What did we learn from Manchester United v CHELSEA? – Have your say
Blues manager Carlo Ancelotti opted for a ‘Christmas Tree’ formation to adopt struggling forward Fernando Torres, who failed to make a mark on the game and was substituted at half time for Didier Drogba.
The Ivorian forward gave Chelsea some hope after they went a goal down, as well as a man down, to their opponents when he levelled the scoring late on in the night, but those hopes were soon dashed when Ji-Sung Park netted just moments later and left the west Londoners with too big a mountain to climb.
What did we learn from last night’s game?
Carlo Ancelotti’s in the firing line:
Rightly or wrongly the Italian manager is expected to be shown the exit door after his side’s performance over the current season, which he’s not entirely to blame for but the buck often stops with the manager.
The squad is in transition and you will get seasons where you won’t perform as well as you hoped, but is Ancelotti the right man to oversee a rebuild and does he possess the right character to make brave calls?
We didn’t take our chances:
I’m not just talking about goal scoring opportunities, like the one Frank Lampard had in the first half after being put in by Florent Malouda, but we were playing against two fullbacks who were on yellow cards for a fairly large proportion of the game and did not put any pressure on them. We do not seem to possess much threat in the wider areas and this is something that must be addressed this summer, in my opinion.
Also, how long was Rio Ferdinand hobbling around for yesterday? You’d think making a few runs at him would have been a good idea but we hardly worked the crocked defender at all.
The formation:
Ancelotti abandoned his 4-4-2 formation and decided to opt for a 4-3-2-1 system in order to fit Torres in, but it was probably the wrong way to go as many argue that he should have started Drogba and stuck with the old guard in order to win the game.
Putting the Drogba v Torres debate to one side, was this really a formation/selection which would benefit the Spaniard?
I don’t think it is and it showed as the player become isolated as the midfield failed to get the ball forward quickly enough and if Ancelotti really wanted to help Torres then why didn’t Yossi Benayoun (who had an impressive cameo at the weekend against Wigan) feature at all? It would have been a risk as he’s been out for a long time and it may not have paid off, but when you have a problem creating decent goal scoring opportunities it’s arguably a chance worth taking.
What are your thoughts on Manchester United v Chelsea yesterday? – Have your say in the comment section below