Premier League Ponderings – Champions In Waiting
Jose Mourinho always has something up his sleeve for these occasions and he sure didn’t fail this time. He picked Kurt Zouma in midfield as a direct counterpart to the threat of Marouanne Fellaini, someone who would be able to compete with him, whereas City and Liverpool more recently had no option but to let the big Belgian do what he wanted. Didier Drogba started up top with basically zero other options, while the rest was as per usual.
Louis Van Gaal, on the other hand, had some tough decisions to make. With no Phil Jones, no Michael Carrick, no Marcos Rojo and no Luke Shaw, he had to shuffle up the team that murdered City last week. In came Luke Shaw on the left, Rooney dropped to midfield, Paddy McNair got a start at the back and Falcao up front. A rare chance for Falcao especially, one he’s waited a long time for.
You’ve read the stories and the reaction by now, you know how this played out. United dominated in possession and Chelsea defended like expected. Both teams were great at each, only Chelsea were a little better. It’s hard to look at a side with only 30% possession and say they deserved their victory, but they kinda did. It’s a rare occasion where a big match between to big sides ended in a result yet neither team is really that upset. United are already in the bonus, cruising towards a Champions League spot, still with a shot at second which is beyond expectations from where they were a few months back. And they’re playing beautifully too. They weren’t able to turn their dominance into goals but that’s with an out of form Falcao at striker against the best defence in England.
And to be fair, United didn’t actually have that many chances. Neither did Chelsea. While MUFC may have had more than twice as many shots in total (15-7), both sides mustered just two each on target.
One thing that Chelsea can boast that perhaps no other side in the Premier League can match is a pair of terrific fullbacks. Both Azpilicueta and Ivanovic came into this game with a tough ask, needing to mark the in-form Juan Mata and Ashley Young. They did so superbly. Neither was a big threat at all, United’s best moves down either flank all involving Luke Shaw’s marauding movements. Mata’s a drifter anyway so Azpi’s role wasn’t as involved as it could have been, Valencia not wanting to get exposed going forward very often with Eden Hazard hanging behind him. Still, not a foot was put wrong. Ivanovic even more so, he was Chelsea’s best defender.
However we still have to build up a slightly patchwork Utd midfield for doing what they did. Ander Herrera and Wayne Rooney in particular were very good. Rooney with 80 passes, Herrera with a game-high 93. While on the other side of the ball, no Chelsea player had more than Cesc’s 38, and he completed at a rate of just 73.7% while those two United guys were both in the 90s. Herrera had a few heavy touches but he won the ball back well from his own mistakes.
It’s fair to say that Chelsea surrendered a lot of possession by picking Kurt Zouma, primarily a defender, in midfield. But that also shut down Fellaini like no other team has been able to this season. Just having someone who could physically match it with Treebeard was enough to throw him off. Nobody mistook this game for heading in the 6 goal direction of the Manchester Derby. One was likely to be enough, and that one came from the boot of Eden Hazard.
It began with John Terry dispossessing Falcao on halfway, with calls for a free kick. It could have been called, sure, but just as easily it could have not and it wasn’t. Complaining about that is ignoring the brilliance of what followed.
Fabregas drops in and picks up the loose ball, turning on it and feeding it to Oscar after holding off Juan Mata’s challenge. Rooney possibly caught too high, having stopped to campaign the ref for the foul, likewise Antonio Valencia could have stepped up higher.
Oscar angles inside, drawing Chris Smalling with him, leaving a huge hole in the defence, which Hazard duly runs through. Herrera tracks him, though Oscar’s backheeled pass is stunning.
And Hazard doesn’t often miss from there.
You can make the comparison between that goal and a chance that Falcao had in the second half, possibly United’s best of the night (Rooney came close with a shot past the post early on). Finding some rare space to run into, Luke Shaw picked him out nicely. Only Falcao seems to stutter his run, not quite in rhythm, and takes too long to get on the ball by which time he’s taken it pretty wide. Then he slams it into the side netting, going for power over placement - a sure sign that a striker isn’t feeling it.
Look, only the sentimentals were ever gonna vote for Harry Hotspur as PFA Player of the Year. The clever voters know it’s all down to Hazard vs De Gea, and by slipping the ball through DDG’s legs for the winner, Hazard’s surely landed the knockout blow not only in the title race but also in the PoY race. Harry Hotspur’s winning Young Player, take it to the bank. I’ll do some more proper, comprehensive end of season awards closer to the actual end of the season.
Right, the penalty shout at the end. Cahill plants the foot, Herrera runs into it. Herrera is booked for diving and Jose starts ranting about double standards. Speaking of which, Gary Cahill probably shouldn’t start calling kettles black, he had his own situation against Hull earlier in the season. No penalty, though I hardly think it was as bad as people are making out. Firstly, I’m not a huge critic of diving anymore, it’s really not that big of a deal. Part of the game and all that. Secondly, there was obvious contact, and there can be contact without it being a foul and that contact can cause a player to stumble (or give him an excuse to do so). Case and point, the challenge on Falcao before the goal. A yellow seemed harsh. A penalty would have been harsher.
Jeez, but Didier Drogba wasn’t up to much. Only 13 successful passes, at a rate of 46%, with 2 shots all game and both off target. He lost the ball 25 times. He says he wants to stick around, it’s doubtful Jose’s gonna let him.
Two contrasting men, two English legends. Wayne Rooney and John Terry. I know plenty of people have their issues with Mourinho but I love him. He’s a footballing treasure, he just gets a bad rep because he’s always a step ahead of the journos that write the headlines and they know it. Same deal with Fergie for so many years. And his Chelsea side may be prepared to let a rival have 70% of the ball in front of their own crowd, yet they still came out with a win, so what’s the deal? Eden Hazard is incredible, Fabragas immaculate. Sure, Chelsea lads have a tendency to milk injuries, to moan at refs, to take longer to limp off for substitutions than anyone else but such are the spoils of success. The only thing I can’t stand about their impending coronation is the smug look that’s gonna be all over that wanker Terry’s goddamn face. He’s a prick of the highest order, a protégé of Dennis Wise if ever there were one. It just so happens that he’s also one of the two or three best English centre backs of the last 20 years. So it goes.
And Wayne Rooney. Have you been reading his post-game comments recently? It’s still disguised behind his accent and his erms/ahs, but he’s becoming one of the most honest and perceptive captains going around. Seriously. He talks plenty of sense. The captaincy has been great for him. All his career he’s had people telling him how good he should be, scathing him in the media, and now he seems to be reaching the point in his career where you can put his game into an actual context. As far as I’m concerned he’s a friggin’ national treasure. National, not just for United.
Even playing in midfield, Rooney can control a game like few of his compatriots can. The only problem with him in midfield is that he’s not also playing striker. Which is the fault this season of Radamel Falcao and Robin Van Persie’s struggles. Who, right now at this moment, is a more integral member of the England squad? Sturridge? Hart? Sterling? Nope. Not bloody likely. Plus he’s on the verge (probably next season) of becoming both England and Manchester United’s top scorers. Those are some legendary achievements right there, it seems like he’s finally getting the credit for the player he is, not the player people want him to be.
The final word must be saved for the Champions In Waiting. It’s been a clinic in how to build a season, getting off to a hot start, winning the games that mattered (and certainly not losing them), while nursing their way through the inevitable stumbles too. Beat Arsenal and Leicester and the title’s theirs with four games to spare. They won’t lose it from here and nor would they deserve to.