10 things we learned in 1-0 loss to Chelsea
- Match Day Pundit
- Nov 7, 2017
- 2 min read
Manchester United lost to Chelsea, once again... in an open, confused game that gifted Chelsea an open goal and 3 points. Here are 10 things we learned from that game:
1. Blinders are off, we are poor against top opposition but the tradition of defending out teeth out is better than what happened out there. 2. If Mourinho needs to take risks, then he should take risks 100%. The commitment to have an open game was not supported by the men he fielded: He should have taken it up from the beginning. 3. Both Lukaku and Mkhi got less touches on the ball than David De Gea; this shows either a great lack of service of woeful inability to track-back for the ball. Either way, it is bad news when an open game is played in the defensive/opposition's half and at their space. 4. Action badly undercut by side passes and timid midfield that was in full disarray; starting with Ander Herrera who seem to have reverted back to the LVG side-passing days. That was a waste of opportunity. It was clear distinction between Chelsea and our midfield when they got the ball and the stark contrast was painful to watch. 5. While Phil Jones may have been caught back footed and cost a goal, but boy, was he present. You could see him seeing the gaps ahead of him and wanting to press on, however, the rest of the defenders were not in on it and they did not close gaps and were badly positioned, unlike before. When Morata scored, it was 3 against 2... 3 Chelsea players in our box. 3!!!! 6. Marcus Rashford is fit for number 9;he does well there, as seen in Carabao Cup and also in other outings - he's not the number 7 and this is not anything against the English lad, it's a fact. All the chances in the first half coming on with Young on the wing went to waste because there was no corresponding support and when he faded away (age and pressure to keep defending); there was no one to pick up his slack. This is Anthony Martial's role.
7. For defensive skills, both Bailly and Smalling need a better sense of positional awareness. This was not the best game. Valencia's role going back was also diminished as he did not have his famed bursts of speed. All in all, our defensive positioning was poor. 8. Form is temporary! Mourinho should not be starting Henrikh Mkhitaryan in key games when he in this kind of form. Mkhi had absolutely no effect whatsoever. There was never a point in this game where he looked like he would make a difference. 9. I thought to myself, maybe if we revert to the old tactics of lumping the ball to Fellaini we'd get something in. But do you know what you need to do that? Tactics and pressure - something that seemed to have flown off the window, especially in the second half. 10. What a bad way to break for the international break... so many questions, not enough answers. But we keep faith and hope it's still early to recover; while wishing Pogba and Zlatan a quick recovery. We need them something bad.
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