After confirming Ferdinand's situation, I can now fully blog my opinions about the game on Sunday. It has to be said, United played by far better than they have in any fixture this season, and but for a slight dip in concentration, could have gone away from Stamford Bridge with all three points. A draw is actually one of the good results one can get at Chelsea as they have this charm that saves them from the jaws of defeat. Come to think of it, we are one point better than last season as we have got a point from a ground we usually drop all three. I mean we have played at Fratton Park, Anfield and Stamford Bridge consecutively and still come out with 4 points, when we could have come out with none, as neither of those places is ideal to visit. Also, it will always be difficult for any team to play 3 consecutive away games in the league. Sir Alex is one of those who knows United through and through and he thinks that Sunday's game is going to drive United on a run that will put most of their title rivals to the sword. There is plenty of truth in that as we now have a relatively simpler schedule when you compare it with what we have had in the past fort-night.
Back to the game... United could have gone into half time 3-0 up as we made the most of Chelsea's fragile start. Fletcher could have scored from close range while Rooney had a half-chance go narrowly wide when Cech was not in goal. Ferdinand(would you believe) had our best chance of the first half as he (somehow) managed to find himself all alone with the Chelsea goalie. EVDS had to be replaced after clashing with Malouda in the box but I was certainly not so disappointed that he went off injured. Van der Sar has been a little bit rusty so far in the league. His judgement when it comes to collecting balls in the air has not been as good as last season and he could have cost us a goal just before he left. Chelsea had one good chance in the opening half to take the lead but Joe Cole shot wide...for some reason, van Der Sar was on his knees when the Cole got his shot off. It was however good to hear that EVDS will be back as soon as next week for the game against Bolton. Kusczack was and is always a good deputy for the big Dutchman. Just like in the May 21 final, United were the better team in the first half while Chelsea dominated the second. Our inability to get a second goal to kill off games is becoming a little bit of a problem. I thought, for a moment, that the game would take a similar script to that of Liverpool--take the lead and then concede twice to lose the game. Luckily for us, Anelka was not up for it (as was the case in Moscow). Mike Riley must have been convinced that he failed to award Chelsea a penalty when EVDS clashed with Malouda because he certainly made his yellow card appear cheap. All a United player had to do was to question his decision to get into the book. As a result, the name Manchester United will have to spend another week around Soho square as the FA will fine the club 25,000 pounds.(I wonder who in the first team earns below that?). The end of last season's fixture was highlighted with Ferdinand kicking a female worker in the tunnel while the CL final ended with Drogba slapping Nemanja Vidic. This time, the game ended with no less drama. Drogba collided with Ferdinand and the former stayed down--needing treatment while Ferdinand walked off pitch in protest--and after seemingly blowing the whistle for a free kick, Riley had to explain that it was actually full time (he couldn't take any more of it, could he?). Quite frankly, the ref was poor and Hackett should start to assess his boys/men as their performance at times does not deem them as worthy recipients to a cheque.
PERFORMANCE
Paul Scholes is one of the better Manchester United players in the dressing room but he seems to have lost a little bit of the plot. He played poorly at Anfield and would have got sent off if he had played the 90 at Stamford Bridge. I was hopping that Giggs would play some part off the bench on Sunday as I think that he and Giggs will help United more off the bench than as starters.
Garry Neville played well enough on his first competitive appearance in 18 months but we could use a little more of his crosses. His speed however could be of concern as he is no different from the other two veterans named above.
Dimitar Berbatov has received some stick for his performance but nobody really expected him to be quicker at United. His intelligence will come to the fore. He hardly kicked a ball in pre-season, so he still has some way to go before being as lethal as he was for Spurs...and one wonders why Berba gets the stick and yet Robbie Keane is yet to even provide an assist in a Liverpool shirt!
Top scorer Darren Fletcher is finally becoming something in my eyes. He positions himself very well and but for the big breasts of Alex, could have scored the winner for United--the Brazilian is the only one who can testify about the venom in the shot he chested away.
And lastly but more importantly, we have a new gem in the ranks. If Johnny Evans can be as solid as he was against some of the best players in the world, then we have nothing to fear about the future if our defence. He did very well in the Champions League against Villarreal but I did not give him a prayer to even start the game. It's a measure of the faith the Gaffer has in him. It puzzled me when Fergie refused to sell him to Roy Keane in the summer but now, we all know why. Evans takes the FLOM Man Of The Match Award. And let me end by apologising for the long article. Cheers!
Labels: REVIEWS
