‘Reds Gunned Down At The Bridge’ 5 Things I Noticed – Chelsea v United

4. Where do both sides go from here?

Despite the loss I would still fancy United for the title and that is regardless of whether or not they win at Anfield. As for Chelsea I believe this win has papered over cracks that will again rise to the surface against the rest of the Premier League, teams who possess more energy in midfield than United have and can exert more pressure on them over 90 minutes. It is an ageing side and whilst they’re more than capable of achieving one-off good results like yesterday I do not believe they have it in them to produce a sustained resurgence and retain their title. What would help Chelsea is trying to find a way to incorporate Drogba in the side, he’s a talisman even if his legs aren’t what they used to be.

In Europe simply put I’d be surprised if either side make a definitive impact and I believe their respective weaknesses will prove costly, that said in United’s case I genuinely believe with the right line up they can be a match for anyone over two legs and as long as they don’t face Barcelona in a Final, then anything could happen. As for Chelsea if they are to win it then it will probably be down to that one man Machine David Luiz…

5. Opposition One2Watch: David Luiz

David Luiz Match Statistics: 1 Shot, 1 Goal, 4 Interceptions, 22/29 Successful passes, 6/7 Tackles Made, 4 Clearances, 1 Block.

Mentioned the lad briefly in the ‘Rival Perspective – Chelsea v Liverpool’ blog and stated how in such a short space of time he’d done enough in his little cameo to suggest that Chelsea have a considerable talent on their hands, not to mention having seen him  feature a fair few times for his  previous club, one couldn’t help but be impressed with predominantly his defensive attributes.

He’s just what I’d call a ‘Total Footballer’, a dream player in your 5 a-side team, running up and down the pitch filling in at every position and performing each role with expert precision. It’s ridiculous how good he is for his age and the fact he relishes the physical nature of the premiership should frighten the life out of any striker willing to take him on.. he has it all.

Reads the game exceptionally well, good pace, strong in the tackle, brave in the air, brings the ball out of defence well, good off the ball movement, powerful shot, fantastic technique and it seems he is now well-versed in the defensive dark arts. Is there anything this kid can’t do? He’s a bargain at £20m+. The likes of Luiz and Smalling provide neutrals with great optimism for the future of the game and I for one can’t wait to see how their development pans out as they genuinely look like they can be world class.

Conclusion

Fantastic game, 2 excellent goals and one controversial penalty… a sending off and some goalkeeping heroics from Edwin Van Der Sar. Not to mention several refereeing howlers, so a game for the neutral basically and it was exhilarating to witness a Chelsea v United game that lived up to the hype in terms of spectacle and more importantly quality. It is often said in silly scorelines, ‘ That’s what the Premier League is all about’ blah blah.. seriously folks, last night was the real deal and a game which was a proper football match and hopefully a sign of things to come in the business end of the season.

Score: 2-1Venue: Stamford Bridge Date: Tuesday 1st March Kick-off: 1945 GMT

Man Utd (4-4-2): Van Der Sar, O’Shea, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Scholes, Fletcher, Carrick, Rooney, Hernandez. Subs: Berbatov (70th min), Giggs (70th min) Fabio (81st min).

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Luiz, A Cole, Ramires, Essien, Lampard, Anelka, Torres, Malouda Subs: Drogba (61st min), Zhirkov (71st min), Bosingwa  (81st min)

Referee: Atkinson

Written By

Raees Mahmood (Follow me @ www.twitter.com/redrae7 or check out www.thebusbyway.com)

10 responses to “‘Reds Gunned Down At The Bridge’ 5 Things I Noticed – Chelsea v United”

  1. M says:

    And another thing… Why was the Torres goal disallowed. Six of one and half a dozen of the other but nothing really.

    • Chudi says:

      The whistle had already gone when Torres put the ball in. We played to the whistle VDS could easily have saved that so keep reaching

  2. Sammy says:

    chelsea need the referee to beat us. Wont be the case at ot. Their such a shite small club with money full of chavs and african rentboys.

  3. David says:

    And you Sammy are obviously a very eloquent and educated individual with not a bitter bone in your body

  4. Good analysis as ever. Keep the faith and we will come through.

    My take on Luiz is that although i agree with the total footballer tag, I think he will also have times when he costs Chelsea with a rash tackle or being caught too far forward. Will learn in time I am sure. May even play as a holding MF too

  5. We got luck with the penalty decision, it was soft and had it been the other way, I would have been complaining about it.

    Also, David Luiz was a very lucky boy to stay on the pitch after tangling with Rooney. But that in itself will bring back debate over whether or not the England forward should have been available for selection to be involved in the incident in question, let alone the fact he scored.

    I’ll accept we got the rub of the green on the big occasions in the context of the 90 minutes. I also thought our second half performance should be praised though.

    Hard luck, lads. I still think the title is yours to lose and you’d have forgotten about this game by the time May rolls around.

    • Chudi says:

      Nice one Ant,
      you have a beast on your hands in terms of Luiz!

      Whilst the decisions went against us we were equally at fault in terms of not pressing our advantage.

  6. Blue West says:

    Well-balanced article. Thought our dominance second half was greater than yours in the first. It’s funny how often the bloggers that use terms like ‘small club’, ‘chav’ and ‘rent-boys’ seem to have difficulty spelling. I guess they must have been bullied at school so cyber-gobbing makes them feel better about themselves.
    All told, I’d still prefer your lot to win it than Arsenal. I’d be delighted with 3rd/4th and the CL.

  7. Redrae7 (Rae M) says:

    Thank you Blue West, as for the debate regarding David Luiz, I have read some overly harsh comments on his defensive ability and it strikes me that it has apparently bypassed quite a few people just how little experience he has and how young he is, not to mention it is his first season in a foreign country that is generally very hard to get accustomed to off the cuff.

    Yes he is reckless but he is undoubtedly a fine talent and his composure in certain situations will improve with experience, if he was a United player I believe certain critics would be more prone to lauding his praise rather than nit pick at his faults.

    Written Offside, read your blog – once again an excellent piece, keep it up mate.