Well Chelsea were the ones that turned up and played without a recognised out and out striker for most of the match!
When Mourinho came back I said to expect the exact same tactics he employed all those years ago, play negative and defensive, hope to nick a goal from a big man up front and then hold on for the win. They managed it before because Drogba was so good but he has no front man as good as that now at the club.
The fact Mata was sat there on the bench twiddling his thumbs, the most creative and talented guy in the entire Chelsea squad spoke volumes to me.
Leaving Mata out against United was a big statement. He'll probably sell him if it means getting a top class striker he can play on his own up front. Clearly it seems the Rooney thing is a total no go, as if it ever was in the first place.
Wow, what a rant! At the end of the day a draw for Chelsea at Old Trafford is a better result than a draw for Utd at Old Trafford. Match was boring as hell, from both sides perspectives. Both defenses being on form didn't help I suppose.
Its not a rant, its a reflection on the truth of the matter. Not sure where you determined it was a rant instead of an informed comment.
United would take a draw, same as Chelsea, Chelsea however came setup for the draw whereas United certainly setup to try and at least get a goal.
United actually lost this fixture last season, if your memory goes back that far. Chelsea might have been able to get more if they wanted to but they never did. Mourinho up to his usual tactics to be honest as I said.
Moyes would be perfectly happy with not losing his first home game, against a title rival no less with a positive record and the Rooney show overshadowing the game. Otherwise United would be 6 points behind before the season even got running.
The draw hurts nobody at this stage and Moyes will be pleased enough with the result home or not. If anything the away game to Liverpool at the weekend will be more important to winning over fans.
It does give us hints of 'Boring boring Chelsea' as the media dubbed them under Mourinho again though. Mata left out FFS!
Well I think this puts an end to Chelsea's race for Rooney. He played great, seemed content, and most importantly the fans loved him. I don't see why he would want to leave now.
Anyways, pretty boring game to be honest. I expected more from this game.
Wasn't a match for the ages but I was expecting this one to be a lot different. I did not expect United to control the midfield and outplay Chelsea for possession, especially since just last week Swansea had a considerable amount of possession advantage over us. Why Chelsea didn't play a center forward for the 1st 60 mins was baffling too. Very defensive display by Chelsea and they mostly played on the counterattack which I was expecting more control in United's side of the field. This is where Mata was sorely missed and I have no idea why he wasn't at the least subbed in.
While Valencia played well against Hazard on defense, he was shockingly bad on the offensive by defusing pressure on check backs to defense and center mids and so shockingly horrid crossing. Welbeck really needs to work on finishing. While he has moments of brilliance, he's also clumsy as hell on chances he should bury. Rooney was outstanding and I really hope this is the turnaround he needed. Hopefully he makes amends with whatever is making him unhappy and stay with United but I guess only time will tell.
I personally feel a bit hard done on Lampard's handball which was a clear penalty but we really should've done better with our finishing and shouldn't have messed around in the box with pretty much trying to walk it in on some occasions. Also, Atkinson had a bit of a howler with not booking Cole for his blatant dive. I'll take the point in this tough early schedule we have and hopefully this will start showing the haters that United are the real deal and Chelsea isn't going to run away with the title like some believe. GGMU!
no chicharito no goals. disappointed not to see him play tonight. Welbeck was poor, as usual. RVP was only seen for 3 seconds in the second half. valencia was once again one-trick pony. young did nothing as well. over-all poor effort from united and the tactics were shite.
i dont care how big of a name RVP is, if he not doing anything, sub him. take it nani is out of the team completely. even on a bad day his as good as young and valencia on their good days. the only players i can give positive reviews about is rooney and the back four. defense was solid. rooney played like a boss throughout.
oh well, on to the next one. lets just hope moyes gives hernandez a fair shot.
The thing with RVP is that he only needs one chance and you have a goal. Would like to see Nani in there again. Can't understand why people rate Young.
yeah thats true as well, but i think chicharito is just as clinical in front of goal. best case is why not have them both on at the same time. just sub welbeck. let RVP play slightly wider and chicharito in the center. problem solved.
instead moyes brings on giggs and young. the midfield was fine. giggs just did more of the same. young did nothing.
hhhmph...just sooooo frustrated. don't mean to sound like a whining b!tch. apologies.
Agree, the draw suits Chelsea and tbh it feels like a loss as a United fan since they were there for the taking but we just couldn't create anything. I just don't understand what's going on with Kagawa :( this is a guy who alongside Lewandowski took apart Bayern and now he can't get a game ahead of Cleverly, Giggs?! Just sad. I agree Nani is an amazing player on his day, and people are quick to forget he was consistent for one whole season, his confidence only dropped right at the end when Fergie dropped him for the champions league final because he preferred Valencia's defensive work (which was on show vs Hazard yesterday) Nani deserves a chance in his favored position where he played that year (2010 I think) in which stats wise at least, him and Di Maria were the best wingers in the world. Kagawa Rooney Nani behind Van Persie, maybe not quite Ribery Goetze and Robben but it's a hell of a lot scarier than lining up against Welbeck Giggs Cleverly :/
i really hope the lack of a striker for most of the match was a statement to roman saying "see, we need a forward"
even when one did come on, torres would have been at the bottom of my list, Ba first, lukaku second, maybe Mourinho did this on purpose for further emphasis...
lukaku is good but still young, torres is done in my opinion and i dont know enough about Ba to say anything worthwhile
this over abundance of attacking midfielders has me perplexed
When Torres was at Liverpool they played for him but at Chelsea all the midfielders want a shot at goal. Chelsea doesnt need forwards they need assisting midfielders. Hazards another Ronaldo, Oscar wants to impress and Schurle is more of a center forward. Ou entire midfield is selfish day in and out.
I'm happy with the point at this stage in the season but yeah we definitely need a striker. Oh well, Mourinho did say that we'd get another player if Rooney doesn't sign....
Boring match... you can tell both teams were okay with a draw.
Agreed ^^
Rooney played really well though tonight! Very impressed!
But was he impressing Moyes or Mourinho!? :O
Well I think this puts an end to Chelsea's race for Rooney. He played great, seemed content, and most importantly the fans loved him. I don't see why he would want to leave now.
Anyways, pretty boring game to be honest. I expected more from this game.
Penalty! Mourinho is back with His defence:) no striker in the squad tonight.
Chelsea really lacked Mata's creative touch. The game was awful btw. I wonder what Mourinho's got planned for Mata