Vs Chelsea (H) - Premier League - 25/02/18 - 14:05 K.O

[redcase]

WOKE UP THIS MORNING FEELING FINE

[On a break]

We are still fighting for second spot in February and have been for months now, our aim now must be to get the right set up and players to stop City from dominating next season and beyond.

[CaajScot]

Like redcase, woke up this morning feeling fine 

I could just picture in bin dipper land they were rattling their dustbin lids with joy when we went 1-0 down but ended up kicking bins around at the final score and kicking stray cats, now let's do this against them when the scum visit OT. 

[Rustin Cohle]

Feb 25, 2018 21:09:11 GMT dazjoe said:

For all the talk, on here and elsewhere, about how Mourinho has lost his touch against the top 6 rivals, it's interesting to see that only City have a better record this season.

So far this season City have take 15 points from 6 games

United 10 points from 7 games

Liverpool and Spurs 10 points from 8 games

Chelsea 9 points from 7 games

Arsenal 6 points from 8 games.

For a bloke so shit against all these amazing new mangers knocking around I'd say he's doing alright myself.

Yesterday made a huge difference to that. Before that we were 2nd bottom in that table, albeit obviously having played less games than most.

Our home record, bar vs. City, is very strong. It's the away games that people have more of a problem with now I think, whereas last season we had crap draws with Liverpool and Arsenal at home (that hopefully won't be repeated this year) as well as some terrible away games. 

[caino]

first game ive been to in a while. sat in the east stand. as soon as I got in I was asked to sit down, by another fan sat behind me. this was at the very start of the match when we were trying to get the atmosphere going. it was only after a couple of chances everyone else stood up and he couldn't say anything else. this is a major problem. the atmosphere was okay in that area mainly because we were close to the away fans.

McTomminay - my MOM. had a quietish is first half and didn't track the run properly but he done everything else that you want. broke play up. kept things simple, rotated the ball about. second half he upped it a bit more, making more adventurous passes. with confidence he will be hitting more accurate long balls into the channels. kept hazard at bay all game and willian in the second half. no easy feat for two incredible players. willian is a joy to watch too. what a performance from the lad. hes not very exciting yet, but we need players like this. way he is going there is no reason why he shouldn't be called up to England this summer.

Sanchez needs to do more for me, he looks a little low on confidence. where has his shooting instinct and ability gone? he should have took a massive chance on the instep of his right foot but he took a touch then had a weak shot. his shooting outside the box was weak too. he did make the goal for rom though and kept plugging away all game.

big rom - so so close to being a superb player. hes a bull. if he gets the first touch better hes going to be some player. I would also like to see run in behind better too. he needs to hit corners and angles better especially when our full backs have nothing on. there is so much space at Old T especially down the flanks that he has to utilise. he did it when he assisted and scored. was gutted for him that his scissor kick didn't go in. great running at the end of the game too.

matic - best game ive seen him play for us. sensational.

smalling - better game for him. read some situations very well.

lindelof - still settling it. looks nervous at times.

young - shouldn't have played. poor decision making. poor crossing. didn't offer anything as a whole that shaw couldn't have done.

pogba - nothing to shout about. needs to do more for me still. it was his fault they scored because kante beat him to the header on their box. needs more guts and bigger balls, hes weak in the challenge and looks like hes slowing down. no great bursts of pace

DDG - hes allowed to have an off day once in a while

[Rustin Cohle]

www.football365.com/news/manchester-united-2-1-chelsea-16-conclusions

Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea: 16 Conclusions

* What began the weekend as a fixture between second and fourth had become a meeting between third and fifth by kick-off on Sunday afternoon. Liverpool and Tottenham overcame differing obstacles to sneak up on Manchester United and Chelsea respectively, placing undue pressure on an already huge clash.

Both clubs drew against Spanish sides in midweek, and although Chelsea’s stalemate was at home and United’s was away, the outlooks could not have been more different. For the Blues, it was positive. For the Reds, quite the opposite.

And yet even with Chelsea taking the lead at Old Trafford, United emerged with all three points. It was only their second comeback win in the Premier League this season, and the first time Chelsea had failed to win after scoring first. This was a crucial result for both sides, but for very different reasons.

* Jose Mourinho spoke of the need to “neutralise” the imminent danger posed by Eden Hazard on Friday. The Portuguese had previously devised two strategies of dealing with the Belgian: man-marking and tactical fouling. One was remarkably effective, Ander Herrera shadowing him to perfection in a 2-0 win in April 2017, while the other was less so. Herrera was sent off for a foul on Hazard in a 1-0 FA Cup defeat a month prior, 30 seconds after Phil Jones had clattered into the forward.

It came as no surprise that Mourinho tried to replicate the success of the first. Herrera’s injury in the first half against Sevilla in midweek threatened to scupper those plans, but Scott McTominay stepped up to the plate.

The midfielder neither struck out nor hit a home run. McTominay was great when considering the responsibility placed upon him, but Hazard was phenomenal. He created four chances – two more than any other player – and completed four dribbles, while misplacing just four of his 52 passes. It was a fine performance from a player who hardly deserved to be on the losing side.

* Hazard was taken off in the 73rd minute, much to the disapproval of the Chelsea supporters. Their mood hardly improved when United scored two minutes later. The visitors were forced to attack without their most potent weapon.

Antonio Conte received due praise for his tactical decisions against Barcelona, but this was the reverse. Taking Hazard off was one of numerous mistakes the coach made that cost Chelsea a potential point or more. Even if the Belgian was tiring, he poses the sort of threat and presence the Blues can ill afford to lose.

Starting with Alvaro Morata despite the success enjoyed by a flowing front three was an error in hindsight, as was giving Cesc Fabregas just ten minutes to try and find a gap in a tired defence. Olivier Giroud had a comparatively short time to make an impact, and Chelsea completed just two crosses after his introduction despite having the Frenchman and Morata up front. After getting it so right against Barcelona, Conte got it wrong here.

* Mourinho, in turn, deserves credit. This was framed as a battle between two warring managers, and the Portuguese eventually came out on top.

United were lucky to enter half-time on level terms, but were much improved in the second half. They were quicker, more aggressive, more incisive, and seemed to have a far greater idea of what was expected of them. Yet the decisive goal would still not come.

The next substitution would prove crucial for either manager, and it was Mourinho who blinked first. Jesse Lingard came on for Anthony Martial, and he scored the winner 11 minutes later.

The questions about style remain, for they cannot truly be answered in one half. But Mourinho provided a timely reminder that he can still positively affect a game.

* One of the biggest questions before the match, indeed one of our five, was whether Conte would look to repeat his Barcelona trick against United. Willian, who was phenomenal against the Catalans earlier in the week, said Chelsea “would have to play in a similar way” on Sunday. The Blues prospered with a fluid front three and no fixed striker against a solid Barca defence, and could look to exploit a weaker United one with a similar tactic.

Not so. Conte handed Morata his first start since early January, with Hazard and Willian behind him and Pedro dropping to the bench. The dynamic which had almost been utilised to perfection against Barcelona was altered, and Conte sought to fix what was not broken.

The experiment started well. Morata was bright, with his characteristic darting runs and intelligent movement creating openings. It was his fine first-time volley that struck the bar from an excellent early Chelsea move.

But as the minutes clocked by, the Spaniard’s influence on the game dwindled. He could no longer find space, was being beaten for pace and in the air by Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof, and has now gone exactly 540 minutes without scoring. He has more yellow cards (9) than combined goals and assists since the start of October (8). The three-man forward line Plan B is more effective than Conte’s Plan B right now.

* Morata was subjected to the usual Graeme Souness half-time withering diatribe treatment, with the Sky Sports pundit insisting that Chelsea would be ahead if they had “a proper striker”.

The analysis was cutting – and many would argue accurate – but it failed to include one key moment in the 13th minute. Morata, dropping deep and thereby likely incensing Souness even further, played a wonderful ball into the path of Victor Moses down the right-hand side. He then delayed his run and lurked unmarked to the edge of the area, waiting for Moses to return the favour. The Nigerian instead tried to dribble past two men before failing to deliver a cross or pass of any sort.

The defensive improvements Moses has undergone under Conte have been remarkable, but it has taken away from his attacking output. His only two assists this season both came in a 3-1 win over Newcastle in December, and he has created just 11 chances in the Premier League this season – one more than David Zappacosta in considerably more time. He is the most obviously upgradable member of Chelsea’s regular starting XI.

* Chelsea started the first half the better side, but were made to wait 32 minutes to find the breakthrough. That it came from a United corner and included as many as six individual mistakes will be enough to interrupt Mourinho’s sleeping patterns for the next month.

First Paul Pogba lost a header to Moses, then Lindelof was aggressive in closing down Hazard before backing off. Next, Scott McTominay failed to track his runner, Ashley Young was stuck in no man’s land, Antonio Valencia played Willian on and David de Gea failed to stop the Brazilian’s powerful effort.

The biggest culprit was McTominay. As harsh as it sounds to criticise a 21-year-old on his third career league start, the midfielder passed the first part of his driving lesson before somehow totalling the car while attempting a three-point turn. He tracked Willian’s run halfway before reaching Hazard, then inexplicably allowed the Chelsea forward to continue unopposed. It was the double-page spread in a catalogue of errors, and provides the sort of harsh lesson one can only learn from such a painful first-hand experience.

* As Hazard played that pass into Willian and Old Trafford watched the situation unfold, Nemanja Matic was afforded a front row seat. His reaction was telling, the Serb throwing his arms up in the air in sheer frustration. The designated driver could hardly believe the state of such drunken defending.

Matic seemed to take Chelsea’s goal as an affront, as he was United’s best player thereafter. He marshalled a nervous defence, cutting off all supply lines and monitoring any potential attack with an air of assurance. He made the most tackles (4), interceptions (4) and blocked the most shots (3) of any of the five starting midfielders, and it was his ability to quickly break up play and start moves upon which United built their foundations for a comeback win.

When Mourinho chose to pass a note onto the pitch in the second half, there was only one man the Portuguese would choose to read it. Matic is the club’s assistant coach on the pitch, and this was his best game in some time.

* It is difficult to defend De Gea’s role in the goal, but then there is no real need to do so. Willian’s shot was powerful but close to him, and the Spaniard’s immediate reaction suggested that he knew he could have done better as he punched the turf in frustration. Quite frankly, it was about time United saved Dave instead of the other way around.

* It was a considerable test of United’s resolve. The goal came during their one period of first-half dominance, with the Old Trafford crowd increasing the volume as first Romelu Lukaku had a shot blocked before Alexis Sanchez forced a save from Thibaut Courtois. Four minutes later, Chelsea were ahead.

The goal did more to light United’s fire than it did to dampen it. Sanchez was key in the build-up, taking the initiative to switch the play from right to left before bringing it central. A series of short passes between the Chilean, Matic, Lukaku and Anthony Martial followed, before Sanchez finally played the ball into the box. Martial took a touch before playing in Lukaku, who treated the ball with the same courtesy before slotting home.

Martial’s role should not be downplayed, and is further evidence that there might be no player who displays such fine close control on instinct. It was an assist reminiscent of his deft turn and touch for Lingard’s first strike in the win over Arsenal in December, and no less impressive.

* The goal was a bonus for Lukaku in a fine performance. He led the line impeccably, and gave a three-man central defence something to think about constantly with his movement and clever hold-up play.

His assist for Lingard’s winner was even better. The Belgian ghosted between two Chelsea defenders with delightful footwork before delivering an inch-perfect cross for Lingard to head home. There is always something beautiful in a striker providing the sort of assist he usually relishes scoring from.

It feels a little unfair to single out one individual, but Alan Shearer was one of many who said that his display ‘begs the question, why doesn’t he play like that more often?’ Rather, it begs the question as to why some are still concentrating on what he supposedly can’t do just minutes after he has offered an example of what he can.

* As far as learning curves go, Andreas Christensen’s has been rather steep this past week. A mistake against Barcelona was followed by an uncertain game against United, which will likely knock the confidence.

“I know I made a mistake, but there is not much else to do than to learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said after his error led to Barcelona’s equaliser in midweek, and he was again at least partially at fault for both of United’s goals. It is important to remember that he is still just 21 and does have credit in the bank, but this was another sobering reminder of his limitations. The ghost of Gary Cahill has not been banished just yet.

* The official Manchester United Twitter account was transparent when announcing the line-ups. ‘It looks like 4-3-3 for the Reds,’ the message stated, suggesting that Mourinho had taken over social media duties temporarily.

The manager has been keen to highlight that, contrary to recent reports, Pogba has played in his favoured position in his favoured formation plenty this season, and that point was laboured before kick-off on Sunday. The Frenchman was accompanied by Matic and McTominay in central midfield, the two bouncers for his VIP treatment.

There were better players for either side, but what should be noted is that Pogba hardly demanded the limelight, despite the continued laughable attempts to denigrate his personality or life choices. Passes were perfectly weighted without a hint of Hollywood, and his dribbles were well-timed with no suggestion of showmanship. He can have as many haircuts, wear as many outfits and have as many discos in his basement as he wants as long as he influences games as he did on Sunday.

* Mourinho got his second-half substitutions right, first changing the game with Lingard’s introduction before consolidating the win by bringing on Eric Bailly. The man the centre-half replaced endured one of his stranger games.

Sanchez has never looked a natural fit in this United side, and there were times on Sunday when he appeared to be playing in this team for the first time. He constantly glanced over his shoulder in the first half to look at Mourinho and see whether he wanted him to press or not, and cut something of a confused figure throughout.

The problem with Sanchez is that he is the very definition of someone who can make something out of nothing. He helped create the equaliser, teed up Lukaku for an impressive second-half volley, and slowly but surely helped United get a foothold in a game they might previously have allowed to pass them by.

* Roy Keane has cultivated quite the reputation as a big opinion gun for hire, but he was scathingly accurate in one of his most recent assessments. “I’ve always thought with Ashley Young in your back four, you are going to struggle,” said the former midfielder earlier this month.

It was less a “struggle” with Young in the starting line-up at Old Trafford, more a puzzle as to why he was there. The 32-year-old was not particularly poor on Sunday, but offered nothing in either defence or attack. He found himself in favourable positions a number of times on the left-hand side throughout the game, but failed to create a single chance with a cross or cutback.

Young’s deterioration in form would ordinarily be a cause for concern at United, yet the only worry is how long Mourinho persists with him. “I don’t see many left-backs better than Luke Shaw,” the manager said on January 19, yet Shaw has started just one of the five Premier League games since. He has earned his opportunity to prove himself as much as Young has lost his.

* The gap to fourth place is hardly massive. Chelsea are two points behind Tottenham with ten games to play, including one against their north London rivals at Stamford Bridge on April 1. But it is difficult not to suggest that, on a weekend where the three teams directly above them have won in impressive circumstances, the pendulum has swung. Momentum is no longer in their favour, and although they have been branded the ‘crisis club’ on a number of occasions this season, this is the first time since mid-October that they will end a gameweek outside the top four. It threatens to be more of a controlled explosion than the usual dramatic implosion, but failure to qualify for the Champions League is failure nonetheless.

Matt Stead

[Rustin Cohle]

www.football365.com/news/premier-league-winners-and-losers-92

Premier League winners and losers

Winners

Jose Mourinho

If you haven’t read 16 Conclusions yet then do so, but this was a seismic win for Mourinho. He knows more than any manager how the mood can quickly change, but so too can your league position. At 1-0 down, Manchester United were in third, one point above Tottenham in fifth. By full-time they were second, six points clear of the Europa League positions.

Yet this was worth more than that to Mourinho. He got one over on Conte, who has become an enemy to rival Pep Guardiola, and his substitutions changed the game. Incredibly, this was only the second time that Manchester United have come from behind to win a Premier League game since December 2016. There will be a swagger in Mourinho’s step this week.

Romelu Lukaku

He did it in a big game, and he did it when Manchester United really needed him. The finish was cool, the quick feet and assist for Jesse Lingard’s winner superb, and the late surge of pace to beat two defenders and win a corner evidence both of new belief and extraordinary stamina. No Manchester United player has appeared in, or started, more matches this season. Few were still sprinting late in the game.

Only four Premier League players have scored more goals than Lukaku this season, and no centre forward has contributed more assists. It’s hardly a disaster.

Jesse Lingard

Hands up who had Lingard as Manchester United’s third top league goalscorer by the end of February when he had started one league game by November 28?

Losers

Chelsea

You can go to Matt Stead’s 16 Conclusions to read more on Chelsea’s latest stumble, but the bigger picture is that they have now dropped behind Tottenham and into fifth. With Spurs in their current guise, this feels like a significant shift and one that Antonio Conte will struggle to reverse.

Chelsea have now won four of their last ten league games, each of them comprehensive victories without conceding a goal: 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, 5-0. Yet the identity of their opponents in those wins is telling: Brighton (twice), Stoke and West Brom.

Conversely, Chelsea’s league games in 2018 against Arsenal, Leicester and Manchester United have returned two points, and they’ve lost to Bournemouth and Watford too. No other member of the top five, competing for four places, are in worse form.

If that wasn’t worse enough, Chelsea trod new ground on Sunday. This was the first time under Conte that they have taken the lead in an away league game and lost. Not a habit you want to get into with less than three months of a crucial season remaining.

Alvaro Morata

Graeme Souness’ withering assessment that Chelsea do not have a “proper striker” went a little too far, but he is paid to be candid, cutting and controversial. His assessment was also not far wrong.

Morata has been dismal for weeks. Perhaps he has been subdued due to a lingering back injury, but the suspicion is that this is the result of a striker who had never previously played more than 1,500 minutes in a top-flight league season.

Morata has scored ten times in the Premier League but only two of those goals (vs Manchester United in November and Leicester in September) actually made a difference to Chelsea’s result. We were allowed to expect far better than this.

Antonio Conte

If you bring off your best player for “tactical reasons” with a massive league game in the balance and leave on a striker playing appallingly, don’t be surprised if that best player gets p*ssed off and you receive a wave of criticism when you subsequently lose the game.

Daniel Storey

[Sméagol]

http://instagram.com/p/BfqVbeoHoia

[king nothing]

Brilliant! Did you see Willian trying to read it?

[Stew]

Hazard was far from ‘phenomanal’ imo. Scott almost completely nullified him. Willian was the one that caused us no end of trouble.

[Deleted]

Feb 26, 2018 18:00:59 GMT Stew said:

Hazard was far from ‘phenomanal’ imo. Scott almost completely nullified him. Willian was the one that caused us no end of trouble.

He spent most of his time on the pitch on the floor so he would had no time to be "phenomenal".

Anybody that think he was needs to clear the shit from their eyes. Willian was by far there biggest threat and better player. Very under rated player.

[Max United]

Feb 26, 2018 20:12:49 GMT Paul said:

Feb 26, 2018 18:00:59 GMT Stew said:

Hazard was far from ‘phenomanal’ imo. Scott almost completely nullified him. Willian was the one that caused us no end of trouble.

He spent most of his time on the pitch on the floor so he would had no time to be "phenomenal".

Anybody that think he was needs to clear the shit from their eyes. Willian was by far there biggest threat and better player. Very under rated player.

I would like to buy him during the summer.

[Deleted]

Must admit I found this funny

[Karma]

Feb 26, 2018 23:23:53 GMT Paul said:

Must admit I found this funny

I like the one on Redcafe with Conte's before and after hair transplant.

[Deleted]

Feb 27, 2018 9:15:16 GMT Karma said:

Feb 26, 2018 23:23:53 GMT Paul said:

Must admit I found this funny

I like the one on Redcafe with Conte's before and after hair transplant.

Then share