be the dominate experienced CM in place of Carrick thus he could not link up freely as much as he has been allowed to do recently, add to that Azpil.?.?. is a top notch full back as well it was always going to be tough, but he stuck at his role well enough.
Rooney was poor today, playing CM u need to have a footballing brain and Rooney seems to play off instinct more. His concentration I have a real problem with in that role. Up top you can get away with taking your eye of the ball thus having poor control or losing the ball, in the center u can't simple as that.
Striker is his position and one he plays very well and should stay in imo.
Falcoa looked so low on confidence it was painful to watch at times. But needs must and he was asked to do a role today and in the large he did that. He got himself around and put in a shift but he is by no means a player we should keep for the money we would have to pay. Shame as when we signed him I thought he would be amazing and effectively he has just replaced Welbeck goals wise and effectiveness wise.
We played well today and we should be as happy as we can with a loss. Positives can be took and this finally now shows that our recent form and results are no fluke, the SQUAD has got it now, they know the 'philosophy' and are now executing it consistently. Credit to LVG.
If we can play the next window right and get the correct players in and ship out the players not needed we could have a very good squad of players.
Hard not to feel a bit down after a loss though but was this a game we had as a win? No, doesn't mean we couldn't win and not expect to but a loss away to Chelsea is hardly a shock.
Mourinho's selection clearly showed he was worried today, we had many things in our favor and then the injuries came at a crucial point unfortunately. With all the pressure being put on Chelsea we needed our top players fit.
But Mourinho does not lose these games the same game plan would of played out if it was 0-0 after 89mins. He knows what he needs to do to reach his objective.
However I do wonder how the Chelsea fans might feel after a few years of this style. But for now I bet there on cloud nine and rightly so, good luck to them.
18 Apr 2015 23:45:37
chris you wonder how chelsea fans will feel after a few years of this style ? we will still be on cloud 9 , if were winning the league , jose is a genius at what he does , he sets up the team to do what is needed at the time, we have all watched utd progress over the last few weeks but it doesn't take a genius to work it out what was happning , long balls to fellani ,today big zouma was told to do a job on him and that is what he did ,i watched utd win title after title and belive me it wasnt allways pretty football , the team does whatever needs done to get over the line.
19 Apr 2015 00:01:37
I agree mate, my point is more saying I wonder how u will feel after maybe a few years when u don't win the title with that style.
19 Apr 2015 00:41:23
Do long balls give you 70% possession? Very naive to think that's all it's about. All our improved performances have come from long balls to Fellaini. Had we took our chances today you could have lost by 2/3. The tide is turning pal. You wait and see
19 Apr 2015 02:21:28
Belfast,
I think what chris is getting at is the style of play, defending at home and allowing the opposition to have so much of the ball, then falling to the floor in the last 10 minutes wasting time and then making two seperate subs in added time (which inexplicably the time does not get added on for, but don't get me started on timekeeping again).
United fans would be satisfied with winning the league that way for one season but many would be disappointed with the style of play that chelsea play despite them winning the league if it contined year after year.
19 Apr 2015 04:41:58
people need to watch some of the footy chelsea have played over the full season not just the last few games.
at the moment it just about picking up points for chelsea.
it something we done under fergy all the time
19 Apr 2015 08:33:12
You're right, jred. I agree that the last couple of games it hasn't been pretty. But we've also played some exceptional football at times where we were almost unplayable. I suspect that most of the important players are a bit worn out because there hasn't been much rotation this season. You just need to watch Matic these days, he's not the same beast in the middle as he was earlier this season.
Like you said, jred, it's about picking up points now for us. You guys will definitely be better next year and certainly challenging for the title (probably being favourites to win it IMO) but we will also improve. That's what the game is all about :-)
19 Apr 2015 10:31:16
Fabregas is shattered and Costa is missing. Add those two and we would see a totally different Chelsea. I have watched Fabregas closely over the past month (he apparently stops in the New Year most seasons) and he has been very poor, he scored the winner the other day against QPR but did nothing else all game, giving the ball away a lot. Chelsea are just scrapping to the end of the season with some very tired legs.
I think they will be for the taking next season, especially with Terry a year older.
{Ed002's Note - I am not so sure it will be that simple. Terry will not be playing as often next season, and I rather expect some changes to the team over the summer.}
19 Apr 2015 12:19:31
listen guys you played well yesterday but you are kidding yourselves if you think you came & dominated us?? We let you dominate the ball & set up to counter attack, van gaal would of done the same if you was in that position & i'm pretty sure you would accept it every single year if you needed the points to win the title just as any other team would! we played our best at the start when everyone was fresh, now it's about getting the job done & I don't really care how we win the league as long as we do, Jackson will agree! United will be stronger next season but so will everybody else so might be a 4 or 5 horse race until the end, when Sir Alex was in charge he had fergie time to get you out of tight spots & never heard any united fans complain about that so time wasting is a part of any game when you need points
19 Apr 2015 12:24:17
I agree ed I think they will strengthen again and they seem to be able to identify exactly what they need to make them stronger.
As far as we are concerned the signs are very good there seems to be a cohesion and doggedness about the team and I also think we will strengthen in the summer( for me a holding midfielder is absolute top priority) and we will be a lot closer to them next season.
I'm also really looking forward to seeing this team in Europe hopefully we make champions league and have a right good crack at it.